eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
T-Mobile introduced the myTouch 3G on Feb. 10, announcing that the new smartphone will replace the original myTouch.
New to the myTouch 3G is a 3.5mm headset jack and an update music player; an addition 288MB of RAM and an 8GB microSD card; preloaded applications, including Barcode Scanner, Music Player, myAccount and Visual Voicemail; and software from Swype.
The Swype software is said to offer faster and more intuitive text input on touch screens. Designed to work across multiple operating systems and device form factors – including tablets, televisions and GPS units – it supports 30 languages and can “learn” as it’s used, collecting new words and phone numbers and making the device continually more personalized to its user.
T-Mobile’s vice president of marketing and product innovation, George Harrison, said in a statement, “Customers have been vocal in their demand for a more intuitive and efficient way to use a virtual keyboard on touch screen devices.”
Mike McSherry, CEO of Swype, added, “Launching on the Android platform is a major milestone for Swype as we continue to expand to new touch-screen devices and platforms.”
To view images of the myTouch 3G, click here.
What won’t change on the myTouch 3G is the one-touch access to Google services, including Google Search By Voice, Google Maps, YouTube and Picasa. Users can also still customize their homescreen, and have quick access to the Android Market, now more than 20,000 applications strong.
The display on the myTouch 3G is, on the diagonal, a 3.2-inch LCD. There are GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA radios, mobile email support and an Internet browser, a 3.2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth 2.0.
The myTouch 3G, which is now available nationwide, is priced at $149.99 with a new two-year contract and a qualifying voice and data plan.
On Jan. 20, T-Mobile additionally launched the myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition. This version of the myTouch 3G additionally features a “Fender guitar sunburst-finish inspired design,” as T-Mobile describes it, and comes with a 16GB microSD card, a Guitar: Solo and Musical Light application, several pre-loaded songs from Eric Clapton and singles from Wyclef Jean, Avril Lavigne and Brad Paisley.