We know we said that HTC weren’t allowing live shots or video of the HTC Magic, but we couldn’t leave it at that. Non-final hardware or not, we know you guys are as excited by the Magic as we are, and still want to see it. Hands-on, the HTC Magic is everything the G1 was not: thin and lightweight, with none of the bulk G1 owners have complained about.
It also has more RAM – 192MB – so it should run quicker and be able to multitask more comfortably than the G1. The on-screen keyboard – which is only available in portrait orientation, not landscape – has letters which pop-up when you press them, as on the iPhone, which makes text entry much easier.
In the non-final hardware we’ve played with, the key change are the hardware buttons on the HTC Magic’s “chin” section. The prototype has thin, sliver-style keys running under the capacitive touchscreen, together with a single button (“Menu”) to the left of the trackball. The final hardware will have four square keys under the screen, with functions switched around to leave call send/end on keys either side of the trackball.
According to Vodafone Spain, the HTC Magic will be priced between 99 Euro and 199 Euro when it launches. Still no word on pricing outside of Spain, nor when the HTC Magic will be available in the US.
We’ve got a full 1-on-1 hands-on session with the Vodafone HTC Magic tomorrow, so expect plenty more photos and footage after that!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBbu_FR6XPU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMSHbmCHT9E[/youtube]
