The iPhone is the Greatest Gadget of the 21st Century

After six weeks of techno-trash talking and silicon-based slander, one gadget has climbed to victory atop a mountain of dead, to crown itself the winner of our Greatest Gadget of the 21st Century tournament. And that singular piece of gorgeous, gallant gadgetry is the iPhone.

We knew from the start Apple's smart phone was a formidable contender, and over the course of the competition it has cruised, swanlike, through the rounds, crippling all who dared so much as glance at its touchscreen.

Along the way the iPhone has crushed such champions as the Amazon Kindle, the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the TomTom and even the mighty Robosapien.

The iPhone's moment of glory came at midnight last night, when voting closed -- it roundly trounced its fellow finalist, the Xbox 360, with a massive 69 per cent of the vote.

The Xbox 360 has its own success story to tell -- having ousted the Nintendo Wii, the Sony S470 Blu-ray player and the JVC Everio camcorder to battle through to the finals. But it didn't have the backing or the resolve to take down Apple's mobile monolith.

While this is a sad day for console gamers and Microsoft fans alike, the iPhone has been a massively influential and impressive gadget and we reckon this is a win well deserved.

Indeed, the iPhone was the first true Internet phone, and the first device to perfect the touchscreen. What's more, in a few short years, iTunes and the App Store have opened up mobile music, video and gaming to a massive new audience. The mobile market is now the fastest-moving, most exciting sector in tech, and for that we have the iPhone to thank.

Iconic, beautiful, revolutionary and a joy to use -- iPhone, we salute you.

What do you think? Did the iPhone deserve to win? Or is it the worst phone in the world? Do you think the Xbox should have won? Or a different gadget entirely? Sick of being bombarded with questions? Then drop us a comment, or scrawl something on our Facebook wall.