Given the runaway success of the iPhone with consumers and the entrenched position of both Windows Mobile and the BlackBerry with business users, you might wonder why anyone would want to launch another new smartphone platform. Of course Google isn’t just anyone, but there were still some doubtful mutterings when it announced its open source Android operating system and the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) in November 2007.

Well, one year later and the first ‘Googlephone’ is here and although there are a number of handset manufacturers and mobile operators in the OHA, the first Android-powered device to go on sale is from T-Mobile. Here’s our review.

HTC has been plugging away with its own-brand Windows Mobile smartphones for a couple of years now, and its steady stream of new handsets has been pretty impressive, by and large. And “large” is certainly an adjective that can be applied to its latest model – the HTC Touch HD.

Although no bigger than an iPhone (in fact it’s virtually the same size), the HTC Touch HD packs in a screen that is not only huge, but also very high resolution – 3.8in from corner to corner, with a whopping 480 x 800 resolution. This is by far the largest, high-resolution screen on a Windows Mobile smartphone – or any pocket-size portable device, for that matter (see it in action in our hands-on video).

We missed the launch of the Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia a few weeks ago and while this Windows Mobile smartphone has now been on sale for a while, we still thought it was worth reviewing. After all, if Samsung thinks it’s an important enough product to warrant a huge marketing campaign extolling its virtues, who are we to argue?

Smartphones have long evolved past the point where they’re just a way to make calls and manage your contacts, and Samsung makes much of the Omnia’s multimedia abilities in its ads (and made the best unboxing video we’ve ever seen). Of course a smartphone with any kind of audio/video pretensions now has the iPhone to contend with, but Samsung has taken some suitable compensatory steps.

Given that it practically invented the smartphone, Palm really hasn’t done that much to impress of late. Shipping two million Centro devices is certainly a notable achievement, but that’s an entry-level rehash of a five-year old smartphone and Palm’s other handsets are barely more sophisticated.

Thankfully, someone seems to have lit a fire under Palm's collective ass and the new Treo Pro is by far its most capable smartphone to date. Unfortunately, merely being ‘capable’ isn’t quite enough for a smartphone these days, so the question has Palm done enough with the the Treo Pro to take on the likes of Apple, HTC and RIM?

HTC may not have named it as such, but its new Touch Pro smartphone is really nothing more than a Touch Diamond with a keyboard. Well, we say “nothing more” – the addition of a slide-out Qwerty keyboard similar to that on the TyTN II is no small thing, particularly if you plan to do a lot of typing in Windows Mobile (and don't like the look of the BlackBerry Bold).

BlackBerry devices may be the de facto standard in the world of corporate messaging, but RIM’s share of the smartphone market is actually on the decrease – and it’s no coincidence that Apple’s is growing.

RIM’s dominant position isn’t under threat just yet, but now that the iPhone has rudimentary support for such corporate messaging features like push email, BlackBerry owners will inevitably be looking longingly at Apple come upgrade time. Without a sleek and sexy multimedia smartphone of its own to keep them locked in, these are users that RIM could easily lose – which is where the BlackBerry Bold comes in.

If you’re on the lookout for a small, light, inexpensive laptop and are happy to sacrifice a few non-essential features for the sake of portability, then you certainly have plenty of choice at the moment. New netbooks are appearing on a regular basis, which means that even if there aren’t any models that take your fancy at the moment, there’s bound to be something to catch your eye by next month.

Alternatively, you could forget netbooks altogether and just stick with your smartphone. After all, many models now pack in as much power as a typical desktop PC of a few years ago, so why bother carrying around a netbook that just duplicates most of its functions?

That’s a question that Celio seeks to answer with the Redfly Mobile Companion C8. It may look like just another netbook, but in fact it’s a smartphone terminal designed for use with a Windows Mobile device. And what’s a ‘smartphone terminal,’ you ask? Read on to find out...

Although the Microsoft Exchange support that’s part of Apple's new 2.0 firmware now makes the iPhone and iPhone 3G a more plausible choice for business users looking for a sleek and shiny smartphone, the lack of a keyboard is still a deterrent for some savvy users. One alternative obvioulsy lies with Windows Mobile handsets, but now Nokia has another.

Wafer-thin and clad sleek stainless steel, the E71 looks every bit as stylish as Apple’s latest effort and while it may not have the same large, lush touch-screen, it does have that vital business smartphone ingredient – a keyboard.

It's a tough job overcoming the failings of Windows Mobile, but HTC has done a better job than most in recent times with its seriously sexy and potent smartphones. From the well-engineered Touch and Touch Dual to the all-singing, all dancing TyTN II, it has a strong record. But times change, and with the iPhone 3G just around the corner, can HTC keep it up?

The Touch Diamond, with its new TouchFLO 3D interface, tries as hard as any handset out there to mimic the iPhone's sleek, swish, multi-touch design. And unlike many other Windows Mobile devices, TouchFLO 3D completely replaces the Windows Mobile’s front end, making the traditional list-based design of the Today screen is a distant memory. Even our favourite Windows Mobile shell enhancement, SPB Mobile Shell, doesn't go as far as that. 

RIM’s BlackBerry was the first smartphone to bring the delights of instant, push email to the business masses and it has been much copied over the years. No manufacturer has taken it quite to the same extreme as Toshiba, however, whose Portégé G710 apes not only the BlackBerry’s slab-style Qwerty keyboard, but also the navigation method.