Vodafone celebrates launch of HTC Magic

Media Release

17 June 2009

Vodafone celebrates launch of ‘HTC Magic with Google’ with nationwide treasure hunt

The HTC Magic with Google™, will be available to Vodafone customers in New Zealand at the end of June and to celebrate Vodafone is giving away 20 of these super-cool new devices. 

This Friday, June 19th, 20 lucky people will be able to get their hands on the HTC Magic ahead of its launch.  The phones will be hidden in secret locations around New Zealand, and from 9am onwards clues to the location of these phones will be released on: www.vodafone.co.nz/magic.

At four times during the day: 9am, 11am, 2pm and 4pm; Vodafone will be turning on phones in different locations nationwide, and the race to find the HTC Magic begins. To win, participants can go online to check when the HTC Magic is turning on in their town and sign up to receive clues via TXT.  The first person to find the handset in each location, valued at $1099, gets to keep it.

Vodafone's Director of Marketing, Mark Rushworth says the HTC Magic will be a groundbreaking handset in their range. 

"The HTC Magic is innovation at its best and comes with Android operating system which offers users simple and easy functionality with very cool integration with some of Google's most loved products.  It's very exciting to be the first to bring an Android handset to New Zealand and add one of the best mobile internet brands to our line up."

"The phone can also be used across Vodafone’s extended 3G network which covers 97% of the places New Zealanders live, work and play.”

The HTC Magic is a candy bar touch screen mobile with an easy to use interface that allows users to personalise the way they use the internet on their mobile, as well as download relevant applications, ringtones and games thanks to direct access to the application-rich Android Market.

There are plenty of new additions to the latest Android-powered phone, including a fully functional web browser with Google Search™. The HTC Magic also features stereo Bluetooth for audio, the ability to load pictures to Picasa Web Albums™ and to record video and upload clips to YouTube™.  

Available in white or black, the HTC Magic has a 3.2” QVGA touch screen display, with accelerometer to change from portrait to landscape view. The sleek handset also includes a variety of email options such as Gmail™, POP3 and IMAP as well as Google Talk™ for instant messaging. The phone can easily synchronise with Google Calendar™ and contacts, and it comes with Google Maps™ with Street View, satellite view and Google Latitude™, making it easier to stay in touch with friends.

Other features include a removable battery and support for Quad-band GSM, dual-band UMTS, HSDPA/HSUPA, Wi-fi, GPS, and a 3.2MP camera capable of video recording and MMS.

The HTC Magic with Google will be available in-store from Friday 26th June for $1099 handset only or from $319 on one of the new Vodafone Smartphone plans. To pre-register your interest and for more information, head to www.vodafone.co.nz/htcmagic

To check whether your town is part of the nationwide treasure hunt and to register for TXT clues, get to www.vodafone.co.nz/magic.

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