While Bell may have scored with the Palm Pre, Rogers has quickly fired back by announcing today they've signed on to be the first carrier in Canada to offer cellphones running Android, Google's mobile operating system. Not only will Rogers have the HTC Dream, A.K.A. the "G1" in the US, but they will also have the new HTC Magic and both handsets will be available next month, June 2009.
"Who else but Rogers would be the first carrier to offer Canadians the first chance to join the mobile revolution with a choice of not one, but two, handsets powered by the Android platform", said John Boynton, Senior VicePresident and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless in an issued statement this morning.
Both handsets offer a touchscreen display, but while the Dream includes a slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard, the Magic takes the route of only offering a virtual one. Both devices will benefit from Android's link to Google mobile services including Google Maps, Gmail, and of course, search. More details to follow from Rogers, they just wanted to get the news out while we're all drooling over the Pre. You can visit http://www.rogers.com/revolution to sign up for updates.
Both handsets have the ability to download and install apps from Google's online store, the "Android Market" and both have features unique to Google's Android software such as the ability to explore Google Maps Street View by simply holding up the phone and moving it about in the air, the built-in accelerometer sense the action and adjusts the screen, the same as if you were using a mouse.
Both quadband handsets offer leading smartphone features including 3G internet speeds, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS, e-mail support for Microsoft Exchange Server, accelerometer sensor, 3.2 Megapixel cameras, Micro SD card slots for expanded memory, and the ability to play videos and music. While only the Dream has a slide-out keyboard, both handsets include a physical trackball for navigating the screen in addition to the gesture-based touchscreen controls.
HTC Dream
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