Votes are in...
The shortlist for the inaugural British Technology Awards has been unveiled and there are two companies that stand out with a a total of 20 nominations between them.In total, Apple has bagged 11 nominations across the event’s 13 award categories – though Microsoft is close behind with nine.
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 is 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.
Turn overleaf for the shortlist in full
