As if the summer months don’t offer enough to get excited about already, 2008’s prime vacation season will coincide with the launch of a slate of smartphones the likes of which have never been seen in the U.S. Upcoming products are expected to feature one or more of the following features: giant touch-screens, full QWERTY keyboards, slick coatings, 3G data services, GPS capabilities, media players, and "push" corporate e-mail services. In the past year, companies like RIM, Samsung, Nokia and HTC have done their best to ready devices that have the potential to catch up to — and maybe even surpass — the iPhone. Of course, most manufacturers don’t want to show their hands just yet. The second-generation iPhone hasn’t even arrived, and Apple certainly has not informed the public of its specific plans, so why should its competitors? So, while we’ve attempted to round up as much information as possible on Apple’s fiercest potential enemies, in some cases there’s not much to report beyond a product name and expected arrival date. In the course of the next month, you can expect a tidal wave of smartphone details to surface; when that happens, we’ll learn whether or not Apple has cause for concern. Until then, all that would-be smartphone-buyers can do is to feast on photos, mock-ups and sparse spec sheets... and fantasize.