The Chinese Zodiac labels 2011 as the ‘Year of the Golden Rabbit’. Here at AudioAcrobat, we’re not necessarily disagreeing with this ancient method of assigning personality to those born within a specific year, we’re merely thinking out loud when we unofficially dub 2011 as the ‘Year of the Smartphone’. It may seem slightly cliche, but the stars have aligned and shown us the way to the brightly-lit, wi-fi enabled touchscreen devices of the future.
In today’s posting, we’ll take a look at several of the newest smartphones to hit the market in mid-late 2010 and why they’ve been making big splashes in early 2011 … along with a brief, unbiased portrayal of each.
Apple iPhone 4: You’re holding it wrong.
U.S. Release Date = June 24 2010
$ = 199 – 699 (memory & plan dependent)
Carrier(s) = AT&T; Verizon
Pros = Video chat; Retina display; Multitasking; HD video recording
Cons = Antenna; Battery life; Overheating; Flash not supported
Product Specs (courtesy of ipod.about.com):
Google Droid X: A rich multimedia experience.
U.S. Release Date = July 15th 2010
$ = 199 (after $100 mail-in rebate)
Carrier(s) = Verizon
Pros = 4.3″ touchscreen; 8 megapixel camera; HD video recording; HDMI output; Mobile Hotspot; Supports flash
Cons = Camera speed; no front-facing camera
Product Specs (courtesy of huliq.com):
Google Nexus S: A giant leap in the right direction.
U.S. Release Date = December 16th 2010
$ = 199 – 529 (plan dependent)
Carrier(s) = Carrier independent
Pros = Design; Display; Google integration; Supports flash
Cons = No memory card slot; feels ‘fragile‘
Product Specs:
Samsung Focus: Windows 7 + multimedia powerhouse.
U.S. Release Date = November 8th 2010
$ = 49.99 – 549.99 (plan dependent)
Carrier(s) = AT&T
Pros = 4″ Super AMOLED touch screen; High quality photo/video capture; Windows 7
Cons = No copy/paste; Xbox Live speed; Flash not supported
Product Specs (courtesy of phonescoop.com):
HTC Evo 4G: 4G — weeeeeee!
U.S. Release Date = June 4th 2010
$ = 199
Carrier(s) = Sprint
Pros = 4G speeds; Hotspot; Video chat; 8 megapixel camera; HD video recording; HDMI port; 4.3″ touchscreen
Cons = Premium fee for 4G network; No Bluetooth; Battery life
Product Specs (courtesy of htc.com):
Blackberry Torch 9800: The best Blackberry ever.
U.S. Release Date = September 24 2010
$ = 99 – 199
Carrier(s) = AT&T
Pros = Touchscreen + full QWERTY keyboard; Blackberry OS6; Flash + Hotspot “coming soon” in OS6.1
Cons = Sluggish; Low-res screen; VGA video
Product Specs (courtesy of crackberry.com):
What does all of this mean? To us, this means that there is a highly competitive market for smartphones released in mid-late 2010, and 2011 will undeniably see a plethora of competition released within the next several months. If you’re in the market for a new phone, any of the above should get you where you need to go — but we always recommend making sure your device can handle flash — whenever possible that is.
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