ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

ShortList design tech award winners

ShortList design tech award winners

ShortList design tech award winners
01 October 2013

Sleek, stylish, scarily smart; the results are in for ShortList’s first ever Design Tech Awards

It’s been an epic year for technology – from Google Glass to the test flight of the first jetpack (well, the first one that didn’t blow up). So we wanted to salute these hi-tech heroes. How? With the first ever ShortList Design Tech Awards. Judged by an esteemed panel of industry experts, our Awards are the definitive gongs for stylish innovation.

As you’d expect, the judging process was heated; fist-thumping, the odd rapier duel. Winners were selected in eight categories, ranging from Next-Gen Gaming Tech to Life-Changing App, while nearly 4,000 of you voted on ShortList.com for your Tech Icon Of 2013. It’s been a marvellous debut. We’ll be doing it all again next year. Wearing jetpacks.

Meet the Judges of ShortList’s inaugural Design Tech Awards 2013

Deyan Sudjic OBE, Director, Design Museum

Having spent a lifetime around desirable objects, Sudjic knows a classic when he sees it.

James Holland Gadget expert, The Gadget Show Online

The digital arm of Five’s TV show judges gadgets, games and gizmos.

Richard Jones Technology buying manager, Selfridges

Head of tech at the department store.

Tom Bailey Tech editor, ShortList

ShortList’s technology editor tirelessly seeks out the next best thing. A never-ending task that involves fondling anything shiny.

_______________________________________________________

THE ART OF NOISE

Wireless music tech of the year

Winner: Bang & Olufsen A9

Designed by Øivind Alexander Slaatto

£1,699; bang-olufsen.com

Shaped like an ancient gong and packing an 8in bass unit powered by a 160-watt amp. Full marks to B&O for going against the grain of a zillion copycat Bluetooth speakers.

RJ: “There’s no question that the sound quality is exceptional – the best of the best. It has to win.”

JH: “B&O lost its way and became predictable for while. But this is nothing

like anything I could have imagined.”

TB: “The controls are a work of art: simply wipe your hand over the nubs to quell its immense volume; pat to pause.”

Runners-up

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

Loewe speaker2go

_______________________________________________________

FOCUSED STYLE

Tech/style collaboration of the year

Winner: Leica X2 By Paul Smith

Designed by Paul Smith

£2,000; leica-camera.com

Having marvelled at the Harris Tweed-wrapped Urbanears (and decided they didn’t make a great deal of sense), Leica – the masters of the limited edition – breasted the tape with this Paul Smith collab wrapped in durable green cowhide.

RJ: “The Leica Hermès Edition was beautiful, a true collector’s item. This is every bit as appealing to a purist, a collector or just a camera geek.”

TB: “Plus, the Hermès Leica came in at a ludicrously priced £10,000. This is reasonable by Leica’s standards.”

Runners-up

Proporta x Barbour iPhone case

Urbanears x Harris tweed Headphones

_______________________________________________________

A BAND apart

Wearable tech of the year

Winner: Nike+ FuelBand

Designed by Nike£129; nike.com

The wearable tech revolution has kicked off ‘big style’ this year. With no Apple iWatch on the market as yet (fingers crossed for 2014), our panel felt the Samsung Galaxy Gear watch was a little too dorky. The Nike+ FuelBand activity tracker, therefore, became the preferred choice.

TB: “This was the first fitness tracker to gameify your life. And I like the

fact that it isn’t trying to look like a watch.”

DS: “Wearing a Nike FuelBand is very much about being part of a tribe; the Samsung Galaxy Gear was perhaps a little rushed.”

Runners-up

Samsung Galaxy Gear

The Autographer

_______________________________________________________

INSTANT TRAFFIC JEDI

Life-changing app of the year

Winner: City Mapper

Designed by Gilbert Weddam

£2.99; citymapper.com

This journey planner helps you navigate complicated cities (London and New York) with live public transport info.

JH: “So simple it’s like being possessed by Bob Crow.”

DS: “A beautiful tool for discovering a city.”

Runners-up

Hoteltonight

Netflix

Yplan

_______________________________________________________

SPRINGS IN YOUR STEP

Sports tech of the year

Winner: Adidas BOOST

Designed by adidas

£99; adidas.com

The judges picked the adidas Boost running shoe as the sports tech winner, due to its radically-designed sole made from hundreds of tiny foam capsules – the key to providing the highest return of energy ever seen in a running shoe.

JH: “The science behind this design is amazing. You get the same energy return whether you’re running across Ethiopia in 40-degree heat or pounding the streets of Helsinki when it’s minus 20. A true breakthrough.”

TB: “It’s like wearing a pair of springs on your feet. It has to win.”

Runners-up

Misfit Shine

Withings Pulse

_______________________________________________________

Boxing very clever

Next-gen gaming tech of the year

Winner: Xbox One

Designed by Microsoft

£429; xbox.com

In terms of raw horsepower, the Xbox One and PS4 are evenly matched. But Xbox One is voice-controlled and also comes with Microsoft’s promise of high-end servers, which will make for even faster gaming in the future.

JH: ”It’s an extremely close call. But I love the Xbox’s upgraded Kinect sensor, which is so accurate it can detect your heart rate and tell when a game is pushing your buttons.”

RJ: “The PS4 has already proven popular, but the Xbox One is a clear winner for me. It’s more innovative; an entertainment system rather than a games console.”

Runners-up

Ouya Android Console

Sony PlayStation 4

_______________________________________________________

FLUBBER HAS LANDED

Exec Tech of the year

Winner: Goo.ey

Designed by Rachel Verghis

£15; gooeyskins.com

Declaring themselves “bored” with tablets, the panel went for this Flubber-like film that sticks your tablet or phone to any surface, yet isn’t sticky.

DS: “I like the idea of having my iPhone stuck to the shaving mirror in the morning to read news bulletins.”

JH: “Plus it’s not just another tablet.”

Runners-up

Sage tea maker

Sony Xperia tablet z

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

_______________________________________________________

PEOPLE-POWEREDSPEAKERS

Crowd-funded design of the year

Winner: The Vamp By Paul Cocksedge Studio

Designed by Paul Cocksedge

£50; paulcocksedgestudio.com

Fuelled by Kickstarter, crowd-funded tech has exploded this year. The Vamp, a Bluetooth cube for streaming music to classic hi-fi speakers, impressed our judges.

DS: “I like the idea of retaining the quality of a well-made speaker while embracing things such as Spotify.”

RJ: “Men are throwing out great-sounding old speakers. This makes them relevant again.”

Runners-up

Petzval portrait lens

Fairphone

Sigmo Voice Translation

_______________________________________________________

Sexier HOME CINEMA

ShortList Design Tech Icon 2013

Winner: Samsung S9C Curved OLED TV

Designed by Samsung

£6,999; samsung.com

The online vote for our Tech Icon Of 2013 came out terrifyingly close. But, of the two clear favourites – MakerBot’s 3D printer and Samsung’s curved OLED TV – the TV triumphed, gaining a fifth of the votes in the 10-way battle. A magnificent choice; if we’d had a firework, we’d have let it off.

Luckily we didn’t, but if you haven’t heard about the game-changing S9C, go seek it out in a department store and be wowed by its blur-free technology, next-generation, 55in OLED screen, Multi View (for watching and listening to two shows at once) and avant-garde, curved Imax screen.

This is the TV of the future, gentlemen. Through it, you’ll be able to stream Netflix (the word ‘film’ will cease to exist by 2017), Skype friends and explore the latest apps. Essentially, this is your Eye Of Sauron – albeit one you’ll actually enjoy looking into.