With the announcement that the Nexus One is coming soon, here's what it's up against in the Superphone market. The phones were chosen based on what seems to be the best phones from each manufacturer that have been recently released or are to be released very soon (Jan 2010). There are phones that are specialist in different departments, but the ones chosen are the all-rounders. Here are the main specs from the top superphones from the top 8 phone manufacturers.

Apple iPhone 3GS vs Samsung S8000 Jet vs Nexus One vs Nokia X6 vs Sony Ericsson Satio vs LG GC900 Viewty Smart vs Motorola XT800 vs BlackBerry Storm2 9520

Photo Camera

Apple iPhone 3GS - 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus
Samsung S8000 Jet - 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Nexus One - 5 MP, 2560х1920 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Nokia X6 - 5 MP, 2592x1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Dual LED flash, video light
Sony Ericsson Satio - 12 MP, 4000 x 3000 pixels, autofocus, xenon flash, video LED flash
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, auto/manual focus, LED flash
Motorola XT800 - 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED flash
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, LED flash

Winner? Sony Ericsson Satio by a distance - 12MP, xenon flash (only one with a real photographic flash).

Video Camera

Apple iPhone 3GS - 640x480@30fps
Samsung S8000 Jet - 720x480@30fps
Nexus One - 720x480@20fps plus
Nokia X6 - 640x480@30fps
Sony Ericsson Satio - 640x480@30fps
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - 720x480@30fps, VGA@30fps
Motorola XT800 - 720x480@24fps
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - 480x352@30fps

Winner? The Samsung S8000 Jet or Nexus One or LG GC900 Viewty Smart or Motorola XT800. Video samples needed to decide a winner.

Internet Connection

Apple iPhone 3GS - GPRS, EDGE, 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Samsung S8000 Jet - GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps. EDGE Class 123G. HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Nexus One - GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps. EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps. 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Nokia X6 - GPRS Class 32. EDGE Class 32. 3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
Sony Ericsson Satio - GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps. EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps. 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 3.6 Mbps. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, DLNA
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps. EDGE Class 12. 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Motorola XT800 - GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps. EDGE Class 12. 3G HSDPA. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps. EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps. 3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA. WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

Winner? Nexus One with a range of Wi-Fi connections including wireless N. No surprise seeing as it's a Google phone.

Memory

Apple iPhone 3GS - 256MB RAM. Internal 32GB storage, 256 MB RAM
Samsung S8000 Jet - 128MB RAM. Internal 2GB/8GB. Card slot microSD, up to 16GB
Nexus One - 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM. Card slot microSD up to 32GB
Nokia X6 - 128MB RAM. Internal 32GB storage,
Sony Ericsson Satio - 256 MB RAM. Internal 128MB storage. Card slot microSD, up to 32GB
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - 128 MB RAM. Internal 1.5GB. Card slot microSD, up to 32GB
Motorola XT800 - 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM. microSD up to 32GB
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - 128 MB RAM. Internal 2GB Card slot. microSD up to 16GB

Winner? Nexus One due to big RAM memory.

Display

Apple iPhone 3GS - 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
Samsung S8000 Jet - 480 x 800 pixels, 3.1 inches
Nexus One - 480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches
Nokia X6 - 360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches
Sony Ericsson Satio - 360 x 640 pixels, 3.5 inches
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - 800 x 480 pixels, 3.0 inches
Motorola XT800 - 480 x 854 pixels, 3.7 inches
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - 360 x 480 pixels, 3.25 inches

Winner? Motorola XT800.

CPU Speed

Apple iPhone 3GS - ARM Cortex A8 600MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
Samsung S8000 Jet - Qualcomm MSM6246, 800Mhz processor
Nexus One - 1GHz Qualcomm SnapDragon CPU
Nokia X6 - ARM 11 434MHz processor
Sony Ericsson Satio - ARM Cortex A8 600MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - n/a
Motorola XT800 - Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 600MHz
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - CPU Marvell PXA930 624MHz

Winner? This one is difficult to say without testing but it looks like the Nexus One wins on stats with a 1Ghz CPU.

Battery

Apple iPhone 3GS - Stand-by Up to 300 h. Talk time Up to 12 h (2G) / Up to 5 h (3G)
Samsung S8000 Jet - Stand-by Up to 422 h (2G) / Up to 406 h (3G). Talk timeUp 8 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 5 h (3G)
Nexus One - Stand-by Up to 290 h (2G) / Up to 250 h (3G). Talk time Up to 10 hours (2G) / Up to 7 hours (3G)
Nokia X6 - Stand-by Up to 401 h (2G) / 420 h (3G). Talk time Up to 8 h 30 min (2G) / 6 h (3G)
Sony Ericsson Satio - Stand-by Up to 360 h (2G) / Up to 340 h (3G). Talk time Up to 11 h (2G) / Up to 4 h 50 min (3G)
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - Stand-by Up to 330 h (2G) / Up to 350 h (3G). Talk time Up to 5 h 30 min (2G) / Up to 4 h 40 min (3G)
Motorola XT800 - Unknown
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - Stand-by Up to 305 h (2G) / Up to 280 h (3G). Talk time Up to 5 h (2G) / Up to 6 h (3G)

Winner? Samsung S8000 Jet.

