Mobile and Wireless: Samsung, HTC, Motorola Leading Charge for Larger Smartphone Displays

Mobile phones were shrinking by the year, evolving into smaller and smaller form factors, until suddenly they weren't. Phones smartened up, wireless networks sped up, mobile video became increasingly pleasant to watch, and suddenly screen sizes were growing again. T-Mobile, announcing July 16 that it will soon offer the Samsung Galaxy Note, boasted that the Note's 5.3-inch display is "the largest screen on a T-Mobile smartphone." While it's tempting to think that a phone that could fit into the pocket of one's shorts (without necessitating a belt) would be preferable to one with a footprint rivaling Gordon Gekko's handset, T-Mobile says otherwise. Early this summer, the carrier surveyed more than 1,000 Americans and found that 77 percent said they preferred a device with a 4.5-inch or larger display. Samsung, HTC and other Android supporters have done their parts to encourage this trend, nudging the seeming limits of a screen size ever higher. Even Apple, it's rumored, has given into the trend and with its next iPhone will for the first time increase the phone's display to at least 4 inches. eWEEK looks at 10 phones that, like the 77 percent T-Mobile pointed to, believe bigger is better.