The 2010 CTIA Wireless trade show in Las Vegas has come and gone.  Of the many phones bouncing around at the event, for me the HTC EVO 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S stood out.  Both promise to be great phones in and of themselves, while at the same time providing a small peak at what we can expect from the mobiles of the future.  It’s exciting stuff:  faster processors and GPUs, outstanding quality displays, HD video recording, better touchscreen technology, and 4G.

HTC EVO 4G

HTC EVO 4G

HTC’s offering reportedly stole the show at the event, putting an end to many of the rumors surrounding what was dubbed the “HTC Supersonic”.  It’s was officially announced at the event, and is penciled in for release this summer with Sprint.

It has a 480×800 4.3-inch TFT LCD display, a Snapdragon QSD8650 1GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM, 1 GB of built-in memory, and an 8 GB microSD card for your apps and files.  It uses Android 2.1 with an updated version of HTC’s Sense UI.  Reports suggest that this may be the most responsive phone HTC has ever produced.

It has an 8 megapixel camera with flash — yes, eight megapixel — allowing you to record 720p videos.  And if that wasn’t enough, there is another 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.  It seems HTC not only wants to compete with pocket HD cameras, but also wants to allow videoconferencing using the EVO 4G.  The phone even has a HDMI out, showing that HTC is really serious when it comes to video.

Last but not least, the phone comes with 802.11b/g WiFi and WiMAX.  With LTE promising to be the larger 4G standard, it seems a decision was made to use WiMAX now rather than wait for LTE later.  With WiMAX providing up to 20 MBps of throughput, I’m sure it will suffice.

No price has been announced for the EVO 4G.

Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung Galaxy S

The Galaxy S’s trump card is its high quality display and its graphical performance.  Its 4-inch WVGA 800×480 Super AMOLED display has been receiving universal praise.  It is reportedly brighter and clearer than any other display currently on the market.

The phone also comes with the PowerVR SGX540 GPU.  Compared to its predecessor, the SGX535 of iPhone 3GS fame, the SGX540 can process three times as many triangles.

The GPU provides a serious amount of graphical muscle, allowing the phone to put its display to good use.  And when you consider the announced HD DivX playback support, the Galaxy S becomes an extremely enticing proposition.

The phone comes with Android 2.1, Samsung’s 1 GHz application processor, and a five megapixel camera that can shoot video at 720p. The phone will be available in the US this year, but there is no carrier yet announced.