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T3 Gadget Awards 2009: The T3 Gadget Awards winners announced
We Say: “Previous “all-you-can-eat” music services had faltered, but Spotify strode out to the wicket and, with a superb interface, massive tune selection and seamlessly smooth, high-fidelity music streaming, hit it out of the park, first ball.”
Link: Review
We Say: “Look around any form of public transport and the happiest people you’ll see will be those tapping away on an iPhone. The ultimate commuter gadget, it really does do it all: music, games, video, endless apps.”
From £440, www.apple.com/uk
Link: Review
We Say: “Samsung’s TVs have improved beyond all recognition in recent years and this is the culmination of all its testing-room labours. The LED back-lit visuals are eye-popping, with exceptional black levels and uproariously zingy colours.”
£1,600, http://www.samsung.co.uk/
We Say: “HTC, Google and the legions of people who would rather not buy an Apple at last have something to shout about. The Hero is a full featured, wonderfully usable, beautifully presented handset with a similarly lovely open source OS.”
£400, www.htc.com/
Link: Review
Canon EOS 50D
We Say: “With fast and accurate focusing and shooting at up to 6.3 frames per second, the 50D puts you at the heart of the action, while its user-friendly menu system means it’s easy to work with, despite the sophistication of the manual options on offer.”
£830, http://www.canon.co.uk/
Link: Review
We Say: “Where others have taken the netbook upmarket, Lenovo’s device remains the right side of £300 and under 1.2kg, despite its rugged build.”
£250, www.lenovo.com/uk
We Say: “It takes something special to beat the iPod Touch as a media player, but then the X-Series is special. For the first time combining Sony’s undoubted audio expertise with touchscreen controls, a screen big enough to watch video on and plenty of storage (up to 32GB), it restored the proud Walkman name for the digital music and video age.”
From £170, www.sony.co.uk
Link: Review
We Say: “The Foxsat is a AAA-grade combo of excellent image quality, basic DVR functionality – record a channel whilst watching another, or record two at once – with access to Freesat, Freeview’s super-powered mutant sibling.”
£255, http://www.humaxdigital.co.uk/
We Say: “Evidently you, the readers, are more than a little partial to Apple’s top-of-the-line laptops. The MacBook Pro range has romped home in the Drop Dead Gorgeous Award and the Work category – if that’s not proof you can have brains and beauty in a gadget, we don’t know what is.”
FROM £899, www.apple.com/uk
Link: Review
We Say: “Sony’s leading the way with its highly desirable yet green range of HD TVs. Most 2009 Bravias carry the EU’s Flower label, having complied with its strict ecological and performance criteria. The new Bravias use 20 to 30 percent less power than last year’s range.”
£Various, www.sony.co.uk
Link: Review
We Say: “The fifth CoD and the fourth to be set in World War II, this is the most mature of the series so far. Dropping you into the hell of the Eastern front or the war in the Pacific, World at War is combat at its most gritty, intense and morally ambiguous, with voice acting from the stellar likes of Gary Oldman.”
£50, http://www.callofduty.com/
Amazon.co.uk
We Say: “Stocking everything in the world under one digital roof, Amazon consistently trounces high street prices, yet has a delivery service that’s second to none for speed and reliability.”
BBC iPlayer HD
We Say: “So successful is it that it’s skewing the market. The BBC’s rivals want them to start charging for it – they can’t get a foot in the door when the Beeb’s giving the finest service away, gratis.”
Drop Dead Gorgeous Gadget of the Year
We Say: “With a casing seamlessly hewn from a single sheet of aluminium, a glossy, LED-lit screen and a subtly back-lit keyboard, the new Pros follow in a grand tradition of superb looking Apple laptops that dates back to the original PowerBook.”
From £899, www.apple.com/uk
Link: Review
Google Android
We Say: “What all the phones to carry Android so far have in common is intuitive touchscreen controls and innovative, always-on connectivity. Next year it moves up to netbooks, tablets and laptops; Apple and Microsoft have every reason to be concerned. Very concerned.”
Apple iPhone 3GS
We Say: “Apple tweaked the 3GS’s camera, also adding video and – ending a long-running joke at Apple’s expense – cut and paste. More tellingly, the maximum storage increased to 32GB, giving yet more space for the games and apps that have become the iPhone’s life blood.”
From £440, www.apple.com/uk
Link: Review
Outstanding Contribution to Tech
Jon Rubinstein
We Say: 53-year old Rubinstein may not have as many years behind him as other luminaries such as Bill Gates, but in 2009, he finally achieved the recognition and fame he deserved after years toiling at Apple, with the launch of the Palm Pre.
Tech Personality of the Year
Stephen Fry
We Say: “The man now better known as @stephenfry – 770,000 followers and counting on Twitter – has carved out a new niche for himself as the tech family’s wildly entertaining, if slightly potty, uncle.”
We Say: “Boosting profits by 18 per cent to $1.8 billion in 2009, Google had arguably its highest-profile year ever. Its search engine saw off Microsoft’s Bing. The Android mobile OS appeared in the Motorola DEXT and HTC Hero among others, and its off to conquer the netbook market next.”
We Say: “HTC burst out of the blocks with the G1 and Magic, but really hit a Usain Bolt-like stride with the Hero. A mix of svelte good looks – the jutting “chin” on the bottom lends it an iconic air – and slickly intuitive usability, the Hero seems to do everything well, without fuss. In a year of classic gadgets, this summed up all that was good in tech in 2009: digital social networks, which the Hero regularly updates you on; the transformation of the phone into an omni-competent browser/media player/comms device; the tactile triumph of the touchscreen; the emergence of cloud storage. That’s why it’s our Gadget of the Year.”
£400, www.htc.com/uk
Link: Review
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