The LG Dare is a streamlined touch screen device with a robust user interface. It is a sleek, non-smartphone alternative that relies solely on its interface rather than a slide-out Qwerty or other such secondary input method. The outer shell is comprised of black plastic and chrome accents. The front of the phone is dominated by a large, three inch display (measured diagonally), offering an impressive 240 x 400 pixel resolution, supporting up to 262K colors. An integrated light sensor automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness based on external light...

For a lower-tier phone, the LG Rumor packs a great feature set, including GPS, 1.3MP camera (no flash), 16MB onboard flash memory (expandable to 4G via microSD), ability to hold up to 500 contacts with 5 entries per contact, dedicated speakerphone button and Bluetooth, all in a candy bar slider that measures in at a manageable 4.3”x2”x0.7”.

There will always be a place for entry-level phones. Despite all the excitement over breakthrough advances in cell phone technology, there remains a significant chunk of the market pie where folks just want a simple phone.

The HTC Touch 3050 is a capable newcomer to the newly popularized touch-screen PDA market. The Touch is unique in that its overall dimensions are small, only 10.1 cm x 5.9 cm x 1.4 cm, however it has a wonderful, 2.8” high resolution screen that practically fills the entire face of the device. Running on Telus and Bell CDMA networks in Canada and AllTel, Sprint and Verizon in the US, the Touch is high-speed data (EVDO REV A) capable and features email via Microsoft’s ActiveSync, instant messaging with Windows Live, text messaging, speakerphone and more.