TIME's Best Inventions of 2008

T-Mobile G1

It's not as pretty as the iPhone, but the T-Mobile G1, the first smartphone to run Google's sleek new Android operating system, has a slick slide-out keyboard, a big bright screen and a lot of power. The "Google Phone" supports loads of applications downloaded from the online Android marketplace — games and programs, like encyclopedias, guitar-teaching tools and time-wasters like Pac-Man — and easily handles graphics-heavy applications such as Google Maps, Web browsing and video. The Android marketplace isn't as robust as the iPhone app store yet, but someday it will be, as more Android phones hit the market and developers start churning out apps.
Price: $179.99, plus monthly service fees
More Info: t-mobileg1.com