The much-vaunted iPhone doesn't hit the shops here until the winter but is already the must-have gadget of the year.

Tipped to make as big an impact in the mobile phone market as the iPod did on MP3 players, it can be used to browse the web, send emails, display picture attachments or view Google Maps, although a lack of GPS means it won't guide you to your destination.

It's also compatible with Mac and Windows, meaning you can synchronise your contacts and calendars, movies and music and iPhoto picture library.

The iPhone is also a fully working iPod with the capability of carrying 1,000 tunes.

Yet it's the user-friendly nature of the iPhone that makes it stand out. The touchscreen function means that navigating the different widgets - including weather, news, stocks and shares info, etc - is a doddle, allowing for much greater control over how to use it. For example, you can drag your fingers apart to zoom in on the screen, or re-orientate the page by rotating the phone in your hand.

And all this is stuffed into a phone that it 2mm thinner than the Motorola RAZR and about as long as a standard palmtop computer.

For many people, winter can't come soon enough.





















Nokia N76, £270



Nokia phones have in the past been accused of being ugly, but this claim just won't wash with the N76. It has a glass external screen and flat stainless steel keypad and comes in smart red or blue so it really looks the business.

Motorola KRZR K1, £Free



This year's reincarnation of the Moto RAZR has a thinner waist and tougher scratch-resistant fascia, 2MP camera and a much more user-friendly menu system, which makes it even more irresistible an item than its

predecessor.

Sony Ericsson K800i, Free



With a 3.2MP camera and powerful Xenon flash, the K800i would be more at home in a camera shop than your local ­Carphone Warehouse. If you like to take photographs on your phone, this one blows the competition out of the water.

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