Upcoming High-End Smartphones

When it comes to smartphones the choices are vast and making a choice isn’t easy. Manufacturers are kicking it into high gear, the competition is getting downright nasty and the choices are getting harder. Here are some of the upcoming smartphones that will have us chewing our nails in anticipation and then chewing what’s left trying to decide which one to buy.
Nokia N8 – Rs. 27,000 (Est. Price)
Nokia is aiming at turning things around for their fans with the N8. It’s their first mobile phone that’s equipped with a 12MP camera with a Xenon flash and features like face-detection etc. They’ve also incorporated an AMOLED display as well as DivX and XviD codec support for the handset and HDMI out, all of which will make this quite a difficult option to dismiss. The N8 will be the first to feature the updated Symbian OS ^3. It’ll also be available in vibrant colour choices.

The N8 is loaded with -

• 3.5-inch AMOLED, scratch resistant touchscreen sporting 360 x 640 pixels, multi-touch
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS Wi-Fi,
• GPS with A-GPS support, free Ovi Maps preloaded
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• 12MP camera, Xenon flash and LED for video, face/smile detection. 720p video recording
• FM radio
• DivX and XviD video support
• TV Out via 3.5mm handsfree
• Dolby Digital Plus via HDMI Out (converter cable included)
• 16GB internal memory plus microSD card support

**
iPhone 4 - Rs. 38,000 (Est. Price)**
The iPhone has already had a longstanding perch at the very height of the mobile phone segment. Even with it’s shortcomings it seems it can do no wrong and the iPhone 4 is not going to give up that position easily. The latest version has taken on a slightly new look with a super high-resolution mobile display Apple has dubbed the Retina Display. The processing power has been upped and so has the operating system. We should expect to see the iPhone 4 in India by October latest, is what we’re hoping. Although Airtel and Vodafone will be the one’s ushering it in, we can always hope we too, like the UK and Canada may be an unlocked devices.

The iPhone 4 has -

• a 3.5-inch touchscreen (Multitouch) with a 640 x 960 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS, Google Maps
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5MP camera (LED flash) with Geo-tagging, 720 video recording
• 16GB and 32GB models
• 3.5mm handsfree with support for TV Out

**
HTC Desire – Rs. 30,000 (Est. Price)**
The promise of the Nexus One reaching our shores wasn’t kept and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing considering the handset didn’t far all to well. Thankfully we can hope to see the next best thing i.e. the Desire make it’s official debut here soon. With its 1GHz processor, large AMOLED display and of course HTC’s Sense UI, the Desire is definitely a ‘desirable’ (excuse the corniness) handset. Android’s next update, Froyo will also be along shortly to ‘sweeten’ the deal. The Desire also comes equipped with an Optical trackball like the HTC Legend, to be used for navigating the menus and features. If only it had a higher capacity of internal memory.

The Desire also features -

• a 3.7-inch touchscreen (Multitouch) with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution

• 3G support, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi

• GPS with A-GPS, Google Maps

• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0

• 5MP camera (LED flash)

• FM radio

• 3.5mm handsfree

• MicroSD card support
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  MILESTONE XT270 – Rs. 27,490 (Recommended Retail Price)
  The Droid X has been making the news worldwide and aims at giving the iPhone 4 a run for it’s money. Although we will never see that handset here, being CDMA for the US and all, we are going to see the recently announced for India; MILESTONE XT270 hit shelves in a very short time. The XT270 is pretty much the Droid X in GSM like its predecessor. Without the QWERTY keypad Motorola has saved the design, making it sleeker. With the addition of mini HDMI out and an 8MP camera with 720p video recording, the XT270 is just making the decision harder.

  The MILESTONE XT720 will also feature -

• a 3.7-inch touchscreen (multi touch) sporting a 480 x 854 pixel resolution

• 3G support, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA

• GPS with A-GPS with Motorola’s MOTONAV GPS app

• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)

• 8MP camera (Xenon flash), face/smile detection Geo-tagging and 720 video recording

• FM radio

• microSD card support (up to 32GB)

• 3.5mm handsfree socket, HDMI out

BlackBerry 9800 Torch - Rs. 32,000 (Est. Price)
Can’t leave the BlackBerry fans out can we. The Introduction of BlackBerry OS 6 and their latest handset the Torch, RIM is making big waves. We’re seeing yet another design form from the company. This may not be their first touchscreen handset but it is their first slider with a QWERTY keypad. It’s a bit of a take on the Palm Pre though. Nevertheless RIM is getting ready to bring it’s latest creation into the country, security issues be damned.

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The handset is going to feature -

• a 3.2-inch touchscreen with a 360 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS, BlackBerry Maps
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP and USB 2.0 (micro)
• 5MP camera with LED flash, Geotagging, Image stabilisation
• 3.5mm handsfree socket
• 4GB internal memory plus microSD card support

The prices quoted are only estimated and as most of the devices don’t have official Indian prices tags just yet.