Vodafone lifts curtain on Android Magic

Taiwanese handset vendor HTC has unveiled its second Android-based handset under an operator partnership with mega carrier Vodafone.

The unveiling of the HTC Magic smartphone also marks Big Red’s first Android-powered handset, and will be available in the spring in the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France (via SFR).

Details of the device’s capabilities are scant however, but Voda did say it would be available from free on various price plans, the Magic has a 3.2″ QVGA touch screen display and features a trackball and navigational buttons, as well as a suite of Google applications.

Last week, Vodafone was among a handful of major operators committed to rolling out devices this year based on the LiMo Foundation’s flavour of Linux. NTT DoCoMo, Orange, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, have all committed to deploying handsets based on the latest version of the LiMo Platform, and many are also members of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), which develops the software for the Google-backed Android platform, indicating that many carriers are reluctant to reduce their reliance on multiple flavours of Linux.

HTC is the maker of the T-Mobile G1, the world’s first Android-based handset.