This year's CTIA Wireless trade show saw not one but two smartphones poised to eclipse the current market leader iPhone.
Both Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Evo 4G are beautifully designed devices harnessing the full power of Android 2.1 platform. The design of both phones is clearly inspired by the target rival, which is just fine.
Hardware of either device is top-notch and beats iPhone hands down. 720p HD recording, front-facing camera, 1GHz processor... You name it and it's likely there.
On the software front both Samsung and HTC decided to go with a custom user interface overlay on top of a stock Android. The customizations seem to be well thought out and add to the charm of the devices. The downside is most likely you'll have to forget about upgrading to the latest Android versions when they become available.
Integration with major social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is baked into either device.
Both phones seem to be "Google experience" devices meaning that all the good stuff from Google you come to expect from an Android phone such as Google Maps/Navigation, Gmail, Calendar, and the like is going to be at your fingertips.
Android Market is the source of more than 30,000 applications that can augment the out-of-the-box experience for either phone. A number of useful apps come preinstalled. Galaxy S features Swype - a soft keyboard input accelerator for smartphones.
The phones will be available later this year, presumably before the next-gen iPhone is announced, and the price is currently unknown. HTC Evo 4G is going to be offered by Sprint while Galaxy S is currently not tagged with a carrier. As it's a GSM phone it's reasonable to expect it to be available from either AT&T or T-Mobile in the US.
If you don't have a smartphone or your iPhone contract is about to expire you might want to have a long and close look at these devices. This is the first time I recommend an Android phone over an iPhone to a friend.
