Maryanne Murray Buechner made the selection and wrote the entry:

The iPhone changed the way we think about how mobile media devices should look, feel and perform. The design is exceptional inside and out: It’s got a slick glass-and-stainless steel case and an elegant touch screen loaded with eye candy. It’s an iPod and a 2-megapixel camera. Images and video clips display vertically or horizontally — they reorient themselves depending on how you hold the thing. When the phone detects a wireless network within range — your own home wi-fi set up or somebody else’s — it lets you tap once to connect, and then proceed with your Web surfing, Google mapping, emailing and other activities that can otherwise be painfully slow over AT&T’s cellular network — the only one, unfortunately, that carries iPhone calls. (link)

The honorific was part of a 50-list year-end extravaganza that made picks in everything from most underreported story (No. 1: Infighting in Somalia) to top 10 buzzwords (No. 1: Cougar, an older woman who pursues younger men) to T-shirt worthy slogans (No. 1: DON’T TASE ME, BRO).

The other entries in the gadget list:

• Nikon Coolpix S51c
• Netgear SPH200W Wi-Fi Skype Phone
• Palm Centro
• Sony Handcam HD-CX7
• Samsung P2
• Toshiba Portégé R500-S5004
• Flytech Dragonfly
• Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive
• Belkin N1 Vision Wi-Fi

Can you believe some of those product names? Do you think the iPhone would have made the cut if Steve Jobs had called it the Apple SPH200W Wi-Fi Skype-free Phone?

To see all 50 Time Top 10 lists, click here.