Give your cell phone a new life with a touch screen
Nicole Lee, Associate Editor April 6, 2009
When the Apple iPhone hit the mobile world last summer, the cell phone touch screen went mainstream. No, the iPhone wasn't the first cell phone to offer tap dancing on its display, and it remains for too expensive for many consumers, but it did put a touch screen in the hands of a lot of people who have never used one before. Four months later, handsets with touch screen remain relatively few in number but more cell phones are offering the technology. Fittingly, the new HTC Touch for Sprint and the unlocked HTC Touch both offer touch screens, but you can also find such displays on Sprint's new Palm Centro and the unlocked Motorola Ming. But it's important to note that touch screens aren't only confined to high-end smart phones. You can also find a variation of a touch screen on the Motorola Razr2 series. On AT&T's Razr2 V9 the external display has touch controls with a vibrating feedback.
| Product name | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $269.00 | $449.99 | $199.99 | $104.99 | $199.95 |
| CNET editors' rating | |||||
| Average user rating | |||||
| Review date | June 30, 2007 | June 07, 2007 | October 11, 2007 | October 15, 2007 | August 14, 2007 |
| The Bottom Line | Despite some important missing features, a slow data network, and call quality that doesn't always deliver, the Apple iPhone sets a new benchmark for an integrated cell phone and MP3 player. | The HTC Touch boasts an innovative touch screen and sleek interface, but the lack of a sizable keyboard really limits the usability of this device. And despite the beautiful hardware, the Windows Mobile smart phone lags in performance and needs a bit more tweaking before we're ready to snatch one up. | The Palm Centro isn't the innovative product we were looking for from the company, but with its slimmer size, ease of use, and affordable price tag, the Centro is a good option for those looking for their first smartphone. | Though it lacks some key data features, the Motorola Ming A1200 is a unique and user-friendly smartphone that delivers on call quality. | The Motorola Razr2 V9 is a great successor to the first Razr. Despite a few quibbles, it has an eye-catching design, solid performance, and an impressive feature set. |
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| Features | |||||
| Service Provider | AT&T | Unlocked | Sprint Nextel | Unlocked | AT&T |
| Cellular technology | GSM | GSM | CDMA | GSM | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM |
| Band / mode | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) | GSM 900/1800/1900 | CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 | GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband) | WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 |
| Wireless Interface | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth 2.0 EDR | WiFi | Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
| Weight | 4.8 oz | 0.3 lbs | 4.2 oz | 4.3 oz | 0.3 lbs |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
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