GET READY for a new era of mobile phone envy. A new crop of phones from Apple, palm and nokia is redefining the concept of the phone and putting the power of a laptop in your pocket.
The iphone 3G S, palm pre and nokia n97 are such an advance on what the industry has for years dubbed smartphones, that they have prompted some commentaators to call them 'superphones'.
With always-on connectivity whether through Wi-Fi or 3G they are driving mobile usage of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and making it easy to share and view relatively high quality photos and videos on the move.
Apple's iphone 3GS Heats Up Smartphone Wars
This is all being driven by the iphone, the iconic gadget from computer maker Apple, which, despite technical limitations, has redefined what people expect from a top-of-the-line phone.
With its 3.5 inch touchscreen and single button, the iphone looked nothing like a mobile but, with Apple's customary attention to design and user interface, even the most committed luddites have found it simple to use.
Although it raises the stakes, the iphone 3G S is an evoluution of the popular device rather than a radical departure.
nokia The Old Boys Of The Phone World
Despite being the world's bigggest maker of mobile handsets, nokia has been forced to respond to Apple's dominance of the top end of the market.
While its N-series of multimedia phones, in particular the N95 8GByte, have offered superior features to the iPhone, such as a five-mega pixel camera, they have been hampered by a complex user interface.
The n97, which combines a responsive high resolution touchhscreen with a slide-out miniiqwerty keyboard, is its latest effort to craft an iPhone-killer @and looks to have a real chance of success.
palm pre Mobile Organising Your Digital Life
A surprise player in all this is palm. Although probably best known for its perrsonal digital assistants (PDAs), which were a must-have for executives in the 1990s, it was actually a serious player in the nasscent smartphone market in the US.
Although still only available in the US, the pre has received rave reviews and sold a reported 100,000 devices in its first weekend on sale.
Taken as a category, these three devices are delivering what the mobile industry has been prommising for a decade or more ' a truly portable computing experience that fits in your pocket.
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