Continuing its path as a devoted Android supporter, T-Mobile has a new phone in the pipeline that takes the Google operating system to a new level.
T-Mobile was first to market with an Android phone, the G1, and the Mytouch 3G Slide appears to be a revamped version of that flagship device. Despite its namesake, it is a very different animal than the Mytouch 3G, which has no physical keyboard and was quickly pushed under the rug by other Android newcomers.
The Slide will come pre-installed with a handful of custom widgets, designed exclusively for this phone. For example, there’s the “Faves Gallery,” a notification pane on the side of the screen that displays live feeds of what’s going on in your favorite contacts’ lives.
Users can choose up to 20 people to add to the interface, and then link to their Facebook and social networking accounts to get instant updates pushed directly to the phone’s home menu screen.
Additionally, there’s a rather conceited-sounding “Genius Button” on the phone. When pushed, it activates a voice command menu, allowing users to access their text messages and initiate calls from a hands-free position.
Like the G1, the Slide is being developed by smartphone specialist HTC. It’s comprised of a 3.4-inch HVGA touch-screen and an 8 GB microSD card built-in. The device will be released in June.
