Known as the manufacturer’s first Android-powered device, the HTC Magic features the classic PDA-phone form factor. Featuring a minimalist exterior and basic controls underneath the generously-sized display, the Magic is also my first experience with Google’s mobile OS.

Doing away with the classic five-way navigator, the Magic relies on a small trackball for interface browsing and selection. The virtual keyboard is reminiscent of the iPhone’s, with the device emitting slight vibrations upon keypress as physical feedback.
The Android OS was very responsive, with none of the delays the characterize the interface of—dare I say it—Windows Mobile devices as recent as last year. …read more

Syndicating the syndicated: What follows is Boing Boing Gadget’s compilation of Palm Pre reviews from all over the web.
David Pogue, leaked by the Financial Chronicle, at The New York Times:
So do the Pre’s perks (beautiful hardware and software, compact size, keyboard, swappable battery, flash, multitasking, calendar consolidation) outweigh its weak spots (battery life, slow program opening, ringer volume, Sprint network)? Oh, yes indeedy. Especially when you consider that last weak spot might be going away. Verizon Wireless has announced that it will carry the Pre ”in the next six months or so.”
Steven Levy, at Wired:
It’s a huge win … The …read more

All-American PR: After Obama’s minions announced his continued reliance on his Blackberry for communication (though to a select group of people), Microsoft stepped up to attack RIM:
Microsoft, however, has questioned the wisdom of the president relying on a device whose maker is based in Canada. “You would be sending your data outside the country,” says Randy Siegel, a Microsoft enterprise mobile strategist who works on federal government projects. “We wouldn’t want the casual musings or official communications of the most important person in the world being intercepted by others.”
Even if RIM routed information through a U.S. data center, the devices …read more

Check it out, a video detailing how iTouchMidi works:

(itouchmidi.com, via Gearfuse)

Through a recent BusinessWeek article, long-troubled smartphone pioneer Palm revealed the reason for its apparent lack of action, as it lost ground to competitors like Nokia, RIM, and Apple. The article explained away its slide by asserting that Palm spent the last year or so retooling itself, bringing aboard former Apple executive Jon Rubenstein to refocus product development and revitalize the company’s fading fortunes.