Verizon Wireless will find the killer iPhone.

(List of participants: Verizon Wireless) On Friday, Verizon will be the first and only wireless operator in the U.S. to propose new Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm. The device, which costs $ 199 with a two-year contract and $ 50 to mail in rebate, this is the first phone that can give in the Apple iPhone - offered exclusively on AT & T network for the same price - run his money.

I tested the new touch-screen phone, and this week were playing with him for several days. My first impression is that this is very cool. It shares many of the features that have made the iPhone popular, such as touch screen, Media Player, as well as a full HTML-browser, which makes it a strong alternative to iPhone. (For a complete review of the device to verify where CNET Reviews editor Bonnie Cha put the device through the steps.)

But RIM has also been careful to maintain the popular features and functionality, which catapulted their BlackBerry devices for the status symbol among corporate types.

Take a touch screen, for example, BlackBerry users are accustomed to the actual keyboard. And many people I know who has a BlackBerry and the iPhone, that they prefer BlackBerry, when it comes to sending text messages or e-mail because they feel like touching the buttons.

RIM did not want to lose this feeling, so the company is confident that users will still have to press down on the touch screen as if they were really pressing. In the Apple iPhone user, I must admit, it took me a while to get used to the Storm “impetus” to the touch screen. But in a sense, I think that the improvement over the iPhone touch screen. I can not tell you how many times I accidentally called a comrade, or send a text message before I was ready to strike, because my fingers brushed through the area on iPhone touch screen.

Another improvement over the iPhone is the fact that the Storm has 1 gigabyte of internal memory and can use standard MicroSD memory card support up to 16 GB of additional data storage. And because they are the standard storage cards, they can be replaced and replaced. Unlike the iPhone 3G comes in two versions, 8GB model and 16GB model. Storage can not be removed or replaced.

(List of participants: Verizon Wireless) In addition, Storm has a removable battery. Again, this call to me, because the iPhone battery can not be eliminated, which means if he dies, as my iPhone.

Gloomier forecast
But Storm is not a perfect device, either. And there are a few things that I prefer on the iPhone. On the one hand, Storm has no Wi-Fi. Verizon Wireless representatives told me that they have decided not to include Wi-Fi, because it adds, “in bulk, price, and it is draining the battery.”

But the truth is, I think, Verizon, do not want Wi-Fi, because the company is likely to have customers Surf its wireless network 3G. While the 3G speeds huge step forward compared 2.5G speeds, they simply do not hold a candle to the Wi-Fi. I can download e-mail and Web pages on my iPhone using Wi-Fi is much faster than when I was using AT & T in the 3G network. And I can not imagine it would be much different from the Verizon network 3G.

In addition to the lack of Wi-Fi, I would say that I prefer the touch-screen navigation and Web browsing experience on iPhone for the Storm. This, of course, the matter of personal taste. The new BlackBerry browser is slick and it works well. This is definitely a huge step forward compared to older browsers. However, the increase on the Storm need to press the button, or actually clicking the screen. And I prefer the iPhone to pinching and wrist movements. But this is just me.

In general, I think, RIM came out with a device that gives the consumer is seriously considering a new smartphone with a touch screen alternative to iPhone. As a result, I think it can help save Verizon customers who have been tempted to leave the carrier for the iPhone.

Let’s face it, Verizon Previous attempts to introduce the so-called iPhone kliller have been lackluster. LG Voyager and the LG Dare, looked cool and smooth, but they were not as smart phones. RIM BlackBerry other models did not have a touch screen and cool factor.

Even Verizon has not seen a huge number of subscribers to keep their networks since the iPhone was first introduced a year and a half ago, she lost some as a result. But now customers are satisfied with Verizon Wireless coverage and reliability of the network will not have to obtain permission to cool the device.

T-Mobile Shadow smartphone becomes a makeover for 2009. New Shadow will run Windows Mobile 6.1, HotSpot will be included for use with T-Mobile HotSpot Unlimited Call Service, as well as access to Wi-Fi networks.

