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There's no question that today's market for smartphones is smoking hot. Vendors from across the manufacturing spectrum are rushing their products to market in an effort to cash in on U.S. consumers' seemingly bottomles s appetite for high-powered wireless gadgets. Touchscreens, keyboards, accelerometers, cameras, WiFi and othe rs hot-button specs are available from the likes of Motorola, Palm, HTC and others. And the diversity of soft ware platforms--from webOS to Windows Mobile--only adds to the fire. So, before the critical fourth-quarter h oliday shopping season gets into full swing, it's worth taking a break and checking out the latest entrants i nto the smartphone battlefield. Below is a selection of the most anticipated and buzz-worthy devices announce d during the past month, and how they stack up against each other. Click here to vote for your favorite. And click here to let us know what you think. Cliq Hero Pixi Touch Pro 2 Carrier T-Mobile USA Sprint Nextel Sprin t Nextel Verizon Wireless* Vendor Motorola HTC Palm HTC Platform Android Android webOS Windows Mobile 6.1 Screen 3.1 inch 320x480 3.2 inch 320X480 2.63 inch 320x400 3.6 inch 480x800 Camera 5-megapixel with autofocus 5-megapixel with autofocus 2-megapixel fixed-focus 3.2-megapixel with autofocus Application store Android Market (approx. 10,000 apps) Android Market (approx. 10,000 apps) App Catalog (approx. 70 apps) Windows Marketplace for Mobile WiFi Yes - 802.11 b/g Yes - 802.11 b/g No Yes - 802.11 b/g Keyboard Slide-out, 5-row Qwerty Virtual Qwerty Slide-out, 5-row Qwerty Price Unknown $179.99 Unknown $199.99 The scoop Motorola's first Android phone takes advantage of the company's MotoBLUR user interface. Motorola has bet its continued success on Android, and is seeking to get wide distribution for the Cliq, which will be sold overseas by Orange in the UK and France, Telefonica Spain, and American Movil in Latin America. Sprint's first Android phone is also HTC's first to sport the company's proprietary Sense UI, which allows users to put a contact's photo alongside their text messages, emails and call history in a single view. The UI also allows users to set up customizable push widgets for things like Twitter feeds, weather and email. The Pixi, Palm's second webOS device after the Pre, has been positioned as more compact and affordable device than the Pre. Palm also is emphasizing that the phone's casing can be customized, something that may appeal to a younger demographic less concerned with productivity applications. HTC's latest Windows Mobile phone is the successor to its popular Touch Pro model. The gadget has attracted wide carrier support and features new HTC innovations such as Push Internet and Straight Talk, which allows users to set up multi-party conference calls by accessing contact information in their email inbox. * The Touch Pro 2 is also available from Sprint and T-Mobile for $349.99