iPhone fans may vouch for its style, features and navigation, but what made the phone truly trend-setting is its touchscreen feature.

The day Steve Jobs announced that Apple’s first mobile device will have a touchscreen, it became the hottest mobile feature, swinging the entire industry into action. Suddenly, touchscreen became `the’ feature for all hot phones.

The touchscreen phones have made their entry into the Indian market too. From HTC to Samsung, all have a touchscreen phone in their bouquet for the Indian consumers. These phones are also a good bet for consumers who find 3G iPhone pricey.

Samsung Omnia
To dampen the iPhone effect in India, Korean giant Samsung launched its iPhone look-alike, Samsung Omnia i900, days ahead of 3G iPhone debut in India. The touchscreen smartphone comes with a 5 megapixel camera, 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi.

Measuring 112 millimeters by 57mm by 12.5mm, the phone has a 3.2-inch display that has 240 pixel by 400 pixel resolution (Wide QVGA). Like iPhone, Samsung’s Omnia aims to make Internet browsing easy, and also has a wide screen for viewing video.

The smartphone runs on Microsoft Windows Mobile software and comes with choice of 8GB or 16GB models. In looks, Omnia resembles the earlier version of iPhone in its dark, shiny finish, curved edges and slim form.

HTC Touch Diamond
Taiwan-based HTC was the first company in India to launch a touchscreen phone. With Touch, HTC debuted touchscreen phones in India (officially).

Touch Diamond is the company’s fourth touchscreen launch in India (for GSM), after HTC Touch, HTC Dual and HTC Cruise.

This iPhone wannabe has the new 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. TouchFLO 3D interface provides animated access to messaging, email, photos, music, weather and other features. Measuring 102 x 51 x 11.33mm, Touch Diamond operates on WCDMA/HSPA (900/2100MHz) networks, capable of boosting mobile Internet speed up to 7.3 Mbps using HSDPA and HSUPA.

Key features include, a 2.8 inch VGA touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera with an optical auto-focus lens, video calling capability and auto sensor screen pivoting.

It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, comes with 4GB of internal storage with 256MB flash and 192MB RAM. Other features include Bluetooth with EDR, minUSB, integrated GPS and Wi-Fi.

ASUS P320

For style freaks, Taiwan-based Asus has launched a touchscreen PDA in the Indian market in shades of pink and pearlescent white. With rounded corners and curved edges, the phone has a circular navigational key.

Based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform, the P320 features GPS navigation, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi for Internet access, Bluetooth and USB connectivity. It comes pre-loaded with ASUS Today suite that includes applications such as Time, Mail Box, Calendar, News, Weather and Music Player available to users via a single window.

Some other key features are a 2.6 inch TFT touchscreen with 65K color, 240 x 320 pixels resolution, OMAP 850 (Texas Instrument’s Open Multimedia Application Platform) 200 MHz processor, 128MB Flash ROM + 64 MB DDR RAM and business applications. The phone boasts of 2 megapixel AF camera and microSD support. The phone is priced at approximately Rs 12,900.

Samsung TouchWhiz F480
Another touchscreen contender from Samsung’s stable in India is TouchWIZ F480.

The phone, which made its India debut recently, has a 2.8-inch TFT LCD (240×320) touchscreen, integrated FM radio, multi-format video playback (MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, Real), MPEG4 video recording and editing functions.

The phone also comes with face detection technology, image stabiliser, CMOS video lens and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) features. There are also a few customisable features like Drag `n’ Drop and Auto Smile Shot coupled with full touch navigation.

TouchWIZ F480 has a 5 megapixel auto-focus-LED Flash camera, equipped with 240MB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 8GB. Positioned in the lifestyle segment, the phone come with a host of entertainment features and is compatible with GPRS, EDGE, 3G, HSDPA (7.2mbps) networks and functions on GSM 900/1800/1900, and WCDMA 2100 bands.

Priced at approximately Rs 20,990, Samsung TouchWIZ F480 comes in a metallic body casing.

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