Next Generation Mobilephone

Mobile Phones: The Next Generation

There's a bevy of hot gizmos coming down the pike. Take a look at the feature-packed handsets on display at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona

The mobile-phone industry loves clunky acronyms, from HSDPA network upgrades to DVB-H interoperability. This year's 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona is no exception: You'd almost think handsets were priced according to the number of baffling tech standards they cite in their data sheets.

Still, all that mumbo jumbo adds up to a big dose of exciting new features in the latest phones unveiled by the world's biggest makers of handsets and handhelds.

The raft of all-singing, all-dancing phones announced at or just before 3GSM have a strong focus on multimedia, especially cameras, video, and music. Even the most basic, entry-level handsets -- the ones most likely to be offered for free with contracts by mobile operators -- are now featuring VGA-quality displays. Higher-end multimedia phones are starting to be equipped with hard drives and gigabytes of flash memory. That sets them up to do battle with Apple's iPod.

Another hot trend at 3GSM is called unlicensed mobile access, or UMA. (We're not kidding about the acronyms.) UMA is a scheme that allows phones and other portable devices to communicate over both cellular and wireless LAN networks (Wi-Fi), seamlessly handing off calls from one to the other. Major mobile-phone makers, including Nokia and Sony Ericsson, have introduced phones that can conveniently operate on both types of networks.

Keyboards are big, too, as mobile-handset outfits take a page from the BlackBerry playbook and start offering devices that can do wireless e-mail and other business applications. Motorola is promising an entire family of products with full QWERTY keyboards. Sony Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, and Samsung also have taken the wraps off new models aimed at mobile mailers.

Click on to check out these drool-worthy new phones. Keep in mind that the prices listed here don't include the subsidies typically offered by mobile operators.