Tech Digest

The Week In Tech: 10 stories you might have missed

The first in a new weekly feature rounding up some of the more intriguing, informative or plain baffling tech stories knocking about the internetweb. Casting aside all those cast-iron predictions that Apple would launch the iPhone this week, first up is News Corporation finally starting to throw its weight around in the Web 2.0 world.

Chief operating officer Peter Chernin (left) told a conference that MySpace wants to crush YouTube and, well, basically any other big Web 2.0 service. "If you look at virtually any Web 2.0 application, whether its YouTube, whether it’s Flickr, whether it’s Photobucket…almost all of them are really driven off the back of MySpace, there’s no reason why we can’t build a parallel business."

One reason why that might not be the case? If you look at virtually any Web 2.0 application, it's easier to use than MySpace. And you don't have to worry about your content getting spewed out of other parts of the Murdoch empire. Mashable's verdict on MySpace's plans: "This is such a ridiculous strategy that it’s not even worth contemplating."

This week's bear/woods story comes courtesy of Microsoft Exchange hosting firm Intermedia.NET, which released some survey findings claiming that IT staff are twice as likely to wear a heavy metal t-shirt as their non-IT colleagues, are 32% less likely than business managers to wear clean clothes every day of the week, and twice as likely to carry a Maglite and a Leatherman.

"Our large Microsoft Gold Certified team of engineers was comforted that IT people are twice as likely to wear Megadeth and similar t-shirts, and that black jeans and ponytails are still hot items," said Intermedia.NET's boss marketeer Rurik Bradbury. "However, they were distraught to find that the cellphone belt clip has gone ‘mainstream’ and lost its identification with the IT subculture."

Talking of heavy metal t-shirts, self-styled "software-Jedi" Dana Hanna starts his 'An App a Day' campaign today. He's writing 30 software applications in 30 days, and then giving them away for free. "I write tons of prototypes at home, and never end up doing anything with them," he says. "So I might as well toss them out there for the good of the world."

First up is this nifty app that turns your mouse cursor into a magnifying glass, although Dana reckons the most entertaining suggestion he's had so far is "an app to count polarbears in Norway and geotag them in Google Earth." That would be cool.

Moving on to enormous telephoto lenses, Carl Zeiss unveiled a whopper this week. It's got a focal length of over 5.5 feet, with 21x magnification. Oh, and it weighs in at a healthy 256kg. So you won't find it in a Cyber-Shot anytime soon. It's being shown at this month's Photokina show in Cologne. I'd like to see Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay try to pick a fight with a paparazzo holding this heavyweight jobby.

From the large to the small now. How about a projector the size of a sugar cube? Yes, it does mean a passing hungry horse could guzzle up your home entertainment system, but still, it's a feat of engineering. But hang on, read the story, and the ugly truth becomes apparent.

"Today’s technology allows RGB projectors with a side length of ten by seven by three centimeters to be produced. Although this is still distinctly larger than a sugar cube, it is only a quarter the size of a standard projector."

Fix! Apparently the key to getting sugarcube-sized projectors is shrinking green diode lasers. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, boozers among you shouldn't consider paying a visit to South Dakota any time soon. The state attorney general's office is testing alcohol-monitoring bracelets on convicted drunk drivers.

The 'Scram' bracelets measure "vapours from the skin" (i.e. beer sweats) and send the results for analysis. If someone could invent one that would tell me the sixth pint of cider ISN'T a good idea on Friday nights, while flashing a photo of the local gutter in warning, that'd be grand, thanks.

Talking of items of personal clothing with unexpected digital-media features... How about the Egokast, a hefty belt-buckle that doubles up as a video player. You're not supposed to watch it, mind, it's for the people around you.

“This is the first media device that you don’t watch, but everybody else does,” says inventor Shaw Kaake, who I sincerely hope was named after the popular biscuit. “Instead of staring into your BlackBerry or your PSP, you’re looking at the reactions of people to the content.”

Surely this means entire train carriages of fellow passengers staring at your crotch. Where can I get one? Moving swiftly on, news of some Princeton computer scientists who've created prototype vote-stealing software that can be installed on public voting machines. Right now, someone's reading this in a secret White House laboratory and saying "Meh, we did that weeks ago. Now when's e-voting coming in..."

