Phones to Look Out For

There’s a lot of new mobile technology out there and a lot to look forward to. It may a while before we actually see it all here but it’s something worth anticipating - new designs, new Operating Systems, fancy User Interfaces and new features for multimedia mobile maniacs to revel in. This is my list on what I’m looking forward to in the near future (hopefully).

Nokia N97

We’ve seen what the 5800 XpressMusic can do. Nokia’s latest touchscreen technology is something to contend with as is but I’m anxious to see what the next step is going to be with the N97 and its 3.5-inch touchscreen display and its slide out QWERTY keypad. It seems like this is possibly the most ‘fully loaded’ handset that these guys will have to offer. Sure it has all the regular features that one has come to expect out of any high-end device but the N97 will also offer functionality and media from all angles. From its 5MP camera, TV Out, 3.5mm standard earphone socket, GPS, Pocket Office functionality, Wi-Fi and 3G support to a whopping 32GB of internal memory and support for more via MicroSD cards. Is there anything I missed out? Hmm… I don’t think so.

Samsung i7410

The i7410 is going to be really big with the media and business crows as well I imagine. The reason being, that it has a 3.2-inch touchscreen, which is as large as the best of them so viewing videos, web surfing and pretty much all else will provoke no strain on the eyes. However, this handset has the capacity to take that feature and kick it into high gear with a built-in projector that can throw images from 5 to 50 inches. A portable handset cum projector is the new future and the i7410’s features don’t just stop there. The handset is also equipped with a 5megapixel camera, microSD card support, Bluetooth with A2DP, EDGE/GPRS and 3G support and a document viewer. Presumably this device would be perfect for those who are required to show presentations every now and again and can you imagine watching videos? Of course the quality remains to be seen.

Sony Ericsson Idou

Sony Ericsson is gearing up to bring out the big guns with the Idou. Incidentally, the name Idou means ‘Behold’ in Greek and that’s exactly what I figure the announcer is going to scream at the launch. Like something out of a corny spy movie where the villain announces his latest and greatest creation. The Idou is the first handset to employ a 12 megapixel camera lens in a mobile phone and that is something to behold. The 3.5-inch touchscreen display will make a great viewer for taking pictures and with settings that include Face and Smile Detection technology and a Xenon flash, the Idou will be a camera phone to reckon with. Also part of the Idou’s arsenal of features is Bluetooth with A2DP support, GPS, 3G, EDGE and GPRS as well as Wi-Fi and microSD card support for additional memory.
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KM 900 Arena

It’s not so much the handset that I’m looking forward to testing as much as the new S-Class UI. LG’s promised that the new UI with a 3D-like feel should make navigation through the menus easier as well as interactive. But the handset isn’t bad looking either. It’s just that after a while one touchscreen handset looks just like another with slight variants in the design. The Arena is quite a loaded handset though and the 3 inch touchscreen with its 480 x 800 pixel, 16 million color resolution (and an accelerometer) also incorporates multi-touch technology to up the ante on some of the other handsets. The Arena also employs Dolby Mobile technology, a 3.5mm earphone socket, 8GB of internal memory with microSD support for expansion and DivX and Xvid video playback support. Other features also include a 5MP camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics, GPS with A-GPS, Stereo Bluetooth, TV-Out, Wi-Fi and 3G support for when that finally gets here.

HTC Android Handsets – Dream, Magic

HTC Magic

Once again it’s not merely the handsets that I’m looking forward to checking out as the Android OS. There are already two handsets from HTC that have very successfully incorporated the Android Operating system and I’m, aching to see what it can do. While the newer handset, Magic, is sans a physical keypad, it might make the handset a little sleeker and easy to carry around. Of course we’ll have to see how really functional and user friendly the onscreen keypads are before we can say if that’s a good or a bad thing.

HTC Dream (G1)

Track-Ball navigation like the BlackBerry Pearl should make getting around in the menu system quite easy. Both handsets have 3 MP AF cameras but the Dream’s (G1) does not support video recording. Wi-Fi and Standard Bluetooth and external memory support via microSD cards are also part of the handset’s features make up. Personally I prefer the Dream G1’s slide out keypad QWERTY keypad for data entry though.

Palm Pre

The Palm Pre looks like a well designed handset with its large 3.1-inch touchscreen in a slider form factor. The QWERTY keypad looks well balanced even though the images of the handset do make me wonder sometimes. The new WebOS is something I’m looking forward to playing around with though. As features go however, the Pre is not all that well equipped. It comes with 8GB of internal memory with no support for extension and the 3 megapixel camera has enhanced fixed focus with no support for video yet. It does support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.1, 3G and GPS. But I’m, quite fascinated with its design as I haven’t been a fan of Palm’s other handset’s form factor. The Pre looks like Palm is heading to a new level, let’s hope it can maintain its status there.

That’s my list of handsets that I’m really looking forward to testing this year. I’d appreciate it if you, dear readers would let us know what handset you’re looking forward to seeing in the Indian Market. Feel free to leave your comments below or email me your choices.