Looking for a new mobile phone? Check out these for the summer.

About four months after CES, the Las Vegas Convention Center packs in more tech goodness with CTIA Wireless. It is a chance for all the big names in the mobile phone industry to put their best phones forward, and here is the newest crop.

I have listed them alphabetically in order of companies first, and then the model itself. Most of them did not have a price, but there are links to other sources with the prices. If you are in the market to buy this summer, this should give you an idea of what phones are out there, as well as the price.

HTC

Snap

Taking a page from the BlackBerry playbook, the Snap has something RIM doesn’t have: an e-mail management feature known as the Inner Circle. It involves pressing a button and bringing selected email messages from a pre-programmed selected group straight to the top. Other features include a 2 Megapixel Camera, and the ability to look nice.

Verdict: O, Snap!

LG

Electronics Neon

The big selling points of the Neon are its unusual QWERTY keyboard, and the navigation buttons below its screen, but it doesn’t look like a touchscreen. It comes with other features like Bluetooth, FM radio, and integrated FM radio, 2 Megapixel camera, picture and video recording, plus an SMS conversation box. Consider it a cheaper model of the Electronics Xenon.

Verdict: Quality at low cost.

Electronics Xenon

Like previous models of cellular phones like the Voyager or the Dare, the Electronics Xenon has both the touchscreen display (2.8 inches) and a slide-out, push-button QWERTY keyboard. The Xenon has a home screen that is customizable with widgets, along with an Annunciator menu that allows the user access to certain shortcuts. Other features include a 2-Megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS Integration, and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Verdict: Another LG Electronics phone, another inert gas.

Motorola

Evoke QA4

This one sports a 2.8 touchscreen, which has the haptic feedback (vibration at the touch) which really should be required for touchscreen phones these days. When it is turned to the side, the Evoke can become a touchscreen QWERTY. This slider model comes with seven widgets that work with its Wi-Fi browser including MySpae Mobile, Follow Me Weather, Google Quicksearch, Google Picasa, RSS Reader, USA Today Mobile, as well as YouTube.

Verdict: Evokes a response.

Nokia

E71x

This cheaper version of its predecessor, the E71, has a black steel finish, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, integrated A-GPS, a 3.2 Megapixel camera, and runs the Symbian S60 platform. I believe another page from the RIM playbook has been stolen for this BlackBerry look-a-like, but it is very slim at 0.4 inches.

Verdict: E71x marks the spot.

Samsung

Impression

Considering that Samsung has recently produced a very flexible prototype of an AMOLED screen, the company seems to want to make a good impression with the Impression, the first commercially available AMOLED display on a phone. I am told that this 3.2 inch screen is a touchscreen, and it also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3-Megapixel camera, accelerometer, and assisted GPS.

Verdict: Nice.

Instinct S30

I’m personally sick of the barrage of Instinct adds, and not looking forward to another in the collection. However, this one is a slimmer version of the first model, with Calendar Sync, IM, and supports 32 GB of memory.

Verdict: Instinct, you stink? We all stink for Instinct? (I got nothing.)

Mondi

CTIA visitors just loved the Mondi, with its 4.3 touchscreen LCD, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, plus 4GB of memory. Not only does the Mondi feature the Windows Mobile 6.1 Operating System, but it has the TouchWiz overlay, giving the user one-touch access to their favorite widgets. It also features Opera 9.5 and Route 66, Bluetooth 2.0, and a 3.0 Megapixel Camera/Camcorder.

Verdict: Mondi! Mondi!!

Propel Pro

This slider with the intriguing QWERTY keyboard is a follow up to the Propel (not to be referred to as the Propel Amateur). It has 32 GB worth of memory, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth, a 3-Megapixel camera and an optical joystick.

Verdict: Gone Pro.

Source

“Excuse me, is that a watch on your phone, or is this just the latest fad?”

This week marks the unveiling of not one, but two, cellular phones that can be worn as a watch. Is this going to be the fad of 2009, or is this just the last flash-in-the-pan for 2008?

The first is the one on the left, the Phenom Watch Phone. It is a GSM phone, which has a 1.3 inch touchscreen display. Other features include a microSD as well as Bluetooth compatibility.

The second is made by LG, and doesn’t appear to have any nickname, but is known as the LG-GD910. It is the first 3G HSDPA phone in the world, and it has a 1.43 inch screen that is also a touchscreen.

The phones have some differing features. They are both MP3 compatible, but the Phenom can also play MP4 files. The LG-GD910 is equipped with video conference capability, which is something that the Phenom doesn’t appear to have. The Phenom also has USB capability, and I’m assuming the GD910 has similar capability as it has download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps on HSDPA.

The Phenom Watch Phone is available now for a low price of $295.00. The LG-GD910 will have an initial European release sometime in January 2009, but there is no word on a price as yet.

Source1 and Source2

LG Set to Unveil 3G Wrist Phone

LG looks to be the first company to cram some 3G into a wrist phone with the LG-GD910.

Like the super-high-tech watch-calculator your friend’s dad had when you were a kid, the LG-GD910 is reportedly going to put more technology into a wrist-sized package than most people thought possible. The device, set to be unveiled at January’s CES event, will bring all the functionality of a standard 3G touch-phone to a wearable package.

The GD910 will have a 1.43 inch colour LCD touch screen, allowing users to dial numbers on the screen (provided they have incredibly small hands, apparently.)

Other features will include a video camera in the watch’s face, text-to-speech capabilities, bluetooth functionality, MP3 compatibility, and speech recognition software, allowing users to dial by voice.

No price has yet been announced, but LG plans to showcase the LG910 at CES. Reportedly the LG910 will be available in Korea and Europe first.

[via Electronista]