Paris Hilton, it's time to dump the BlackBerry. There's a new celebrity mobile on the block, codenamed 'Black Diamond' (right), which costs $300,000. Why? Well, it runs Windows Mobile 5.0, has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, an SD memory slot and a touch-sensitive keypad. Oh, and only five units are ever being made. Far better value than a chihuahua.

And finally... We may be also-rans in Miss World, but us Brits can boast the most beautiful computer-generated woman on the planet. Doesn't that make you feel proud as punch? Her name's Prada Woman (left), and she was created by UK designer David Cathro using Photoshop, for a competition organised by 3D site 3DM3.

She's a cross between Jennifer Lopez and the sort of secretary who appears in films pretending to be plain, until she gets to take off her glasses, swish her hair back and PURR LIKE A PUMA! She beat off competition from Poland, France, South Korea and Poland again.

Sources: Mashable, Intermedia.NET, Dana Hanna, Engadget, Physorg.com, Madisonet.com, New York Times, TechEBlog, 3DM3.com

Dead wood media day 1: PC Pro awards

Must admit we don’t normally bang on about dead wood media titles here on Tech Digest, because 1, they are complicit in the murder of millions of innocent young saplings, and 2, they pinch advertising space that should by rights be ours. Give it back now!

But we’ll make an exception for the thoroughly nice crew from PC Pro magazine who hosted a top awards event last night at the stunning Park Lane Hotel in London. We had sumptuous food, top comedy and some great hosts in PC Pro’s ever amiable king boffin Tim Danton and Sky News' super sassy anchor Ginny Buckley (love the wind tunnel hair effect btw). There was also an award or two and you can find out about them after the turn.

Technology Innovator - Google
Best Web Application - Froogle
Most Wanted Hardware - Eizo FlexScan S2110W (err, it's a very lovely monitor)
Best Online Retailer - Go on guess, it begins with A
Best ISP Broadband - Zen Internet
PDA/Smartphone - BlackBerry
Digital Camera - Canon
Projector - Sony
Notebook - Lenovo
PC Award - HP

Some of the awards were voted for by PC Pro staff, some by their readers and a few by the labs team who probably haven't seen daylight since 1995.

You'll get more info here soon.

shuffle takes Chav gadget award

Put on your Burberry scarf and switch on your iPod Shuffle. While the iPod nano may be the king of cool, Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny's panel of the UK’s top gadget experts* have voted its budget sibling the iPod shuffle this year’s ‘Must Chav Gadget.’

The shuffle is perfect for chavs. It's cheap. It’s by a cool brand, and you can let others know you have one as it is designed to be worn round your neck. As it is white it also accessorises well with those classy gold chains Chavs wear. The sad part is that the shuffle is the worst player in the Apple range – more like some dodgy back street knock-off than the excellent other iPods. The fact it has no screen so you can’t program it or choose a track – it chooses the music for you – also saves Chav brain cells for the much more important business of, ahem, ‘pimping their rides.

Runner up in Chav Gadget of the year is the ultra skinny Motorola phone the RAZR. Once the height of cool, this has now become standard fixture for every Tom Dick and Chav. Motorola has done it pink which is obviously topm of Vicky Pollard's Christmas list, maybe they should be thinking of a Burberry version.

The awards, given by top gadget websites Tech Digest, Shiny Shiny and Games Digest in conjunction with broadband/digital TV/telephony company Telewest also include gongs for most indispensable mobile phone, which was won by the Samsung SGH-D600 and the most bling gadget which went to BabyPhat’s gold-plated £20,000 case for the Sony PSP.

Gadget of the year, which was voted for by the websites’ readers, went to the Sony PSP handheld gaming console, Apple’s excellent iPod nano won the Shiny Shiny icon award while the Sky Gnome, an add-on for the company’s satellite systems that lets users listen to music and radio channels anywhere in the home, took best gadget accessory.

