2009 shortlist announced

The first round of voting is over, the experts have been quizzed and all the ballots have been counted. Now T3 can now reveal which products have made it through to the shortlist for the prestigious T3 Gadget Awards 2009, in association with Qualcomm.

Over 65,000 votes have been cast and each of the 18 categories have been ruthlessly whittled down from 10 products to five. And there have been some surprising results. Expect some fierce battles in the next phase of voting.

Apple once again leads the way with 11 products making the cut. But the gadget giants won't have it all their own way with the Palm Pre and surprise wildcard entry, the HTC Hero, ensuring the smartphone war will be as hotly contested in the T3s as it will be on the high street.

 
Apple is not the only big name facing fresh opposition either. The emergence of Spotify, Twitter and Google Street View means the BBC iPlayer faces a tough fight to bag the New New Media Service of the Year crown.

 
Wild boys enter the fray

Hours of deliberation and soul searching went into producing the long list but we were sure you guys would have your own views on the products of the year. That's why we gave you the chance to nominate the kit we'd missed. Over 1,000 fresh nominations came in and we're pleased to say that three wildcard products made their way into the final shortlist.

 
The newly unveiled HTC Hero, Olympus EP-1 Pen camera and Palm web0S all fought their way into the final round by scooping more nominations than the other products in the longlist. So well done to those guys.

 
Cast your shortlist vote and win

It's crunch time. Now we need your votes to help find the overall winners.