Highlights From the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress

HTC and Vodafone announced the HTC Magic on the second day of the show. It's Vodafone's first Google Android device and should not be confused with the T-Mobile G2. The HTC Magic will be available in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy this spring, with other markets being added at a later date. The HTC Magic is smaller in size compared with the T-Mobile G1. However, it lacks a physical keyboard, and you do not get a landscape onscreen keyboard. Other features include a 3.2-inch HVGA touch screen and trackball navigator, a Webkit browser, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, HSDPA/WCDMA (900/2100MHz), and a 3.2-megapixel camera.

The Acer M900 is geared more for the business user. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone features a 3.8-inch WVGA touch screen and has integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, and a 5-megapixel camera. With a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard, the M900 is built to handle your messaging needs. The smartphone also has a fingerprint scanner for security.

The HTC Touch Diamond2 is the next-generation model of the HTC Touch Diamond. The Touch Diamond2 runs Windows Mobile 6.1, but HTC has announced that it will be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 6.5 when it comes out in the second half of 2009. New features to the device include 50 percent better battery life and a 5-megapixel camera. The Touch Diamond2 is expected to ship in Europe and Asia in Q2, while the rest of the world--including the United States, we're guessing--will get it later this year.

Another view of the honeycomb Start screen. With touch-screen devices, you'll be able to move up and down the page with finger swipes.

The LG Arena marks the debut of the company's S-Class 3D user interface. It centers on a cube layout where you program all four sides to include shortcuts for your favorite applications. You can then rotate the cube with just a swipe of your finger. The LG Arena was the shining star of LG's booth and the company's big announcement of GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009. The Arena will be LG's flagship model of year.

The HTC Touch Pro2 takes over the HTC Touch Pro and gets a nice update in the looks department. The smartphone sports a rounder design and measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick. The Pro2 is equipped with a 3.6-inch WVGA (480x800) touch screen with a proximity sensor and the aforementioned zoom bar.

The Nokia E55 sports Nokia's version of the BlackBerry SureType keyboard. Here it is in black.

The N86 features a dual-slider design similar to the Nokia N96 and Nokia N85. When you push the screen up, you will get access to the alphanumeric keypad. We like that the buttons are now separated rather than all connected like the N96 and N85. The Nokia N86 8-megapixel camera phone was announced on Tuesday and GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009.

The Omnia HD is a top Samsung announcement from the GSMA World Congress. It is a quad-band GSM world phone with tri-band HSDPA 3G support. Features include an 8-megapixel camera, an FM radio, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, A Symbian series 60 OS, Samsung's ToucWiz interface, and a digital music player.

The Sony Ericsson Idou has an expansive touch screen.

The Idou's 12.1-megapixel camera has a sliding lens cover. It has a flash, but no self-portrait mirror.