Maven Mapper's

Apple didn't corner the market on Touch Screen phones for very long.  After returning from CES (and after watching all of the commercials already running on TV) its pretty apparent that everyone and there brother is starting to offer cell phones with touch screens. 

This year Touch screens were in everywhere and bluetooth was pretty much out or at least relegated back to its primary position in the world of accessories.

The rise of the touch screen strikes me as a little funny as I own a Treo smart phone and Palm and Treo's have been featuring touch screens for a long time, but weirdly Apple kind of gets credit for the touch screen on cell phones like  they got credit for ipod MP3 player years after MP3 players were invented. 

One of the touch screen phones that stood out for me (and that I will be covering more in depth later) is the NeoNode phone and MP3 player.

This little European phone that runs on GSM networks is about half as tall as an iPhone and about the same thickness.  It definitely had a cool sleek look about it and was easy to navigate and use.

It has one of those soft plastic looking covers to it as opposed to the previously cool and hip Razr's which now look like something recycled out of a can crusher.  Next year, we'll probably see the rise of phones covered in materials that makes them feel like crocs or something.