* The awards were voted for a by a panel of 15 that includes gadget writers from most of the UK newspapers, specialists from technology magazines and the staff of Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny. There's a full list of winners after the turn

Tech Digest Gadget of the Year (Readers’ award)
WINNER Sony PSP (The superb handheld games console trounced all before it. Only the cruellest of parents won’t be buying one for their offspring this Christmas.)
RUNNER UP Apple iPod nano

Tech Digest award for Chav Gadget
WINNER Apple iPod shuffle (Accessorises well with those lovely Chav gold chains and Burberry caps.) RUNNER UP Motorola RAZR

Tech Digest award for Most Indispensable Mobile
WINNER Samsung SGH-D600 (Great little phone that looks the part and is crammed with features.) RUNNER UP Sharp 903

Tech Digest award for Coolest Computer
WINNER Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P7120 (Fujitsu Siemens shows how you can make a super skinny, sexy laptop and not charge the earth for it)
RUNNER UP Toshiba Qosmio G20

Tech Digest award for Best Use of Broadband
WINNER Skype (This internet phone system is great for keeping in touch)
RUNNER UP Apple’s HD movie trailers

Games Digest Game of the Year
WINNER Resident Evil 4 (It sure scared us)
RUNNER UP Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Hippy Shopper award for Greenest Gadget
WINNER Voltaic Systems Solar Backpack (A carry anywhere sun powered backpack that recharges your gadgets’ batteries.’
RUNNER UP Solio solar powered charger

Shiny Shiny award for Bling Gadget
WINNER BabyPhat PSP case (£20,000 of gold and jewel encrusted PSP case)
RUNNER UP Loewe Individual TVs

Shiny Shiny Gadget Accessory
WINNER Sky Gnome (A better buy than a digital radio for Sky satellite system owners)
RUNNER UP Philips Digital Photo Display

Shiny Icon
WINNER Apple iPod nano (Astonishingly beautiful music player. Everyone wants one.)
RUNNER UP Motorola Pebl Runner up 

Shiny Shiny award for Fashion Mobile Phone
WINNER Motorola PEBL (Much cooler than the RAZR)
RUNNER UP Samsung D600

Shiny Shiny award for Most Innovative Attempt to Court the Female Market.
WINNER Matthew Williamson Intempo DAB Radio (Top designer delivers a stunning girl-friendly digital radio)
RUNNER UP Sky+ Designer Boxes

Happy 1st Birthday Shiny

• 1.5 million page impressions
• 1 million unique visitors
• Second Telewest Shiny Awards

Shiny Media celebrates its first anniversary today with the news that November is on target to be our biggest and best month so far. Across our network of 14 blogs we look set to record 1.5 million page impressions in 30 days, over 1 million of them unique visitors.
But that’s not all. In the latest Google page rankings – a measure by which higher quality sites receive a higher score, our sites have all performed exceptionally well. Shiny Shiny – the world’s leading girls’ gadget blog – is the only UK consumer electronics website to have a ranking of 7/10 for its home page. That’s higher than T3, Crave (CNet), Pocket-Lint and Stuff.
This Thursday also sees the return of the Telewest Shiny Awards in which readers and top industry journalists decide on the best and worst gadgets on the market. Thanks for all your support in making this last 12 months so exciting. And look out for new launches from the rapidly expanding Shiny Media network over the next few months.

Telewest Shiny awards: Best for use for broadband

So now you have your eight Meg broadband connection what are you going to use it for? Here are the applications that our judges like. We'll announce the best use for broadband on December 2nd.

Apple’s HD movie trailers
Napster to go
Skype
Snapfish
Wippit

Telewest Shiny Awards: Coolest Computers

So which is 2005's coolest computer. Here's our list of top models. Find out which PC our judges picked on December 2nd

Apple 15inch G4 Powerbook laptop
Asus U5
Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P7120
Philips Media Center PC MCP9350i
Sony VGN-TX1
Toshiba Qosmio G20

Telewest Shiny Awards: Most indispensable mobile

So which mobile is the one that our judges simply won't leave home without? Find out here when we name the year's most indispensable mobile on December 2nd

Sharp 903
Motorola RAZR
Nokia N90
T-Mobile Sidekick II
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman
Samsung SGH-D600
Nokia 6680
Sagem My-X8

Telewest Shiny Awards: Chav gadget

So what's the gadget du jour for our Burberry-clad, tracky-wearing Daniela/Goldie Looking Chain wannabees? Here's the nominations. We'll let you know which is this year's Must-Chav gadget on Friday December 2nd.

Motorola RAZR
Apple iPod shuffle
Nokia 8880
Nintendo DS
Sega iDog
Motorola / Oakley RAZRWIRE
Sony PSP

Vote for your top gadget and win a Sony Bean

Oscars Smoschars, Baftas Waftas, yep it is that time of the year when we host the one award ceremony that truly counts - the Telewest Shinys. Due to be held on December 1st in a glittering venue in London’s fabulous West End – well that's what the club owner told us to say anyway – the Shinys salute all that's cool in gadgets, design, games and much more.

