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Did T-Mobile Wait Too Long To Introduce The myTouch 3G?


Posted by Eric Zeman, Jun 22, 2009 03:25 PM

Today, T-Mobile announced its second Android device, the myTouch 3G with Google. Horrible name aside, the device has a decent spec list. But is the myTouch 3G too little, too late?


I don't think the timing of T-Mobile's announcement of the myTouch could be any worse. The Palm Pre launched several weeks ago. The Nokia N97 followed it quickly, and so did the Apple iPhone 3GS and HTC Snap. The smartphone market is practically flooded with new models.

That means today's announcement may get lost in the fray. Not only is the announcement poorly timed, but the information it shares is not very exciting. Sure, the device is great and all, but T-Mobile said the phone won't be ready until early August, which is a full 6 weeks away.

Who will be left to buy a myTouch 3G with Google after the Pre, iPhone 3GS, N97 and other smartphones have been on the market that long? Heck, 1 million people bought an iPhone over the weekend, and about 100,000 picked up the Palm Pre several weeks ago.

The myTouch 3G is modeled closely after the HTC Magic, which was first announced in February and launched by Vodafone earlier this year. The Magic, which was the second Android device to actually hit the market, shipped with the Android 1.5 "Cupcake" operating system. Android 1.5 only recently became available to owners of the HTC G1, which was the first Android phone launched by T-Mobile in 2008. Was T-Mobile waiting for Android 1.5 to be fully ready before shipping the myTouch?

Why T-Mobile's version of the Magic won't be available until early August is a bit puzzling. T-Mobile would have done better to get the myTouch 3G to market in a timeframe more inline with Vodafone's launch of the Magic.

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