Vodafone offers Magic while Nokia plays with technology
A number of developments in the mobile phone industry have been announced that could interest those in the market for a new handset or network package.
Vodafone revealed that it would make available the second handset in the UK to run on Google's Android operating system, the HTC Magic, on pre-sale from its high street and online outlets.
The device - which goes on general sale from May 5th - follows the T Mobile G1 into the market as the only ones widely available in Britain with the software that was launched last year.
According to the network, for a £35 monthly tariff, users will not only get the HTC Magic for free, they will also be provided with unlimited mobile web access and texts, with 600 free monthly minutes of call time.
The HTC Magic features a full touchscreen display with qwerty keyboard, as well a 3G and Wi-Fi support. An integrated 3.2-megapixel camera and space for up to 8GB of storage are also included.
Elsewhere, Nokia announced a partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) that could lead to the development of new interactive web facilities for its range of mobile phones.
Ulrich Neumann, professor in computer sciences for the USC's Viterbi School of Engineering, said: "It's a great opportunity to work with visionary companies like Nokia that are investing in breakthrough research."
WeFi also revealed that it was working with fring to provide its users with access to a database of 20 million global Wi-Fi hotspots.
Avi Shechter, chief executive of the latter, said such technology would make its product "even more compelling" to those who like to connect and chat wirelessly.
