Don't want an iPhone 5? Here are some alternatives

ALL content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.
http://www.digitalone.com.sg/multimedia/photo/multimedia/1498

The iPhone will be facing stiff competition as many rival smartphones have finally come of age. By the time the iPhone 5 is launched, it needs to be able to hold itself against a few already outstanding smartphones that have been released or unveiled only recently.

Samsung's flagship galaxy phones have been dubbed as the best Android handset in the market, as proven by its predecessors the Galaxy S II and the first Galaxy S. And by looking at the numbers, the S III has been selling hot since it was launched recently.

The S III is a marvel; being able to cram a massive 4.8-inch display into a pocketable package, with a quad core processor and a superb camera to boot.

If there's one phone that truly deserves the crown for "Best Smartphone of the Year", its highly likely that the Galaxy S III would take that spot this year. That is, unless the iPhone 5 can really steal the show this week.

Sure, the Galaxy Note doesn't seem to quite fit in this list as its claimed itself as being in a different class (phablets, they call it), but the Note is still a smartphone, which spells trouble for the iPhone.

Phablets are exactly what they are these days, the ultimate superphone, and Apple doesn't seem to be at all interested in this category, which is bad because phablets and styluses finally found its niche.

The original Note sold like hot cakes, and the Note 2 is expected to gobble up a portion of the smartphone marketshare as consumers begin to realise the benefits of a larger screen and a stylus.

In addition, the Galaxy Note 2 has been given so much enhancements under the hood that makes it so good to have.

Watch out iOS and Android, there's a new platform joining your war, and it looks like it's packing a lot of ammunition for the fight.

The new Windows Phone platform is under-rated. The concept of live tiles is actually brilliant, the metro UI is minimalist and the strong social integration is superb, making. And this platform is ready for primetime, as Microsoft has over 100,000 apps in its marketplace.

And with Microsoft's strong partnership with Nokia, you're getting probably the most gorgeous piece of handset ever designed. An update to the Lumia 900, the Lumia 920 has been given major enhancements to make it the best Windows Phone 8 smartphone of choice.

The killer feature for the Lumia 920? Nokia's clever PureView camera technology that is capable of taking shots as good as a shooting from a high end compact camera.

The Lumia 920 is also the first smartphone to introduce wireless charging, by having the phone placed on its included charging mat. Now that's innovation.

Okay, so the HTC One X is probably the weakest of this list as it has already been out in the market for quite some time, but it is still a powerful and capable device.

It's the first smartphone to bring in superfast quad core processor, it has beautifully clear display that can truly rival Apple's Retina Display, its Sense 4.0 UI skin is a joy to use and it has a really great camera with high burst capabilities.

But it isn't the One X's specs that Apple should be worried about, its the design. Over the years, the iPhone has been praised for its beautiful design, but if you look at the market today, many rival smartphones look way better than the iPhone 4s, and the One X's eye-grabbing unibody case really stands out from the crowd.

However, HTC is slated to launch a new phone known as the HTC One X+ on Sept 19. According to @Football4PDA's Twitter feed, the handset will measure 134.36 x 69.9 x 9.3mm and weigh 129 grams.

However, they don't stop there, revealing the HTC One X+ will also pack an Nvidia AP37 1.6GHz quad-core processor and a 1.7GHz single core, 32GB ROM and 1GB RAM. It will also run the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system as well as being skinned with HTC's own Sense 4.5 UI.

Motorola Mobility on Sept 5 added three powerful Android smartphones to its Droid family ahead of Apple's much-anticipated debut next week of a new-generation iPhone.

The additions of RAZR M, RAZR HD, and RAZR MAXX HD to the Motorola line-up came as the first major product news from the company since it was bought by Internet giant Google a year ago in a $12.5 billion deal.

The Razr M is a smaller phone for more cost-conscious consumers, with a 4.3 inch display that covers most of the front of the phone.

Motorola Mobility's Droid Razr HD boasts a 4.7 inch screen with a sharper picture than Motorola's previous phones.

The Droid Razr Maxx HD will have similar features to the Razr HD but will boast a longer battery life. Motorola promised that the device could run for 21 hours of phone calls or 13 hours of video viewing.