Upcoming Smartphones to Look for

This month has already been a big one for mobile maniacs. We’ve been witness to big announcements and launches from the likes of LG, Samsung and HTC. While some handsets have already hit the shelves, others will be making their presence felt in the next month or so. As if making a choice for a smartphone wasn’t hard enough, it’s only going to get harder in the coming months. But just to give you a quick heads up, here’s a short list of upcoming devices you might want to consider.

Nokia X7
In a bid to obviously keep existing customers happy and try and enthrall new ones, Nokia has announced this rather funky/edgy looking handset, the X7. It’ll feature their newest upgrade to the Symbian platform that’s been dubbed Anna. Hopefully it’ll offer more than what Symbian ^3 does and possibly put it closer to the ranks of the very popular Android or iOS systems. The X7 will run on a 680 MHz ARM 11 processor and even offer DivX/XviD video codec support, much like the Nokia N8 and Nokia E7. However it seems to be sans an HDMI output but Nokia’s USB-on-the-go functionality is on board.

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Not really a radical but ceratinly an edgy design

The X7 features -

• 4.0-inch AMOLED Capacitive Touchscreen with a 360 x 640 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support and Nokia Maps
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 8 Megapixel camera dual LED flash, 720p video recording
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Samsung Galaxy S II
One of the most anticipated handsets of this quarter is the Galaxy S II. It’s a slim, sleek looking handset that is equipped with all kinds of functionality to rival a tablet. From its 1.2 GHz  dual Core processor to active noise cancellation, NFC support, DivX and Xvid codec support and a fresh new TouchWiz UI look, the Galaxy S II is going to turn a few heads when it makes it out in May. It’ll ship with Android Gingerbread even support full HD video recording and playback. With 8 GB or 16 GB capacities plus the ability to use microSD cards up to 32 GB, you’ll have plenty of space for media.

Galaxy S II, a powerhouse

The S II comes with -

• 4.3-inch Capacitive Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen (scratch resistant) with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, DLNA,
• GPS with A-GPS
• Bluetooth 3.0 + HS, USB 2.0 with MHL (Mobile Hio-Def Link)
• 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED Flash and 1080p video recording and playback
• 2 megapixel secondary camera
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM with RDS
• TV out via USB MHL
• 16/32 GB Internal memory, 1 GB RAM and support for microSD cards

MILESTONE 2
The MILESTONE was a popular handset when it made it out but lacked that certain ‘oomph’ when it came to power. Realizing the space it left vacant, Motorola has rehashed and slightly redesigned the MILESTONE with some much needed upgrades. The MILESTONE 2 will be equipped with a gorilla glass display, support DivX and Xvid codecs and also come with 8 GB of internal storage. More importunately the processing power has been drastically upped to a 1 GHz Cortex-A8 model which should make it significantly faster running on FroYo.

MILESTONE 2, a few steps ahead of the original

Here are what the MILESTONE 2’s specs are like -

• 3.7-inch touchscreen display with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution
• Slide out QWERTY
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA, Wi-Fi Hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5MP autofocus/Touch focus camera, dual LED flash, 720p video recording
• 8GB internal memory and microSD card support
• 3.5mm handsfree socket

Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro
Sony Ericsson’s Xperia range of devices is extremely popular as they’re designed to be funky and quite functionally stable. The Xperia Pro looks elegantly shaped and its slide out QWERTY keypad with separated keys looks well laid out. It will feature Android Gingerbread running on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine to as well to enhance the display’s visual capabilities.

The Xpreia Pro, sexy and well designed

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Pro will also come equipped with -

• 3.7-inch LED Backlit LCD touchscreen display (scratch resistant) with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution
• Slide out QWERTY
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA, Wi-Fi Hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 8MP autofocus/Touch focus camera, LED flash, 720p video recording
• Secondary VGA camera
• FM radio with RDS
• 1GB internal memory and microSD card support
• HDMI out
• 3.5mm handsfree socket

HTC Sensation
With a high resolution display falling just a tad short of Apple’s Retina Display in terms of resolution, the HTC Sensation is slated to be a handset to look out for. It’s packed with features that include the company’s latest version of their Sense UI with Sense.com added functionality. The 1.2 GHz dual-core processor and Adreno 220 GPU will ensure that the Android 2.3 aka Gingerbread UI runs smoothly. The handset will also support DivX and XviD playback and full HD video recording and playback as well.

Will surely casue a Sensation in the community

The Sensation will be loaded up with -

• 4.3-inch S-LCD touchscreen display (Gorilla Glass) with a 540 x 960 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA, Wi-Fi Hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 + MHL
• 8 MP autofocus/Touch focus camera, dual LED flash, 1080p video recording
• Secondary VGA camera
• FM radio with RDS
• 1 GB internal memory and microSD card support
• TV out via MHL
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

BlackBerry Bold Touch
RIM’s BlackBerry Bold series has been faring very well amongst the high end business class mobile users. However they haven’t really managed to offer the devices in a better form factor so it was only a matter of time before their tried a slightly different approach. From all the leaked information that’s been making it out about the Bold Touch 9930 aka the Montana, I’m eager to see just how well the added functionality of a touchscreen works for users, with not much of a change in overall design form still.

Same old design but with added fucntionality - Image Source

Although the details of the Bold Touch are still nor officially available from the company, here’s what the community claims it will feature -

• 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 640 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS for Blackberry Maps (most likely)
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB
• 5 megapixel AF camera with 720p video recording
• 4 GB of built in storage + microSD card support

Apple iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is not one that I could leave out of this list as it’s also on its way even if it is a year late (as usual) and the next model is already peeking its display out from behind Apple’s veil. While we happen to live in a country and an age where technology, no matter when or where it’s launched is easily available (for a hefty sum), the iPhone 4 is still a handset we’re looking forward to having on our shelves in an official capacity.

No list seems complete without it

Here’s a quick recap of the specs in case you missed them earlier -

• 3.5-inch LED backlit IPS Capacitive Touchscreen with a 640 x 960 pixel resolution (Retina Display)
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with a hotspot option
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0 (proprietary)
• 5 Megapixel camera with autofocus, touch-focus, LED flash, 720p video recording
• Secondary front facing camera for Face-Time chatting via Wi-Fi
• 16GB or 8GB internal memory
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Like I said before, choosing a smartphone just got really really hard. It’s going ultimately boil down to price, and we’re talking about a few Hundred Rupees maybe and our own personal brand loyalties. I’m sure by the third quarter we’ll see even more advanced devices make it out , but if you’re saving up for a seriously high-end smartphone, you should start taking these into consideration.

What are you looking forward to?