New LG, Samsung Smartphones Emphasize Social Skills, Thinness

Samsung MonteThe Samsung Monte pairs a 3-inch WQVGA LCD screen with Wi-Fi connectivity, Samsung’s TouchWiz 2.0 Plus user interface, native Facebook and MySpace applications, widgets for Twitter and Bebo, and Google Latitude supported by GPS – which keeps friends updated on the user’s whereabouts.

LG Mini The LG Mini – or LG GD880 – features a 3.2-inch touch screen with a buttonless fa???ade. Social Network Connect capabilities make keeping in touch simpler than on a PC, according to LG. Facebook and Twitter applications are built in, and a Social Network Feed pushes instant and automatic updates from friends and family to the device’s home screen.

Going Small The LG Mini measures 48mm by 102mm by 11mm – or 1.88 by 4.01 by 0.43 inches – and weighs just 3.49 ounces.

Connectivity and Images The Mini offers HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as a 5-megapixel camera with advanced face detection. Users can wirelessly upload images and video to several social networking sites.

Nexus OneThough made by HTC, the Nexus One is the first Android-running phone to be made available directly from Google.

Thin Is In The Nexus One is a slim 11.5mm thin and features a 3.7-inch AMOLED display, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and a 5-megapixel camera, and can have up to 50 letters laser-engraved on its back.

Inbrics MID M1 Inbrics will bring the MID M1 to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Feb. 15-18. While Inbrics calls it “smartphonelike,” the M1 is a mobile Internet device with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, the Android operating system, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Cruising the InternetThe Inbrics M1 offers video calling, Web browsing and a multimedia player, and can be personalized with widgets. It measures 61.3mm by 126mm by 13.85mm – or 2.4 by 4.9 by 0.54 inches.