I have been playing with a range of devices recently and am amazed at the innovation. My tried and true mobile companion for the last few years has been the PALM TREO 680 running Windows Mobile. It is a great device – great battery life, touch screen (which I like) and a great keyboard (keyboards are all about feel and personal preference).

But there are a few new devices that are really catching my eye:

• PALM 500V: The device I am currently carrying. A smartphone (no touch screen) but great battery, slim, full functioned and another great keyboard. Really like the design and color choices also.
• HTC Touch Dual: You can really see the innovation in this device as they built out the GUI and added some slick features on top of the OS. Look forward to lots of innovation like this.
• HTC TyTN II: A derivative of the Dual, this device is a bit thicker but has some interesting options – specifically the idea that it can be used as a GPS and the keyboard is amazing for the ‘fatfingered’ among us. In England I see most taxi drivers with a GPS enabled PDA instead of a true GPS device like a Tom Tom.

• Samsung has a few interesting phones on the way as business/consumer hybrids like the i760 and the i620.

• And my last cool device, the Ultra Mobile PC the OQO. Now what intrigues me about this device when I was playing with it is a few things: pop your mobile card into it and it runs full HSDPA (very cool). The keyboard is functional (And tucks away nicely) and it is a full function PC. If you get a decent internet connection then VOIP is definitely an opportunity. Very interesting new device form factor ….

So many choices ….