Shadow is a nice balance of business and entertainment functions, including music and video player, pre-loaded, multimedia content, mobile version of Microsoft Office for document viewing and editing, as well as Microsoft Outlook. Shadow in the 1.6-inch screen, however, was disappointing. I think it would be very difficult to deal with paper or watching video on a screen this size.

HTC production remains candybar slider phone design to its predecessor, but comes in two colors: white and black mint Burgundy. This is a fairly small and light, measuring 4.3 to 2.4 to 0.5 inches and weighs 3.9 ounces. Shadow is available in T-Mobile retail stores and online at the end of this month.

For the latest news of CES, check out our full coverage of CES 2009.

Wi-Fi could not be more cutting-edge technology, but the iPhones, netbooks and other portable devices, set it in many more hands of consumers this year, according to data released on Thursday, Wi-Fi Alliance and research company In-Stat.

Once associated primarily with laptops, Wi-Fi is now built into many mobile phones, cameras and game consoles, and even some TVs. This allows users to share data around the home and with friends on the Internet, as well as to increase data speeds of smartphones in certain locations.

In general, the supply of Wi-Fi chipsets grew by 26 percent to 387 million in 2008, according to In-STAT and the Alliance, industry groups. One reason, Wi-Fi comes in so many products is that chipmakers are its integration with other types of networks in a single chipset, said to-Stat analyst Norm Bogen. Instead of beating out other species, such as WiMax or 3G (third generation) mobile data, Wi-Fi is now with them. For example, Qualcomm in snapdragon chipset for mini-notebooks include Wi-Fi with 3G, Bluetooth, broadcast television and GPS (Global Positioning System) function.

Deliveries of Wi-Fi chips in a dual mode mobile phones rose 52 percent in 2008 to 56 million units, B-Stat and the Alliance said. Apple iPhone, which was introduced in 2007 in the U.S. and expanded in more than 70 countries in 2008, which helped drive the growth in supply over 10 million units. It also helped set the tone for the industry, making Wi-Fi capabilities standard feature phones, the Research In Motion BlackBerry models, as well as T-Mobile G1 Android phone. On Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, T-Mobile USA introduced the Shadow smartphone, dual mode device, which can be used for making calls from Wi-Fi access points.

Wi-Fi also grown rapidly in stationary devices, consumer electronics, such as printers, gaming consoles, set top boxes and digital TVs. The number of Wi-Fi chips shipped in those products rose 51 percent to 48 million units. Consumers also bought more equipment, which gave them a Wi-Fi connectivity on the run, such as cameras, portable music players and portable gaming units, such as the popular Nintendo DS. Shipments in this category grew 33 percent in 2008 to 71 million units. In 2009, all the portable gaming device will have Wi-Fi, according to In-Stat.

Wi-Fi penetration in the notebook market grew more slowly, at only 23 per cent, although with a broader base. There were 144 million Wi-Fi chips used in laptop computers in 2008, as laptops, mini-laptops, ultramobile devices (UMDs) and mobile Internet devices (MIDs). Alphabetic soup small portable options, including emerging netbook category, will help drive a 12 percent increase in the PC arena in the year. Almost all netbooks will have Wi-Fi, while many of them also have 3G, Bogen said.

Most computers become the latest Wi-Fi technology, according to In-STAT and the Alliance. They said more than half of all mobile PCs shipped in 2008 were equipped with the 802.11n draft 2.0 equipment. Alliance began certifying products using this interim standard, which can support speeds above 100Mb per second, in June 2007.

Home networks and smart phones will be significant drivers of Wi-Fi growth in 2009, according to In-STAT and the Wi-Fi Alliance. Deliveries of Wi-Fi-smartphones allows must grow twice as fast than for smartphones in general, they said.

