Google joins summer of smartphone launches

The BlackBerry Tour (photo courtesy of RIM)

In what is shaping up to be a busy summer of competition in the smartphone space, wireless carrier T-Mobile is expected to introduce a device running on Google’s Android operating system, according to news reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the new smartphone, the HTC myTouch 3G, will be the second Android phone from HTC, which introduced the G1. Details may come out next week on when the myTouch 3G might go on sale.

The myTouch will be joining several other brands coming onto a hotly competitive scene, as more consumers embrace the multiple functions of smartphones over so-called feature phones, including e-mail, GPS navigation, image capture, media players, Web surfing and an ever-expanding universe of other applications downloadable from various app storefronts.

Tomorrow, the new Apple iPhone 3G S (right) goes on sale at Apple stores and through exclusive wireless carrier AT&T. AT&T relented earlier this week and agreed to let existing AT&T subscribers whose present contracts end in July, August or September upgrade to the 3G S at the same price that new subscribers can buy it, $199 for a 16GB iPhone and $299 for a 32GB model.

Previously, iPhone owners still under contract to AT&T would have had to pay a $200 premium over new subscribers, prompting protests only slightly less raucous than those on the streets of Tehran.

Research in Motion Tuesday unveiled the BlackBerry Tour, which will also go on sale this summer and will be able to run on both the Verizon and Sprint CDMA wireless networks in the U.S. The Tour includes a 3.2MP still and video camera, 256MB of Flash memory (my desktop computer has that) and preloaded applications to link to Facebook, MySpace and Flickr. Pricing information is not yet available.
And then, of course, there’s the Palm Pre (left), which went on sale June 6 through wireless carrier Sprint and other big box retailers. Price $199 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a two-year contract from Sprint. Features include: A slide out physical QWERTY keyboard; Palm Synergy, which brings together e-mail, calendar and contact information into one interface; and multitasking, enabling the user to run several applications at once. Each of these are features, Palm is happy to point out, that aren’t available on the iPhone.

It will be interesting to see how this smartphone competition plays out over coming months and which brands customers will gravitate to. The New York Times reported June 09 that smartphone sales are expected to increase 25 percent this year, over last, citing Gartner research.

Smartphone demand is fueled by the increasing need of people for constant connection to the Internet, the office and each other. Notebook computers just aren’t as portable as a smartphone. Growing user dependence on social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter prompt smartphone makers to preload those applications onto their devices. And as 3G networks roll out across the country, followed next by 4G networks, mobile applications will be even more responsive, thus prompting demand for more smartphones.