What's the best Windows Mobile phone?

The best Windows Mobile phone is still a Windows Mobile phone (meaning that it's not an iPhone or an Android smartphone, so how good could it really be?)

Do you agree with that?

I've been a loyal Windows Mobile user for many years. I've had numerous opportunities to switch to a different platform and I even made the jump and tried the BlackBerry Storm for a few weeks. I ended up going back to Windows Mobile.

Now, if I had to get a brand new Windows Mobile smartphone today, which would I choose? What's really the "best" Windows Phone out there?

I have two in mind:

1. If you want a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, then go with the HTC Touch Pro2 (also called the Tilt2 on AT&T). This is a great smartphone, but it lacks a capacitive touch screen, so you won't get any multi-touch gestures on this device.
2. If you don't need a physical keyboard, do you want a device that has a large capacitive touch screen? Then get the HTC HD2.  A 4.3" screen is very large compared to the 3.5" screen found on an Apple iPhone.

If you're not interested in the 2 above, then wait.  Consider a smartphone that doesn't run Windows Mobile.  OK, maybe I'm being too harsh on Microsoft (and I hope my friends and relatives who work for Microsoft don't take offense). Wait for a smartphone running Windows Mobile 7. We may see some this year. Get a smartphone that has a capacitive touch screen that is capable of multi-touch gestures like "pinch to zoom." Remember that you're probably going to replace a smartphone every 2-3 years, so don't spend too much money on a smartphone or its accessories.

Multi-touch update comes to the Google Nexus One (pinch to zoom)

Google has released a system update for its Nexus One smartphone running the Android OS 2.1. With this update, we'll see multi-touch support including "pinch to zoom."

Now here's what I want to know: Why didn't Google release the Nexus One with multi-touch support? Why did they have to release an update? The HTC Droid Eris has multi-touch support. The Nexus One is made by HTC, even though it's branded as a Google smartphone.

Well, in any case - I'm glad that the Nexus One users can now leverage the capacitive touch screen when they're browsing the web.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 (not kidding)

That's right. Instead of calling this version Windows Mobile 6.6 or 6.7, it's 6.5.3. Don't you just love it? We've gone from:

• Windows Mobile 6
• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Windows Mobile 6.5
• Windows Mobile 6.5.3

Do you see a pattern?

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 will offer more touch-friendly features and will also allow users to leverage a capacitive touch screen (if you device has a capacitive screen). Plus, support for multi-touch gestures will be included. Let's hope that also includes "pinch to zoom." Most of the older smartphones use a resistive touch screen plus a stylus. I think the days of the toothpick stylus are gone. As smartphones use resistive touch screens and rely on finger-touch, we won't be using stylus pens anymore. 

The first Windows smartphone running 6.5.3 will be the Sony Ericsson Aspen.  You can expect to see larger buttons, a modified user interface, a magnify feature, an improved version of Internet Explorer, and several other new features.