Australian users will soon be able to buy a second version of the already popular Google phone, with mobile service provider 3 saying it will offer the HTC Magic handset from mid-June.
Meanwhile, computer manufacturer Acer will produce its own smartphone running on the open-source Android operating system.
HTC will release its second device in Australia based on the Android operating system in mid-June, with 3 now taking pre-orders for the device.
The device will feature wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS capabilities, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities, and a 2GB micro-SD memory card.
Applications designed by Google on the phone include Google Maps, a suite of apps including YouTube views and Gmail, and access to the Android application marketplace.
No pricing or usage plans have been released by 3, but it did announce that the device will only come in black.
Acer’s chief of its mobile phones division, Aymar de Lencquesaing, announced at the Reuters Technology Summit that the company will release a Google phone before the end of the year.
Lencquesaing said the phone will be the company’s only smartphone this year not to run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system.
Acer announced earlier this year that it was looking to enter the smartphone market, and introduced a number of devices as the first part of an attempt to capture 5% of the market within five years.
The decision is a win for Google, whose Android operating system is being released on handsets from electronics manufacturers including Samsung and HTC.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