This year for the first time we are giving you dear reader the chance to vote for an award. Tell us which you think is the coolest gadget of 2005 and we’ll pop your name down on a bit of paper and plonk it in a rather large hat. Come the day of the awards, December 1st, we’ll pull five names out of the hat and they will be receiving a Sony Bean music player. So check out the runners and riders and email us you top gadget here

Apple iPod nano
Canon Digital ixus i zoom
Fujifilm FinePix Z1
Motorola RAZR
Navman ICN 550
Nikon D50
Nintendo DS
Philips WACS 700
Roomba
Sky+ 160
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman
Sony PSP

The Telewest Shinys: Tech Digest Gadget of the Year Award

Oscars Smoschars, Baftas Waftas, yep it is that time of the year when we host the one award ceremony that truly counts - the Telewest Shinys. Due to be held on December 1st in a glittering venue in London’s fabulous West End – well that's what the club owner told us to say anyway – the Shinys salute all that's cool in gadgets, design, games and much more.

This year for the first time we are giving you dear reader the chance to vote for an award. As from tomorrow you tell us which you think is the coolest gadget of 2005 and we’ll pop your name down on a bit of paper and plonk it in a rather large hat. Come the day of the awards, December 1st, we’ll pull a couple of names out of the hat and they will be receiving some rather groovy prizes. Don’t vote until we say, but here are the runners and riders

Apple iPod nano
Canon Digital ixus i zoom
Fujifilm FinePix Z1
Motorola RAZR
Navman ICN 550
Nikon D50
Nintendo DS
Philips WACS 700
Roomba
Sky+ 160
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman
Sony PSP

What Hi-Fi Awards 2005

What Hi-Fi is a magazine that knows it woofers from its tweeters (it's all about dogs and birds ain't it?) so winning one of its awards (which were officially announced yesterday) is quite a salute from the mag's golden eared and eyed reviewers. Anyhow below are a few of our key selections from the winners of Product of the year from different categories:

Arcam Solo – Winner of All-in-one Systems
Forget Hi-Fi separates; the Solo does everything without dominating your living-room and it sounds amazing too, it has an integrated CD player and inputs for an MP3 player such as an iPod.
Read More

Sony RDR-HXD710 – DVD and Hard Disk Recorders
Boasting everything you need in a recorder: huge storage capacity for short term recordings, removable DVD storage for keeping things longer and an integrated Freeview package to save you a few quid on a digital set top box.
Read More

Monitor Audio i-Deck – MP3 3layers & accessories
Compatible with a decent range of iPod types, this docking station will add serious power to the portable unit and probably negates the need for traditional form of home audio entertainment.
Read More

Click the link below to see the full list of winners from all eighteen categories.

All-in-one systems

Best hi-fi microsystem under £200
Goodmans 1104DAB

Best hi-fi microsystem £200-£500
Onkyo CR-505DAB

Best hi-fi system over £500
Arcam Solo

Best home cinema in a box under £500
Sony DAV-DZ500F

Best home cinema in a box £500-£1000
Philips LX7500R

Best home cinema in a box £1000+
Denon Smart Life S-301

Product of the year
Arcam Solo

 

Accessories

Best universal remote control
Logitech Harmony H655

Best equipment rack
Atacama Equinox range

Best speaker stands
Partington Super Dreadnought

Best hi-fi headphones
Grado SR60

Best phono stage
Trichord Dino

Product of the year
Atacama Equinox Range

 

Cables

Best speaker cable
QED Silver Anniversary XT

Best stereo interconnect
Merlin Chopin

Best mains lead
Clearer Audio Copper-Line

Best digital audio cable
Ixos XHD-608-100

Best digital video cable
QED Qunex HDMI-P

Best component video cable
QED Qunex P-CV1

Best scart cable
QED Sqart P2110

Best TV aerial cable
QED Qunex TTV

Product of the year
QED Silver Anniversary XT

 

CD players

Best CD player under £500
Cambridge Audio Azur 640C v2

Best CD player £500-£1000
Cyrus CD6s

Best CD player £1000-£1500
Cyrus CD8x

Best CD player £1500-£2000
Primare CD31

Product of the year
Cyrus CD6s

 

