Because Rico shot this phone while we were dining at Soms tonight, I promised to have my short feature of the HTC Magic up before the morrow so that he could link back to my “scoop.” Before anything else, let me list the pricing scheme of the device which is available exclusively through SMART. The unit alone is quite expensive for a device that uses the Android platform at 39,900.00 (shouldn’t open source not have heavy licensing fees?).
With a plan, the costs will look like this:
Happy Independence Day!
To quote what I wrote on Cellphone9,
The new G1 will cost USD $179.00 and will come with a 2 year plan with T-Mobile. I’ve never been this excited for a device since the iPhone. As you can clearly see, T-Mobile has released a product that does not reek of Brand X. This one’s a sure winner. And it’s only the first of many Android based devices. I’m now more excited to find out which applications are native to Android, and which ones are clearly T-Mobile’s, because I’d love to see how the ala cart menu of Android will turn out for other smartphones to come.
With native support for the Amazon Music Store, several IM clients, WiFi, music and the Webkit “Chrome” browser, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Android has up its sleeve in the next few months!
Here’s a comparison between the T-Mobile G1 and AT&T’s iPhone.