About a year ago, when the smartphone market started bursting at the seams, many companies saw what potential profit they could turn by making a mobile device and adopting Google's popular operating system and/or Microsoft's fresh Windows Phone 7. In a mad rush, we've seen nearly 50 smartphone releases this year alone and some manufacturers have worked their way to the top. Others, however, have found their way at the bottom of the totem pole, back at square one.
Some cell phone manufacturers that have really flourished over this time period are Samsung, HTC, and Motorola. Devices like the HTC's EVO 4G and myTouch 4G; the Motorola Droid X and Droid 2; and Samsung's Nexus S and Galaxy S series are just a few devices that have been introduced and have really shown us what these manufacturers are capable of. Apple also raised the bar quite a bit (save for the antenna) with their most recent release, the iPhone 4. Whether your prefer a mostly plastic, lighter weight device, a metal-bodied phone, or one wrapped in gorilla glass, there is a flavor out there for everyone.
One of the less fortunate companies, Dell, has gotten off to a rough start and may have tainted their own reputation enough to damage any foreseeable comeback. Ruining two device launches out of three can destroy customer confidence, and that's exactly what Dell did. They launched two devices with mediocre to very poor hardware, and have already postponed the Venue Pro's widespread launch twice. The Venue Pro will have to be absolutely breathtaking or they will have to have a few tricks up their sleeve to work their way out of the rut they're in.
On the other end of the spectrum, a company that still has an undecided fate is LG. Barring their future device launches go smoothly, we may already have a good idea about how they will fare amongst the powerhouses like Samsung and HTC. The upcoming Korean launch of the Optimus 2X will make LG the first manufacturer in the world to release a smartphone packing a dual-core (NVIDIA Tegra 2) processor. Not to mention, the recent leak of the LG B, which revealed a device that gives Apple's super-thin iPhone 4 a run for its money. The B also puts both the iPhone 4's IPS LCD and Samsung's Super AMOLED displays to shame – in both brightness and power dissipation – with it's ultra-crisp IPS liquid color display.
As nice as both devices appear to be, LG is being a little brave skinning the the user interface. Especially since it strongly resembles Samsung's TouchWiz (compared in the picture above). To be honest though, I have a new respect for LG. If they want to skin their devices with what appears to be a TouchWiz knock-off, I will bite my tongue about it until I see what it's all about. As is, LG is in line to be a true competitor in the mobile space, that is, if their devices turn out to be as good as they seem. What do you guys and gals think? Will the LG B and Optimus 2X be good enough to put them in line with the current mobile heavyweights?
