Is My Touchscreen Better Than Yours?

— -- Today is a great day for touchscreen smartphone users, at least for some. Ever since last year, if you wanted a top-notch smartphone with a great touchscreen, your best option would have been an iPhone from Apple. Now, it's all about to change, as the T-Mobile G1 will go on sale next Wednesday for $179 (about $20 less that the cheapest iPhone) with a more generous price-plan that AT&T's for the iPhone.

Many have tried to imitate Apple's success, such as Sprint with its Samsung Instinct phone and BlackBerry and its upcoming Storm, but none of them managed to even get close to the functionality and ease of use the iPhone was offering. The next contender in line is T-Mobile G1, which brings a new user experience on the game table; all possible through Google's own developed mobile operating system, Android.

Now, I'm not going to run you again through G1's features, as it has been perfectly explained in PC World's review and in our previous stories. But I have put together a comprehensive chart for you to compare many of the specifications of the G1, iPhone, and Instinct.

While with today's news, and all the touchscreen buzz as of recent, it's easy forget even more "iPhone killers" are in the works.

Next in line to be released is the BlackBerry Storm, expected to been released in the U.S. later this year. This Research In Motion (RIM) touchscreen phone will have a better camera (compared to iPhone and G1), a "clickable" touchscreen, and many specs that match Apple's iPhone. The BlackBerry Storm could grab an important share of iPhone's more business-minded users.

Coming strongly from the touchscreen shadows is Nokia's "Tube." Said to be much cheaper than the iPhone and G1 on the long run ($390 simfree), the 5800 Express Music (or the Tube) will be a more consumer multimedia led phone, bringing forward a 3.2-megapixel camera, with autofocus Carl Zeiss optics and a dual LED flash and quality video recording (VGA at 640X480px), something that neither the iPhone or the G1 can provide at all. Nokia Tube could probably be launched with a US carrier at a subsidized price, gaining even more traction from a lower-budget but touchscreen savvy crowd.

Another touchscreen to look out for is LG's Viewty (pictured above). This touchscreen comes with a 5-megapixel camera, MP3 player, FM radio tuner, 3G HSDPA for high-speed wireless access. Another eagerly anticipated contende, here in the U.S., is LG's Secret touchscreen smartphone.

So, if you're not really convinced by the T-Mobile G1 but don't want to join the iPhone group either, my advice would be for you to wait a couple more months until all the touchscreen contenders are on the market. This way you will be able to make a much more informed decision, especially when you have to stick with a wireless carrier (and hence your phone) for two years.