1. Apple iPhone 3G

Considering the first iPhone sold for $700 with a contract, the $99 price tag for the Apple iPhone 3G is a bargain. You need to sign up for a 2 year AT&T contract to get this price. Although the newer iPhone 3GS gets all the attention, the iPhone 3G can do just about everything you need it to do. With 3G (GSM UMTS), GPS, Bluetooth & WiFi, this phone is pretty well connected. The 8GB internal memory is plenty of space for all your photos, video and music — not forgetting the hundreds of thousands of third party applications available.

Apple iPhone 3G – $99

2. Palm Pre

Palm’s comeback device didn’t make as big a splash as we expected, but it’s still a decent smartphone in its own right. Running on the Sprint network, the Palm Pre has 8GB of internal memory and something that apparently 50% of iPhone users want – a full QWERTY keyboard. The webOS operating system will wow you, but there are limited third party applications (at least compared to the iPhone). You also get WiFi & GPS in this tiny device.

Palm Pre smartphone – $80

3. Palm Pixi

If you’re to cheap to shell out $80 for the Palm Pre, then this new webOS smartphone will do the trick. The Palm Pixi doesn’t have the cool sliding keyboard of the Palm Pre, but it still has the QWERTY keyboard in a candybar form factor.

Palm Pixi – $25

4. T-Mobile G1

If you want a smartphone running Google’s Android operating system, then the T-Mobile G1 is for you. Available in Black or White, this smartphone has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard (like the Sidekick). The G1 has a microSD slot for expanded storage. As a first generation Android phone, the G1 does have its shortcomings, with most complaints focused on the underpowered hardware.

T-Mobile G1 Phone with Google – $50

5. Motorola CLIQ

Motorola has dabbled in just about all mobile operating systems in the past (Windows Mobile, Linux), but now it’s settled on the Google Android. The Motorola CLIQ is their maiden smartphone on this platform. Motorola added their MOTOBLUR screen for social networking, which is hit or miss. The CLIQ has a 3.1-inch touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard and 5 megapixel camera.

Motorola CLIQ – $99

6. Nokia e71x

Outside of the US, Nokia is the king of smartphones (and all mobile phones in general). Nokia’s e series of phones are designed for business, and targeted at the Blackberry end of the market. The e71x is a super slim (10mm) and sexy smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard, in the familiar candybar form. Since this is Nokia, the e71x runs on Symbian.

Nokia E71x – 1 cent

7. Blackberry Tour

Did you get the memo? The Blackberry is no longer just for businessmen, it’s hip with the kids, too. Research In Motion (RIM) is still the reigning king of business smartphones, so we have to put in a couple of BBs in the list.

The Blackberry Tour 9630 runs on Sprint’s EVDO network in the US, but it’s also a World Phone. That means that it also works on GSM networks. There’s the usual Blackberry bells and whistles (GPS, trackball, great keyboard), but the Tour lacks WiFi.

BlackBerry Tour 9630 – $50

8. Blackberry Bold

The Blackberry Bold is RIM’s flagship smartphone. The 9700 has a great screen and backlit keyboard, and it runs on AT&T’s HSPA network (theoretically : 7.2 Mbps downloads). It’s also slightly smaller than the original Bold, plus it copies the optical trackpad from the Curve.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 – $50

9. HTC Tilt 2

If you’re wondering what’s a “Windows Phone”, well the HTC Tilt 2 is one. While the Windows Mobile operating system is showing its age by now, Microsoft is still in the smartphone game. The HTC Tilt 2 is loaded with features : touchscreen and full a slide-out, tilting QWERTY keyboard, plus 3G HSDPA, WiFi, GPS turn-by-turn navigation, FM radio and Stereo Bluetooth. All in, it’s a solid phone which is perhaps hampered somewhat by Windows Mobile 6.5.

HTC Tilt 2 – $99

10. HTC Droid Eris

To round up our top 10, here’s the latest Android smartphone. The HTC Droid Eris lacks a physical keyboard, but it makes up for it with a beautiful large screen and a friendly interface (HTC Scene). It runs on the Verizon network. Two criticisms of this smartphone are lack of power (both processor and battery life), and the fact that it comes with Android 1.5 instead of Android 2.0

HTC Droid Eris – $99

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D-Day will be June 6th 2009 for Palm and their new flagship smartphone, the Palm Pre. That’s a couple of days before Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), so Palm should have some good coverage in the tech and mainstream press.

The first Palm Pre will run on the Sprint network and will cost you $200 with a two-year contract (after rebates). That’s a good price point for the Pre, putting it on par with the iPhone. The Touchstone no-wire charging cradle will also be available on June 6, for an extra $70.

Aside from Sprint, you will also be able to purchase the Palm Pre from Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart stores in the US.

TreoCentral first impressions : “The Palm Pre is going to be a killer device and it has a real shot at garnering more developer support than Android and may even approach the iPhone in terms of applications — seriously”. TreoCentral video hands-on (done by the Jonathan Ive of Palm, i.e. Peter Skilman, VP of Product Design).

Gizmodo Preview: “Simply Amazing.” Gizmodo also compares the Palm Pre versus the current smartphone trend leaders, the Apple iPhone and Google Android G1. Palm Pre holds its own.

CNET First Impressions : “The Palm Pre and Palm Web OS isn’t necessarily going to revolutionize the smartphone market, in that it doesn’t offer any crazy, new features, but it definitely brings a fresh look into the way you interact with a device and how it organizes information.”

Engadget’s in-depth impressions (lots of photos and videos). “The UI outclasses most of its competition on a number of levels, and actually may be quite a bit more revolutionary than the iPhone.”

