Upcoming smartphones to look out for – The Christmas Wish List

As they say - ‘Tis the season to be jolly and so on and so forth. But let’s be honest here, it’s also that glorious time when shopping takes on a whole new feel. The end of the year holds quite a bit of promise for the mobile lovers as big launches from the big players are expected to hit the Indian shelves in time for the holiday rush. Here are a few of the handsets; we hope we’ll see before Santa (hopefully) drops them off in our Christmas Stockings.

Nokia Lumia 800
At the moment the Lumia 800 is one of the most highly anticipated handsets for the Indian market. Nokia has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Indian mobile user, but has been on the lower end of the spectrum globally. Their recent tie-up with Microsoft to launch WP7 (Mango) handsets could be their saving grace and with features like a 1.4GHz processor Adreno GPU and Nokia’s Clear Black Display for better viewing, the Lumia 800 just might help lift Nokia out of its recent slump.

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Here’s a quick look at the features again:

• 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution under Gorilla Glass
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi,
• GPS with A-GPS support for Bing Maps Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP + EDR and USB 2.0
• 8MP AF camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a Dual LED flash, 720p HD recording
• FM radio
• 16GB of internal storage

Samsung Galaxy Nexus
The next generation Nexus handset is once again Samsung’s baby and this one could very well be a true iPhone killer (we haven’t used that term in a long time). Packing in a 1.2GHz dual core processor, Ice Cream Sandwich and a few other goodies like Active Noise Cancellation, the Galaxy Nexus is poised to be one of the major launches from the Android-powered segment. Although the launch date for India hasn’t been fixed yet, we’re hoping for a holiday launch or at least by January of next year.

An iPhone Killer perhaps

The Galaxy Nexus features -

• 4.6-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, WiFi with DLNA support and Hot spot creation
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP and USB 2.0
• 5MP AF camera with LED flash, 1080p HD video recording
• Stereo FM radio
• 16GB of internal storage
• MicroSD card support

One of the other heavy hitters that will be making it out from the Android camp is the Nitro HD from LG. In terms of features, the Nitro HD is way up there with the best of them. Although it’s expected to be running Gingerbread on its 1.5GHz Dual Core processor at launch time, it’s more than likely that ICS will also be on the cards, soon after.

LG’s upcoming heay hitter

It has a few similarities to the Galaxy Nexus, here’s a closer look -

• 4.5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi direct with DLNA support and Hot spot creation
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP and USB 2.0
• 5MP AF camera with LED flash, 1080p HD video recording
• 4GB of internal storage
• MicroSD card support

Acer ICONIA Smart
Acer’s ICONIA series of devices really hasn’t made much of an impact, as obviously intended. However, their ICONIA Smart mobile handset just might be exactly what they need to pick things up. Although, it was slated to launch this passed October, it didn’t, and we’re expecting to see it soon. Featuring a 1GHz processor for running Gingerbread (Android 2.3) on its extra wide-screen display, the Smart does resemble an older mobile handset – the LG BL40 Chocolate.

21:9 ratio display to rid yourself of some black bands

Some of the other features that are equipped with the ICONIA Smart are:

• 4.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 480 x 1024 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA support and Hot spot creation
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0
• 8MP AF camera with LED flash, 720p HD video recording
• Stereo FM radio
• HDMI Out
• 8GB of internal storage
• MicroSD card support

BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9981 Limited Edition
Although BlackBerry has been launching devices quite frequently, in the design department there has been nothing truly revolutionary. In collaboration with Porsche Design, their P’9981 just might give BlackBerry fans that little extra sense of exclusivity that they crave. Staying true to the original BlackBerry style form, though, Porsche Design has managed to craft an exquisite looking handset that’s slim with a very futuristic looking, sculpted QWERTY keypad. A Porsche Design customized UI running on top of BlackBerry OS 7 will be onboard with a 1.2GHz processor powering up this Stainless Steel-encased device.

One sexy looking handset

Here’s a look at the other specs:

• 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 640 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS
• GPS with A-GPS for BlackBerry Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0
• 5MP AF camera with LED flash, 720p HD video recording
• Stereo FM radio
• 8GB of internal storage
• MicroSD card support

Christmas is almost upon us and we can only hope that we see at least some of these devices make it to our shores before we spend all our good money on other things like Christmas trees, sweets, dances and so on. It is the season for giving, though, and what better gift than a trendy mobile handset to tell your loved one just how much money you’re making to afford one of these high-end beauties.

Do let us know which of these you’re most looking forward to this season and the one that you’d love to see under your tree come Christmas morning. If it’s not on this list, feel free to let us know your choice and why you’ve selected it.

Compliments of the season, dear readers!