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A ton of cell phones and smartphones are released in a year's time. Trust us, we've seen most all of them. However, not all handsets are created equal and some are more popular than others. If you're curious to see which handsets people are clamoring for, well you're in luck. We've compiled a list of the top 10 popular cell phones and smartphones for 2009 and put them into a pretty slideshow for your viewing pleasure.

As you peruse the gallery, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, the list is based on the most-viewed products to date by CNET users in 2009, and not just those released this year. As such, you'll find a number of older products on the list since they've obviously been on the site longer than the newer ones. Also, many of the models were highlighted on our Top products list.

All that said, it's pretty interesting to see what's still popular these days. Check it out for yourself and see if your phone made the list.

Top 10 most popular cell phones of 2009 (photos)

(Credit: Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)

As most Palm Pre owners (and anyone who bought the Palm Pixi, which went on sale Sunday) found out this weekend, WebOS 1.3.1 is now available for download.

The latest version of Palm's WebOS brings new features, such as the integration of Yahoo contacts, calendar, and instant messaging into Palm Synergy; text message forwarding; custom ring tone support; and support for Google Apps and Yahoo Small Business Domain e-mail accounts. In addition, WebOS 1.3.1 offers several of bug fixes, all of which you can find on Palm's Web site.

However, there seems to be some hidden treasures of WebOS 1.3.1. Precentral.net has listed some of the undocumented features that its users have found as well as changes to general performance. Some of the highlights include:

• Snappier response from the photo app
• Delete all option in the Trash e-mail folder
• International dialing preferences
• Signs that video recording capabilities are in the works

There are a handful more discoveries over at Precentral. But what about you? Have you found any goodies? Let us know or just tell us about your general experience with WebOS 1.3.1 by leaving a comment.

The debut of the Palm Pre got the tech world and gadget enthusiasts excited about Palm once again. Long considered dead in the water, Palm's innovative WebOS operating system buoyed it back into the spotlight, and the Pre was certainly a boon for the company as well as Sprint.

While not a complete savior, the two are hoping to create some more magic with the new Palm Pixi. A smaller, cheaper version of the Pre, the Pixi is aimed at a younger audience or for those making the jump from a feature phone to a smartphone. It goes on sale Sunday, November 15 for $99.99 with a two-year contract, but is it worth the price?

Find out in our full review of the Palm Pixi.

Palm Pixi photos

Palm Pixi

(Credit: Josh P. Miller/CNET)

On Monday, Sprint and Palm announced that the Palm Pixi will be available starting November 15 for $99.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The Pixi will be sold online and in Sprint stores as well as Best Buy, Radio Shack and select Wal-Mart stores.

The Pixi is the second Web OS smartphone for Palm as well as Sprint and will be an exclusive to the carrier for an undisclosed amount of time. Unlike the Palm Pre, the Pixi features a candy-bar design and includes new capabilities such as the integration of LinkedIn and Yahoo contacts into Synergy, layered calendars, and a dedicated Facebook app.

Targeted to a bit of a younger audience than the Pre, the Pixi doesn't offer quite the same set of high-end features. You lose Wi-Fi and you get a smaller multitouch screen and a lesser camera (2 megapixels versus 3 megapixels) than the Pre.

Given the feature set and considering that the Palm Pre is available for as low as $79 now, we would have liked to seen the Palm Pixi priced around the $79.99 point. That said, we liked what we saw (name aside) when we got some brief hands-on time with the device back in early September. Of course, we'll work to get you a full review as soon as possible but in the meantime, what do you guys think?

(Credit: Screenshot by Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Hey, Palm users. If you've been waiting for the WebOS Twitter app Twee to leave Homebrew status and graduate to Palm's App Catalog, get moving. Twee 1.0, by Delicious Morsel, has hit prime time.

The Twee Twitter app comes in two versions: free and pro ($2.99). TweeFree has more features than other WebOS Twitter apps, including photo support via TwitPic, yfrog, TweetPhoto, and Img.ly, and you can track Twitter trends with Twitturly. A favorite Twee feature is that it previews a thumbnail of a friend's image URL without having to open it first. Twitter search, replies, and direct-message windows are also wrapped into TweeFree.

If you have multiple Twitter accounts to track, however, forget the freeware. You'll need to upgrade to Twee's pro version for that. After upgrading, you can also receive notifications and local tweets from 1 mile to a 250 mile radius, if Twitter eavesdropping is your thing. Notifications and multiple-account management are what clinched the purchase for us.

