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When Ericsson launched the T28 in 1999, it was the lightest and slimmest phone on the market. It was also the first handset ever to use a lithium polymer battery. The T28 was a premium device -- Ericsson described it as "designer technology", and it was successful with business executives before the Blackberry became popular. Unlike its bar-shaped competitors, the T28 was immediately recognizable by its signature antenna stub and "active flip" keypad cover. Ericsson packed the phone with state-of-the-art features like voice dialing and an optional Bluetooth dongle. It came in three versions: T28s (GSM 1800 / 900), T28z (GSM 1900) and T28 World (GSM 1900/900). Our T28z review unit started life on VoiceStream (eventually acquired by T-Mobile). How does this classic handset stack up to our modern pocketable computers? Find out after the break.

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Sacrificing a smartphone's thin and sleek form factor with a case is tantamount to sacrilege in some circles. Others feel little comfort venturing outdoors without having their phone wrapped safely in one sleeve or another. Sprint's Kyocera Torque, though, is for people who demand more than just a sheath of silicone to keep their device safe. Instead of relying on a case for its protection, it's durable in its own right, with an IP67 rating and Military Standard 810G certification to help it withstand everything from water to salt fog.

In addition, the handset carries the distinction of being the very first phone released in the US with Kyocera's Smart Sonic Receiver tissue-conduction tech, which does away with the traditional earpiece. We put the Now Network's first LTE push-to-talk phone through our review gauntlet not only to gauge how tough it is, but also to find out how well it performs. Head past the break to see how it fared.

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One. In literal terms, it's a number. To HTC, however, it's a branding strategy -- the foundation upon which the entire company is now based. Just take one look at the One lineup and you'll easily understand this is the manufacturer's pride and joy. There's a very good reason for that: in a crowded smartphone market, HTC is the underdog to titans like Samsung and Apple. The company needs to stand out if it even wants the chance to prove itself to consumers.

Last year's One X marked a solid start, and while it didn't pick up the momentum CEO Peter Chou would've liked, the follow-up model -- simply called the One -- takes HTC's design and imaging chops to the next level, bringing a new UltraPixel camera sensor, among other top-shelf specs. But will it catch the eye of potential smartphone buyers, in light of another key product announcement? We'd say it's got more than a fighting chance.

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The Xperia Z is one of the main pillars of Sony's new plan to focus on mobile, gaming and imaging. In fact, it's a device that addresses all three of those areas, while also pressing reset on Sony's smartphone past. The handset ushers in a new design language, one Sony's decided to bring to its new tablet too. It's called omnibalance design, but it's best described as a combination of 90-degree angles, even weight distribution and flat glossy sides.

Once you get to look at the phone in person, all Xperias that came before it pale in comparison. The phone feels solid and you'd be hard-pressed to describe any part of it as plasticky. Between those mirrored sides, you'll find Sony's first 1080p phone display, measuring five inches and benefiting from the company's new Bravia Mobile Engine 2. Improvements to the Xperia line aren't merely cosmetic, though: Sony's added a 13-megapixel camera (featuring the HDR video-capable Exmor RS sensor) and a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro -- Qualcomm's most potent mobile processor currently available.

Meanwhile, those precious electronics are protected by a shell that's water- (IPX5/7) and dust-resistant (IP5X). It's rare to see such protection on a phone that's not being marketed as a rugged device, let alone a company's new flagship. Sony is looking to succeed in mobile and, with just a week away from the world's premier phone tradeshow, has the company created something that can stand up against current Android champions and win?

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Over the years, Mophie has become synonymous with extending the iPhone's battery life. The outfit's range of battery-filled iPhone cases has garnered rave reviews across the industry, and even I religiously used one on an iPhone 3G. In more recent days, the company has cautiously expanded into a few new areas -- namely, building battery cases for non-Apple phones, and creating the contraption shown above. The Mophie Outride is an action-cam case that's designed to be strapped onto helmets, automobile hoods and any other place where your average X Games wannabe would look to capture extreme sports footage.

But, unlike the myriad rivals on the market today, the Outride doesn't actually include a camera. Instead, you're supposed to strap your iPhone 4 or 4S into it (an iPhone 5 model has yet to be announced), allowing the smartphone you already own to handle the bulk of the work. At first blush, it sounded like an ideal solution to me. After all, I'm generally in favor of convergence and consolidation, and as an avid traveler, having one less thing to carry (in this case, a dedicated camera) is a godsend. In practice, however, the Outride did little outside of convincing me that GoPro exists for a reason.

