magic

This post was last updated on May 15 at 11:28 a.m., PT.

Earlier on Thursday, we reported on the Singapore HTC Magic launch and learned from our friends at CNET Asia that HTC has two more Google Android devices planned for the year. Great to hear, but was there more immediate good news that flew under the radar?

In Damian Koh's hands-on report of the Magic, right there in the sixth picture, plain as day, is Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support on the HTC Magic (kudos to CNET News reporter Stephen Shankland for noticing).

Koh also writes, "… Read more

To celebrate its 50th birthday, MINI revisited its younger years and created a Beatles' inspired MINI that will be donated to charity later.

This one-off 2009 MINI Cooper S is based on the 1966 model given to Beatles' guitarist George Harrison, who customized his car with yantras and Sanskrit mantras. The psychedelic car was later featured in The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour.

The reinterpreted MINI Cooper S was designed according to the wishes of Olivia Harrison, and she will accept the donation on behalf of Material World Charitable Foundation at MINI … Read more

Here's some news straight from the horse's mouth. At Thursday's launch of the HTC Magic in Singapore, Executive Vice President Jason Juang told CNET Asia in an aside that the company will be releasing at least two more Android smartphones by the end of this year. He remained coy when pressed for more details.

HTC's no longer alone in the Android party as Samsung has recently announced its first Android offering, the I7500. We'll continue to keep you updated. Meanwhile, check out our hands-on pictures of the Magic, or if motion images are your kind … Read more

With baby No. 5 due in July, nesting has kicked in big time here at my house. Everything we own is being scrutinized, and items past their prime are being unceremoniously kicked to the curb. Those that stay in the house must be organized. For me, this often translates to "put in baskets."

So when I discovered these foldable buckets from Magic Korb, I was, frankly, a little giddy. These buckets have an accordion-like shape designed to let you collapse and easily store them. When you need it, grasp the two handles and expand it.

The buckets are … Read more

Updated at 7:21 a.m. PDT with comment from Rogers.

Dominant Canadian carrier Rogers Wireless announced plans to release two phones in June built by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC and powered by Google's Android open-source operating system.

The HTC Dream, sold in the United States as the T-Mobile G1, was the first Android phone to go on sale last year, but now the newer HTC Magic, which lacks the G1's flip-out keyboard and uses a touch-screen software keyboard instead, has begun arriving in parts of the world. Rogers will sell both in June, the company said Thursday.

"Both devices offer outstanding wireless Internet search capabilities and a full suite of applications that run two times faster on Canada's fastest mobile network," John Boynton, Rogers Wireless' chief marketing officer, boasted in a statement Thursday.

The Rogers Wireless Android phone Web site said the debut date is June 2, but the company offered no information about prices or subscription plans.

"Regarding pricing, it will be released soon, but in the meantime, I can confirm that customers who activate or upgrade to a HTC Dream or HTC Magic smartphone will be able to take advantage of Rogers Wireless' in-market pricing," spokeswoman Elizabeth Hamilton said. "And I can also confirm that customers can choose from contract or no-contract pricing."

Rogers' 3.5G network reaches 75 percent of Canada's population, she added. … Read more

For decades, slightly cheesy sleight-of-hand artists around the world have promised that "you won't believe your eyes!" before demonstrating ageless moves handed down from generation to generation.

Now that an ever-accelerating cascade of eye-popping visual technology such as augmented reality has threatened to steal some of the magic dust from old-fashioned magicians, along comes a pasteboard prestidigitator who folds augmented reality into his own YouTube-ready routine.

Enter Marco Tempest, a renegade cardsharp and AR artist who assembled an open-source, real-time theater of the future for your entertainment, called Augmented Reality Magic 1.0.

Is this, ladies and gentlemen, magic of the future?… Read more

After months of drought, we're finally seeing the Google Android news trickle in--the debut of the Samsung I7500, the upcoming Android 1.5 (aka Cupcake) release, and the launch of the HTC Magic. Unfortunately, for us here in the States, all the action has been overseas, but we can only hope that we're not far behind in getting in on the Android love.

To tide you over, we thought we'd point you to a photo gallery posted by our friends over at ZDNet UK who got a hands-on look at the Vodafone HTC Magic. The hardware is … Read more