Google's mobile operating sytem, the HTC Dream, arrives in Australia this week, so JOHN HARRIS has a first look. 

Apple’s game-changing iPhone faces new competition from this week.

Taiwan-based HTC has launched its Magic smartphone in Australia, its second model based on Google’s Android operating system.

With its large clear touchscreen, the HTC magic has been spruiked as an open source alternative to the iPhone

During the past week, I’ve found the Magic actually beats the iPhone in a couple of important areas.

One is call quality. My iPhone, on the Optus network, produces occasionally garbled calls and drops out when I walk under high voltage power lines.
The Magic, running on the Vodafone network, lived up to its name with crystal clear call quality and no dropouts, regardless of what electrical cabling was near me.

The other area is battery life: My iPhone needs charging on a daily basis, even with relatively light use (annoyingly, Apple’s design prevents me from swapping in a spare battery).

The Magic ran for several days on a single charge, even with a number of long telephone calls as part of my unstinting commitment to walking under powerlines.

If call quality and battery life are not enough to get your attention, the standout feature of the HTC Magic is its tight integration with Google’s suite of “cloud computing” services, through the Android software.

Google Search is summoned by a button etched with a magnifier.

Likewise, Google Maps is only one button away while the Search button enters a required destination.

Gmail is accessed by simply entering your user name and password.

Standard bookmarks on the phone’s web browser include Yahoo, Picasa, MySpace and Facebook, making its easy to use the phone to stay in touch with social networks.

Connecting to a Wi-Fi wireless network is equally easy through the phone’s Settings menu.

The on-screen keyboard is just as clever and accurate as that of the iPhone.

The Android software makes the Magic easy to learn and use: A Home button on the left always provides a way out while Green and Red phone buttons manage the basic call functions.

The Magic is available with an 8MB memory card from Vodafone on a $69, 24-month plan. The 3 network is also selling the phone.

The HTC Magic raises the bar for both Apple’s next iPhone version and for every other mobile phone maker.

John Harris is managing director of Impress Media Australia. You can view his website at www.johnharris.net.au.

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