Eee PC stuffs opposition at awards bash

THE ASUS EEE PC has won the 'Gadget of the Year' gong at the 2008 Stuff Magazine Gadget Awards held at a swanky London hotel earlier this week.

The diminutive kneetop was praised by the UK gadget mag's staffers who said that, "No other gadget has had the impact the Eee PC did this year."

Apple's Iphone 3G was voted Gadget of the Year in an online poll making it two in a row as the original handset was the winner last year.

Nokia was named 'International Brand of the Year, and the Apple Macbook Air picked up 'Design of the Year'.

14 of the 20 awards were voted for by the magazine’s panel of judges, while the remaining six were voted for by the public.

Stuff editor Fraser Macdonald, still suffering from post-shindig fatigue when we spoke to him earlier today, said that "the nominees were judged on performance, design and value, but they also need to have that elusive 'cool' factor that elevates a product above function and into the realms of desirability. Having our readers vote for a number of the awards has been fascinating. They are the ones out there on the street buying gadgets and so they are a great barometer, not only for the success of a product, but also for retailers and customer service."

And the winners are...

Gadget of the year: Asus Eee PC 901
Other nominees: Apple iPhone 3G, Nintendo Wii Fit, Sony PS3 80GB, Microsoft Xbox 360 60GB, B&W Zeppelin, Nokia N96

International brand of the year: Nokia
Other nominees: Samsung, Apple, Sony, LG, Philips

Celebrity gadget blagger of the year: Peaches Geldof
Other nominees: Chris Moyles, Mark Ronson, Jonathan Ross

Shameless product placement of the year: Apple iPod in Wall-E
Other nominees: Nokia in Batman, LG in Iron Man, Panasonic in Cloverfield, Apple iPhone in Sex and the City

Retailer of the year: Firebox.com
Other nominees: Amazon, Play.com, Currys.digital, Carphone Warehouse, Apple Store, Iwantoneofthose.com, Digital Direct, Micro Anvika

Innovation of the year: Sony Reader PRS-505
Other nominees: Gibson Robot Guitar, Tonium Pacemaker, Polaroid Pogo, Philips AmBX, Wildcharge, Loewe Connect 37 Media

Design of the year: Apple MacBook Air
Other nominees: Philips Aurea, B&W Zeppelin, HP Touchsmart IQ500, HTC Touch Diamond. Dell Studio Hybrid

Game of the year: Grand Theft Auto IV
Other nominees: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Mario Kart Wii, Patapon

Green gadget of the year: Ego Electric Street Scoota:
Other nominees: Powermonkey eXplorer, Roberts solarDAB, Pure Digital One Mini, HyMini, Freeloader Globetrotter

Readers’ gadget of the year: Apple iPhone 3G
Other nominees: Nintendo Wii Fit, Sony PS3 40GB, Microsoft Xbox 360 60GB, Asus Eee PC 901, B&W Zeppelin

Full details will be in next month's mag. µ

L'Inq
Stuff Awards