4 New Phones that Can Hinder Apple iPhone 5's Road to Smartphone Battle Win

The launch of the next generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, is being highly awaited, with a lot of speculations surfacing every other day regarding that.

Meanwhile, with so many high-ended Android and Windows smartphones out (and ready to be out) in the market, smartphone users are spoiled for choices. Although iPhone continues to be the gold standard for the smartphone industry, its upcoming version tends to face a tough challenge from a string of 'smart' smartphones.

While Apple is still not making any announcement regarding the iPhone 5 release, IFA Germany has taken the wraps off some latest smartphones that can pose a major threat to the impending next generation iPhone. But as far as the winner of the so called 'smartphone war' is concerned, we can't do more than just betting on a particular one, until the rivals face each other on the battle field.

Let's check out the top four smartphones from the Berlin gadget galore that can challenge iPhone 5 for the crown.

Samsung Galaxy Note

As Samsung calls it, Samsung Galaxy Note is the largest screen size with smartphone portability. Launched on Thursday at the IFA technology show in Berlin, this new device from the South Korean technology giant is neither a phone nor a tablet, but a happy combination of the two.

The 5.3-inch Galaxy Note features Samsung's Super AMOLED screen technology, which offers a sharp 1280x800 WXGA resolution. The screen also offers a 180 degree viewing angle. It is 9.65mm thick (0.38 inches) and weighs 178 grams (6.3 ounces). It has a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, an 8-megapixel main camera that can record 1080p video and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It can run on HSPA? and LTE networks and uses the Google Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system.

The biggest draw for the Note may be its advanced pen input functionality. The S Pen allows users to draw, take notes and create content on a touch-screen on a virtual whiteboard.

Samsung Galaxy S II LTE

At a time when smartphone users prepare for the release of Galaxy S2 in the U.S., Samsung issued a press release on Aug. 28, revealing the LTE edition of its Galax S II.

Both in terms of size and hardware, the Galaxy S II LTE is a larger cousin of Galaxy S II. Powered by its 1.5GHz dual core processor, the Galaxy S II LTE is also blessed with 3D graphics and and offers 16GB internal memory.

Pre-loaded with Android Gingerbread, the Galaxy S II LTE sports a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 800x480 screen resolution. The phone is 0.37-inch thick and weighs 4.6oz. Galaxy S2 LTE will also feature an 8-megapixel rear-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It is fitted with a Li-on 1850 mAh battery.

HTC Titan

At the IFA 2011, what's running is the trend of super-sized smartphones, and one of the latest entries on the list is HTC Titan, a showcase for the latest version of Windows Phone 7 'Mango'.

The HTC Titan comes with a 4.7-inch super LCD screen and a thickness of 9.9 mm. The device allows users to type quickly with a large virtual keyboard and store documents in the cloud with Microsoft's OneNote software. The phone is powered by 1.5 GHz single-core processor and offers 16GB of on-board storage.

The HTC Titan sports two cameras, a forward facing 8-megapixel camera, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera. The phone comes with a juicy battery of 1600 mAh. However, it offers only 800 x 480 pixels of resolution.

Sony Xperia Arc S

Sony Ericsson unveiled its latest Xperia range Android smartphone, Xperia Arc S, at IFA in Berlin on Wednesday. Follow-up to the Xperia Arc, the new Xperia Arc S is, as the company claims, the fastest and most entertaining Xperia to date.

The Xperia Arc S brings a faster 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, an 8.1-megapixel camera with an Exmor R image sensor and 2D and 3D sweep panorama technology. The 4.2-incg phone offers 854x480-pixel Reality Display Mobile BRAVIA engine and 3D Sweep Panorama technology.

Running on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, the Sony Xperia Arc S has 512MB RAM and is preloaded 8GB microSD card.