The phone was praised by judges, and according to Apple Insider, the judges said they picked the iPhone 4 because it has a "great screen, sharp design, fantastic materials, and phenomenal ecosystem for app developers. In a tight race, the iPhone 4 builds on the success of its predecessors to set the pace for smartphones."
However, the iPhone 4 wasn't competing against that stellar group of mobile devices introduced at CES 2011. Up against the iPhone 4 for this year's awards were the HTC Desire, LG Optimus 7, BlackBerry Torch 9800 and the Samsung Galaxy S. Fair enough, though, because the iPhone 4 is also last year's model.
Even though an HTC phone was nominated for best mobile device and didn't win, HTC won the award for Device Manufacturer of the Year. The judges praised the Taiwanese company, saying that it has "built its market presence from nowhere, with fresh branding and marketing and a strong portfolio of devices across many platforms. In particular, it has proven an exceptionally popular and enduring phone manufacturer. With great communication and good customer service, this is a well-deserved award."
In my opinion, this is a well-deserved award. I tested the HTC inspire 4G, and found its design and construction to be of the highest quality, rivaling that of the iPhone 4.
There were lots of awards handed out at the ceremony, including App of the Year on the Apple platform, Angry Birds. Here's the entire list of winners.