iPhone makes phones smarter

	Apple Inc's iPhone has shaken up the "smart phone" business and set other manufacturers scrambling to add features and make it easier to get e-mail, surf the Web and enjoy music and movies on a cell phone. Prices also have come down to the point where some of these feature-packed models cost little more than "dumb" phones. Sizes have come down too - gone are the days when carrying a smart phone was a workout. Here’s looking into some new phones that boast of `smart’ looks, features and applications.
Apple iPhone This is the star of the field, despite a number of shortcomings. Remarkably, Apple's very first phone succeeds at combining a phone with an iPod and a great Web browser. Its large, crisp screen, touch-screen user interface and multimedia abilities are unmatched. But good luck using it with any headphones but the ones that come with (unless you shell out more for an adapter), or getting work e-mail. The on-screen keyboard takes getting used to.
	Motorola Moto Q 9m This update to the Q has a good, wide keyboard but no touch screen. It runs Windows Mobile 6 which gives Moto more than the original Q, such as Microsoft Direct Push e-mail. At 4.6 x 2.6 x 0.5 inches and 4.8 ounces, the Moto Q 9m is just a little larger than the original. The Moto Q 9m offers a 2.4-inch, 320 x 240 pixel, 65,536 color display and the standard directional pad controls. There's 1.3 megapixel camera, with flash. However, users will need to turn the flash on manually every time they want to use it. The left side holds a microSD card slot. Moto Q 9m is supports 3G EV-DO data service. Its Bluetooth profiles include A2DP support for wireless stereo headsets.
Nokia N81 Nokia, the Finnish mobile handset maker expanded its N-series range in the Indian market. The slider-style N81 sports an 8 GB memory, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, quad-band EDGE and 2100 MHz HSDPA, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3.5mm headphone jack. N81 comes pre-loaded with 10 English music videos, 10 best-selling Bollywood and Hollywood songs. N81 is built for music and gaming with a 3.5mm headphone jack and game keys. The Symbian S60 device will also work with Nokia's Ovi Internet brand, where users can download songs from the Nokia Music Store and games from the N-Gage service. The phone includes A2DP support for stereo Bluetooth, FM tuner, side-mounted dual stereo speakers. It also support number of file formats including MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, and M4A. N81 comes with RealPlayer onboard for full-screen video playback and video recording. The phone can be bought for Rs 26,000.
	HTC Touch Dual HTC has announced an updated model of their Touch mobile device. The new model has been named Touch Dual and it features a sliding keyboard to complement the existing on-screen version. The phone features HTC's TouchFLO technology (gesture-recognition technology). It would compliment the existing touch-screen features. The Windows Mobile 6 phone packs a 2-megapixel camera. This mobile device would ship with Windows Mobile 6.0 pro. As with Touch, users would be able to use enhanced finger touch scrolling and browsing of web pages. It has no Wi-Fi (like in the original) but comes with 3G. At 15.8mm it looks slim for a PDA-phone. Connectivity options in the Touch Dual include HSDPA, triband GSM with EDGE and Bluetooth.
BlackBerry Pearl2 Bharti Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) have launched the new BlackBerry Pearl 8120 smartphone in India. BlackBerry Pearl 8120, also called Pearl 2, comes with a 2 megapixel digital camera that supports video capture, Wi-Fi connectivity support and an externally accessible memory slot. The smartphone sports a Titanium finish, and weighs about 91g. It packs a 2 megapixel digital camera with 5x digital zoom and enhanced flash that supports video capture in two resolutions (240 x 180/176 x 144) as well as Wi-Fi connectivity. The new BlackBerry sports an updated visual interface, and integrates a new font rendering technology. The browser offers a new 'Page View' option that displays full Web page on the screen along with a magnifying glass that allows the users to quickly and accurately point out to- and zoom-in on- specific areas. 8120 features trackball navigation system and SureType keyboard. The phone offers features such as: Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD); Bluetooth 2.0 support for hands-free use with headsets, car kits, and other Bluetooth peripherals; a low-distortion speaker phone and support for polyphonic, MP3, and MIDI ring tones. The Pearl 2 is available for Rs 24,990.
	Sony Ericsson W910i Sony Ericsson has launched its latest slim slider phone, the W910i, in India. The walkman phone comes with the company's new Shake Control system that allows users to change music tracks simply by waving the phone in the air. The W910i is a HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 3G Walkman phone, which comes with a large 2.3-inch bright crystal 262,000 TFT screen and a 2 megapixel camera. The camera has a 2.5x digital zooming ability. There's also a feature called Photo Light that balances light/brightness of a specific scene to optimise the quality of a prospective image. Other phone features include audio books and Track ID for getting the artist and lyrics of the song; PLUS for accessing TV, movies, music, and more; and a USB Adapter that converts the 2GB card into a pen drive. Interestingly, according to online media reports, Orange and Sony Ericsson are recalling all W910i Walkman phones released on the Orange network in UK courtesy a technical glitch: they switch off 10 seconds into a call. The phone is available in two colours -- Hearty Red and Noble Black -- and will retail for around Rs 19,000.
LG-KS20 LG Electronics' Prada-successor, LG-KS20, goes on sale across Europe. The phone was unveiled in August at the consumer expo show IFA 2007 in Berlin. The LG-KS20 looks a lot like the recently-launched Apple handset thanks to a 2.8 inch touchscreen that dominates the front of the phone. LG-KS20 has a few features that aren't found on the first-generation iPhone: 3G (third generation) telephony and HSDPA data service at 3.6M bps (bits per second). Features include a browser, Wi-Fi, natural handwriting recognition, 128M bytes of internal memory, a Micro SD card slot and Bluetooth 2.0. There's also a 2 megapixel camera, FM radio and tri-band GSM (global system for mobile communications) support. The screen has QVGA resolution (320 pixels by 240 pixels). The device measures 99.8x58x12.8mm and the weighs in at just 92.5 g. The pricing details are not available yet. The phone uses an intuitive touch input technology and large LCD screen to maximise its Internet usability.
	Palm Centro The Centro does everything Palm's larger, more expensive Treo does, but in a cuter package. It has a small but sharp touch screen and a teeny hardware alphabetic keyboard. You need fingernails to type on it. It's not great as a music or video player, but it's good for e-mail, contacts and calendar management. Palm's software is the closest thing to the iPhone's in terms of ease of use and versatility, and there are tons of third-party applications. Comes with a neat Sudoku game.