Compact speaker packages

Best compact speaker package under £500
KEF KHT1005

Best compact speaker package £500-£900
Wharfedale Diamond 9 HCP

Best compact speaker package £900-£1500
B&W MT-20

Best compact speaker package £1500+
B&W MT-30

Product of the Year
B&W MT-20

 

DVD & hard-disk recorders

Best subscription PVR
Sky+

Best Freeview PVR
DigiFusion FVRT200

Best DVD recorder under £250
Panasonic DMR-ES10

Best DVD/HDD recorder £250-£450
Sony RDR-HX510

Best DVD/HDD recorder £450+
Sony RDR-HXD710

Product of the year
Sony RDR-HXD710

 

DVD players

Best DVD player under £150
Toshiba SD-350E

Best DVD player £150-£300
Denon DVD-1920

Best DVD player £300-£700
Yamaha DVD-S2500

Best DVD player £700-£1500
Arcam DiVA DV79

Product of the Year
Denon DVD-1920

 

MP3 players & accessories

Best ultraportable MP3 player
Apple iPod Nano

Best MP3 player
Apple iPod

Best iPod audio dock
Monitor Audio i-deck

Best MP3 speaker system
JBL Encounter

Best iPod connector dock
Onkyo DS-A1

Best portable headphones
Sennheiser PX100

Product of the year
Monitor Audio i-deck

 

Projectors

Best projector under £1000
ScreenPlay 4805

Best projector £1000-£2000
BenQ PE7700

Best projector £2000-£4000
ScreenPlay 7210

Best projector over £4000
SIM2 HT300E

Product of the year
BenQ PE7700

 

Radios

Best handheld radio
Nevada ND-01

Best DAB portable
Pure Evoke 1XT

Best DAB/FM portable
Pure Evoke-2XT

Best hi-fi DAB/FM tuner
Denon TU-1800DAB

Product of the year
Pure Evoke-2XT

 

Speaker packages

Best speaker package under £1000
Epos ELS3 5.1

Best speaker package £1000-£2500
Monitor Audio RS6 AV

Best speaker package £2500+
B&W 805S/HTM4S/ASW825

Product of the year
Monitor Audio RS6 AV

 

Stereo amplifiers

Best stereo amplifier under £500
Cambridge Audio Azur 640A

Best stereo amplifier £500-£1000
Rotel RA-03

Best stereo amplifier £1000-£1500
Myryad MXI2080

Best stereo amplifier £1500-£2000
Primare I30

Product of the year
Rotel RA-03

 

Stereo speakers

Best stereo speakers under £250
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1

Best stereo speakers £250-£450
KEF iQ5

Best stereo speakers £450-£750
Epos M12.2

Best stereo speakers £750-£1000
Dali Ikon 6

Best stereo speakers £1000-£1500
ProAc Studio 140

Best stereo speakers £1500-£2000
B&W 805S

Product of the year
KEF iQ5

 

Subwoofers

Best subwoofer under £300
Wharfedale Diamond SW150

Best subwoofer £300-£500
Velodyne CHT-12R

Best subwoofer £500-£900
Quad L Subwoofer

Best subwoofer over £900
B&W PV1

Product of the Year
Velodyne CHT-12R

 

Surround amps/receivers

Best surround receiver under £350
Denon AVR-1906

Best surround amplifier £350-£750
Yamaha DSP-AX757SE

Best surround receiver £750-£1500
Yamaha RX-V4600

Best surround amplifier £1500-£2500
Primare SPA21

Product of the year
Yamaha DSP-AX757SE

 

Technology

Best Buy
Uvem 200/10000 RA Classic

Best Buy
Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors

Best Buy
Sonos Digital Music System

Best Buy
Nevo SL

Best Buy
Sony PSP

Best Buy
Denon DVD-A1XV & Denon AVC-A1XV

Product of the year
Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors

 

Televisions

Best CRT TV
Panasonic TX32DTM1

Best 26-30in flatscreen TV
Panasonic TX26LXD500

Best 30-36in flatscreen TV
Philips 32PF9830

Best 36-40in flatscreen TV
Panasonic TH37PV500

Best 40in+ flatscreen TV
Pioneer PDP-436XDE

Product of the year
Philips 32PF9830

 

Turntables

Best turntable under £150
Pro-ject Debut III

Best turntable £150-£500
Goldring GR2

Best turntable £500-£1000
Clearaudio Emotion Package

Best turntable £1000-£3000
Wilson Benesch Full Circle

Product of the year
Clearaudio Emotion Package

And this year's EISA goes to...

