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InnoPath will be exhibiting at CTIA (News - Alert), which means that fellow TMCnet columnist Dave Ginsburg and I will be at CTIA. Sure it is great to get out in front of customers, reporters, analysts and the like and pitch our product, but it is also great to get to check out the show floor and see what others are excited about.

Some of the things that get my blood pumping about CTIA this year include:

• Windows Phone (News - Alert)7:  yes, I have written about Windows Phone Series 7 before (Bring the Amber Lamps!) but I am still eager for more. Yes, they are not talking about device shipping until the holiday season this year, but all indications (including demos at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert)a few weeks ago in Barcelona) are that this one is a game changer. Sure, it will feature a contact focused approach to communications, but it also reflects a fundamental change in approach where, in a very un-Microsoft (News - Alert), un-Bill-like way, Less is More. Apple, with the iPhone, realized that people don’t want a bulleted list of features on a spec sheet, they want their phone to work intuitively and well. Sometimes, in order to best deliver on this promise, that has meant doing less instead of more. Multitasking for example, not included. Nor Flash. Nor anything else that would potentially break, ruin or degrade things for the user. While this lack of freedom causes some pain to be sure, just look at how animated an iPhone user will typically become if you try to take his or her phone. Only Blackberry and iPhone users tend to be very passionate about their phones, although Android (News - Alert)fanbois show some passion about their favorite OS from time to time. Less is more is one of the reasons for this passion and now it is coming from Redmond with billions of dollars behind it. The Borg is Back.

• HTC (News - Alert): although still often relegated to the “other” category when looking at global market share, there is no doubt about it, the kid from Taiwan has shaken up the smartphone world and with good reason. They continue to push the envelope in terms of design and computing power. Although many of the devices they ship are flawed in some way (Nexus One anyone?) they are also interesting and, more importantly cool. Perhaps owners of Alfa Romeos or other high strung Italian iron can relate. I have a bunch of phones on my desk at work but the one I keep with me like Smeagol’s precious is a Nexus.

• Sprint: speaking of HTC, it is rumored that Sprint will finally have a killer phone (the Supersonic) and that it is going to be a giant screen, Android powered HTC. Sense, Snapdragon and 4G on a sleek body? Oh, now we are talking. I have been waiting for an excuse to upgrade my personal Sprint device and now it looks like Overland Park is going to force my hand. We have a new guy joining our department and the Supersonic is also on his wish list.

• Verizon (News - Alert) (News - Alert): when Big Red talks, people listen. In this case, the things I am interested in including the HTC Incredible, which when I fondled a prototype a few weeks back seemed at least as fast as a Nexus but it had the Sense UI and a very slick package. This is another lustworthy device which when combined with the goodness of the Verizon network should bring much joy to those who perhaps liked the Droid but really wanted something with a bit more under the hood. There are also rumors that there will be some more discussion of LTE (News - Alert)plans, which many are certainly eager to hear.

Then on the flip side there are some folks I would like to be hearing more from but don’t expect much:

• RIM: certainly solid, workman like tooks, we have a couple 9700s in house and they have good radios, good battery life and really awful browsers on top of requiring weird proprietary infrastructure, generally awful browsers and a not real impressive app store. They still have a whopping big chunk of the North American smartphone market but unless there are a number of exciting new things out of Canada I suspect we may be looking forward to a period of decline and stagnation as the rest of the world moves on.

• Nokia: well, it’s a rebuilding year, as they say. As has been the case for the past couple years. Except this year, I don’t expect any big news out of Espoo beyond admission that they have a ways to go. An example of the Finnish disease can be found in the E71 to E72 evolution. The E71 was probably the peak of S60. Although somewhat plain and homely, it was an effective tool that did what you needed and little more in a tiny, slick, cool form factor that amazed you with its thinness and build quality. The E72 recapitulates the PC problem of Andy giveth and Bill taketh away (hardware advances countered by software bloat). E72 adds optical touchpad, great, but the keys around the D pad feel crappy and generally the phone lacks the tank-like build of its predecessor. More CPU, but a new version of S60 is the Vista of Symbian (News - Alert), adding unneeded and unwanted eyecandy and special effects while shuffling menus and options around in a way that is different from before but still equally nonsensical and confusing, all for no net benefit. Oh, and now the better camera extrudes like a tumor, ruining the once fine lines of the device. Bummer.

• Palm: WebOS had such promise, but hopes were dashed against the rocks like a deformed Spartan kid tossed into the Apothetae. They need some new hardware, no crippled, dumbed down devices like the Pixie, two years late and a number of cpu cycles short, nor will any marginal upgrade like the Palm Pre Plus with just a bit more storage onboard do the trick. They need a new flagship and it needs to be a beast that resides at the very top of the food chain. Sometimes we talk about the internet in terms of places like Amazon serving the “long tail”, where for example if you are a fan of Tuvan Throat Singing you can actually find something, which would be unlikely at a brick and mortar. Sadly the WebOS app store is more like a Manx cat – no tail.

Anyway, if you are going to be at CTIA, drop by InnoPath at booth 3749, we’ll pour you a latte.

Viva Las Vegas!

Jason Lackey is marketing manager at Innopath Software.

Edited by Michael Dinan