Best mobile phones of 2008

2008 won't be remembered as a year of innovations, but more as a year of refinement. In 2007 touchscreen smartphones left the realms of daggy business devices and exploded into the mainstream, along with built-in GPS receivers and mapping. This year we've seen these technologies become prolific; passed a point of tech-wants to become must-have elements of high-end devices.

(Winner's podium 2 image by Svilen Mushkatov)

The iPhone has driven this change considerably and for this reason Apple's ever-popular handset belongs in this list. We may not think it's the best smartphone, but it's easily the best music playing mobile in the market and remains the only mobile phone to have caused enough hysteria to warrant a midnight launch.

The honour of the best smartphone is split between Nokia's E71 and the BlackBerry Bold. Both phones build on the previous success of phones from RIM and Nokia, and deliver excellent upgrades in their respective family of devices.

The introduction of 8-megapixel camera phones was a high-point of the year, and the Samsung INNOV8 and LG Renoir take the lead in this category with excellent built-in shooters. The Samsung i450 and Sony Ericsson W890i were two of our favourite music-playing iPhone alternatives.

Lastly, special mention goes to the "Nanna phone", Telstra's EasyTouch Discovery, for offering an alternative to people who may struggle to use the newer, ever-shrinking mobile phones.