T-Mobile myTouch 3G Available for Pre-Order, Now!
The highly anticipated T-Mobile myTouch 3G (which was previously known as the HTC Magic) is finally here and available for pre-order. The myTouch 3G is the successor to T-Mobile's popular Android powered G1 phone. T-Mobile has been touting two innovative new features of the myTouch 3G in particular - the high degree to which it can be customized and a new application known as Sherpa.
Although the myTouch 3G only comes in black, silver and merlot, customers will apparently have the option to somehow completely customize their phone's shell, though details of this are not quite clear yet. But outward appearance aside, the real customization is found on the screen. Users will be able to personalize their wallpapers, menus, icons and more through the use of themes and skins. This is a real break from the i-Phone which, aside from wallpaper and the selection of apps on the screen, is virtually devoid of personality. According to to Denny Marie Post, T-Mobile's chief marketing officer, the "myTouch 3G puts you first, so you can create a mobile experience that is truly your own... There’s no cookie-cutter approach to myTouch. Inside and out, there are boundless possibilities for personalization so you can put your personal touch on the phone and make it uniquely yours.”
The other big selling point is a new app called Sherpa. A joint venture between T-Mobile and Geodelic, Sherpa is essentially an engine (it uses GENIE - Geodelic ENgine for Interest Evaluation) that learns and prioritizes based on a user's behavior. For example, if you often search for Indian food or bookstores or whatever, Sherpa will recognize that as one of your preferences and uses your location to give you a tailored list of what you might be interested in. T-Mobile considers it part of the core of myTouch - "At the heart of the T-Mobile myTouch, Sherpa™ is an application with a built-in learning engine that automatically customizes itself to your preferences. Created by Geodelic, the application learns your likes and dislikes through behavior and user feedback, prioritizing recommended retailers, restaurants and attractions. Seamlessly blending behavior recognition, a recommendation engine and location-relevant information, this combination of learning is exclusive to Sherpa and unlike any experience currently on the market."
Besides these two new features the phone is excellent. It no longer has the physical keyboard of the G1, but has a virtual keyboard like the iPhone, which allows it to be both smaller and lighter. It has the same screen as the G1 (3.2-inch TFT-LCD 320 x 480) and camera (3.2 megapixel with autofocus) but twice the internal memory (512MB) which allows apps to run faster and smoother than on the G1. It comes with a 4GB microSD card, obviously upgradable. The biggest hardware improvement comes in the battery, which provides almost twice the life of that of the G1.
The myTouch 3G is available now for pre-order for existing T-Mobile customers, for $199 with a two year service agreement. It will be generally available and begin shipping in the first week of August. In addition, Zagg already has an invisibleSHIELD designed and available for the myTouch 3G for $24.95 (full body) or $14.95 (front).
[via T-Mobile]
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