by Al Sacco

Smartphones of CTIA ’09: The 10 Hottest Handhelds

News
Apr 7, 20094 mins
Data CenterMobileSmall and Medium Business

Here are my picks for the 10 hottest smartphones at CTIA. Some are available for purchase immediately, while it may be months before others hit U.S. retail stores, if they do at all. Regardless, I just can't wait to get my thumbs on each and every one of 'em.

HTC Snap

Why It’s Hot: This BlackBerry lookalike is VERY thin and VERY light.

OS: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard

Radio: Dual-band HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100MHz)/Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

Carrier: NA

Display: 2.4-inch TFT-LCD with LED back light and QVGA resolution

Memory: ROM: 256 MB; RAM: 192 MB

Processor: 528 MHz

Camera: 2.0 megapixels with fixed focus

Price/Availability: NA

Other Notable Feature(s): Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); BlackBerry-like trackball navigation and styling; memory expandable via microSD card

Nokia E71x

nokia_e71x-100351454-orig.jpg

Why It’s Hot: The U.S. version of Nokia’s E71 is thin, yet feature-packed. It’s also quite the looker.

OS: Symbian, S60 3.2

Radio: Dual-band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900MHz)/Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

Carrier: AT&T

Display: 2.4″, 16 million colors, 240 x 320 pixels

Memory: 120MB, expandable up to 8GB via microSD card

Processor: 369 MHz

Camera: 3.2 megapixel digital camera with auto focus, flash and video capture

Price/Availability: Expected “within the coming weeks”; pricing will be $149.99 and after mail-in rebate, receive $50 AT&T promotion card

Other Notable Feature(s): Extremely thin at just 10mm; Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)

HTC Touch Pro2

htc_touch_pro2-100351455-orig.jpg

Why It’s Hot: This revamped HTC Touch merges style and functionality to make one heckuva business device

OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Radio: Dual-band HSPA/WCDMA (900/2100MHz)/Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

Carrier: NA

Display: 3.6″, TFT-LCD touch-screen with 480 x 800 WVGA resolution; adjustable tilt display

Memory: ROM: 512 MB; RAM: 288 MB

Processor: 528MHz

Camera: Main camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus; second camera: VGA CMOS color camera

Price/Availability: NA

Other Notable Feature(s): HTC TouchFLO 3G UI; Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); microSD card slot

Samsung Propel Pro

samsung_propel_pro-100351456-orig.jpg

Why It’s Hot: This slider packs a punchâ¬as well as a full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen

OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard

Radio: Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900/2100 MHz)/quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)

Carrier: AT&T

Display: 2.55″, 65K color/TFT colors, 320 x 320 pixels

Memory: 256MB ROM/128MB RAM

Processor: 528 MHz

Camera: 3 megapixels with auto focus

Price/Availability: Available in April for $199.99, and after mail-in rebate, receive $50 AT&T promotion card to lower price to $149.99

Other Notable Feature(s): Slide-Out Full QWERTY keyboard; innovative joystick navigation; microSD card up to 16GB; Wi-Fi

LG Arena

lg_arena-100351461-orig.jpg

Why It’s Hot: First handset with LG’s new S Class UI and 3G interface; impressive multimedia features

Radio: Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900/2100 MHz); HSDPA 7.2Mbps

Carrier: NA

Display: 3″ WVGA full touch screen

Camera: 5 megapixels with face tracking and image stabilization technologies

Price/Availability: NA

Other Notable Feature(s): Dolby Music and Surround Sound for enhanced audio and video; aGPS; FM transmitter