HTC Magic Getting Slideout QWERTY Keyboard?

by Rob Jackson on January 21st, 2010 at 12:49 pm

We’ve expected for a LONG TIME that the HTC Magic would eventually get a slideout QWERTY keyboard and early on in the whole Android-thinga-majig it was one of the phones EVERYONE wanted the opportunity to enjoy. Back in the dizzle it was called the HTC Lancaster and although we don’t know what it will go by when it launches, it is most definitely the HTC Magic reworked with a hardware QWERTY.

HTC says so themselves (albeit inadvertently through a user agent profile listing):

htc-sapphire-qwerty-uap

There isn’t any telling when, or even IF, this will actually come out. I just wish they would have launched this thing along with the touch-only Magic and given users an option between the two. That would have been stellar and if you ask me, more carriers/manufacturers should come to market with that dual hardware strategy.

[Via CellPassion]

  • davis

    so the rest of the hardware will be the same? i guess 288mb ram is ok but everything else sure seems dated…

  • Evan

    Doesn’t Magic + keyboard = Dream?

  • HammerT

    But the magic is the same hardware as the G1, ok the HTC version got a bit more ram.

    And wait a minute…. the G1 has a keyboard!

  • Wilco

    Magic has twice the ROM capacity, and 96M of RAM. That’s substantial. Not sure I would use apps2SD with a Magic, and I doubt I would have to RAM hack either.

  • G

    yah I have a magic and im not intrested in buying an outdated phone, however if the N1/HTC-Brovo/X10 had a keybord i’d be sold!

  • AGx-07_162

    Personally I hope that they are at least smart enough to update the hardware in some degree to make it a seller. If its going to be the exact same specs but with a keyboard, I might as well go ahead and get a GeeksPhone One. I’d like to see more RAM in it personally.

  • Jerry

    The SPecs will be fine if it’s Free with a 2 year contract …

  • treefq

    HTC must be buying major parts quantities. For them to be pushing the same hardware as the original first run phones is pathetic.

    The only reason my the N1 has upgraded hardware is because google spec’ed it out.

    The motorola Motoroi has 8GB on board and a 8mp camera. And they only have 4 months under their belt.

  • http://android.com.a Artem

    A lot of time ago announced HTC Lancaster. its like Magic+keyboard. http://android.com.ua/templates/Simple/images/news/129.jpg

  • Dan

    Very disappointing how slow Phandroid has been updating their site lately. I’ve had to switch my main android site. I used to be very pleased with Phandroid until the past month where it has been incredibly slow with news…

  • GeneralZod

    @Dan….I completely agree!!!!

  • Matt Wicker

    @Dan…. Me too. Phandroid.com was the first (and usually only) site I checked for over a year now, but I’m starting to read Androidandme.com and engadget.com instead.

  • jo

    Yea, what is Rob doing with our ad dollars? Jetsetting to vegas to spend it on hookers and booze? Rob, you love you dawg. come back. Your archenemy androidandme is calling me to coming over but i’m holding out for you for just a few more hours.

  • Jouten

    I never heard of androidandme.com until just now! Thanks guys! I’m a go an take a look! :)

  • Dan

    I’ve also been using androidguys.com too, they update quite often

  • http://www.andrudes.com Todd A

    @Dan, I agree. There are LOTS of good Android sites, and this one is sadly dropping from that list. It’s too bad, Rob either needs to step up the content with more quality writers, or step aside. This used to be a great site.

  • G

    To anyone who cares, I just updated my Rogers HTC Magic to HTC Sense! Rogers is offering the upgrade to all its magic users via-Rogers-web-site. NOTE: The HTC sense version is only 1.5 still :(

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  • jerry

    Actually, i prefer HTC dream…

    P.S. “Watch DVD Movies on Android Phone HTC Hero/Dream/Magic/Droid Eris …”
    http://www.daniusoft.com/tutorial/dvd-video-to-android.html.html#135

  • http://www.androidnews.de Android News

    Would be great to have a “real” keyboard.

  • jo

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