2009
HTC Magic. Keyboardless niceness
Like those people who believe writing things out by hand or on typewriters is better than writing on a computer, those people who believer phones should come with full-QWERTY physical keyboards are, well, just plain wrong. They may deny it, they may even spit in your eye for suggesting it, but you can hankie out the phlegm happy in the knowledge that you are right, they are wrong, and that’s the end of it.
And it seems like HTC have cottoned on to the fact, because the HTC Magic, the follow-up to the first-ever Android-running phone, the keyboard-sporting G1, has done away with its keyboard. Huzzah, we say, whilst sticking our middle finger up towards the tweed-jacket wearing keyboard supporters as they weep into their pints of CAMRA-supported real ale. Because the HTC Magic is 100%, absolutely, completely, undeniably better for the addition… or the subtraction, as it were. It’s far, far lighter (coming in at a bikini-friendly 116g, just in time for summer). It’s slimmer, a Special-K-tastic 13.6mm, no more or less. And, the fantastic touchscreen thingie that’s replaced it is great. Boo-hoo Mr Keyboard Fiddler, it might take you all of four minutes to get used to the sensation of touching a screen rather than pounding some poor defenseless key. Waaaa, Mr Caps Lock Caresser, your fat fingers are too fat for the portrait mode… then flip it you imbecile, because this keyboard does what your favoured thing can’t – it rotates to fit the screen whichever way you turn it. And, thanks to the G-sensor, you can turn the Magic anyway you want, even upside down.
Anyway, that’s our keyboard-based rant over. Got to get that out of the system once a month at least. What’s that? You want more specs? More details? Bah! You’re so demanding. Check out the HTC Official page for some opinionated guff, or check out this HTC Magic Review, for some slightly different opinionated guff.