June 2009 was a great month for mobile phone fans. Some of the year's best mobile phone were introduced during this month such as the iPhone 3GS,Palm Pre and T-Mobile MyTouch 3G. These phones offer an impressive feature set and are expected to make waves in the industry. However, consumers are facing the diffi8cult task of choosing among these top mobile phones. Let's look at the features and capabilities of these phones and discover their strengths and weaknesses.

Platform/OS

iPhone 3.0 OS: The iPhone 3GS's new OS delivers new features some innovative and some long overdue catch-ups to other phones. The third version of the iPhone’s operating system delivers cut, copy and paste; systemwide searching; a wider virtual keyboard; and MMS. This operating system blends the iPhone's multitouch interface with the hardware and the user into a pleasing experience

The iPhone 3.0 OS makes Apple's handsets significantly stronger but it failed to deliver on multi-tasking. The software did not include multi-asking because handling multiple open applications heavily affects performance or battery life.

webOS: This operating system is a young but promising platform that uses multitouch input like the iPhone OS. However, the Palm Pre's OS also offers the ability to multitask multiple applications. It also provides a Synergy feature, which melds information from disparate sources such as merging Gmail and Facebook contacts into a unified address book.

However, the webOS platform is still young and lacks a robust app catalog. Palm's store for downloadable apps is launching with only a handful of programs. The lack of an open SDK may also mean that only a handful of developers will jump on the WebOS bandwagon.

Google Android: The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G runs on a open-source platform that can be customized to fit an array of handsets. It resembles a blending of the iPhone/BlackBerry OS and integrates the use of a trackball and Menu, Home, and Back buttons with a touchsreen interface. It features a highly customizable desktop that allows users to arrange shortcuts as you like and install widgets.

However, like webOS the Android platform is still young and it a promising work in progress. The current version appears to be less inventive and elegant than either iPhone OS or WebOS.

Bottom Line: the iPhone OS is currently the most enjoyable and intuitive phone operating system. However, both Android and WebOS are close behind and are making significant strides and improvements.

Hardware

iPhone 3GS: The latest iPhone almost identical in form factor with the 3G. That's because most of the changes were made on the inside rather than on the outside.

Dimensions: 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.48 inch (115.5 by 62.1 by 12.3 mm)

Weight: 4.7 ounces (133 grams)

Screen: 3.5 inches (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display; 480x320 pixels (163 ppi)

The iPhone 3GS offers a nice modification on its screen called the oleophobic coating. The oleophobic screen allows the phone to still be smooth and usable even if there are fingerprints or face grease on the surface.

Palm Pre: This webOS device sports a compact pebble design with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

Dimensions:3.9 inches by 2.3 inches by 0.67 inches (100.5 by 59.5 by 16.95mm)

Weight: 135 grams (4.76 ounces)

Screen: 3.1-inch touch screen, 24-bit color, 320×480 resolution, HVGA display

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G: This new Android phone looks similar to the G1 minus the physical QWERTY keyboard. The MyTouch 3G is slimmer and sleeker than its predecessor.

Dimensions:4.45 x 2.19 x 0.58 inches (113 x 56 x 15 mm)

Weight: 116 grams ( 4.09 ounces) with battery

Screen: 3.2-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with 320x480 HVGA resolution

Bottom Line: All three devices sports an original and attractive look. The iPhone 3GS sports the largest display and the highest resolution. The Palm Pre scores some points with its physical QWERTY keyboard but some experts have described it as cramped.

App Store/Apps Catalog

Apple App Store: Allows users to browse and download tens of thousands of third-party applications from the iTunes Store. As of June 8, 2009, there are over 50,000 third-party applications officially available for download.

Palm App Catalog: Launched with only a handful of programs and currently offers 30 apps. It is only a week old but ti has has already recorded 1 million downloads but the webOS SDK is still unavailable.

Android Market: Allow users to browse, purchase, install, and rate applications on Android handsets.As of 17 March 2009, there were about 2,300 applications available for download. Not as large as the Apple App Store but is filling up with intriguing apps including those that aren't yet available on the iPhone.

Bottom Line: The iPhone 3GS with its robust Apple App Store is clearly well ahead of the competition. However, Apple implements limitations on apps such as restricting the ability to run in the background or access data other than their own.

Camera

iPhone 3GS: 3 megapixels, Autofocus, Tap to focus, VGA Video recording up to 30 fps with audio, Photo and video geotagging, and third-party application integration.

Palm Pre: 3 megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G: 3.15 megapixels, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video (352 x 288 pixels), secondary videocall camera

Bottom Line: These top phones provide competitive camera but they all have weakness. The iPhone 3GS carries a more powerful camera with video recording but lacks flash. The Palm Pre offers an LED flash but video recording was not included at launch. The T-Mobile MyTouch 3G offers an secondary videocall camera as well as video recording but flash is missing.

Wireless connectivity

iPhone 3GS: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, stereo Bluetooth

Palm Pre:  Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP, stereo Bluetooth support

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G::Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets, Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g

Bottom Line: All of these top phones are equipped with all the connectivity options that an average consumer needs.

Web Browser

Safari web browser: The iPhone 3GS offers access to the Internet through it's Safari web browser. Users can zoom in and out of websites with a double tap or a pinch. Rotating the iPhone 90 degrees to landscape will provide a larger view and web page automatically rotates and fills the screen. Safari is one of the most advanced mobile web browser but it still lacks the ability to play videos created in Adobe’s Flash software.

WebOS WebKit browser: The Pre's browser is built on top of Webkit which renders full pages in under 10 seconds. The zoom and drag/pan functionality operates and feels similar with other browsers. The webKit-based web browser supports streaming video in RTSP, H. 263 and H.264 formats, but does come with Flash support.

Google Android browser: This browser is also built on Webkit, the same technology that drives Apple's Safari browser and the Pre's. Users can drag a small box around the website to magnify the content behind the box. The myTouch 3G's browser includes a dedicated search button which triggers a Google search bar to pop up on the screen.

Bottom Line:All these browsers are built on Webkit and lack Flash support. The first web browser to offer Flash support will provide the best Internet experience.

Power and battery

iPhone 3GS:Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter

Talk time: Up to 12 hours on 2G, Up to 5 hours on 3G

Standby time: Up to 300 hours

Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G, Up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi

Video playback: Up to 10 hours

Audio playback: Up to 30 hours

Palm Pre: removable battery that clocks in at 1150mAh, charges via MicroUSB, touchstone induction charging dock compatible

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery with 1340 mAh capacity

Talk time:Up to 400 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 450 minutes for GSM

Standby time:Up to 660 hours for WCDMA, Up to 420 hours for GSM

Bottom Line: Tests conducted by reviewers indicate that these top cell phones have good battery performance but not great. The iPhone 3GS offers improved battery life and the reviewers were split when it comes to the Pre's performance. The Palm scores some points with its exotic Touchstone induction charger.

Media Formats Supported

iPhone 3GS:
Audio formats: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video formats: H.264 video,  MPEG-4 video

Palm Pre:

Audio Formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, AMR, QCELP, WAV

Video Formats: MPEG-4, H.263, H.264

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G:

Audio supported formats: AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC-LC, MIDI, OGG

Video supported formats: MP4, 3GP

Bottom Line: These top phones support a wide variety of media formats