Sony and Nintendo dominate "best of rest"; nods to BBC for its hugely popular iPlayer
The shortlist for the inaugural British Technology Awards has been unveiled, confirming the British public’s love for all things Apple.
In total, the firm has bagged 11 nominations across the event’s 13 award categories – though Microsoft is close behind with nine.
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The iPhone, iPod Touch, iTunes and Macbook Air all feature heavily, whilst Microsoft technologies such as Xbox 360, Windows Live, Windows Vista and Windows Media Player 11 also vie for attention.
The British Technology Awards will also pit three of the Internet’s heavyweights against each other, as the public decides which is more popular: Facebook, YouTube or the BBC iPlayer.
Following weeks of intensive open nominations, organiser Incisive Media – publisher of ComputerActive, Personal Computer World and Gizmodo – now bracing itself for thousands of votes, as Britain’s gadget fans declare their loyalties.
Thanks to the unique way the awards are structured, the British Technology Awards will see some interesting battles. iTunes is up against Audacity and Guitar Hero in the Music Technology category. The BBC iPlayer takes on the Sony PlayStation 3 and Sky in the Home Entertainment Technology category. And who can predict the winner of Most Indispensable Technology, when the nominations include Google Maps, the Appile iPod, Virgin Media, Sky and Facebook?
Paul Allen, editor of ComputerActive comments: “The British Technology Awards have been designed to be the most mainstream awards of their kind. This isn’t the place for a ‘Best Flastcreen TV’ category – we want to know what the man, woman, young, old on the street thinks. These awards aren’t the preserve of audiovisual nerds – they’re real people who use and enjoy technology on a day to day basis, and we can’t wait to find out how they vote.”
No other technology accolades have the scope and scale of the British Technology Awards. Consumers are the primary focus, with all categories voted for exclusively by the public.
13 awards will be won, across diverse categories as Best Kids Technology, Most Indispensable Technology and Technological Innovation of the year. Rather than restrict the awards to a narrow shortlist, the BTAs should see some interesting battles, as technologies from different sectors compete for the ultimate goal.
Voting on the shortlist is taking place now. The winners will be announced in October 2008.
The shortlist in full:
Gadget of the Year
Apple iPhone
Apple iPod Touch
TomTom Go 720
Nokia N95
Blackberry Curve
Fujifilm F100fd
Archos 605
Slingbox
Music Technology
Apple iTunes
Windows Media Player 11
Audacity
Play.com
Guitar Hero
Ion USB turntable
Creative X-Fi
Napster
Business Technology of the Year
Asus Eee PC
3 3G USB Modem
RIM Blackberry Curve
Panasonic Toughbook
Vodafone USB 3G modem
Intel low-power Xeon quad-core processor
HP Compaq ultra-slim dc7800 PC
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Best Home Entertainment Technology
BBC iPlayer
Nintendo Wii
Freeview
Sky
Panasonic Viera HDTV series
Sony Bravia HD LCD TVs
Sony PS3
Microsoft Xbox 360
Best Kids Technology
Nintendo DS
Windows Vista parental controls
Advent Kids laptop
Scalextric Digital
Hornby DCC trainsets
Lego Mindstorms NXT
Fisher Price Kid Tough digital camera
Bebo
Most Stylish Technology
Apple iPhone
Apple Macbook Air
Sony Vaio TZ
Acer Ferrari ultraportable laptop
Canon SX100 IS camera
LG Viewty
Dell XPS One
Samsung LE series LCD TVs
Best Gaming Technology
Nintendo Wii
Nintendo Wii Fit
Sony PS3
Microsoft Xbox 360
Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Nintendo DS
Guitar Hero
Sony PSP
Best Mobile Technology
Apple iPhone
Nintendo DS
RIM Blackberry Curve
Nokia N810
Asus Eee PC
Sony PSP
Google Mobile
Samsung Q1 Ultra
Most Indispensable Technology
Google Maps
BT Broadband
Apple iPod
BBC iPlayer
Sky
Apple iPhone
Virgin Media
Technological Innovation of the Year
Apple iPhone
Windows Vista
Intel Core 2 Quad processors
Apple Macbook Air
Asus Eee PC
Adobe Photoshop Express
Belkin Wireless USB Hub
Google Docs / Apps
Best Online Technology
BBC iPlayer
Skype
You Tube
Google Docs
Windows Live
BT Digital Vault
Pinnacle PCTV to go
Retailer of the Year
Amazon
Play.com
John Lewis
Ebuyer
Tesco Direct
PC World
Maplins
Argos
Greenest Technology of the Year
Bye Bye standby
Toyota Prius
Windows Vista
Lexus LS600H
Fujitsu Siemens Scenicview P22W-5 ECO
G-Wizz
Oneclick Intellipanel
Apple OS X