The first Android phone touched down in South Africa yesterday.

Vodacom released the HTC Magic before MTN could bring out their HTC Dream. Both run on Google’s Android mobile platform.

The HTC Magic has a 3.2\" touch screen, going the same route as the iPhone, Nokia’s 5800 and the BlackBerry Storm by not including a physical keyboard. But the real excitement is about the Android operating system. Android promises excellent integration with all things Google, including Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube and Google Maps. That’s not all though. Since the operating system source code was made available lots of third party development has taken place, leading to a number of excellent applications.

The HTC Dream is known internationally as the G2 and features Wi-Fi, a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus, internal GPS and HSDPA. It is available on Vodacom’s Smart 120S (R450 per month) and Smart 500S (R925.00) contract packages.