Always roll with backup.  See photo below ;-)

- Everyone is still all ga-ga over the not released, not leaked, not nothin' at the show Android phone.  I talked to a few folks who've seen, held, and used the T-Mobile HTC Dream and the general consensus seems to be, "It's buggy as heck but still really, really cool."  Any day now, T-Mo ... we're ready, just drop it on us.

- HTC, on the other hand, gets it and they're coming hard this year.  The Sprint Touch Diamond looks great even though it's yet another cool device for the carrier everyone loves to hate; the Touch Pro is the best WMo smartphone I've seen in awhlie (though it may be too thick for my tastes), and the Touch HD announcement makes me want to keep paying attention to HTC even though the show's over.  I would LOVE it if the Touch HD emerges as the first real "Screw iPhone" device to hit the marketplace.  Frankly I'm getting tired of iPhone's lack of this, lack of that, lack of the other thing, but we'll now try to sell you even more stuff (see: Genius Playlists) ecosystem.  I mean, I still use my iPhone every day, but I'm just getting a little tired of it.

- And finally, there IS such a thing as too many free industry parties.  Trust me.

• Gorgeous display: Bold's HVGA (480 x 320) display is absolutely stunning.  Maybe the best-looking screen on any cell phone available today.
• New UI is actually modern-looking: Yeah, I know, you've got a custom theme on your Curve that makes it look even better than the iPhone.  Great.  For everyone else, Bold's UI makes it the sexiest right-of-the-box BlackBerry experience to date.
• Everything good about Curve plus a healthy dose of style: Bold is slimmer and sleeker than Curve, and the black with chrome color scheme is hot.  Even if it is a blatant iPhone knock-off.  But BlackBerry kept all of the features that make Curve so great ...
  
• Keyboard and features:  The keyboard has been tweaked but still seems solid.  The trackball is still great.  There's an improved HTML browser, onboard GPS, and a bunch of other goodies waiting for you on Bold, as well. And the media player, 3.5mm headphone jack, and camera with flash area all still there.  That means that feature-wise Bold is a richer multimedia device than iPhone 3G.  How can I say that?  iPhone's camera lacks a flash and its Bluetooth implementation lacks the A2DP (stereo) profile..  Note that I did say "feature-wise," as iPhone's iPod user experience is still the best thing goin' on a multimedia phone. 
  
• 3G:  Call me when AT&T's 3G network actually works in the San Francisco area.  But if you've got solid 3G service where you live, you're gonna like Web browsing on the HSDPA-enabled Bold.  At least, I hope so.  Call me after you've actually tried it; one never knows with AT&T these days.

Both phones will launch next month: Rant for $49 on contract in your choice of three colors, and Highnote at $99 on contract in a pair of lovely hues.

LG Lotus:  This is the most interesting device of the lot for me.  And not just because I got to wear the custom scarf designed by Project Runway winner Christian Siriano (seriously - you can see me looking foolish in it in the video).  Lotus is a square-shaped clamshell phone that looks a lot like a makeup compact and will come in all black and black with a purple front faceplate featuring a flower motif.  The device has a big, 2.1" external screen and an even bigger 2.4" internal display, and also features a full QWERTY thumbboard on the inside.  Lotus will support just about all of Sprint's multimedia offerings, including Sprint TV, and packs a 2MP camera with video capture mode.   The phone also sports Sprint's new One Click UI, which is designed to promote ease-of-use via customizable home screen "tiles" and shortcut menus. 

SE announced a September 30 launch date for the X1 in the UK, Germany, and Sweden.  And they announced a forthcoming announcement regarding a US launch ... but no actual launch date.  Seriously. 

Confused? The deal is that the X1 will drop in the aforementioned markets on the 30th, in other European, Asian, and Latin American markets later in Q4 of this year, and in the US of A ... uh, sometime soon.  And they'll tell us exactly when on November 3rd.

Oh, and SE is going to run a live demo of the device via Webcase next Monday the 15th at 7AM ET.  You can check it out at http://www.sonyericsson.com/premiere.

So what'd I see yesterday and what'd I think?  Let's start with HTC:

HTC

First off, thanks Eric for getting us out of the convention center and to a bright, airy space with good coffee for our meeting.  Always nice to do these things with a bit of style and some clean air and natural light ;-)

• Touch Diamond: I've got a Sprint-branded review unit to unbox and review, and I'm looking forward to it.  I like what HTC and Sprint did with the back panel of the phone, and the minor "Sprintifications" to TouchFlo 3D look good.  Sprint Music Store and Sprint TV seem to work well, too.  Look for a full video or two soon.
  
