HTC Magic Cell Phone First Impressions Review - Software
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Marianne Schultz Published on February 18, 2009 Comment on this |
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OS
The Magic runs Google's Android operating system. This is still a very new platform and only time will tell if it will flourish. While some phone manufacturers have stated their intent to put out devices running Android, the T-Mobile G1 is still the only device with it on the market currently, and it appears that the Magic will be the second. We're happy to see another smartphone platform on the market - with additional competition, we hope that other platform developers will work to improve theirs, resulting in better options for consumers.
The Magic's main menu
Home Screen
The Magic's home screen is the same 3-paned one we saw on the T-Mobile G1. Its capability has been enhanced, however - you can now add more shortcut items beyond applications. We were shown a menu offering the ability to add contact groups and other items to the home screen to facilitate group messaging and other activities.
The Magic's home screen
Extensibility
Android has an application store, like the App Store for the iPhone, called the Android Market and it is present on the Magic. At the launch of the T-Mobile G1, only free applications were available for download, but this recently expanded to include paid apps, which should tempt more developers to write software for the new platform. While the Android Market has grown, it hasn't yet matched the exponential growth and scope of the App Store for the iPhone, and we suspect that it won't have a chance to catch up until more devices are Android devices are out in the market. Nonetheless, we appreciate the ability to expand the Magic's functionality beyond what it's capable of out of the box - the missing notes and tasks applications are the prominent omissions to us, and the possibility to add social networking and weather apps, as well as games, is definitely there.
Browser
The demo unit we checked did not have an active internet connection, so we were unable to fully preview the browser. The little we did see shows it to have the same functionality as the one on the T-Mobile G1.
The Magic's browser
Other Software
Out of the box, the Magic doesn't offer other software that adds significantly to its feature set.
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