HTC Android phone to cost Rs 29,900 in India

Taiwanese handset maker HTC launched a handset based on Google's operating system software Android for mobiles and other wireless devices in India on Tuesday in partnership with telecom operator Bharti Airtel.

India's first Android-powered mobile HTC Magic has Bharti Airtel as its exclusive carrier and is priced at Rs 29,900.

"The handset would be available in the Indian market in the first week of July... We are confident of the product doing well and expect to sell about 25,000 units in the next four-five months," HTC India Country Manager Ajay Sharma told reporters in New Delhi.

HTC Magic is a touchscreen handset equipped with a 3.2-inch screen, 3.2 megapixel camera and has 3G capabilities.

"Airtel customers would get free data download of 100 MB per month for six months. It also comes equipped with applications like portfolio manager, hello tune manager, weather channel, mobshare, in-mobile search and city search," Bharti Airtel Chief Marketing Officer Raghunath Mandava said.

The company plans to launch about 7-8 handsets in the second half of this year.

"Generally, we launch about 10-12 handsets in a year… that's about 3-4 devices a year. This year, we have just launched three handers so far, so the pipeline for the rest of the year is pretty robust," Sharma said.