So based on these specs, which is the best phone to buy? All the phones range in quality in different areas - it depends what features are more important to you from a phone. The Nexus One seems to lead with a lot of the hardware, but battery longevity suffers due to the extra power needed, and it's photo camera isn't up to the Sony Ericsson Satio.

All of the phones have the capability to store at least 16GB of data (with most capable of 32GB) with or without adding memory cards so you'll unlikely fill it unless you transfer your music collection onto it.

Video recording is all very similar, but the cameras that can record at 720x480 have a distinct advantage because that's a similar resolution that what standard TV is broadcast at. So you can watch your videos on TV and they'll be the same quality as TV in theory. And with more TV's becoming 16:9 size it makes more sense to have video in that format. The Motorola XT800 HDMI-out is perhaps one of the most interesting developments as far as video goes because it means that the phone has the capability of turning into a HD media centre.

There's no clear winner with these phones because what a phone has in one department, it lacks in another. Here's a quick summary of Pros & Cons for the different phones:

Pros & Cons

Apple iPhone 3GS - Pros: TV-out, iTunes. Cons: No xenon flash, No radio
Samsung S8000 Jet - Pros: Speed, video editor, many sensors. Cons: No xenon flash, 16GB storage max not 32GB, no TV-out
Nexus One - Pros: Android open source, Wi-Fi super speed, fast hardware. Cons: No xenon flash, battery life, no TV-out
Nokia X6 - Pros: TV-out, stereo speakers. Cons: No xenon flash
Sony Ericsson Satio - Pros: Best photo camera, xenon flash. Cons: 640x480 video camera not 720x480, no TV-out, no 3.5mm earphones socket
LG GC900 Viewty Smart - TV-out, photo camera features. Cons: No xenon flash, no standard 3.5mm earphones connection
Motorola XT800 - Pros: HDMI-out, Android open source. Cons: No xenon flash
BlackBerry Storm2 9520 - Pros: BlackBerry OS. Cons: No xenon flash, no radio, 16GB storage max not 32GB

Resources

www.gsmarena.com
developer.motorola.com
www.google.com
worldwide.blackberry.com
www.clove.co.uk
www.apple.com
europe.nokia.com
www.sonyericsson.com
www.alibaba.com
en.wikipedia.org

Glossary of Terms

MB - Megabytes. 1024KB.
Mb - Megabits. 1024Kb. 1/8 of a MB
kbps - Kilobits per second
CPU - Central Processing Unit. The chip that does the main processing.
RAM - Random Access Memory. Temporary storage of data and instructions.
ROM - Read Only Memory. Like RAM but can't be modified easily.
GPRS - General Packet Radio Service. Old internet connection. Known as 2G.
EDGE - Roughly twice as fast as GPRS. Known as 2.5G.
HSDPA - 3.6 Mbps transfer capable
3G HSDPA - 7.2 Mbps transfer capable
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 - a=54 Mbit/s, b=11 Mbit/s, g=54 Mbit/s, n=600 Mbit/s

I thought that I had to use the Windows Live bloatware to receive my hotmail email on my computer. But it's not true, you can use older versions of Outlook Express. The problem is, Outlook will automatically pick the http mail download server as default if you enter a @hotmail.com email address - you just have to change this to pop3.live.com and smtp.live.com. Instructions here.

From here.

3 Skypephone
3 Skypephone s2
INQ INQ1
INQ Mini 3G
LG GW520
LG KC910 Renoir
LG KF310
LG KU990i
LG Shine
LG U400
LG U990 Viewty
Nokia 2730
Nokia 3120
Nokia 5800
Nokia 6120
Nokia 6220
Nokia 6500 Slide
Nokia 6500C
Nokia 6600 Fold
Nokia 6600 Slide
Nokia 6700
Nokia E63
Nokia E65
Nokia E71
Nokia N73
Nokia N86
Nokia N95
Nokia N95 8GB
Nokia N96
Nokia N97
Samsung F480 Tocco
Samsung Jet
Samsung S5600
Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition
Samsung i8510
Sony Ericsson C510
Sony Ericsson C902
Sony Ericsson C903
Sony Ericsson C905
Sony Ericsson C905Plus
Sony Ericsson G502
Sony Ericsson K530i
Sony Ericsson K660i
Sony Ericsson K770i
Sony Ericsson K850i
Sony Ericsson Naite
Sony Ericsson Satio
Sony Ericsson T715
Sony Ericsson W595
Sony Ericsson W660i
Sony Ericsson W890i
Sony Ericsson W910i
Sony Ericsson W950i
Sony Ericsson W995
Sony Ericsson Z750i
ZTE F102