The EISA (European Imaging & Sound Association) awards are similar to the Eurovision Song Contest… but for technology instead of songs. Every year, fifty of the head honchos at the top European technology magazines gather to give their verdicts on the year’s gadgets. And, inevitably, Britain always gets Nil Point from the judges for its lacklustre efforts.

The results of this year’s awards are already in, but for some reason EISA hasn’t managed to update its website.

However, here are some of the winners we do know about.

Canon EOS-1D Mark II - European Professional Camera of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “professional digital SLR camera without a single compromise when it comes to performance, picture quality and resolution. In practically every area that counts, the EOS-1D Mark II is the best, or comes very close to being the best, professional digital camera on the market.”

Canon Bubble Jet i9950 - European Photo Printer of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “Delivers high quality photo prints in less than two minutes… a perfect and easy-to-handle tool for enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers.”

Jamo E 700PDD - Home Theatre Loudspeaker of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “The little E 700 satellite delivers a remarkably full-bodied sound and a new decoupled tweeter improves the subjective impression further in terms of speed and ultra-low colouration.”

Sony RDR-HX1000 - Digital Video Recorder of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “Finally it is possible to record in much better quality than the average DVD… an amazing piece of equipment for the home environment."

Sony CDX-M9900 - Mobile Electronics Innovation of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “The front panel is graced by a high resolution, full colour LCD-TFT which is more than just a way of providing the user with data, graphics and animation.”

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1 - Digital Pocket Camera of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “a very appealing choice [with an] elegant look and sturdy metal exterior.”

Sony SCD-XA3000ES - Audio Player of the Year 2004–2005
Judge’s comment: “An all-rounder that plays all kinds of music equally well. A sturdy chassis and solid, mechanically stable transport. Impressive and well-constructed – the best available player in this price range”.

What Hi-Fi awards - Winners Announced

They've been embargoed for weeks, but now we can let you know the winners of the prestigious What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision awards. Of course, we will be following up with comments from the winners and losers as soon as possible....

We couldn't be bothered to type them in. So you'll need to open up the scanned image - but it will be big enough to read OK as long you click on the expand button!

What Hi-Fi Awards - And The Winners Are

The What Hi-Fi awards, or What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision awards as we now have to call them, are always good fun with the industry's finest flocking to Park Lane's swanky Hilton hotel for an evening of entertainment and gossip.

This year's event, presided over by new editor on the block Steve Fowler and comedian/writer Tony Hawks, was a slickly-enough run affair, even if the awards seemed to go on forever (there were over 20 awards, but it felt like nearly double that). Certainly some of the smaller names in the hi-fi business will have been given a much-needed shot in the arm by some of the decisions while many of the larger companies will have left feeling despondent and empty-handed.

However, there was a general feeling of bewilderment among some of the people we spoke to at some of the awards which were handed out - especially on the video front. Some felt that What Hi-Fi's transition to a fully-fledged AV magazine is still not yet complete. Among them was Adrian Justins, editor of What Video and Widescreen TV, who told Tech Digest:

"What Hi-Fi does a fantastic job of promoting its brand and has an unmatched global penetration but does the reader get the best advice in all subjects covered by the mag? For example, recent test verdicts on plasma screens and DVD recorders show the magazine is unable to correctly judge the performance of these products. Even the winners of the awards in these categories admitted that their products are not worthy winners. Everyone in the industry knows what the good products are and I sense a lot of disquiet among manufacturers."

What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision's editor, Steve Fowler sees things a very different way.

"We were delighted by the response to this years Awards and, for once, the audience seemed to be pretty united on the winners. However, I'm disappointed that Tech Digest has published what is clearly just knocking comment from the editor of a publication in the same market. It is perhaps hardly surprising that the editor of a magazine with a monthly circulation of under 25,000 should make sweeping statements about the quality of our product reviews without putting forward one shred of evidence to substantiate them. Clearly the 75,000 buyers of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision each month do not share his views."

And the winners are...

EISA awards - it's that time again

There’s nothing the consumer electronics industry likes more than an awards bash. Donning the penguin suit for the evening, blowing the company's marketing spend for the year on champagne and, with a bit of luck, managing to stagger home in tact accompanied by a cheesy statuette and a certificate or two.
And quite possibly the most prestigious awards, certainly as far as much of Europe is concerned, are the EISAs which were announced at the end of last week.