Both versions are attractive, with a dark gray and electric blue motif, and are easy to operate, with finger-friendly icons and a sliding activities ribbon along the bottom. We're fans, but if Twee isn't your favorite, which Twitter app for WebOS gets your 140 characters?

(Credit: Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)

There's been some debate as of late about whether Verizon Wireless will offer the Palm Pre in the new year. Though Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams said the company plans to sell the Pre in early 2010, TheStreet.com caused a bit of ruckus when it reported in late September that the carrier decided against selling the Pre. Subsequently, analysts called shenanigans on the TheStreet.com's story, and it looks like Verizon has reconfirmed its commitment to the Palm WebOS smartphone.

Responding to a customer's tweet over the weekend, Verizon said through its official Twitter account that it will carry the Palm Pre starting "early next year." Certainly good news for Pre fans, and things are definitely heating up at Verizon with the upcoming RIM BlackBerry Storm 2, Samsung Omnia 2, and the new Droid phone.

(Source: Boy Genius Report via Engadget Mobile)

On Thursday, Popular Mechanics magazine will unveil its 2009 Breakthrough awards. Included on the list is a series of innovators, as well as a number of products, including this lawn mower, the Hustler Zeon, which is the world's first all-electric, zero-turning-radius mower. It can cover an acre of grass on a single charge.

(Credit: Popular Mechanics)

Popular Mechanics magazine on Thursday will unveil its fifth-annual Breakthrough Award winners, an august collection of designers and products that could do much more than their share to change the world for the better.

From famous inventors like Dean Kamen to a flying car for the Third World to bacteria-powered batteries--and much in-between--the awards are meant to highlight technologies that will shape the way people around the world live and how they interact with everyday products.

Each year, the magazine's editors scour the country for a worthy group of winners, and this year, in the end, Popular Mechanics settled on one leadership award winner, one next-generation honoree, eight Breakthrough innovators and 10 Breakthrough products.

Photos: Popular Mechanics' 2009 Breakthrough Award winners

View the full gallery

"In all cases, there's a really practical application that we see coming about," said Jerry Beilinson, the magazine's deputy editor, "so these aren't theoretical scientific applications. (They're going to) change the world and have a really positive aspect on people's lives."

Beilinson said that after five years of identifying technological breakthrough products and innovators, certain themes have emerged in the editors' preferences. Among the most important, he said, is alternative energy and products and designers that push that category forward.

"If I look back (at the last few years of doing the awards), we looked at aviation and we looked at medicine," he said. "But over the last few years, I think the things that have been clear themes that we've been looking at that have emerged (are) alternative energy and appropriate technologies for the developing world."

And while the themes can be forward-looking, the individual awards celebrate a "moment in time," he said.

"We're sort of picking the moment at which it's become real, and passed the threshold and seems like its worthy of an award," Beilinson said. "But most of these kinds of things do take some time to develop."

For this year's Breakthrough Leadership award, Popular Mechanics honored Dean Kamen, an inventor with more than 440 patents who may be best known for creating the incredible but commercially disappointing Segway personal transporter.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

When WebOS 1.2 didn't refix the syncing compatibility that iTunes 9 rebroke, it almost looked like this bizarre little Apple-Palm standoff had finally just, you know, puttered out. Well, nope, for some reason! Cue WebOS 1.2.1.

Palm's possibly heroic, mostly inconsequential iTunes-molesting theatrics aside, the fix most people were actually waiting for involved an error introduced this week by 1.2, which broke Exchange 2007 EAS syncing for quite a few people. That, along with a few bug fixes, is the main component of 1.2.1, which should be making its way to handsets over the weekend. In other news, paid apps are still totally MIA in the App Catalog. Weird.

Check here for the full 1.2.1 changelog.

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.

Episode 51 of the Digital City, where we deconstruct the PSP Go, discuss some new MacBook rumors, and wonder why the Palm Pre has already gotten so many price cuts.

It's also the second week of our new live Monday afternoon timeslot, so remember to adjust your schedules accordingly.

Related links:
>>It's 'PSP No' for converting old UMD discs
>>Rumor alert: New MacBooks only weeks away
>>Wal-Mart sale: Pre for $79.99

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