HTC Unveils Android-Based Magic Cell Phone

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HTC Monday unveiled its Magic handset, the second smartphone powered by Google’s Android software. The phone also is the first Google phone to sport a virtual keyboard, striking closer to home for the Apple iPhone.

Although the model does away with a physical keyboard, the Magic retains its 3.2-inch touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, as well as 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS for access options.

Vodafone will be the first carrier to offer the Magic. The carrier won an exclusive deal in the UK, Germany and Spain and a non-exclusive pact in Italy. France’s SFR will also sell the phone.

It may be some time before the Magic appears in the U.S., given the handset’s lack of support for compatible 3G, reports said. However, T-Mobile USA may be the U.S. carrier to offer the HTC handset because the operator can handle the Magic’s 850Mhz GSM and EDGE transmission protocols.

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Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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