Market Update: HTC Diamond, SE G700 and G900, Nokia N78 and 7310

Since there are several interesting phones coming out soon we decided to do a Market Update article just to let you know what to expect in the near future. There are some major releases that would turn many geeks wondering whether they should skip vacation this year and instead buy a new high-end phone.

HTC Touch Diamond

First off, battling for your hard-earned cash is the HTC Touch Diamond. Powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, the HTC Touch Diamond packs a 2.8-inch VGA display and is extremely thin at 11.5mm. It has a built-in accelerometer which allows screen auto rotation - another feature that should have been on-board a long time ago. A GPS receiver, Wi-Fi and a 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera add to the lengthy specs sheet.

HTC Touch Diamond in stores now

The HTC Touch Diamond runs on a Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 MHz processor and has 192MB DDR SDRAM. Additionally, it has the sweet 4GB of storage memory (no memory card slot though). FM radio with RDS and a proprietary HTC mini-USB port are also on board along with Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR.

The highlight of the new HTC Touch 3D user interface will be the web capabilities - smart desktop-like rendering and superb touch navigation through web pages and hyperlinks. Besides Wi-Fi the HTC Touch Diamond will also make use of dual-band UMTS support plus HSDPA 7.2 Mbps.

Currently, the HTC Touch Diamond can be found online for about 480 euro (740 US dollars) before taxes and subsides.

Sony Ericsson G700 and G900

Next in-line are two new Symbian UIQ smartphones of conservative looks - the Sony Ericsson G700 and Sony Ericsson G900. The two phones have identical dimensions and feature the same 2.4" 262K-color QVGA TFT touchscreen displays.

Sony Ericsson G700 in stores now

Sony Ericsson G700 and G900 will be tri-band handsets with 3G capabilities. They will also sport stereo Bluetooth and 160MB of internal memory. The memory is further expandable through the built-in Memory Stick Micro card slot.

Despite the Symbian UIQ, the user interface is very simplified, taking after the standart non-smartphone Sony Ericsson user interface. Sony Ericsson G700 has a very convenient one-touch full organiser function accessible from the home screen, as well as a touch-controlled Notes application, while the G900 home screen is equiped with one-touch media functions. You can find our review of the Sony Ericsson G700 here.

Sony Ericsson G900 in stores now

The Sony Ericsson G900 sports a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with image and video stabilizer, while the G700 has a 3.2 megapixel camera with no autofocus, yet the image and video stabilizer are on-board. An intriguing feature of G900 is the ability to manually select the focus point when you shoot just by tapping on the display. Another feature Sony Ericsson G900 has over the G700 is the Wi-Fi connectivity. You can find our Sony Ericsson G900 review over here.

Sony Ericsson G900 costs about 340 euro (530 dollars) in the online shops, while the Sony Ericsson G700 is worth as little as 265 euro (410 US dollars). Those are both slightly more than the initial estimates.

Nokia 7310 classic

Nokia 7310 classic is a fresh addition to Nokia portfolio. It's so fresh that even Nokia haven't announced it yet. Still, the Nokia 7310 classic turned up in several online stores this week.

Nokia 7310 classic in stores now

Nokia 7310 classic is a S40 powered phone and features a 2.2-inch 16M color QVGA display, a built-in FM radio and music player, stereo Bluetooth A2DP, microSd memory card slot, USB connectivity, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The tri-band Nokia 7310 classic also sports a 2 megapixel camera and weighs only 83g. It can currently be found online for about 145 euro (220 US dollars).

Nokia N78

Nokia N78 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Symbian smartphone with dual-band HSDPA support. The novelties are geotagging and the integrated FM transmitter, allowing music to be played on any FM radio (just like the Sony Ericsson W980 we reviewed recently). It also has a multimedia menu with the same Navi wheel known form Nokia N81. Nokia N78 uses S60 3rd edition, FP2 and has a 2.4" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT display with 16M colors. It offers A-GPS support, Wi-Fi, 70MB on-board memory, expandable via microSD slot.

Nokia N78 in stores now

Nokia N78 has a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics. It also records video in VGA resolution at 15fps but is still capable of playing VGA video clips at 30 fps. The connectivity set includes the mentioned Wi-Fi b/g with UPnP, microUSB v2.0, 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP stereo audio.

Nokia N78 retails for about 350 euro (540 US dollars) before taxes and subsides. This is just as much as the previously announced estimated price.

Nokia N96

And the final Nokia story for today is the pre-order appearance of the Nokia N96. Expected as the next Nokia uber-phone, the Nokia N96 is eagerly waited by many fans.

Nokia N96 is a quad-band handset with dual-band HSDPA support for worldwide coverage. It runs on S60 3rd edition, FP2 and has a 2.8" QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) TFT display with 16M colors. Other features of this true powerhouse include GPS with A-GPS support and geo-tagging for photos, Wi-Fi, the stunning 16GB of onboard memory, plus a microSD slot. If that feature pack doesn't grab your attention, hardly anything will.

Nokia N96 available for pre-order

Nokia N96 has a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and powerful dual LED flash. It also records video in VGA resolution at 30 fps.The connectivity set sports Wi-Fi b/g with UPnP support, microUSB v2.0, DVB-H class C, a 3.5mm stereo headphone plug and Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP stereo audio.

The Nokia N96 was expected in August but is now available as a pre-order item online for a price tag of 760 euro (1180 US dollars). According to the online retailer it will be available as early as July 31st.