New mobiles - evolution not revolution (+photos)

Nokia's new flagship phone - the N96.

There's no shortage of new mobile phones on show at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. What's missing however is a game-changing device that threatens to shift the industry's approach to mobile hardware or software design.

After the hype around expected demos of Google's Android operating system on prototype handsets, a few Android phones did show up. But their debut was so low-key it quickly became obvious the operating system is far from ready for public consumption.

Processor designer ARM and chip maker Texas Instruments had

Android prototypes

at the show though both companies did their best not to draw too much attention to either iteration of Android.

The ARM stand in particular was decidedly low-key. It is pushing to make its ARM processor, which is used in a range of mobile phones and handheld computers, the processor of choice to power Android.

More tangible was the new jewel in Nokia's crown,

the N96

- an all-in-one phone updating the N95, boosting onboard memory to 16GB and improving the built-in GPS navigation.

An improved version of assisted GPS included in the N96 means the phone talks to mobile base stations as well as the satellites to get a more accurate and quicker fix on your location.

You can also geo-tag photos you take on the N96"s five megapixel camera and upload them to photo-sharing websites like Flickr. One of Navman's in-car GPS systems armed with a digital camera has been capable of doing this for some time. More on the N96 at the

Nokia website

.

Speaking of navigation, GPS device maker Garmin's foray into the mobile phone industry has attracted some attention this week. The

Nuvifone

is a rather stylish looking device that packs in all the features of a high-end handset - 3G connectivity, GPS with geo-tagging of photos and multimedia messaging.

The question really is whether Garmin can gather any credible in the crowded mobile phone industry. It may come down to software design and how well the Nuvifone handles the next generation of location-based services.

Taiwanese phone maker HTC (), which makes the Titan and Touch phones which Telecom sells locally, has been touting

the Shift

, a sort of high-end alternative to the Asus Eee PC (which are all over the place at the Mobile World Congress).

The Shift has a seven-inch screen, 40GB hard drive, runs Windows Vista, has Wi-Fi and HSDPA connectivity and acts as a quad-band mobile phone.

At around US$1800 it's certainly high-end though there has been plenty of buzz around HTC here - it's increasingly seen to be a company with smart hardware design.

The Koreans are here in force - LG bought up just about every available flat surface at Barcelona airport to advertise its new phones, while Samsung has the World Congress venue itself plastered in pictures of its new mobile phone, the

Soul

.

Not surprisingly, it has a touch screen and also features a five megapixel camera - rapidly becoming the standard for a mid-range handset and supports HSDPA, so download speeds of up to 7.3Mbps.

More phone launches to come as the industry does its best to publicly ignore Apple's iPhone and instead come up with its own custom-built alternatives.