Nokia E62

With its QWERTY keyboard and push email, the Nokia E62 [1] is gunning for the BlackBerry crowd. The S60 phone has also been called a "Treo killer" and a "Q killer." The bad news is that the E62 lacks WiFi connectivity (like the BlackBerry 8800, below, is rumored to include) and has an unfortunate blocky, European look to it.

Features: Quadband GSM & EDGE, 240x320 screen, Bluetooth, comes with QuickOffice for editing Word docs and spreadsheets, can be mounted as a USB drive.
Availability: Available now from Cingular [2], but may not be in all stores.
Price: $150, with a Cingular contract.

RIM BlackBerry 8800

There's a lot of buzz about RIM's consumer-friendly BlackBerry 8100 (Pearl), but hardcore BB fans are holding out for the 8800 (code name Gamma Ray). The 8800 is basically an 8100 with a full QWERTY keyboard. According to these leaked pictures [3], RIM has designed three differnet versions of the phone for three different carriers. There is some debate over whether the 8800 will include a camera (high-security companies don't like cameras), but a recently leaked spec sheet [4] indicates at least one version of the phone will have a 1.3-megapixel camera. This is the phone that has business executives thinking twice about the Nokia E62.

Features: Quadband EDGE, WiFi support, microSD expansion slot, new QWERTY keyboard style, slim form factor and 320 x 240 screen. It can also play MP3s, stream audio & video and comes with stereo headphones.
Availability: Spring 2007 (rumored)
Price: Unknown

T-Mobile Dash

The T-Mobile Dash is the first incarnation of the HTC Excalibur, yet another Q-killer. A T-Mobile employee tip sheet [5] leaked on the Web highlights the Dash's selling points. One nice thing the Dash has going for it is that it's much smaller and lighter than the Q.

Features: WiFi support
Availability: October 16, 2006 form T-Mobile
Price: Unknown, but pundits are putting it in the $300 range.

Samsung i607

The Samsung's SGH-i607 was recently submitted to the FCC [6] for approval in the U.S. This tiny Windows Mobile smartphone has a full QWERTY keyboard, a QVGA screen and a side-mounted scroll wheel like the Moto Q. The i607 has not been officially announced by Samsung, but a U.S. release can't be far off.

Features: Quad-band GSM & EDGE, HSPDA, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, camera, Bluetooth, and a microSD slot.
Availability: Leaked photos [7] indicate it will be available on Cingular
Price: Unknown

HTC TyTN

HTC's TyTN (pronoucned "titan") is a slick little Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone with a speedy processor and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It looks great [8] and is shipping now, but doesn't come cheap. ZDnet has a review [9].

Features: Quad-Band GSM/EDGE, 802.11g WiFi, HSDPA/UMTS, 2-megapixel camera (and a second camera on the front), Bluetooth, integrated jog dial on the side.
Availability: Unknown
Price: Available unlocked for about $800

Bonus: Top 5 least anticipated cell phones

• Motorola's Feng Shui phone [10], which uses a variety of sensors to calculate the Chi value of a location.
• Motorola's "electric massager" cell phone [11] - Who doesn't want to be alerted of a new call by a mild electric shock?
• Samsung's "perfume phone" [12] - Welcome to smell-o-phone
  
• Dolce & Gabbana Gold RAZR [13] - A steal at $600
• The LG LP4100 "Sobriety Phone" [14] - Includes a mini-Breathalyzer and can be programmed to prevent you from dialing certain numbers while drunk. Actually, that's not such a bad idea.