Smartphones to Give to Dad on Father’s Day

10 Smartphones to Give to Dad on Father’s Day

Apple iPhone 3G SWhere to begin? You get twice the storage, it’s faster, the battery lasts longer, the camera’s been improved, there are more pages for your apps and a new search functionality helps you find anything and everything. Plus, with the compass app, dad will never be forced to ask for directions again. (Photo courtesy of Apple)

Palm PreThe Palm Pre offers Apple iPhone touch-screen goodness but with a slide-out qwerty keyboard. Plus, it’s gorgeous, slim, you can keep several applications open at once and the WebOS operating system is a delight to use with the Pre’s multitouch interface. Plus, with the Touchstone induction-based charger available, you’ll know what to get dad for his birthday.

Nokia N97Nokia just started shipping its newest flagship device, the N97. This unlocked smartphone features a 3.5-inch touch-screen and an unusual style of slide-out keyboard. It connects to mobile broadband using WLAN or HSDPA, and there’s included A-GPS with maps. While it’s no Apple App Store, Nokia’s Ovi has far more on offer than Palm’s app shop.

Research In Motion BlackBerry TourGive dad an IOU, and later this summer, when it’s available on his choice of Verizon or Sprint, deliver up the BlackBerry Tour, an enterprise-ready device with all the media and entertainment features of consumer smartphones, including MediaSync, for syncing with iTunes or Windows Media player, a 3.2-megapixel camera and full Web browsing with streaming audio and video.

T-Mobile DashAnother IOU option, this time for a dad on the T-Mobile network, is the Dash 3G coming from HTC in July. There’s no touch-screen on this $149 device (with a two-year contract) but it does offer a full qwerty keyboard, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, support for personal and business e-mail, mobile messaging and GPS.

Nokia E71xAt just 10 millimeters, the candy-bar-style Nokia E71x is being called the thinnest smartphone on the market. It runs Symbian’s S60 operating system and connects to Wi-Fi plus 3G and HSDPA. A 3-megapixel camera is included, and on the AT&T network dad can access the Navigator app for turn-by-turn directions. Plus, after the rebate and contract, it’s just $99.99.

G1 with CupcakeThe T-Mobile G1, the first Google Android-based smartphone from a major carrier, recently received an update, dubbed “Cupcake,” which should make this smartphone that much sweeter. You get a touch-screen, slide-out qwerty keyboard, Google Search by voice, 3G and Wi-Fi access, the ability to switch between applications and lots more.

Samsung Omnia The Omnia includes Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, which lets users drag and drop items and easily navigate around the device through its touch-screen. The on-screen keyboard is said to feel very tactile, but if dad is a stylus kind of guy, he can use that instead. All the expected bells and whistles are included, and then some.

Samsung Instinct s30 The Samsung Instinct S30 became available on Sprint network on April 19 for $129.99 with a two-year contract. Like the original Instinct, it features a full touch-screen plus Visual Voicemail, Sprint TV and a 2-megapixel camera with camcorder, but it has been updated with a Speech to Action button, GPS for turn-by-turn directions and Opera Mini 4.2 for improved browsing.

Apple OS 3.0 And finally, for the dad who’s perfectly happy with his current iPhone, give the gift of pointing him toward OS 3.0, the new free download that offers iPhone users all the features and next-generation apps that are on the iPhone 3G S, including cut, copy and paste, Spotlight search, MMS messaging and a landscape-mode keyboard.