The shape of phones to come

The new Nokia N97

Not to be outdone, mobile makers are taking the best of iPhone and adding bells and whistles. We've seen what will quite likely be your next mobile phone. It's got a touchscreen display so you can dial numbers, flick through your address book and check everything from email to the weather with a nonchalant swipe of your finger.

That screen is large enough to browse the web to check your favourite sites, update your Facebook page or catch up on videos downloaded from the internet - tasks made easier thanks to high-speed mobile networks which run faster than many home broadband connections.

Your next phone also has a direct link to an online software store - a gallery packed with thousands of tiny yet useful add-on programs, many free and most costing about $5 - to load up your mobile with games, restaurant guides, online banking and more.

The phone even ties in with online services such as photo galleries, your calendar and address book. And for 2009, that means phones which look and work like the iPhone - finger-friendly touchscreens, superb web browsing, music and video playback, even online application stores. The same recipe which made the iPhone a runaway success for Apple is set to be shared by phones running a cut-down mobile version of Windows.