Apple And Samsung Big Winners At T3 Tech Awards

September 18, 2015

Apple was the big winner at the T3 technology awards, taking four prizes, although it failed to win best phone.

The Apple Watch was named Gadget of the Year and Wearable Technology of the Year.

The Laptop or Tablet of the Year for the iPad Air 2 - which was sponsored by Sky's technology show Swipe - and the Brand of the Year were Apple's other awards at the ceremony.

The gap in Apple's haul was Phone of the Year, which went to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

The S6 Edge broke HTC's two-year winning run at the T3s, beating its sister phone the Galaxy S6, as well as the iPhone 6, the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, LG's G4 and the HTC One M9.

The Apple Watch has not convinced everyone but T3 editor Rob Carney says the gadget deserves its two prizes.

''The tech and fashion media have nothing in common, yet both are enthused about Apple Watch. That says it all about this high-style, high-tech, highly personal device,'' he said.

Sony's PlayStation 4 was named Gaming Product of the Year.

The PS4 beat console rival the Xbox One, as well as virtual reality headsets Oculus Rift Crescent Bay and Samsung Gear VR.

Games reviewer Gav Murphy, who reviews his pick of some of the best PS4 games on this week's Swipe, says the console deserves the award over its main rival.

''If you look at the Xbox One, I don't really know what that's trying to be as a piece of tech."

Gav says Microsoft ''went off the deep end'' trying to make an ''entertainment console'' - something he says Sony has avoided.

''You turn on a PS4: games are front and centre. I think that’s why people are going to PS4,'' he explained.

Augmented and virtual reality are two of this year's hot topics in tech, and two awards reflected the subjects' dominance.

Microsoft's holographic headset Hololens won Design Innovation and the Outstanding Achievement prize went to Palmer Luckey, the inventor of Oculus Rift.

The 22-year-old built the first Oculus prototype when he was just 16.

TV of the Year went to the LG EC970V, which features a 65-inch curved screen, while the Amazon Prime Instant Video streaming service won the Entertainment category.

(Sky News)