Sprint, Verizon and Motorola announced new handsets, including a mini Palm Treo, to be available on the Sprint EV-DO network.
Sprint said it will also offer during the fourth quarter a new LG Rumor, a next-generation Pearl Blackberry and The Touch by HTC, in addition to a new Palm Centro.
The Centro is the smallest Palm smartphone and will offer a full keyboard and touchscreen. Sprint released no further details on any of the products.
The HTC Touch smartphone is already available overseas and is slated for the United States during the second half, according to HTC.
It offers advanced touchscreen finger-tip control, including responding to “finger sweeps” across the screen in a manner somewhat similar to the iPhone. The interface can be “spun” by swiping a finger right or left across the display.
The Touch has a mini form factor with a 2.8-inch screen. It runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional, offers Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and has a 1GB microSD card with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of ROM. As a phone it offers five hours of talktime and 200 hours standby. It also supplies direct-push email and has HTML email support.
Verizon and Motorola also introduced a next-generation Motorola Q music phone with an updated sleek design and improved music and video interface.
Like its predecessor, the MOTO Q music 9m remains one of the first smartphones to support over-the-air music downloads. It adds a dedicated portal for V CAST music for an easier interface and also supports Windows Mobile 6.
It has not yet been determined if the MOTO Q will support the newly announced Rhapsody America service.
Other MOTO Q features include Bluetooth, EV-DO access, 1.3-megapixel camera with flash, built-in dual stereo speakers and miniSD storage for pictures, videos and music. It also offers an optimized keyboard for fast typing, a side-scroll thumb wheel for one-handed menu navigation and dedicated keys for messaging, speakerphone and other features.
It is available online for $249 after a $100 online discount with an additional $50 mail-in rebate also available. It is sold additionally through Verizon Wireless stores. For a limited time, the MOTO Q music 9m will be available in boxed sets with a 2GB miniSD card and stereo headset for an additional $49.99 or with a 4GB miniSD card for $149.
