HTC Magic gets zoom-wheel [Video]

[Chris Davies]

In addition to the landscape QWERTY keyboard, HTC have added a new zoom control wheel to the [URL="http://androidcommunity.com/tag/htc-magic"]HTC ... Read more

[Chotpy]

lol @ the rap

wow, that's pretty interesting that bouncing on autorotate is interesting, i hope the speed can be changed.

i know a lot of peeps wish that were here now!!!

i guess it's only fair, the USA got the G1 first, so now they get the Magic.

[badbob001]

This is better since pressing the magnifier buttons is awkward with one hand and not always responsive. And it's nice to have a smooth zoom than discrete levels and to have the interface not always show up when scrolling around.

Looks like on the virtual keyboard, the letters pop up above the key instead of 'away' from the key like before. This feels better.

[munashii]

Looks pretty cool. Although a simple horizontal slider probably would've achieved the same effect without your fingers getting in the way of what you're seeing on the screen.

[DarKnight]

Such an awesome phone... but such bs for G1 users. They better have those features on the G1 soon. Look at the video recorder and uploader. Thats awesome. G1 totally has that capability. Come on guys... dont be a bunch of a-holes, release an update please, with those things.

[AndroidUser]

It looks nice. I think the people who plan on getting this phone will be satisfied.

[J8888]

Since when does the Magic have a QWERTY keyboard? The deal killer with this device is the lack of a physical keyboard. Are you implying that a physical slide-out keyboard has been added at this stage? Seems unlikely.

[LazyGenius]

for some reason it kind of reminds me of the pie zoom on steel....

[Chris Davies]

Looks pretty cool. Although a simple horizontal slider probably would've achieved the same effect without your fingers getting in the way of what you're seeing on the screen.

Actually, I think the circular setup has distinct advantages over a horizontal scroller. I've been using Opera on an HTC Touch HD, and that has a horizontal scroller control along the bottom of the display; it's pretty tricky to hold the phone and thumb the slider along, all in one hand. Making a rotating motion with your thumb is much easier, IMO. And yes, it looks cooler too

Since when does the Magic have a QWERTY keyboard? The deal killer with this device is the lack of a physical keyboard. Are you implying that a physical slide-out keyboard has been added at this stage? Seems unlikely.

No, not a hardware keyboard but an on-screen keyboard, which the G1 doesn't have.

Chris

[dwang]

Since when does the Magic have a QWERTY keyboard? The deal killer with this device is the lack of a physical keyboard. Are you implying that a physical slide-out keyboard has been added at this stage? Seems unlikely.

Its all about choices. Now people can choose to have a physical keyboard (g1) while sacrificing size and weight, while others can choose to have a virtual keyboard that has the advantage of being smaller and lighter.