The Apple App Store is famous for offering hundreds of thousands of apps, many for free, that allow users to track their health, paint on their phones, play games, and much more. Cost: $299

Mobclix, an advertising outfit, reckons the number of programmes, or apps, for books on Apple’s iPhone recently surpassed that for games, previously the largest category.

Apple's iPhone 3g has won a public vote to find the year's best gadget, beating strong competition from three games consoles, a laptop and a balloon-shaped iPod speaker system.