When Nokia introduced the very thin and powerful NokiaE71 QWERTY smartphone, it probably had no clue thatthis would be such a popular model. Somuch sothat they could keep it at a higher price point and release a sibling model, the E63, with a lower price and slightly reduced feature set.

The interesting thing is that theNokia E63 doesn’t really feel like a cheaper device when you are using it. It’s that good.

Nevertheless, the soft-touch paint of the rear, and wide profile are pleasing in the hand. The E63 brought back memories of the Treo 680 that I used to own as it felt simply “hand-friendly.”

Keyboard: The QWERTY keyboard is the same that is used on the E71 — domed keys that offer great feedback and travel. Comapred though to the E71, the spacebar is smaller and there’s an extra two keys for common symbols.

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The vision for the Nintendo Wii was in the works as early as 2000. However, the public didn’t get a taste of the concept until mid 2004. The goal of Nintendo with this product was to revolutionize the home gaming console industry. Many consumers were very excited about the ideas but some worried that they wouldn’t be able to materialize.

Those doubts were soon cast aside though when Nintendo revealed their concept for the wireless controller at a show in Japan in 2005. In late 2006 The Nintendo Wii was in high demand. In fact, stores couldn’t get enough of them to fill the demands for the holidays. Many people were paying thousands of dollars for them on eBay and other online auction sites. There were also plenty of charity fundraisers selling high volumes of tickets due to the prize being a Nintendo Wii.

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ThePantech Matrix Pro, recently released by AT&T, is a unique dual slider phone with both a QWERTY keyboard and a full number keypad.

It has a 2.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a microSD card slot, and 128 MB of RAM. It comes with a nice protective pouch that also doubles as a polishing cloth, a very small AC adapter, and a headphone adapter dongle.

In some ways it’s the best of both worlds, but there are a quite a few tradeoffs which make it hard for me to recommend this device wholeheartedly.

Design and Build
ThePantech Matrix Pro is a dual slider phone, so it’s somewhat “fat” but still pocketable and comfortable to hold in the hand. It is very solidly built, and when I manipulate the sliders I find that they work smoothly and strongly “snap” into the appropriate position whether they are being opened or closed.

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TheSamsung Propel offers asliding keyboard, camera, and 3G antenna in a compact form factor.

ThisAT&T-poweredphone is web enabled with a full keyboard to make messaging easier, but there are some notable deficiencies in the Propel. The screen has an average resolution, and is small compared to the available space available.

Weighing the pros and the cons of the phone, it’s hard to say that the Propel significantly outshines its competition in the $50 price range in which it resides.

Design and Build
The Propel is more comfortable in your pocket than a deck of cards when the keyboard is hidden. The keyboard slides out easily, though not easy enough to do so accidentally.

Keyboard: The Propel’s keyboard features a dedicated letter per key, with most keys also serving as a function key. There are also shortcut keys for AT&T’s Cellular Video, the camera, and a toggle mode for vibration.

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TheXperia X1 is the first Windows Mobile smartphone from Sony Ericsson. It’s an ambitious start: a WVGA touchscreen, built-in keyboard, GPS, 3G, and a host of other high-end features.

Like many Windows phones these days, it offers an alternate user interface than that standard one from Microsoft.

It’s a well built and well designed device, and it’s only real drawback is its price. The X1 wasn’t released by any U.S. carrier, but it’s available from retailers likeeXpansys, who was kind enough to loan me a review unit.

Build and Design
When developing the X1, Sony Ericsson used a tried-and-true design. It’s a tablet with a large display on the front which slides aside to reveal a keyboard.

The display is beautiful, and very high resolution (800 x 480), but at just 3 inches isn’t especially large. This means that you’ll primarily be using the stylus to select items on the screen, not your fingertip. Still, it’s comparable to the display on one of its top competitors, theHTC Touch Pro.

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