HTC Touch Viva

HTC Touch Viva is the next version of the traditional HTC Touch with upgraded software and additional RAM. Looks Slightly improved than its predecessor but no big deal. Again this smartphone device is a non-3G GSM handset with WiFi enabled.

The screen on the HTC Touch Viva is a 2.8 inch, 240 x 320 pixel touch-sensitive panel. On the back is the same old 2 megapixel camera. The Touch Viva supports Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and microSD expandable memory. Internal memory is increased to 128MB (up from 64MB in the traditional HTC Touch), and the operating system is new Windows Mobile 6.1 with HTC's enhanced TouchFLO interface running on top.

The HTC Touch Viva runs on a 210 MHz TI OMAP 820 processor, the same as the original Touch. This isn't particularly fast, but enough.
HTC Viva comes with a 1100 mAh battery can now give this phone up to 8 hours talktime and 11 days standby time. This definately is a significant improvement over the original Touch. The Touch Viva comes at 105 x 49 x 16mm dimensions, but slightly lighter at 110 grams.
This phone should be launched pretty soon and the costing should be around the same as that of the traditional Touch.

On a whole, this phone is a upgraded version of the traditional Touch but lacks 3G. You can go for the HTC Touch 3G if you are so interested in 3G. Otherwise phone is cool and compact.

HP iPAQ Data Messenger

The second phone that the HP is coming up in next couple of months is the all new HP iPAQ Data Messenger which is a touchscreen device that takes all of the features of the Voice Messenger and then adds a larger display and a QWERTY keyboard. This is for all those who dont like the traditional QWERTY keyboard (BlackBerry style).
Still featuring high-speed 3.5G downloads and uploads, GPS, WiFi and a 3.1 megapixel camera, this iPAQ model comes with a large 2.8" 320 x 240 pixel touchscreen display, plus a pretty conventional looking slide-out keyboard. The display is a 320 x 240 pixel panel, which is not really up to the mark as expected but is kind of good. The iPAQ Data Messenger's tri-band HSDPA and HSUPA data support impress as of its twin brother, the HP iPAQ Voice messenger. The Data Messenger is definately bigger and heavier than the Voice Messenger at 160 grams in weight and 114 x 57 x 17mm in size, but for a touchscreen device like this it's pretty reasonable.
The expected price for this sim-free phone is around 500Euros and should be available in a month.
On a whole, a very well crafted smartphone which is worth taking a look at.

BlackBerry Storm 9500

Welcome to the new kind of BlackBerry - The first touchscreen device from RIM is this Storm 9500 which has most of the features of the earlier variants of BlackBerrys along with a brand new display.

The touch sensitive display is the most arguable feature of this beast and certainly RIM has done an excellent job by coming up with such a wonderful touch screen. The operating mechanism on the touch screen is of two folds. First, select the option you want to execute by selecting it on the touch screen. This highlights the feature. Then you have to "click" on it to execute. This makes the BlackBerry Storm 9500's touchscreen very user friendly as compared to a traditional touch screens. The 3.25-inch screen itself is bright, colorful and high-resolution (480 x 360). Video playback is sharp and smooth, and the extra pixels on the large screen means eye fatigue won't be much of an issue. The lack of a QWERTY keyboard should not be an issue as the touchscreen hosts a keyboard while typing in a landscape mode. The Storm automatically switches between modes when rotated, so if you suddenly find that you need to do some more intensive typing than the SureType arrangement allows then it's a hassle-free transition.

Although the Storm is similar to the user interface of the earlier version of BlackBerry -"Bold", it supports features of touchscreen similar to iPhone like taps, slides and multi-touch which makes it more usable. The Storm 9500 also has a built-in GPS receiver and a navigation function. It comes with a 3.2 MegaPixel camera having autofocus and flash for high resolution pictures.

The Storm 9500 supports both business usage and normal consumer usage as it contains push email, document editors, and also media player for music which makes it a complete smartphone. The sad part is that this 3G device DOES NOT support WiFi.

It's quite a hefty device at 155 grams and 113 x 62 x 14mm in size. The large 1400 mAh battery can give up to 5.5 hours talktime and 15 day standby time on 3G, which is impressive. The overall design is smart but unexciting, with just four physical keys on the front underneath the large screen. Internal Memory is 1GB, expandable by up to 16GB using microSD cards.

On a whole, this phone has lot of cool features but on the other hand lacks WiFi which is a big blow. Again, this phone could be very useful for a corporate user as the keyboard and the screen are flawless also adding up a cool camera and good music player.