Phone of the year 2008

Mobile network 3 launched the INQ1 to Irish customers in January 2009. The handset was developed by INQ Mobile, a subsidiary of 3's parent company Hutchison Whampoa, with the aim of creating a category of consumer devices that put social networking, email and instant messaging at the heart of innovative mass-market mobiles.

Year 2008 was full of news about Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. Nokia would, at some point, join the race. However, it was these two phones that attracted a lot of user and media attention.

The announcement was made at the Global Mobile Awards function held in Barcelona this week. Also known as the Facebook phone, INQ1, though not available in India yet, was declared a winner by judges terming it as a portable social networking tool at a reasonable price.

On the INQu00c2u00b9 judges said that the phone represents a significant step towards the mobile device as a social networking hub and also represents superb value for money.

"It's approach to the deep integration of services such as Facebook outshines that of much costlier smart phones, and it presents a compelling proposition by treating the phonebook as the focal point of the device. With its ingenious ability to transform from phone to 3G modem by simply plugging it into your USB port, the INQu00c2u00b9 delivers data services to the mass market and for an affordable price," the judges commented.

In the Best Mobile Game category, Gameloft's Real Football 2009 was adjudged the best mobile game, followed by Digital Chocolate's AvaPeeps and FlirtNation.

Airtel received the award for Best Use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development for its vernacular messaging campaign.

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