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The Lumia 620 is Nokia's most affordable Windows Phone 8 device yet. Alas, it's a device that might never make an appearance in the US, due to its very attractive pricing of (£150, or around $236), unless American carriers are willing to give a rebate from the outset. But it's a surprisingly attractive Lumia -- in fact it's hard to put it in the same category as Nokia's previous cheaper Windows Phone options. Those colors hit you right between the eyes, with matte- and gloss-finish covers in cyan, lime, yellow and magenta presenting a nice alternative to the more staid black and white versions. Behind that shell, a 1GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus beats away, with a bright 3.8-inch ClearBlack display beaming out a familiar 800 x 480 resolution.

Despite the price, it's running the latest iteration of Windows Phone 8 and Nokia's also ensured its own camera lens apps, along with its music and mapping services, have been carried over as well. The 5-megapixel camera may be bested by the Zeiss-equipped 8-megapixel sensors on its bigger brothers, but with a staggering £300 difference between the Lumia 620 and Lumia 920, what other sacrifices have been made? Is this the best bang-for-your-buck Windows Phone we've ever seen? We think it might be.

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For years now, the BlackBerry OS has occupied something of a special state, almost feeling as if it were thrown down into a pit and locked into a bar of carbonite, preserved in stasis for future generations to see. Want to show your kids what using a smartphone was like in 2006? You just needed to find a Bold on display at the local electronics store and let your little ones gaze wide-eyed at a sea of menus and tiny buttons.

BB7, then, was a disappointment for many, feeling like a bare-minimum update to those versions that came before rather than the complete QNX-based retooling we'd all been waiting for. The PlayBook showed us what was possible with a clean-sheet approach to a BlackBerry OS, and we wanted that on a phone. Now, two years after the release of that tablet, here we have it. It's BlackBerry 10. It's a wholly new experience, very different even than the PlayBook, and in general it's quite good. But is it good enough to thrive in a world dominated by iOS and Android? Let's find out.

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One cannot overstate the importance of this phone. This, the BlackBerry Z10, is the device upon which the fate of BlackBerry (formerly Research in Motion) hangs. That's not to say that the company will disappear if the Z10 -- and the BlackBerry 10 OS that it contains -- is not a mass-market success. But if this phone does not do its job of extending the reach of the 'Berry OS beyond those die-hard loyalists who have clung on to their Bolds and Torches and Storms, it's safe to say that BlackBerry is in for some very hard times.

The company hasn't exactly bet the proverbial farm on this BB10 release, but with massive financial losses tempered only by job cuts, plus an absolutely tectonic shift among the executive leadership and corporate culture architected by CEO and President Thorsten Heins, the phrase "make or break" feels pretty apt. So, then, is this the phone that's good enough to woo buyers away from the Galaxy S III or the iPhone 5 or any of the other delicious devices on the other platforms? The short answer is that no, as of now it isn't quite -- but of course it's a lot more complicated than that. Join us as we explore.

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What is Kickstarter? The answer you'll hear, as long-winded as it may be, will likely touch on Pebble. If it doesn't, you'll probably want to ask someone else -- with more than $10 million pledged, the people's smartwatch catapulted past the crowdfunding site's records and the startup's own expectations. It achieved a $100,000 funding goal in two hours, and it was clearly a favorite among our readers. Of course, there were doubts that Eric Migicovsky, the company's founder, would deliver such an appealing and seemingly powerful product for $125, but following our first look during the company's CES press conference, that dream became real.

So, what is Pebble? It's not a smartphone for your wrist, as we've seen attempted before. In fact, it's far less sophisticated than you might expect -- the lightweight device reads out basic text, lets you skip through music tracks and, of course, displays the time. It's hardly the greatest achievement of our generation, or even the device of the year. It's become incredibly popular, sure, but despite the hype, you certainly don't need to own one. Yet, somehow, even the most technologically inept people in our lives have heard it mentioned on morning talk shows, FM radio stations or from pre-teens anxious to impress their friends. Having a smartphone alone isn't enough anymore. Or is it?

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