New arrivals such as the T-Mobile HTC G1, built on the Google-backed Android platform, and the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, have also set new feature expectations that other handset makers will now forced to follow, said one expert.

"It would not surprise me if HP offered an 'iPhone/Android' wannabe with a touchscreen and media player," Jack Gold, analyst, J.Gold Associates, told InternetNews.com.

Noting that HP has focused on the enterprise market area in the past, Gold said it would not be a big stretch for the vendor to make a smooth consumer move.

"However, I don't see them being terribly successful in the US with a consumer phone if they decided to go that route," Gold said. "There is just too much competition both for the consumer and for the carrier, which is the primary channel for phone distribution here."

HP's push into market at this point in the year is a critical aspect to the growing competition, said another pundit.

"This is traditionally the busiest time of year for new cell phone releases," telecom analyst Jeff Kagan told InternetNews.com. "We have seen many new phones and new ideas be introduced in the last week or two, and we will see more in coming weeks."

Those new phones include the Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) G1 HTC handset, and a new, music-centric Nokia (NYSE: NOK) handset called the 5800 XpressMusic -- which also showcases the new version of its Symbian S60 operating system, with features like Adobe Flash Lite 3 support. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) is also poised to take a shot at the iPhone and its rivals with its own upcoming touchscreen model, dubbed the BlackBerry Storm 9530. RIM has also unveiled a number of consumer models in recent months more in keeping with its traditional BlackBerry design.

This year has also seen Samsung debuting several high-end devices, including the Soul, F480 and the M800. Likewise, onetime PDA giant Palm is pushing out several new high-end Treo devices.

In light of the growing competition, Kagan doesn't expect to be very impressed with a new HP offering.

"I don't see this phone being very important to the market, with any new features," he said. "But it is important for HP, obviously."

HP's iPAQ 912 Series Business Messenger, which features GPS and HP's Enterprise Mobility Suite of applications on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, was the vendor's second smartphone offering in 18 months.

A recent IDC report stated device makers shipped 306 million units during the second quarter of this year -- up 5.6 percent from last quarter and a 15.3 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007.

Story courtesy of InternetNews.com.