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2009 got off to a real bang with some truly gorgeous mobile phones. But, if anything, the rest of the year looks even hotter. Let's see how the interface on mobile phones is becoming ever more important this year...

Sony Ericsson X1 - starting the year with a bang

The Sony Ericsson X1 was easily one of the most talked about phones of 2008, and a lot of talk was about how long it took to reach the market, only just making it in time for the new year. And so, I feel justified in including it as an example of the exceptional phones we got at the start of the year. In essence, it was of the first few phones that actually took Windows Mobile and made it usable and user-friendly, using its unique 'panels interface', where different home screens were displayed as a grid of 9 panels for you to choose from.

You could have anything as the home screen on your Sony Ericsson X1 from a sleek, finger-friendly interface, to standard WinMo, to a dedicated Facebook home screen. It was that feature that set the Sony Ericsson X1 above other phones. Of course, the fact it includes a 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA internet access, GPS, and the stunning Opera browser as standard can't have hurt it, either. I consider the Sony Ericsson X1 to be the high-water mark for Windows Mobile phones so far (in hindsight, that's probably why I bought one)...

Toshiba TG01 - taking Windows Mobile to new heights

However, an upcoming Windows Mobile phone is surely going to steal that title: the awesome Toshiba TG01. There are two very simple reasons why the Toshiba TG01 is destined to reign supreme in the Widows world. First, it has the biggest screen ever seen on a mobile phone, coming in at 4.1 inches. Secondly, it has the fastest processor of any mobile phone, the 1GHz, dual-core Snapdragon processor. Windows Mobile always works best when there's plenty of processing power to run it on, and the results here are truly astounding, and are best shown off when you use the custom, 3D interface on the Toshiba TG01. Designed to make finger touch a breeze, it is incredibly fluid, and just flows beautifully under the fingers. Of course, with HSDPA, 3 megapixel camera, and GPS, your fingers are going to be flitting about brilliantly on the Toshiba TG01's screen. It truly is a beauty.

Palm Pre - an interface like nothing you've seen before

However, while the Sony Ericsson X1 has got the year off to a good start, and while the Toshiba TG01 will take Windows Mobile to new heights, there's another phone which has an interface unlike ANYTHING seen on any mobile phone before. Coming straight out of leftfield, you've got the incredible Palm Pre, which has a brand new interface, dubbed WebOS, that, basically, out iPhones the iPhone. Not only is it the most finger friendly interface ever made (and is capable of true multitasking), but it does clever things with the info you need, such as pulling contact info from various sources, and automatically displaying people's Facebook, or MySpace, or Gmail (or whatever) info in one field for that person, so you don't have to hunt through multiple contacts for it. The Palm Pre is a truly stunning phone, and even if it didn't have a 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA internet and GPS, it'd be worth getting purely on the interface alone!

About the Author:

Expert on mobile phones, having worked in the industry for over 7 years.