While I’m still undecided on whether the Pre is the right thing for me, it appears that Palm has wowwed enough people to make a big splash at CES. They won 3 Best of CES awards from CNET : the Best Cell Phone / Smartphone, the People’s Voice award, and the biggie, the Best in Show Award.

There are still questions, of course.
- How much will the phone cost? Will it match the iPhone and Android G1 at below US$200 with contract?
- When will we see a GSM version?
- How many developers have signed up for webOS development, and how many apps can we expect in Palm’s “App Catalog”?

Right now, I think timing is Palm’s biggest challenge. By the time the Pre launches later in the year with Sprint (and certainly by the time the GSM version rolls out), the iPhone will probably go version 3.0. Nokia’s N97 will be out. Android will have more phones out, and who knows what type of Blackberry RIM will deliver. Is the Pre enough to fight the competition?

We’ll see. It’s going to be an exciting year.

1. The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell 20080101
2. World War Z by Max Brooks 20080106
3. A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson 20080112 (audio)
4. Echelon by Josh Convisier 20080117
5. Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II THE VICTORS by Stephen E. Ambrose 20080125
6. The reckoning by Jeff Long 20080204
7. Cult of iPod by Leander Kahney 20080420
8. Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow 20080517
9. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow 20080518
10. The Baum Plan for Financial Independence by 20080525
11. Victory of Eagles [Temeraire Series Book 5] by Naomi Novik 20080809
12. Black Man by Richard Morgan 20080830
13. Brave Men Run by Matthew Selznick 20080830 (audio)
14. Semper Mars [Heritage Trilogy #1] by Ian Douglas 20080902
15. Jumper by Steven Gould 20080911
16. The Art of the Steal by Frank Abagnale 20080920
17. The modern con man by Todd Robbins – 20080929
18. Luna marine by Ian Douglas – 20081002
19. Like a charm by Karin Slaughter 20080205
20. One good turn by Kate Atkinson 20081008
21. Outsmart! by Jim Champy 20081012
22. Europa Strike by Ian Douglas 20081016
23. Honor of The Clan by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane 20081030
24. Reflex by Steven Gould 20081106
25. A Hymm before Battle by John Ringo 20081120
26. Mind+Body by Aaron Dunlap 20081130
27. Gust Front by John Ringo 20081207
28. Personal Days by Ed Park
29. Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
30. Hell’s Faire by John Ringo.

Looking forward to more ebook reading in 2009!

[ via Treonauts ]

It’s just a little over a month to Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. The big thing about WWDC this year, is the speculation that Apple will announce the super duper, second generation iPhone that will run on 3G network, will have built-in GPS and will make your coffee for you. In the meantime, here are a couple pieces of good news for the iPhone user.

Google has a pretty good iPhone-specific user interface, which I use a lot. The latest addition to Google’s iPhone arsenal is Google News. Google News is like a meta-newspaper which aggregates content from many news sources. The unique feature of Google News is that all the news stories are selected and positioned automatically — there’s no (human) editorial intervention. Also new on the Google front are localised versions of the Google iPhone interface. You can now get the new “integrated Google experience” for the iPhone (and the iPod Touch) in 33 new markets and 16 new languages, from Argentina to New Zealand, from Swedish to Chinese.

For iPhone users in the US who are still with AT&T, you’re in luck. AT&T has added iPhone users to the list of their customers who can get WiFi access for free at many AT&T Hotspots. These include locations such as Barnes & Noble and Starbucks (which AT&T wrestled away from T-Mobile). In order to get free Internet access, just connect to the hotspot using your iPhone and enter your iPhone number.

RIM, maker of the Blackberry series of messaging devices / smartphones, suffered a serious, North America-wide outage earlier this week. The much-publicised outage garnered a lot of media attention. The three-hour outage is the second one in two years for RIM, and has frustrated Blackberry users who depend on the service.

Palm has been quick to capitalize on RIM’s misery. In a blog post, Palm Senior Manager for Enterprise Solution says “the best solution is to eliminate third-party email servers, hassles, and costs, while maintaining simplicity and control.” Palm’s latest ads (see above) are also harping on the Blackberry outage issue. Yes, there are risks with having a third party manage your company’s email infrastructure for you. There are also risks of doing everything in-house; after all, your own server could crash too.

RIM’s Blackberry came in second after the Apple iPhone in terms of customer satisfaction in the recent survey by Changewave. Palm, as we know, came last. Perhaps Palm could spend their time better on improving their own customer experience, rather than criticizing others?

[ via Engadget ]

Android SDK
Google has released the latest version of the Android Software Development Kit, m5-rc14. There are lots of new features including an updated user interface, geo-coding and extended support for multimedia formats. The following video shows some of the new user interface.

Android is definitely a work in progress, but it’s already shaping up nicely. The user interface is still very reminiscent of the iPhone, though.

Apple iPhone in Austria

Speaking of the iPhone, Apple’s next destination is Austria. T-Mobile will be offering the device in Austria, which is just the fifth country that the iPhone will be released in. The iPhone not surprisingly came up first in cellphone satisfaction, as reported by ChangeWave Research. Where does Palm rank in that survey? It came up last, even after counting LG and Sanyo.

Ever since the Apple iPhone came out, there’s been a steady stream of new phones with large touchscreens coming into the market. The latest is the nuvifone from GPS maker Garmin. The nuvifone is around the size of an iPhone. It has a 3.5 inch touch screen, HSDPA support, camera, integrated media player and of course GPS. No other details (including pricing) are available at the moment, but Garmin expects to release the phone in 3Q this year.

This is probably the first smartphone designed with GPS as the main service. The innovation bar for smartphone has been set higher by the nuvifone; whatever Palm has planned will have to step up.