The top mobile phones of 2008

It’s been another fast and furious year in the mobile phone scene. But while music players and cameras have always been mainstays in the feature set of our favorite gadgets, a new capability seems to have taken over this year: the touch-screen interface.

We’ve had stylus-based touch interfaces for several years now, but Apple’s groundbreaking finger-touch interface in the oh-so-cool iPhone has paved the way for an onslaught of touch interfaces from just about every mobile phone manufacturer. Nokia even puts a musical spin to it by offering a guitar pick-like stylus for, appropriately enough, its new 5800 XpressMusic phone.

Without further ado, here are some of the dream phones of 2008 in alphabetical order:

Apple iPhone 3G

The iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of the iconic first-gen iPhone with 3G networking, built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software, which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs hundreds of third-party applications.

iPhone 3G gives users faster access to the Internet and e-mail over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE networks and automatically switches between them to ensure the fastest possible download speeds.

The iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with native apps for games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi.

Additional features available include the ability to do real-time mapping via GPS, mass moving and deleting of multiple e-mail messages, contacts search, access a new scientific calculator, turning on parental control restrictions for specified content, and saving images directly from a webpage or e-mailing them to your iPhone and easily transferring them back to your photo library on your Mac or PC.

iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMe, a new Internet service that pushes e-mail, contacts, and calendars from an online “cloud” to native applications on iPhone, iPod touch, Macs and PCs. You can even snap a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with friends and family.

BlackBerry Bold

BlackBerry made a Bold move with this new smartphone, which features a lustrous black exterior, satin chrome-finished frame and stylish, faux leather back with a stunning half-VGA (480 x 320 at 217 ppi) color display for eye-popping visuals and a new QWERTY keyboard for fast and easy typing.

The BlackBerry Bold features built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, a powerful new 624MHz mobile processor that provides impressive performance and more storage memory (1GB on board and up to 16GB via a microSD/SDHC expansion slot), an advanced media player for music, videos and photos, and a two-megapixel camera with built-in flash, zoom and video recording, as well as an optimized Web-browsing experience with desktop-style depiction.

It works with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which enables advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novel GroupWise environments, as well as BlackBerry Professional Software for small businesses.

It also works with BlackBerry Internet Service, which gives users push-based access to as many as 10 supported work or personal e-mail accounts. Users can also download and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files using the preloaded DataViz Documents to Go software suite.

The BlackBerry Bold includes Bluetooth 2.0, a Desktop Manager software with Roxio Media Manager, and a Media Sync application that lets users sync their iTunes digital musical collections with the handset.

The BlackBerry Bold also boasts a new acoustic design for enhanced phone listening quality and clarity plus Speaker Independent Voice Recognition for Voice Activated Dialing.

This Bold move may just be the quiet before the Storm, but BlackBerry’s much-awaited touch-screen Storm might hit land next year yet, which is why it’s not including in this list.

HTC Touch HD, Touch 3G, Touch Viva

Recently, HTC expanded its market portfolio in the Philippines with the simultaneous launch of three new mobile phones — all powered by the Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

Continuing HTC’s touch-phone tradition, the three handsets feature TouchFLO, HTC’s 3D interface designed to respond to finger gestures and help you navigate seamlessly through contact, media, and webpages with speed and precision.

Combining high-performance capabilities with a sleek, stylish design, the Touch HD’s large 3.8-inch WVGA touch-screen offers users stunning clarity and vibrant colors. This provides an unrivalled experience when watching movies, browsing the Internet, or viewing photos taken using its five-megapixel autofocus camera.

The high-resolution widescreen display, combined with HSDPA download speeds up to 18 times faster than standard 3G, enables the HTC Touch HD to render websites quickly and in full-page width.

Browsing favorite sites, streaming videos, and catching up on daily podcasts, and the latest news (via the integrated RSS reader) becomes more intuitive.

A standard 3.5-mm headphone jack has also been integrated to allow consumers to use their headphones of choice for the best possible sound quality.

Available in a range of hot, stylish colors, the Touch 3G offers a touch-phone experience with powerful Internet capabilities and a 2.8-inch high-resolution screen.

The Touch 3G includes a 3.2-megapixel camera for quality stills and video, multimedia player, and built-in microphone and speakers. It boasts Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS capabilities.

