Not a phone. A platform

Your cellphone needs another feature like the world needs a sequel to Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Yet hardware is being souped up. Firmware updates can refresh the user interface and add new features with a simple download. And a new wave of apps (over 300 are introduced for the iPhone every day) can expand capabilities infinitely. That’s one reason smartphone sales are up 40 percent in North America, despite this economy. And since new smartphones know every detail of your life, and the average guy will keep his for 18 months, don’t commit to one unless you feel a special chemistry. On these two pages, you’ll find your cellular best friend.

iPhone 3GS
Operating system:  iPHONE OS
Carrier:  AT&T
The 3GS made our old iPhone seem like a graphing calculator. This one is twice as quick (“S” must be for speed), thanks to a faster processor (boosted from 412 to 600 MHz) and a better graphic processing unit. Apps fly, and lag time is nil when zooming in on Web pages. Apple is diligent about fixing glitches and adding new features through free firmware upgrades. For instance, the arrival of iPhone OS 3.0 this summer let users copy and paste, use a landscape keyboard, record voice memos, and search their phones. Not bad for a bit of code. As for the 85,000+ apps, nothing compares in terms of scope and quality. For now, at least. $200, apple.com

Motorola Cliq with Motoblur
Operating system: ANDROID
Carrier: T-MOBILE
Most smartphones are masochists, preferring to be told what to do. Not the Cliq, which scours your phone’s calendars, e-mails, posts, feeds, and photos from sources like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Gmail, aggregating the information and displaying updates on the homescreen. No more opening and closing apps or logging in and out of Web sites. The phone runs on Google’s Android operating system, so you’ll have access to the apps, widgets, and OS firmware updates. Android picked up steam in 2009, grabbing 3 percent of the market share in less than a year, and we expect more progress as Motorola, LG, and Samsung throw their support behind it. Two neat surprises: a slide-out keyboard and a sharper LCD than the iPhone. Price not set, motorola.com

RIM BlackBerry Storm2
Operating system:  BLACKBERRY OS
Carrier:  VERIZON
BlackBerry’s first attempt at a touchscreen, the Storm, was panned by critics and customers alike: usability uh-oh’s, awkward input, lag time, and old-fashioned software bugs. But that’s great news for Crackberry addicts who held out. Now Rim has it right. Instead of having the 3.25-inch touchscreen function as one giant button as it did with its predecessor, Rim placed four actuators, or pressure points, beneath the phone’s screen. The sensors detect input electronically (as opposed to physically), so the result is a more responsive surface with no dead adspots along the edges. The BlackBerry OS for Storm received a massive firmware update this past spring. The list of fixes was four pages long–single spaced. The upgrade highlights the power of firmware to drastically alter the user experience. One downside: No, there’s probably not an app for that. At least not yet. But BlackBerry’s apps store is growing quickly. Price not set, blackberry.com

Palm Pre
Operating system:  WEB OS
Carrier:  SPRINT
Like an overzealous maid, Palm’s webOS tidies up all your contacts from different address books, unifies and overlays Google, Facebook, and Outlook calendars, and threads conversations with the same person from text or instant message in one chat-style view. Plus, unlike other systems, webOS is based on common Internet technologies, like HTML and Javascript. That ought to make it easier for developers to build applications. The Pre can also run multiple third-party applications simultaneously, which the iPhone can’t do. If the virtual keyboard on the Pre’s 3.1-inch touchscreen is slowing you down, you can pull out the big gun: a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from under the LCD. $150, palm.com

HTC HD2
Operating system:  WINDOWS MOBILE 6.5
Carrier:  NOT SET
The HD2 ought to come with its own tailor–your pockets don’t stand a chance against its monster 4.3-inch touchscreen. That’s a lot of real estate to power, so keeping everything running smoothly is a 1GHz processor, which rivals a netbook’s and is twice as fast as some pedestrian smartphones. The combination makes HD2 the ideal device to showcase Windows Mobile 6.5′s recent myriad improvements, including a new icon-friendly homescreen and an improved touchscreen that Microsoft says improves Web-browsing efficiency by 48 percent. One of WinMo 6.5′s truly useful features: My Phone, a free Web-based service, automatically backs up and syncs contacts, photos, and text messages, so the information can be restored if the phone is lost or broken. Also new is Windows Marketplace. For the first time, users can shop the 20,000 Win-Mo apps in one location from their phone. Price not set, htc.com

HTC HD2

The HD2 ought to come with its own tailor-your pockets don’t stand a chance against its monster 4.3-inch touchscreen. That’s a lot of real estate to power, so keeping everything running smoothly is a 1GHz processor, which rivals a netbook’s and is twice as fast as some pedestrian smartphones. The combination makes HD2 the ideal device to showcase Windows Mobile 6.5′s recent myriad improvements, including a new icon-friendly homescreen and an improved touchscreen that Microsoft says improves Web-browsing efficiency by 48 percent. One of WinMo 6.5′s truly useful features: My Phone, a free Web-based service, automatically backs up and syncs contacts, photos, and text messages, so the information can be restored if the phone is lost or broken. Also new is Windows Marketplace. For the first time, users can shop the 20,000 Win-Mo apps in one location from their phone. Price not set, www.htc.com