Plus a special guide to help you choose what's right for you

One of the major strengths of Microsoft's approach to the smartphone niche is to make the Windows Mobile OS and application suite available to a variety of device manufacturers. The result of this approach over the past 11 years has been the regular release of innovative and increasingly powerful handhelds, PDAs, and more recently, smartphones. 

Things have certainly changed in the Windows Mobile world. One of the very first devices we reviewed 11 years ago was the Casio Cassiopeia A-10, a mini-clamshell handheld with a grey-scale screen, 44 MHz processor, and a whopping 2 MB or RAM and 4 MB of ROM. One of the last devices we review in this issue is the Samsung OMNIA, a smartphone with a 624 MHz processor; a color touch screen; 8 or 16 GB of internal storage memory; built-in phone, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an FM radio, a 5 megapixel camera, and the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and software suite. 

The devices reviewed in the following pages represent the current pinnacle of Windows Mobile development. In addition to the OMNIA, they include HTC's Touch Pro and Touch Diamond, Palm's Treo Pro and 800w, MWg's Zinc II, and Sony-Ericsson's XPERIA X1. We also take a look at the latest competition to Windows Mobile, the recently announced T-Mobile G1, which is based on Google's Android OS and application suite. 

This may be the last issue of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine that will focus on Windows Mobile, but the devices reviewed in the following pages are certainly not the last new smartphones you'll see. Nor is WM 6.1 the final version of the OS—Microsoft is currently working on Windows Mobile 7, which promises to address users' desires for a simpler and easier-to-use interface. Microsoft plans to release Windows Mobile 7 sometime next year. In the coming years we expect that you will continue to see the release of powerful, feature-rich, and increasingly innovative Windows Mobile smartphones.

To help you choose, we've begun with a guide that identifies a number of factors to keep in mind when choosing a smartphone.
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