The phone fest that was CommunicAsia may have put the spotlight on greater market segmentation by handset makers, but the stars of the show were the devices that immediately caught the consumer's eye.
Among attention-getters at last week's event were Samsung Electronics' SCH-V770 seven-megapixel camera phone, Motorola's metal-finish PEBL V6 and SLVR V8 handsets, the Kyocera K5 phone and K500 Gamepad, and Sony Ericsson's video and audio-playback powerhouses the K750i, S600i and K600i.
First exhibited at Cebit early this year, the hefty-looking SCH-V770 handset is not expected to be available soon. This leaves the field wide open to a new wave of 2-megapixel camera phones from most vendors.
Commenting on the latest Motorola phones, David Taylor, director of strategy and operations for high growth markets in Motorola's mobile devices unit, could have also been speaking on behalf of other major players in the industry when he said the new models were 'designed to emotionally and rationally engage with consumers'.
Kitae Lee, president of Samsung Electronics' telecommunications network business, said mobile phones were 'evolving into multi-functional devices that deliver multiple services and entertainment'.
Catering to demand for so-called 'fashion phones', Samsung announced the release of limited-edition communications accessories for women. These included the eponymous Couture Diane von Furstenberg Mobile, with a case bearing a reproduction of an Andy Warhol painting of the fashion designer.