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You know you have a hit device when people are talking about killing it before it’s even released. That was the situation with Apple’s iPhone back in early 2007. Once it was announced in January, it seemed that flocks of phone were being announced, and dubbed by the media as iPhone killers. None has really succeeded yet, as Apple continues to own a large portion of cell phone and smartphone sales. To go along with the announcement of the 3G iPhone, or iPhone 2.0, let’s look back on some of the devices that couldn’t handle the job.

LG Vu (Prada) and Voyager

Because of the iPhone’s exclusive agreement with AT&T, the iPhone killer started taking shape on competing carriers, notably CDMA providers Verizon and Sprint. One of the first models to be mentioned as an iPhone killer was the LG Prada. This was pretty much laughed off by tech blogs, but still, the threat remained.

Fast forward a year, and Verizon still didn’t have the Prada on its shelves. It’s kind of tough to kill a phone when you’re released so far after it. By the time the Prada — renamed for VX9700 Verizon — hit CDMA shelves, the iPhone 2.0 rumors were gaining some serious steam. Not only that, but AT&T actually released the device first! A phone can’t be much of an iPhone killer if the exclusive carrier of the iPhone is willing to carry it before competitors.

LG tried another approach to the iPhone, releasing the Voyager through Verizon in time for the holidays. It was rushed to market for competition, and there weren’t enough available units to make a dent in the market, even if the Voyager caught on. It never really caught on, despite the touchscreen front combined with a fold-out mechanical keyboard. These days, I hear far more complaints about than accolades for the Voyager.

Samsung Omnia i900

On the very day that the iPhone 2.0 was announced, Samsung made some news of their own: The Omnia i900. This quad-band GSM/EDGE phone runs on Windows Mobile, and will feature a 3.2 inch screen. It will hit stores in Asia this month, Europe in July, and the U.S. sometime in the uncertain future — though it has passed FCC muster.

Before the Omnia, Samsung made some noise in the iPhone clone market with the Instinct. Like the iPhone, it doesn’t feature any kind of mechanical keyboard. However, instead of typing while the phone is upright, the Instinct allows users to type while in landscape mode, which is a bit more natural. The other distinct difference is the mode of the touchscreen. Instead of merely tapping items, as one would on an iPhone, the Instinct’s touchscreen acts more like depressing buttons.

With the Instinct released through Sprint, Samsung has also released the Glyde, a similar model, though Verizon. The main difference between the two is that the Glyde features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It has the same, depression-based touchscreen interface.

HTC Touch Diamond

As a follow-up to their popular Touch model, HTC has introduced the Touch Diamond. It’s a bit sleeker looking than its predecessor, and comes with a ton of goodies, including 4 gigs of on-board memory. While, like the iPhone, it doesn’t feature a mechanical keyboard, it does have a few physical buttons, including a scroll wheel that doubles as a directional pad for easy navigation.

The Windows Mobile device features a high-resolution screen, though the touch features are reportedly lacking from early reviews. It acts in a manner similar to the Samsung Glyde, which can be discouraging to diehard touchscreen fans. It does sport a 3.2 megapixel camera, which trumps the iPhone. However, a camera does not make a phone.

HTC will give it another go this summer, as they plan to release the Touch Pro. It looks similar to the Diamond, except that, like the Samsung Glyde, it features a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Is this a trend we’re seeing from phone manufacturers — manufacturing two similar phones, one full touchscreen, the other with a keyboard?

Nokia Tube

Rumors of Nokia’s Tube have been making their rounds for a bit, but it’s still early. The rumor has the device hitting shelves in early 2009, which should give plenty of time for the 3G iPhone to sell its millions of units and generate all sorts of additional hype.

Still, the Tube (might not be the final name) looks rather sleek, with a high-res 16:9 display. As you can see from the image, it’s rather small, possibly narrower than the iPhone. Then again, it’s tough to gauge the proportions of the device, since for all we know the person holding the phone could have enormous hands. But we do know that it will be a quad-band device with a built-in GPS and a camera better than the iPhone, but not as good as other Nokia N-series devices.

According to Symbian Freak, this might not even be the beast to end all beasts. Apparently, Nokia might be planning an even better device, to be announced shortly after the Tube. That’s just rumor for now, but it sounds plausible enough.

Motorola RAZR2

Last May, over a month before the iPhone was actually released, Motorola started hyping their own iPhone killer. Everyone wondered what kind of smartphone Motorola would create to make its mark. After all, the company had seen a waning share of the cell phone market over the past year or so, and needed a new flagship device. So what did they deliver?

The RAZR2. It seemed like a joke at first. Yeah, the RAZR2 included many upgrades over its predecessor. But really? Is that the best Motorola could come up with? And so they released the device, and, unsurprisingly, it didn’t sell as many units as the iPhone in the third quarter. This is significant, because at that point, the iPhone was on just one carrier in one country. Motorola had a bit further reach.

I like the RAZR2 plenty. I just don’t think that a flip-phone is going to be able to compete with the tablet iPhone. Motorola thought otherwise, and, well, they were wrong.

Sony Ericsson Xperia

The Sony Ericsson Xperia was the toast of CTIA 2008. The touchscreen device actually looks a lot like the iPhone from the outside. But just when you thought it was safe…bam! It slides out all curvy-like to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. The Windows Mobile device, which should hit the U.S. at some point in the future, looks to provide some real competition for the iPhone.

As with many of the devices on this list, its camera sits at 3.2 megapixels. It has multimedia functions (though it likely wouldn’t have made the list if it didn’t), though the on-board memory measures just 400 MB, so it will require an expansion chip. That’s one feature that the iPhone has really taken advantage of: On-board memory. With units featuring 8 and 16 GB, there’s no need for an expansion card.

We’ll see how this device does when it’s released later this year, though not in the U.S. It might not kill the iPhone, but it looks to be an attractive alternative.

BlackBerry Thunder

Though it is not officially announced, rumors have been spreading like wildfire about RIM’s iPhone competitor, the BlackBerry Thunder. Not much is known beyond the newly-released pictures we’ve recently seen. It looks to be pretty much an iPhone clone, which could play to RIM’s advantage. They’ve already got a line of business-friendly phones with mechanical keyboards, including the new Bold, which should be released right around the time of the 3G iPhone.

The phone will feature four physical buttons: Send, end, back, and the menu key. And really, that’s all we’ve got. It should feature RIM’s OS 4.6, which is featured on the Bold. This should allow the Thunder to have many of the same features as the iPhone, including the full browser.

RIM is actually taking a sound strategy with the Thunder, if we’re to believe the rumors. It will be released through Verizon, which, with its recent Alltel acquisition, stands to be the nation’s No. 1 cell phone provider. It is also rival to AT&T, exclusive carrier of the iPhone. Remember, Verizon initially passed on the iPhone, so you have to wonder what they have up their sleeve by accepting an exclusive for the Thunder.

As you can see, none of the phones above have succeeded in killing the iPhone. In fact, they have only made it stronger. Now that the 3G iPhone is set to hit shelves on July 11, it might do some smartphone killing itself.

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