From http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest

Sample code:

function test(data) {
 // taking care of data
}

function handler() {
 if(this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
  // so far so good
  if(this.responseXML != null && this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data)
     // success!
   test(this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data);
  else
   test(null);
 } else if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status != 200) {
  // fetched the wrong page or network error...
  test(null);
 }
}

var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
client.onreadystatechange = handler;
client.open("GET", "test.xml");
client.send();

If you just want to log a message to the server:

function log(message) {
 var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
 client.open("POST", "/log");
 client.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain;charset=UTF-8");
 client.send(message);
}

Or if you want to check the status of a document on the server:

function fetchStatus(address) {
 var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
 client.onreadystatechange = function() {
  // in case of network errors this might not give reliable results
  if(this.readyState == 4)
   returnStatus(this.status);
 }
 client.open("HEAD", address);
 client.send();
}

API:

[NoInterfaceObject]
interface XMLHttpRequestEventTarget : EventTarget {
  // for future use
};

[Constructor]
interface XMLHttpRequest : XMLHttpRequestEventTarget {
  // event handler attributes
           attribute Function onreadystatechange;

  // states
  const unsigned short UNSENT = 0;
  const unsigned short OPENED = 1;
  const unsigned short HEADERS_RECEIVED = 2;
  const unsigned short LOADING = 3;
  const unsigned short DONE = 4;
  readonly attribute unsigned short readyState;

  // request
  void open(DOMString method, DOMString url);
  void open(DOMString method, DOMString url, boolean async);
  void open(DOMString method, DOMString url, boolean async, DOMString? user);
  void open(DOMString method, DOMString url, boolean async, DOMString? user, DOMString? password);
  void setRequestHeader(DOMString header, DOMString value);
  void send();
  void send(Document data);
  void send([AllowAny] DOMString? data);
  void abort();

  // response
  readonly attribute unsigned short status;
  readonly attribute DOMString statusText;
  DOMString getResponseHeader(DOMString header);
  DOMString getAllResponseHeaders();
  readonly attribute DOMString responseText;
  readonly attribute Document responseXML;
};

Info from http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2109/rfc2109

4.2.2  Set-Cookie Syntax

   The syntax for the Set-Cookie response header is

   set-cookie      =       "Set-Cookie:" cookies
   cookies         =       1#cookie
   cookie          =       NAME "=" VALUE *(";" cookie-av)
   NAME            =       attr
   VALUE           =       value
   cookie-av       =       "Comment" "=" value
                   |       "Domain" "=" value
                   |       "Max-Age" "=" value
                   |       "Path" "=" value
                   |       "Secure"
                   |       "Version" "=" 1*DIGIT

   Informally, the Set-Cookie response header comprises the token Set-
   Cookie:, followed by a comma-separated list of one or more cookies.
   Each cookie begins with a NAME=VALUE pair, followed by zero or more
   semi-colon-separated attribute-value pairs.  The syntax for
   attribute-value pairs was shown earlier.  The specific attributes and
   the semantics of their values follows.  The NAME=VALUE attribute-
   value pair must come first in each cookie.  The others, if present,
   can occur in any order.  If an attribute appears more than once in a
   cookie, the behavior is undefined.

   NAME=VALUE
      Required.  The name of the state information ("cookie") is NAME,
      and its value is VALUE.  NAMEs that begin with $ are reserved for
      other uses and must not be used by applications.

      The VALUE is opaque to the user agent and may be anything the
      origin server chooses to send, possibly in a server-selected
      printable ASCII encoding.  "Opaque" implies that the content is of
      interest and relevance only to the origin server.  The content
      may, in fact, be readable by anyone that examines the Set-Cookie
      header.

   Comment=comment
      Optional.  Because cookies can contain private information about a
      user, the Cookie attribute allows an origin server to document its
      intended use of a cookie.  The user can inspect the information to
      decide whether to initiate or continue a session with this cookie.

   Domain=domain
      Optional.  The Domain attribute specifies the domain for which the
      cookie is valid.  An explicitly specified domain must always start
      with a dot.

   Max-Age=delta-seconds
      Optional.  The Max-Age attribute defines the lifetime of the
      cookie, in seconds.  The delta-seconds value is a decimal non-
      negative integer.  After delta-seconds seconds elapse, the client
      should discard the cookie.  A value of zero means the cookie
      should be discarded immediately.

   Path=path
      Optional.  The Path attribute specifies the subset of URLs to
      which this cookie applies.

   Secure
      Optional.  The Secure attribute (with no value) directs the user
      agent to use only (unspecified) secure means to contact the origin
      server whenever it sends back this cookie.

      The user agent (possibly under the user's control) may determine
      what level of security it considers appropriate for "secure"
      cookies.  The Secure attribute should be considered security
      advice from the server to the user agent, indicating that it is in
      the session's interest to protect the cookie contents.

   Version=version
      Required.  The Version attribute, a decimal integer, identifies to
      which version of the state management specification the cookie
      conforms.  For this specification, Version=1 applies.

An example would be something like this:

Set-Cookie: MyCookie=Mr5G5qzuyOyIBacnEzS58del1iuq005QmzX0B9ck; version=0; expires=Tue, 05-Oct-2077 20:31:32 BST; path=/