Several online growing trend, because many consumers want the choice of connectivity, as well as additional costs to add Wi-Fi is a minor, according to In-Stat in Bogen. There are several users of laptops and other Wi-Fi devices that do not mind searching out hot spots, and in some cases paying to use it, but for a relatively smooth access to the Internet, cellular data is needed, with Wi-Fi to increase the speed at certain points, he said.

Current silicon development to attract even more benefits to Wi-Fi device users, Bogen said: smaller, more integrated and more efficient chipsets are draining less battery, and that will only be better in the course of this year, he said.

Palm hopes to return to the track with a new pre-touch phone that comes equipped with the same new operating system webOS, as announced on Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Pre-and operating systems use a few key concepts, that’s easy to use, but also closely integrated with Internet services for e-mail, instant messaging and search, as well as Facebook.

For example, the phone will organize a number of active applications, using the “active personality,” large icons that line on the display. With the help of a touch interface, users can flip through them, move them or throw them out of the screen by dragging a finger from the bottom to the top of the screen.

Combining multiple sources of data in one point of view is also an important part of pre-and webOS users. The user can, for example, group together Outlook, Google and Facebook calendars, or to collect e-mail from multiple accounts in one box. All interviews with the same person over chat or text messages are grouped together in a chat-style view.

Things like the new text messaging and calendar appear as pop-up notices at the bottom of the screen.

Your phone does not simply use the connection, and comes with a QWERTY keyboard that slides from the bottom of the phone. When the keyboard slides, the phone becomes slightly bent. Only through a “virtual keyboard cheesy” does not cut it, said Jon Rubinstein, the executive chairman at Palm, in a direct dig at his former employer Apple with its award-winning screen keyboard iPhone.

Like most other companies who declare smartphones these days, Palm could not resist taking a couple KLA leader in the market Apple. The leaders also stressed the fact that, until the battery can be removed, unlike the iPhone battery.

Users can start typing on the keyboard to start searching for contacts and applications - function calls on Palm Universal search. If he can not find anything on the phone, it allows the user to choose from a list of sites to search, including Google and Wikipedia.
Phone will begin shipping during the first half of 2009, CEO Ed Colligan said Palm.

Sprint to get exclusive access to the phone in the U.S., and its executive director, Dan Hesse, was on stage during the ads hyping its capabilities. Hesse likes the fact that he can talk on the phone, and at the same time, check the schedule and send e-mail.

Prices for pre not been announced.

On the hardware side, the phone has support for EV-DO Rev A, 802.11 B and G, GPS (Global Positioning System), Bluetooth stereo support, 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and the 8GB built-in storage, but no memory card

The phone has a 3.1-inch screen with 320×480 resolution.

2008 was a landmark for the mobile industry, and, in particular, the smartphone space. Record 39.9 million smartphones were shipped worldwide in the third quarter of this year, according to market research firm Canalys. This is 28 percent more than the phones shipped in the same July-September period of 2007, and smartphones currently account for about 13 percent of the total mobile market, Canalys said.

This is a whole lot of smartphones.

And despite the fact that the line between “normal” mobile phones or feature phones and smartphones become blurrier every day, There is a select few über phones, which are still allocated from the block. Whether it is a stunning design, new and innovative features or exclusive features, eight phones are our picks - in no particular order - for the best smartphone in a year and each one is looking.

Best of all: You still have all the phones in 2009 look forward to.

T-Mobile G1: Say hello to Android
T-Mobile G1, issued 23 Oct., 2008, is the first smartphone powered by Google’s open source mobile operating system (OS), Android. Although not as powerful and full-featured, as many hoped, 3G device that clearly shows the promise of Android OS. And with a slider-style, physical, full QWERTY-keyboard and touch screen, Wi-Fi and GPS, G1, of course, no slouch.