The Touch Viva blends an affordable touch-phone with outstanding features. The compact design houses an ultra-sensitive touch-screen for navigation through contacts, media, and webpages with HTC’s TouchFLO interface.

Browse your favorite sites and flip through your photos, videos, and album artwork on the Touch Viva’s sharp 2.8-inch QVGA-resolution screen. Take photos using the two-megapixel camera or listen to your playlist using the built-in speakers. Make the most of Google Maps and built-in RSS feeder.

LG Secret KF750 and Cookie KP500

LG’s KF750 Secret is the third phone from LG’s Black Label Series, after the Chocolate and Shine models that sold more than 25 million units worldwide.

LG is not making a secret out of the KF750’s strong and lightweight carbon fiber casing and durable tempered glass screen. Like the superb LG Viewty, the Secret is equipped with an advanced five-megapixel camera built into the camera handset. The LG Secret boasts DivX playback and 120 frames-per-second QVGA video recording.

Entertainment features include Touch Media that takes advantage of the 2.4-inch touch-screen to directly access five multimedia functions (music, photos, games, documents, and FM radio) in a single button.

Auto Luminance Control automatically adjusts screen brightness according to ambient brightness. The Secret’s Auto Rotating display technology offers easy screen size adjustment and horizontal or vertical rotation of the screen depending on hand movement.

The Secret also has a built-in accelerometer, HSDPA 3.6Mbps, Bluetooth, 100MB built-in memory with the microSD memory card slot, and FM radio with RDS.

The affordably priced new LG KP500 Cookie, meanwhile, features the latest touch technology and features found in existing high-end full touch-screen phones currently available in the market.

Slim, stylish, and lightweight, the LG KP500 is a quad-band GSM phone that can be operated in 39 languages. But no matter what language one speaks, the vivid and intuitive user interface of the LG KP500 is simple for anyone to understand with vivid icons on the wide three-inch screen.

The LG KP500 has the latest user interface that allows the user to attach a friend’s photo for the speed dial feature and then page through the portraits and touch the friend to be called.

The LG KP500 has an embedded stylus pen concealed in the base that can be easily removed for the advanced handwriting recognition program that allows the user to write memos and text messages, and also edit photo images by touching the screen with the pen tip.

The QWERTY onscreen keyboard slides into view when the LG KP500 is held horizontally, and the auto-rotating display always shifts images or documents for proper viewing no matter which way the handset is turned.

Also packed into the LG KP500 are a three-megapixel camera, MP3 player, FM radio, calendar, clock and motion-sensor games that are played by turning, flipping, and shifting the handset for a more active and fun gaming experience.

Motorola ROKR E8

Motorola designed the ROKR E8 to deliver an uncompromised consumer experience for music or talk. Using the breakthrough ModeShift technology from Motorola, the quad-band GPRS/EDGE phone presents users with only the controls they need, at the time they need them, instantly transforming from music player to phone with the touch of a button.

When powered off, the surface of the ROKR E8 is smooth, with no visible keys. Turn on the device and it presents a virtual numbered keypad on the front surface. With one “press” of the virtual music key, the phone keypad disappears and control keys for the music player — play, pause, fast forward and rewind — appear in its place.

Yet, the ROKR E8 is more than just a “touch”-operated device. Using innovative vibrating haptics technology, the device provides the tactile feedback consumers expect from a traditional keypad, providing confirmation they have pressed a virtual key.

The ROKR E8 also marks the debut of the new FastScroll navigation wheel from Motorola, a variable-speed touch control that lets consumers easily scroll through all of the content stored on the device.

With a slide of the thumb, the wheel quickly scrolls through your music (music mode), contacts (phone mode), calendar (phone mode), or multimedia (imaging mode) content. Information is easily viewed on the landscape two-inch QVGA display.

In music mode, the ROKR E8 delivers great sound through a 3D stereo feature that enhances two-channel audio and an on-board equalizer. Music can be enjoyed on the built-in speaker, with a compatible Bluetooth-enabled stereo headset, or through a wired headset plugged into the 3.5-mm jack.

The ROKR E8 also helps consumers discover new music with a built-in FM radio and support for Song ID.

