castanyes blaves

The G1 is one one of my favourite phones of 2008. OK, it is not the best looking, but the full qwerty keyboard is a joy to use and the trackerball is responsive enough to keep Blackberry fans happy. It allows scrolling without having to put your finger over what you are reading!

Add a smooth responsive touchscreen for all those who wanted an iPhone but just could not bring themselves to jump on Apple's bandwagon and this phone just bleeds control options. It offers speedy connectivity via 3G and wi-fi.

Google maps works a treat with GPS, and satnav is free with no subscriptions or need to buy extra maps that you sometimes find when you go with other suppliers.

Marketplace - the G1's "App Store" - is a mine of free whizzy gadgety apps that are added to on a daily basis.

I downloaded the latest Opera Mini browser (4.2) - a speedy internet browser for mobiles and now I do not miss the pinching action I was able to do with my iPhone to zoom in and out.

When I zoom in on my G1 the text on each page automatically reformats to fit the screen. Nice! The G1 is all about choice.

Whilst Apple's iPhone does things with more style and more glamour, the G1 is a more than capable and fun alternative which will only get more useful each day.