The big news last week was Verizon’s release of the Samsung Omnia and the HTC Touch Pro. The Samsung Saga, announced in mid-November, should also now be available in stores. It’s great to see that the hottest new phones are now generally available in the U.S. This week in addition to noting Verizon’s release, I’ll point you to some reviews of these and other new devices.

Verizon’s Touch Pro and Samsung Omnia

We’ve frequently covered these new devices, so by now the specs must be familiar. The Touch Pro has HTC’s iPhone-like TouchFlo 3D interface and a slideout QWERTY keyboard. The form factor of the Omnia is a bit more like the iPhone, with no keyboard or keypad and a soft keyboard or keypad onscreen as needed. It uses the TouchWiz interface.

The Touch Pro is $350 after a $70 rebate, with a two-year contract. The Omnia is $249 after a $70 rebate, with a two-year contract.

Verizon Samsung Saga

Verizon’s new Samsung Saga rounds out its offerings, and constitutes the third in its triumvirate of form factors: a Treo-like device with a front-facing QWERTY keyboard. The Saga has a 2.5-inch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Opera mobile browser, and what they call an optical mouse.

The device costs $200 after a $70 rebate, with a two-year contract.

Reviews of New Devices

Jason Dunn offers an unboxing and first-impressions video of the HTC Touch Pro. Rather than reviewing a branded device from one of the carriers, he takes a look at an unlocked device from Expansys.

MobileTechReview has a detailed review, including video, of the AT&T Fuze, AT&T's version of the HTC Touch Pro. The reviewers love the display and the Web browser. The price is $300 after a $50 data plan rebate, with a two-year contract.

PocketNow offers a video “hardware tour” of the Fuze. Engadget Mobile has a review of North American version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 — a phone which caused quite a stir when first announced. The review includes a video and photos. It’s not cheap: $800.

And Pocket PC Thoughts has an unboxing and first-impressions video of the HP iPAQ 910 Business Messenger, which has a front-facing QWERTY keyboard. It has quadband GSM/GPRS and triband UMTS/HSDPA, a 2.5-inch screen with 320 x 240 resolution, 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

In Our Blogs

Tim delivers the bad news that as of December 1 telemarketers can now call you on your cell phone.

If you know of other great online resources, contact me at Jim_Karpen@PocketPCmag.com. See archives of all my columns on my blog.

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