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By Marguerite Reardon, 22 June 2009 08:33

NEWS

Competition in the smartphone market is heating up this summer as one new hot smartphone after another hits the street. The latest is T-Mobile's next Google Android device, called the myTouch.

T-Mobile is set to announce the new smartphone today. It is the second smartphone the carrier has introduced that uses Google's open-source mobile operating system, Android. T-Mobile introduced the world's first Google Android phone, called the G1, last autumn. And so far the company claims it has sold more than one million devices.

The myTouch is manufactured by HTC and is essentially the same hardware design as the Google Ion, which is also known as the HTC Magic. The device was introduced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and is now being sold by Vodafone in various markets around the world.

The HTC Magic has been described as thinner than the G1 and slightly smaller than Apple's iPhone. But it features a large 3.2-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels and no physical keyboard. The phone offers network support for 3G and wi-fi.

The new myTouch will come in new colours and have enhanced software capabilities specially designed for T-Mobile.

The myTouch comes with 512MB of internal memory and supports microSD for external storage.

Even though T-Mobile's first Android phone hasn't even been out a year, T-Mobile is calling the myTouch its premier Android smartphone, said Andrew Sherrard, vice president at T-Mobile. The carrier will announce a few more Android devices later this year but it will be focusing much of its marketing efforts promoting the myTouch. Sherrard added the G1 isn't going away anytime soon.

The myTouch is entering the market just as every major smartphone maker is also introducing its latest and greatest device. Three other smartphones makers have already started selling phones this summer. Palm's much anticipated Pre was introduced two weeks ago. Nokia followed with its US debut of the N97, touchscreen smartphone. And Apple started selling its faster and memory-enhanced iPhone 3G S on Friday.

So how does T-Mobile expect the myTouch to stand out among all these other new phones? The key, Sherrard said, is personalisation. While the basic hardware design of the myTouch is the same as the HTC Magic, T-Mobile has made enhancements to the device both in terms of hardware and software.

"No two myTouch devices will be alike," Sherrard said. "They will be as unique as the users that own them."

From a software perspective, consumers will have the opportunity to completely customise their myTouch device with various Android applications. In retail stores, T-Mobile sales representatives will help customers set up their own personalised device before they leave the store.

One example of an application that will make tailor the phone to a particular individual is called Sherpa, created by Geodelic. This application is a location-based service that uses GPS to help users find restaurants, cinemas, and other businesses or points of interest that are nearby.

The application, which is one of 5,000 applications available on the Android Marketplace, will be exclusive to T-Mobile, Sherrard said. The myTouch will also have special Google features baked in, such as easy picture uploading to Picasa and easy video loading to YouTube, both web properties owned by Google.

Some other ways users will be able to customise their phones includes the ability to add widgets, music, a personal calendar, photos, and web link shortcuts that can all be accessed with a single click.

"What we have found is that once consumers know how to customise a device and they add everything they want on it, they respond very well to having a phone that is specially designed for them," Sherrard said.

In the end, Sherrard believes consumers will see the myTouch as more than just a phone.

"This is more than a product launch for us," Sherrard said. "We want consumers to view this as an experience that we are creating for them."