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Apple's iPhone 3G

It might not be officially making its way to our shores soon, but we have a strong feeling that's not going to stop fans of the most talked about phone to work out a way of getting one – like they did with the previous version.

So what can we expect from the new iPhone? Well, it took them one whole year, but the Cupertino guys have made good some of the shortcomings of the first phone. With a few cosmetic changes and new features such as GPS, the new iPhone in its 3G avatar will go on sale in July. Slightly thicker than the current version, the device now has a plastic back and will be available in two memory versions.

"We've learned so much with the first iPhone. We've taken what we've learned and more and created the iPhone 3G," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs, when he demonstrated the new iPhone last Monday in San Francisco.

But the biggest applaud was for pricing – the 8GB will retail for $199 (Dh730) and the 16GB will cost $299 (Dh1097). Needless to say, the 3G version will work twice as fast as the previous phone at half the cost.

The iPhone is also attempting to veer closer to the business community with the introduction of the Microsoft Exchange Server, which means push e-mail, contacts and calendar will be part of the application – inching a notch against rival BlackBerry. So it might just be Egypt, Jordan and Qatar for now, but we are hopeful it will make its way this side of the Emirates soon. Watch this space.

Samsung's OMNIA

Yes, you saw it here first. The new, spunky offering from Samsung is one device we can't wait to get our hands on. The Omnia or SGH-i900 allows users to switch between Microsoft Outlook email and productivity applications that replicate the look and feel of the PC – with a stroke of their finger. Perfect for work or play, this phone features the latest Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional operating system with access to MS Office documents such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word.

Equipped with a 3.2-inch screen, the Omnia also supports a wide number of video formats, promising to eliminate the need for format conversions – as is required in, well, other similar phones. There's also a 5-megapixel camera featuring some cool auto-focus and face detection capabilities and an internal memory of both 8GB and 16GB capacities.

Sleek, funky and desirable, it's just too bad we have to wait until September for its Middle Eastern release.

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