Before you can enjoy High Definition (HD) content on your cell phone you must first have a phone that supports that type of content.

Touch HD phone

HTC recently released a phone, the Touch HD phone, which can support HD content. It has a 480 x 800 pixel screen that is 3.8 inches wide and has the latest technology inside featuring Windows Mobile 6.1 software and the ability to connect to Wifi sources. This means you are not dependent on downloading your data and video only from your phones service provider.

Samsung Omnia

The Samsung Omnia features a 3.7 inch screen and is capable of 720p High Definition video as well as being a smartphone with a touch screen. This phone available on Verizon Mobile is rated as one of the top phones in the field.

Zune HD phone

The Zune HD phone is due to be released soon and from what Microsoft is saying about it, it will be a contender for the best HD phone. Ti will have HD Video and HD Radio. It will be able to connect with a HDMI docking station to your TV as well. The 16:9 widescreen will be able to display 480x720 resolutions.

iPhone

iPhones while being a great phone in a lot of ways can not support High Definition content at this time. Such phones are planned but not yet released.

Downloading High Definition Videos

For downloading the videos it is understood that much of the content may be streaming content from paid providers. In other words you will only download as you are viewing. This will be and advantage as worry about content protection is not an issue with streaming content. As most if not all phones will have the ability to download from the internet and using their wifi connections will be able to do so fast they will all be like mini computers in that the content that can be found free on the internet will still be available.

High Definition Video content protection

There are concerns that the creation and distribution of these HD phones will cause issues that content providers will be concerned over properly protecting their intellectual properties. At the time of this writing it appears that the same Digital Rights Management (DRM) system that is already in place for hundreds of content providers will remain in place. Additional protection is not, at this time, being proposed just because these High Definition phones are available.

Video player

For those people using these phones they all have Windows Mobile software on them. That means the video player on them will be Window’s Media Player, which handles the DRM, needs for any videos downloaded or purchased. As it is with computers there will be plenty of free content from sites such as Youtube that will be used on these phones.

Most phone service providers will continue their plans to have pay channels of streaming data to send to the phones. Because those channels are paid for on a time basis, as in a monthly fee, there will not be a need to protect one program over another. Recording from the channels is disabled in all current phones elimination another way that video content might otherwise be stolen.

Which is the best HD phone?

The release of High Definition mobile phones will make for a more interesting world where we will be able to watch our favorite movies and other HD content on the go, instead of only at home. The brave new world of high tech has gotten just a little bigger because of this wonderful new technology.

As for which is the best HD cell phone, because of the needs of the technology all are about the same, Samsung has a better reputation of those that are available, but the only way to be sure which is the best for you is to get them in hand and see how you like them. Luckily all the providers of these phones have working phones you can try before you buy.