We like awards. As in 2011 and 2012, we (myself, Henry, Rowan, Chris and Neil) all made our choices in 18 different categories in an effort to crown the best and worst of technology in 2013, and the following is what we came up with. Your choices can be found here, and we’ll be discussing all the winners, losers and everything in between in a very special podcast later this week, so be sure to join us for that on iTunes.
Best Smartphone
Votes
Xavier – HTC One
Henry – HTC One
Rowan – Nokia Lumia 1520
Chris – Moto G
Neil – LG Nexus 5
Winner – HTC One
Best Tablet
Votes
Xavier – Apple iPad Mini
Henry – Apple iPad Air
Rowan – Apple iPad Air
Chris – Asus Nexus 7
Neil – Apple iPad Mini
Winner – Apple iPad Mini and Apple iPad Air
Best Computer
Votes
Xavier – Apple MacBook Air
Henry – Apple Mac Pro
Rowan – Asus Transformer Book Trio
Chris – Apple MacBook Air
Neil – Apple MacBook Pro
Winner – Apple MacBook Air
Best Design
Votes
Xavier – Nokia Lumia 1520
Henry – PlayStation 4
Rowan – HTC One
Chris – Apple Mac Pro
Neil – Apple Mac Pro
Winner – Apple Mac Pro
Best Other Hardware
Votes
Xavier – Tesla Model S
Henry – Google Chromecast
Rowan – Oculus Rift
Chris – Nest Protect
Neil – Oculus Rift
Winner – Oculus Rift
Best Innovation
Votes
Xavier – Oculus Rift
Henry – Algae to crude oil conversion
Rowan – Oculus Rift
Chris – Chris Steinberg
Neil – Oculus Rift
Winner – Oculus Rift
Best Android App
Votes
Xavier – Pocket Casts
Henry – Pocket Casts
Rowan – Xtreme Teen Bible Readingz
Neil – Reddit Sync Pro
Winner – Pocket Casts
Best iOS App
Votes
Xavier – Ridiculous Fishing
Henry – Ridiculous Fishing
Rowan – Full Contact Tiddlywinks
Neil – Tweetbot
Winner – Ridiculous Fishing
Best Windows Phone App
Votes
Xavier – 6sec
Henry – 6tag
Rowan – Baconit
Neil – Wordament
Winner – Rudy Huyn (because choosing just one would be criminal)
Best Game
Votes
Xavier – Papers, Please
Henry – Bioshock Infinite
Rowan – The Stanley Parable
Chris – Bioshock Infinite
Neil – Bioshock Infinite
Winner – Bioshock Infinite
Best Desktop OS
Votes
Xavier – Mac OS X 10.9
Henry – Windows 8.1
Rowan – Windows 8.1
Chris – Ubuntu 13.10
Neil – Mac OS X 10.9
Winner – Mac OS X 10.9
Best Mobile OS
Votes
Xavier – Android 4.4
Henry – Android 4.4
Rowan – Windows Phone 8
Chris – Android 4.4
Neil – Android 4.4
Winner – Android 4.4
Best Podcast
Votes
Xavier – Bionic
Henry – Techfoolery
Chris – The Co-optional Podcast
Neil – Bionic
Winner – Bionic
Worst Design
Votes
Xavier – Ashes Cricket 2013
Henry – Samsung Galaxy S4
Rowan – Apple iPhone 5c
Chris – Apple Mac Pro
Neil – LG Vu 3
Winner – Ashes Cricket 2013
Worst Name
Votes
Xavier – Safaricom Yolo
Henry – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Rowan – Xbox One
Chris – Safaricom Yolo
Neil – Samsung Galaxy Round
Winner – Safaricom Yolo
Worst Execution
Votes
Xavier – Xbox One launch
Henry – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Rowan – Xbox One launch
Chris – BlackBerry 10
Neil – Cross-platform BlackBerry Messenger
Winner – Xbox One launch
And now, the final pair.
Worst Thing
Votes
Xavier – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Henry – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Rowan – Ouya
Chris – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Neil – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Winner – Samsung Galaxy Gear
Best Thing
Votes
Xavier – Hyperloop
Henry – Hyperloop
Rowan – Nokia Lumia 2520
Chris – Ubuntu Edge
Neil – Oculus Rift
Winner – Hyperloop
With that, 2013 has come to an end and we congratulate all of the winners on their coveted prizes. If you have any questions, comments or opinions on the awards, come and say hi on Twitter (@Digixav/@Xavdog/@huntho21/@almdudler26/@neilthomas0) or ping us at awards@digixav.com. Thank you all for being with us this year, and we hope to see you again throughout 2014 and beyond.
Digixav 