Click below for our verdicts on both the awards and this year's winners.

These pan-European annual awards bring together magazine editors from across the continent who get together to choose the year's best TVs, cameras, video and home cinema products and much else.
The awards actually mean diddly squat in the UK, where marketing types would prefer to swap a kidney for a What Hi-Fi or a Home Cinema Choice award than an EISA. In fact the UK is only represented in the audio awards panel. In the rest of Europe however, they are highly coveted. Whack an EISA badge on a product, channel your marketing budget into promoting it and watch it fly out of the stores.

In the past some critics have accused the EISA judges of making some, how shall we put this, interesting choices. Certainly Japanese companies have expressed privately that in previous years EISAs judges have tended to give the benefit of the doubt to European giants like Philips and Thomson. Going back through the year’s previous winners – handily listed at www.eisa-awards.org/home.htm - this seems little harsh.
So what of this year? Well you can find the complete list of winners on www.eisa-awards.org/awards/2003-2004/index.htm . In the meantime here’s the Tech Digest verdict on selected winners.

Digital Camera – Canon EOS 10D - No quibbles here. It’s arguably the best consumer model on sale.

Digital Compact Camera – Sony DSC-V1 – Great five-mega pixel camera, but surely the Canon Powershot G5 has the edge in terms of features and performance. With Canon scooping best Digital Camera and Best Pro Digital Camera, maybe the judges felt they couldn’t give Canon all three awards.

Digital Mini Camera – Casio Exilim EX-Z3 – Like it! If the criterion is in terms of size/performance ratio the three-mega pixel Elixim is a clear winner. Wouldn’t have minded seeing something a little more controversial though like the SiPix StyleCam Ultra (two mega pixel snapper for under £100) or the Pentax Optio S.

Camcorder – Panasonic NVGS70 – A pretty fair choiuce although not sure that the judges have got to play with JVC’s high-def GR-HD1yet, but that surely would have taken the prize. The same company’s GR-DV4000 probably pushed the Panny to the limit.

DVD Recorder – Sony RDR-GX7 – Bet Philips were pleased with this choice! Sure, unlike the opposition it can record on to both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs. But, 1 does anyone care about DVD-RW any more? 2 Isn’t everyone using record once discs now anyway. 3 Isn’t the GX7 a bit pricey? The judges should have gone for the budget options; either the Philips DVDR70 (or 75) or Panasonic’s DMRE50 would have fitted the bill.

Hard Disk Recorder – JVC HM-HDS4 – This S-VHS/hard disk recorder is a cracking product and fantastic for camcorders owners. As for best Hard Disk Recorder? Well the Sky Plus box would be a dead cert were it not only available in the UK. We’d have plumped for the Panasonic DMRHS2 hard disk/DVD recorder combi – which, in our opinion is the template for tomorrow’s video recorders.

LCD TV – Philips 30PF9975 –30incher that sports Philips superb picture processing technology Pixel Plus. Not really a great deal of opposition for it in that sector of the market.

Plasma TV – Philips 42PF9965 – Philips wins again probably thanks to adding Pixel Plus to this set. Bet Hitachi’s 42PMA400 ran it close though.

Television – Panasonic TX-36PD30 – This is a great set but 1 Why bother giving the award to a 36inch model? If you want a set that big (and have the cash to pay for it) you’ll probably go for Plasma. 2 Isn’t Philips 36PW9607 a better 36incher? I suppose it would look a bit odd giving Philips three TV awards though.

Audio Player – Denon DVD2900 – The 2800 was fantastic – this is even better. A worthy winner. Pioneer’s massively specified DV-656A probably came in second.

Internet Audio – Apple iPod – Well what else could they choose!?

DVD Player – Samsung DVD HD935 – Certainly won’t have impressed the UK judges, but apparently it is big in the rest of Europe. Personally we’d have taken the budget option and gone for the Toshiba DVD SD330 - a real steal at around £150.

Video Projector – Infocus Screnplay 5700 – Mmmm. Surely it has to be the Sharp XV-Z90 – the best budget DLP projector on sale.

Others – Congrats to Brit speaker company KEF for taking the Home Theater loudspeaker award with its superb KHT1005 system. Also flying the Union Jack was Mission whose Volare V63 took best speaker.