CNET Editors Honor the Palm Pre with the ‘Best in Show’ and ‘People’s Voice’ Awards
CNET.com, where people go to discover the latest in tech and consumer electronics, today announced the winners of its fourth annual “Best of CES” Awards on the CNET Live Stage at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Winners of the “Best of CES” awards will be featured across many CBS platforms. Beginning the week of January 12, the video recap of the “Best of CES” Awards will air on the CBS Outdoor digital board, located in Times Square on 42nd Street in New York. Then, on Friday, January 16, at 12:30 p.m. local in each market a special lunchtime 30-minute webcast will air on all of the websites of the CBS Television and select CBS Radio Stations. It will also air on CBS Television Stations the weekend of January 17th and 18th. Also, CBS Outernet’s out-of-home video networks and partners will run recaps of the award ceremony and “First Look” videos, a brief look at tech products launched at the show.
The CNET editors, who reviewed hundreds of entries, awarded Palm Pre with the “Best in Show,” while thousands of CNET users also selected Palm Pre for the People’s Voice Award. Ten companies were recognized as having the best products in their respective categories (see full list below).
Tech enthusiasts visited CNET.com to follow the extensive CES coverage provided by the site’s expert editors, who scoured the CES show floor to choose from the hundreds of new products and technologies announced at the show. The CNET.com “People’s Voice” award, which used an online voting system drew thousands of votes from consumers who wanted to see recognition for their favorite product at CES.
“Once again, our editors were impressed by the innovation and creativity showcased at CES, particularly in the cell phones and smartphones category as evidenced by the top winners of the awards this year,” said Scott Ard, Editor-in-chief of CNET Reviews. “The Palm Pre truly stood out for its beautiful and smooth design, and simple, easy-to-use interface with a multi-touch screen. Our CNET editors particularly liked the Palm Pre’s ability to run multiple applications simultaneously and its open operating system that could prove to be an attractive platform for software developers. Winning both the ‘Best of Show’ and ‘People’s Voice’ awards — a first for the show — Palm Pre is poised to be one of the most anticipated tech gadgets in the coming year.”
To qualify, all products had to be exhibited at the 2009 CES in Las Vegas. CNET’s expert editors judged products on criteria including:
- Pioneer a new category, establish an emerging category, or take an existing category to a new level.
- Excite people with its style, innovation, usefulness, ease of use, and/or capability to entertain.
- Endow its owners with a certain cachet, the “cool” factor.
- Make its way into everyday life.
The 10 category winners include:
- Car Tech: Gracenote CarStars
- Cell Phones and smartphones: Palm Pre
- Computers and hardware: Sony Vaio P-Series Lifestyle PC
- Digital photo and video: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-G3
- Gaming: Nyko Wand
- GPS: TomTom GO 740 Live
- Home audio: Samsung HT-BD7200
- Home video: EchoStar SlingLoaded HD DVR 922
- MP3 and portable video players: Samsung P3
- Televisions: Panasonic G10 series
To review a detailed summary of the products selected, a video of the winners and finalists showcasing their technology is available on http://ces.cnet.com
Special Webcast on January 16 to Feature ‘Best of CES’ Award Winners on CBS Television and Select CBS Radio Stations Websites