(T-Mobile; GSM; $ 179 with a two-year contract to provide services)

Sony Ericsson Xperia 1: Experience Xperia
Name Sony Ericsson is not a synonym for “smartphone”, but if a company is rolling out devices, such as Xperia 1, that may soon change. Originally released in autumn 2008, Xperia 1, in which the Windows Mobile 6,1 Professional is unlike other smart phones because of its innovative joystick and a customizable home screen “groups”, making it a truly unique users “Xperi-ENCE “. And the fact that he got 3G, 3,2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and support for GPS (aGPS), does not hurt either.

(Nezablokirovannye; GSM; about $ 800)

BlackBerry bold: dare to be bold
Originally released in November in the United States, BlackBerry Bold launch in 9000 hampered by various policy failures and problems with AT & T in the 3G network. Now that he finally, widespread, smartphone quickly build loyal fan base thanks to its stunning 480 x 320 display, blazing 624-MHz processor and a unique, full BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard. Aimed directly at business or power users, Bold also packages 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS.

(AT &T; GSM; $ 299,99 two-year contract to provide services)

Apple iPhone 3G: a sense of Brilliance
Apple in iPhone 3G needs no introduction. The second generation of the company’s first smartphone literally taken the world by storm. In particular, Apple shipped over 10 million devices in 2008, making it the number two smartphone vendor in the world for Nokia and RIM bumping and Microsoft down. IPhone is jammed packed with features, but what is its intuitive touch-based user interface, the best in its class breed browser Safari, a high-end multimedia player / iPod and the iTunes App Store.

(AT &T; GSM; 8GB, $ 199 with a two-year contract for the provision of services; 16GB $ 299 with contract)

Nokia E71: smartphone with style
Nokia is in the business-oriented devices, Eseries, are not new, but you could not say that the latest addition to the line, Nokia E71, which is thinner and easier to catch the whole lot better looking than her brothers and sisters Eseries. First released early last summer, Symbian S60 device aGPS, 3G, Wi-Fi 3,2 megapixel camera, an outstanding battery, and more. The keyboard bit cramped for me, but it is a full QWERTY and can be great for people with lower numbers.

(Nezablokirovannye; GSM; $ 442)

Palm Treo Pro: Jewel in the Rough
Palm has seen better days - at least - but companies are not struggling to keep his release from one of the hottest Windows Mobile (6,1 Professional) devices emerge in 2008: Treo Pro. Along with GPS and Wi-Fi, candy-bar-style device, first released in August, as well as packages of 320 x 320 touch screen and full physical keyboard. Although not officially through any U.S. carrier rather Nevertheless, AT & T, is expected to announce the device at any time, as rumors suggest, as Sprint and Verizon may soon debut CDMA versions of Treo Pro.

(Nezablokirovannye; GSM; $ 549,99)

HTC touch PRO: touch of class
In June 2007 came HTC feeling. In mid-2008, Touch Diamond. Then HTC Touch Pro, the best smartphone in a heap, landed in the United States, primarily Sprint in October 2008 and with Verizon a month later. The compact and feature packed, 3G Touch Pro in the rocking Windows Mobile 6,1 professional, innovative HTC TouchFLO, the contact-screen-based user interface; GPS; Wi-Fi and 3.2 megapixel camera. Its rear end, is also uneven look like a rock - hence the name smart.

(Sprint and Verizon Wireless; CDMA; $ 299 [Sprint], $ 350 [VZW] with a two-year contract to provide services)

BlackBerry storm: all touchy Feely
RIM BlackBerry first touch screen, storm, thunder in the United States in November, much fanfare, but unfortunately, its launch was hampered by poor quality operating system code. Verizon has since shipped updated operating system, made to eliminate or at least improve, many of the early problems, and the device starts to shine. With a unique, 360 x 480 SurePress screen that clicks when you click it, GPS, both CDMA and GSM functionality and a new BlackBerry OS, 3G Storm is a force to be reckoned with. (Verizon Wireless; CDMA and GSM; $ 199 [after discounts] with a two-year contract to provide services)