Posted on 28-1-2004

Phones of the year, 2004?

Ashley Norris looks ahead to some of the blockbuster phones we might be seeing in the shops later this year

A couple of weeks into 2004 and the internet technology gossip sites are buzzing with discussions on the phone of the year. No, not the best handset of the year just gone. Rather, the one that will catch the imagination of buyers in the coming twelve months.
Mobile phone manufacturers are notoriously slow at getting their phones to market. Sometimes they display half finished products in a bid to drum up interest from networks and retailers. Other times the networks insist on refinements to a handset before they are willing to take it. Hence, even from this vantage point in January, it is fairly easy to predict which phones will be the most coveted models come the summer.

And to keep one step ahead of the makers who haven't yet paraded their upcoming models there's always the twilight world of the internet technology news sites. Places where gossip, rumour and hearsay, and dubious computer-generated images of forthcoming handsets, rule.

Here then are the phones you should be watching for in 2004.

Sharp GX30 - The fourth incarnation of the Beckham-advertised Vodafone camera phone should arrive in March. There's no definite list of features yet, but we'd be surprised if it didn't take its cues from the Sharp J-SH53 (a Japanese model) and become the first phone in the UK to take one megapixel pictures - much better resolution than the current standard (VGA) for camera phones. The screen's resolution is also likely to be enhanced, and Bluetooth and a Secure Digital (SD) storage card slot added to the features list. It'll probably keep that classic clamshell design though. Vodafone.co.uk

Nokia 7200 - Pencilled in for a late spring launch, the 7200 is Nokia's first ever take on a clamshell phone. In terms of features it lags way behind handsets like the Sharp GX30. Yet it is likely to become the most coveted handset of the first part of 2004 thanks to a design that that the fashionistas will swoon over. Completely unlike any other handset, it has been dubbed the "Louis Vuitton phone", as the beige-coloured fabric padding on its outside of one version of the phone is reminiscent of the French fashion company's products. Nokia.co.uk

Motorola MPx220 - Also due in the next couple of months, the MPx220 is a refresh of Motorola's tiny clamshell MPx200. It is powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile and, like the original, it offers cut-down versions of Internet Explorer, Outlook and Windows Media Player. Motorola has, however, ramped up the feature count by adding a camera, Bluetooth and 10MB storage, to deliver what should be an incredibly impressive handset. Motorola.co.uk

Siemens SX1 - Unveiled back in February 2003, Siemens' debut smartphone, which runs on the Symbian operating system, looks finally set to reach the market next month. When it was first displayed it critics hailed it as a miracle of miniaturisation in that a camera, web browser, POP3 e-mail and video facilities had been crammed into such a tiny handset. A year on and it still looks like a reasonably strong package. Siemens.co.uk

Sony Ericsson Z1010 - Rumoured to be weeks away (although some websites have been predicting its imminent arrival for the best part of a year) the Z1010 is Sony Ericsson's debut 3G phone. Given that it packs a strong selection of features into a fairly compact clamshell form factor, 3G network Three is likely to find a place for it in its range sometime soon. Sony Ericsson

LG U8100 - Three would also be doing itself a favour by adding this handset to its range. Smaller and lighter than almost all 3G phones it nevertheless includes video calling, Java, Bluetooth, an MP3/AAC player and 64MB of storage. It is certain to arrive in the UK at some point this year, but which network will take it is anyone's guess. LG

HP Smartphone - This may prove little more than vapourware, but the web is awash with stories and images of HP's first PDA/phone hybrid for two years - the iPaq h6300. The device is said not only sports a high-resolution screen and a VGA quality camera, but also includes integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It is also supposed to feature an e-mail client that uses RIM's Blackberry technology to push messages on to the device from a server as soon as they are received. It sounds amazing. But whether we see it in June, as is being predicted online, is another matter. HP

Treo 620 - PalmOne (as Palm the hardware manufacturer now calls itself) has announced its emphasis this year will be on smartphones. Hazarding a guess, we take that to mean that a second version of the Treo 600 (maybe called the 610 or 620) is in the pipeline. The Treo 600 has a wonderful form factor including a very easy to use QWERTY keyboard. By the summer we expect the new version to appear, boasting a higher resolution screen (thereby addressing the 600's prime weakness), a faster processor, more memory and just maybe, integrated Wi-fi and Bluetooth. Palmone