The 2GB internal memory can store up to 1,500 songs, and the external memory is expandable up to 4GB with an optional microSD card. Music transfers quickly with USB 2.0. The device is compatible with Windows Media Player 11 on the PC, which also provides access to more than 200 online music stores.

In phone mode, the ROKR E8 provides outstanding voice quality using the Motorola CrystalTalk technology. The handset can receive calls while downloading or playing music, text messaging, surfing the Web or taking pictures. A high-gloss front, aluminum soft-touch back, spun-metal side keys and engraved banding offer the high style expected from Motorola.

Nokia E71, N96 and 5800 XpressMusic

The sleek Nokia E71 with full QWERTY keyboard easily mobilizes a broad range of personal or professional messaging needs, including Microsoft Exchange, the world’s most widely adopted corporate e-mail solution.

With this device, people can get reliable real-time access to their e-mail, calendar, contacts and tasks, as well as download attachments like Word, Excel, PowerPoint or PDF files directly to the E71.

The E71 supports e-mail accounts from more than a thousand Internet service providers around the world, as well as Gmail, Yahoo! mail and Hotmail. It also supports Nokia’s Intellisync Wireless Email as well as third-party e-mail solutions and lets people switch between personal and work home screens.

The E71’s stainless steel case and etched graphics complement the bright color display, which showcases the device’s brilliantly simple user interface. Designed for both one-handed and two-handed use, the Nokia E71 pays special attention to ergonomics, as evidenced by its narrow shape and specially designed keypad.

The E71 supports the latest Ovi services, including maps, music, and media sharing and boasts fast browsing with HSDPA, WLAN and 3G connectivity, Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and Nokia Maps for navigation, a music player with support for up to 8GB expandable memory and a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera.

The dual-slide Nokia N96, on the other hand, is a multimedia computer truly optimized for video and TV, thanks to its large 2.8-inch screen, 16GB of internal memory (expandable by another 8GB via microSDHC card) and support for high-quality videos in a wide range of formats.

The N96 supports video formats, including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video, making favorite videos easy to view. Transferring and accessing videos is even faster with the high-speed USB 2.0 connection and WLAN and HSDPA support.

Its integrated DVB-H receiver offers live broadcast TV with an automatically updating program guide. The N96 also features a “kickstand” on the back cover that allows for hands-free viewing. It features media keys, a 3.5-mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers.

The Nokia Maps application offers richer maps with urban details and satellite views and has upgrade options such as City Guides, turn-by-turn pedestrian mode and voice-guided car navigation.

The N96 boasts a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light. It allows DVD-like quality video capture at 30 frames per second.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is among the first devices to support Comes With Music, Nokia’s groundbreaking service that offers one year of unlimited access to the entire Nokia Music Store catalog.

The music phone, which supports all mainstream digital music formats, comes bundled with an 8GB microSD card, standard 3.5-mm jack for headphones, and built-in surround stereo speakers.

With its touch-screen technology, the 5800 XpressMusic introduces the Media Bar, a drop-down menu that provides direct access to music and entertainment, including favorite tracks, videos, and photos.

A new Contacts Bar lets consumers highlight four favorite contacts on their home-screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, e-mail, phone logs, photos and blog updates.

The handset has a 3.2-inch widescreen display, 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Nokia Maps, and a software QWERTY thumbboard. A pen and a guitar pick-like stylus can also be used along with handwriting recognition.

Samsung innov8, Omnia and Pixon

There are smartphones and then there are superphones. Smartphones — devices that provide a more substantial, general purpose computing platform — have defined the strata of mobile phone offerings for the past several years.

Superphones, on the other hand, are a new category of handheld devices with vastly better performance, desktop-grade Web browsing, and high-resolution displays. Samsung launched not one, but three superphones in the Philippines in the second half of 2008.

The Samsung Omnia (SGH-i900) is a Windows Mobile phone that features a gorgeous touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, and a boatload of other multimedia features.

Its TouchWiz interface makes Windows Mobile easier to use, thanks to drag-and-drop widgets on the Today screen that provides an extra level of customization.

If you want a camera phone that will blow almost every other handset out of the water, then Samsung has it, too. Its eight-megapixel innov8 (SGH-i8510) is powered by Symbian’s S60 operating system and is loaded with productivity and multimedia features that will satisfy both consumers and mobile professionals. And it’s no slouch when it comes to performance either.

