Telstra executives attending this week’s World Mobile Congress in Barcelona are believed to have cut a deal to exclusively launch in Australia a brand new HTC G2 Google Android phone called the HTC Magic.
The deal will only be exclusive for a limited time only. It will then be sold by Vodafone who have secured the phone exclusively for Europe.
It will also be the fastest mobile phone in the world when it is connected to the Telstra Next G network which will be capable of 21Mbs as of March 23 2009. There is also talk that the device will be launched in March to coincide with the roll out of the new Telstra network.
The new G2 TC Magic has a 3.2 inch QVGA touch screen display, however HTC has been forced to use a trackball and navigation buttons due to restrictions caused by Apple “touch screen” patents.
This technology which is used in the iPhone and iPod touch is also restricting notebook manufacturers and could well force Palm to re-design their new Palm Pre. The new G2 also has Google Mail, POP3 and IMAP and Google Talk for instant messaging.
HTC has dumped their physical keyboard found in their currentv phone which is being sold by Optus for a touch-heavy interface on its 3.2-inch screen. The Magic will also take advantage of the “Cupcake” branch of Android development, which will add a virtual QWERTY keyboard for text input.
Vittorio Colao, the Vodafone chief executive, confirmed at the Congress that his Company who are also set to roll out a new G3 network in Australia to take on the now super fast Telstra NextG network had secured the rights to supply Taiwanese manufacturer HTC’s new G2 smartphone.
Several other manufacturers are set to launch Google Android phones including Samsung and Motorola however several carriers have told ChannelNews that they are going to be extremely restrictive as to which models they carry and when they do they are going to want exclusive access to the device for a limited period.