• Touch Pro:  On the one hand I'm really excited for Touch Diamond + QWERTY.  On the other hand, this sucker is thick.  On the third hand (?), the Sprint-branded version has a nice silver/grey color scheme and rounded edges that give the device a sleek look that almost helps you forget how thick it is.  Touch Pro will launch at a relatively small $50 premium over Diamond, so I'm very curious to see how it fares in the marketplace.  Bulk aside, it looks to be a pretty sweet Windows Mobile solution.
  
• S740: I was surprised by how much I dug this phone person.  It's long, skinny, and not paritcularly thin, and there's no touchscreen, but somehow it really worked for me.  I think I liked how roomy the QWERTY pad was and how it felt like a phone when I held it to my ear - the long, narrow body put the microphone closer to my mouth than most current cell phones do.  Also, the S740's unique shape made it feel like an artifiact from the future.  Too bad for us it'll only be available in Europe; an unlocked GSM version will work in the U.S. but won't offer compatible 3G bands.
  
• Touch HD:  Didn't see this one, didn't get any word on it, but I'm guessing we should keep our eyes open for more on this forthcoming all-touch, WVGA badboy.
  
• Dream/G1: Zip, nada, nothing.  Must find HTC today and try again :-)
  

While there's no official word on a US release for Bold, RIM and T-Mobile have announced that Flip will launch sometime this Fall as a T-Mobile exclusive.  Pricing and an exact launch date have not yet been disclosed, however.

According to the vice president of HTC America, Jason Mackenzie, "Combining Sprint's mobile broadband connectivity with HTC's deep desire to blend innovative design with intuitive simplicity sets the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro apart from other touch-screen phones. HTC Touch Diamond gives users one-touch access to every aspect of their life and transcends texting and dialing to provide a rich mobile Internet experience unlike anything available on the market today.  The HTC Touch Pro combines business with pleasure by offering one-handed operation of simple tasks and a full keyboard input for serious work."

With a new customized Web browser on both the Touch and Pro, customers can expect "easy viewing and effortless navigation" of websites along with zoom and pan functions.  Behind their 2.8 inch high-resolution VGA displays, additional features include a customized, HTC-developed YouTube application for watching user-generated video content; and quick access to Sprint TVSM with an extensive selection of live and on demand video. It boasts a 3.2 MP camera/camcorder with auto focus and access to Sprint Picture MailSM to easily share images.

For the full press release visit the BlackBerry newsroom.  Be sure to also find out what the Pearl Flip with T-Mobile will be able to do.

 "Fashion is so important because it helps convey individual personalities," said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy & marketing for LG Mobile Phones. "Similarly, we believe mobile phones have the same ability and have become a fashion accessory within their own right. We are very excited to partner with Christian Siriano and look forward to seeing his unique accessory inspired by the LG Lotus on the runway at Fashion Week."

Exclusive to Sprint, the stylish LG Lotus makes a distinctive fashion statement as a full QWERTY flip phone with a unique square shape and two attractive color options textured purple or satin black. LG Lotus is one of the first Sprint devices to offer One Click, a highly-customizable user interface that makes texting, Web access, email, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, Sprint Music StoreSM and other features easier to access. It offers the perfect combination of both style and substance with a full QWERTY keyboard that is ideal for quick text messaging, email or instant messaging.

LG Lotus is the recipient of the Red Dot Design Award, one of the largest and most renowned design competitions in the world, for its original form factor. Additional features include a 2 megapixel camera and camcorder, stereo BluetoothÒ, music player with external controls and a microSD memory slot with capacity up to 12 GB. It will be available in October through all Sprint retail channels.  

Siriano will be debuting this one of a kind designed fall accessory at his first major fashion show since winning "Project Runway." The LG Lotus will also play an integral role at the show as attendees will utilize the handset's photo capability to take photographs of the collection and send them via picture messaging to appear on large LG screens above the runway.

"The scarf I designed for the new LG Lotus is fabulous," said Siriano. "It has a pocket for another accessory I can't live or work without my phone! I designed the scarf's little pocket for the Lotus' square shape. I love it! You should too."

Following his show, Siriano is scheduled to unveil his custom scarf and fall 2008 collection at various events across the country including showings in San Diego and Boca Raton.

For more information on the LG Lotus click here.