HTC Magic review
Can HTC's second Google Android based handset cast a powerful enough spell over us to forget the iPhone? We check out the HTC Magic.
If you’ve been waiting for the second generation Google phone this is a significant improvement over the G1. It’s light, generally well featured and is easy to use, but the lack of native Exchange support may put off some business users. And with other Android handsets on their way, not to mention a new iPhone, it might be worth adopting a wait-and-see approach.
Moving between pages is also done via a slick effect and we encountered no limits on the numbers of pages we could open the Opera Mobile has a three tab limit which gets frustrating.
As slick as Android is, as soon we got our Magic up and running the first thing we did was head of to the Android Marketplace, via the icon and search for those essential apps without which we couldn't function. Yes, we quickly found a selection of Twitter applications, choose one which looked good (Twitroid), downloaded and installed it. We did the same with other apps such as LastFM, and Accuweather.What impressed about Android was that it enables notifications for third-party apps to run in the background unlike the current iPhone 2.0 OS. This meant that when new Tweets arrived a icon appeared in the notifications area at the top and the phone buzzed - and the same applies to email. The notification area is easily accessible by simply dragging down from the top and from here you can see more details of what is occurring on your phone.
The built-in apps are impressive GPS gives Google Maps a high level of accuracy and we were happy with the responsiveness when walking through London. You can even select a Street View mode when you're in a covered area.
The Picture Gallery apps is good and rotates images using the accelerometer quickly, while scrolling is a simple side to side affair. Again, zooming in is done via the on screen zoom tool while panning around is done with the finger.
The camera itself is a respectable 3.2 megapixels. The lens auto focuses, and does so much faster than an HTC Touch HD we compared against. Images are fine in good light and colours, while not completely accurate, are at least not over saturated or washed out. There's no flash though, and we'd rate the camera as just about adequate. The camera records video too, but it's somewhat low resolution and blocky as a result.
-
Layoffs loom for underskilled tech workers and poor performers – but there's light on the horizon for those willing to upskillNews Tech hiring managers expect to make layoffs in the coming months, with roles ripe for automation and workers with outdated skills the most likely to be cut.
-
Executives think AI can supercharge cybersecurity teams – analysts aren’t convincedNews As organizations adopt AI, frontline cybersecurity workers are worried AI will reduce job security and increase their manual workload
-
Software deployments are plagued by delays: Rampant skills shortages and underinvestment are slowing down processes – and it’s costing businesses bigNews UK software deployments are running an average of four months beyond schedule, new research shows, with delays affecting more than eight-in-ten businesses.