Now if you’ve fallen in love with the Omnia’s touch-screen interface but want the innov8’s stunning 8-megapixel cam, then Samsung would happily set you up with its new Pixon.

Combining the powers of a true digital camera with the ease of use of a full touch-screen display, the Samsung Pixon enables users to take photos in a snap. Its Intelligent Imaging features, such as fast advanced shake reduction, face recognition, and auto contrast balance, can help even the most novice shutterbugs take clear, sharp images with stunning colors.

The Pixon’s Photo Browser function categorizes snapshots by time, color tone, and composition, making photo browsing easier and faster. Users simply have to tilt the phone to control their picture browsing experience. It also has Automatic Panorama Shot, Smile Shot and Blink Shot features.

The Pixon also keeps photos organized and in sync with your phonebook contacts through the Face Tagging service, and even sorts your pictures any way you want — through face recognition, location, time, and file name.

This superphone lets users share their memorable moments with the rest of the world with its photo sharing and video uploading features. Mobile blogging can be done in an instant in 30 of the most popular user-generated websites: Flickr, Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Twitter, and so much more.

The Samsung Pixon also boasts tremendous potential as a music player. Thanks to its music recognition feature, users simply record a 10-second sample of that great new song, and Pixon will access its extensive database to help you identify the song, the artist, and even the album!

The Pixon can play videos in MPEG4, WMV, DivX, XviD formats, as well as record 30fps clips in 720 x 480 and 120fps in QVGA resolution. Music playing from the built-in music player and FM radio is enhanced by Samsung’s Digital Natural Sound engine.

Other features include Bluetooth, TV-out connection, microSD card slot, and a unique Samsung Mobile Widget technology that enables users to personalize their phones.

The Samsung Pixon matches its highly functional and advanced camera phone technology with a stylish yet user-friendly design. It sports a large 3.2-inch touch-screen with 16M-color TFT display. Users can do whatever they want by simply pressing any of the desktop-like widgets on the screen.

Sony Ericsson W902, C905 and Xperia X1

Downsize your bag, free your pockets and leave your music player and camera at home — use Sony Ericsson’s W902 Walkman phone to play your favorite tunes, snap those precious moments or watch crystal clear video on the bright, scratch-resistant 2.2-inch QVGA display.

The W902 delivers music as it was meant to be heard through Sony Ericsson’s revolutionary clear audio experience. With crystal-clear sound quality and a dramatically richer bass, together with Sony Ericsson premium headphones included in-box, your favorite tracks will sound better than ever.

Notable features include Retro music navigation keys (skip forward, back, play and pause with the push of a button), 5-MP camera, and an 8GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) memory card that packs in more than 8,000 songs.

The C905, meanwhile, is Sony Ericsson’s first Cyber-shot slider and its most advanced camera phone yet. With a whopping 8.1-megapixel digital camera, a powerful xenon flash, image stabilization, face detection, and smart contrast among its cutting-edge photographic capabilities, it offers easy photo-taking in a phone that looks like a digital camera and offers the picture quality to match.

Lest you forget it’s a phone, the 3G-ready C905 also features Wi-Fi, GPS, a built-in accelerometer, stereo Bluetooth, media player, FM radio with RDS, a scratch-resistant 2.4-inch QVGA TFT display, and a built-in 160MB memory expandable via Memory Stick Micro.

Last but not least, the radical Xperia X1 combines a three-inch clear wide VGA touch-screen display and a full QWERTY keyboard within a quality metal-finish body and runs on Windows Mobile 6.1.

Xperia X1 lets you interact with your phone in different ways (touch, full QWERTY keyboard, four-way key and optical joystick navigation) and switch seamlessly between operation modes.

The arc design gives a distinct and unique feel. Slide the screen upwards to reveal the wide pitch QWERTY keyboard. The X1 boasts high data transfer rate (HSDPA/HSUPA), Wi-Fi support, and aGPS capability.

It has a 3.2-megapixel camera which records video at 30 frames per second in VGA (640 x 480) quality. There is also a secondary front-facing camera for videoconferencing, an FM radio, music player, and Sony Ericsson’s TrackID music recognition.

Connectivity options for the quadband phone include mini-USB, wireless LAN802.11b/g, and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP.
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