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Electronic House hands out its Home of the Year awards, offers yet more excess and inspiration
Just as it does each May, Electronic House magazine has selected a handful of integrated homes and home theaters that it's deemed to be the best of the best and awarded them Home of the Year awards in categories that range from $50k or less to $150k or more. The winner of the latter is pictured above -- a garage that's gone from storing farm equipment to a top-end 3D Runco SC-50 projector and equally high-end sound system (to say nothing of the change in decor). Other winners include a completely hands-free home that's also energy efficient (at a cost of $48k), another home that's largely iPad-controlled, and a blood red nightclub-inspired home theater that's not too far removed from a David Lynch movie. Hit the source link below to take a tour of each.
Reminder: Webby Award voting ends tomorrow, give the Engadget Show some love
Do you really want to hurt us? Do you really want to make us cry? If not, you should head on over to the Webby Awards site and vote for the Engadget Show. Seriously, though, it's an honor just to have our humble production nominated for the third year in a row alongside several other impressive products. Ballots do close tomorrow and, if you're a fan of segments like our epic tour of Asia's gadget markets, then click here (no, seriously, right there) to give us and the dozens of people who put in countless hours of hard work to make them happen a virtual pat on the back. Thanks for reading, watching and being a fan, and we promise to continue working our butts off to keep you informed and entertained.
The Engadget Show is nominated for a Webby Award!
Dearest readers, we'd like to take this opportunity to share a bit of good news -- we've been nominated for a Webby Award for The Engadget Show! It's the third year running that our in-house video project has been nominated, and we couldn't be more humbled or happy to be chosen. Dozens upon dozens of people work tirelessly to make this operation tick, and while we never confess to be perfect, we hope you've been informed and entertained by our episodes over the past year. The Show is featured in the Online Film & Video (Technology) section, alongside a host of amazing contemporaries. If you'd like to cast a vote, you can do so right here. We'd also like to mention that Engadget Distro has been selected as an Official Honoree of the Webby Awards in the News category. Thanks for watching and reading, and we'll be sure to keep the clips coming in the months ahead!P.S. - We're in the official promo video for the awards at the 0:38 mark; it's embedded just after the break.
Apple is Fortune's Most Admired Company for fifth year in a row
For the fifth year in a row, Apple has taken the honors as Fortune's Most Admired Company. Apple aced out Google, Amazon.com, Coca-Cola, and IBM. Those companies that took second through fifth places respectively. Fortune cited Apple's stellar financial performance during the last year as the main reason for the company coming in at number one on the list: "The company's annual revenues climbed to US$108 billion, led by an 81% increase in iPhone sales -- a jump that doesn't factor in the runaway success of the iPhone 4S -- and a 334% spike in iPad sales, due in no small part to the revamped iPad 2. Increased sales across the board explain why shares soared 75% during the company's fiscal year to $495." This year's win ties General Electric for the number of appearances at the top of the Most Admired Company list. One more win in 2013 will put Apple at the top of the heap for years to come. You can read about Apple's wins in 2011 and 2010 by clicking these links.
The winners of the 2011 Engadget Awards -- Editors' Choice (and enter to win an unlocked Galaxy Nexus!)
<!--BODY--><h1 id="awards-header" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011editorschoice/"><img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/02/eng-awards-11-editors-choice-1330010562.png"/> </a></h1><p>Yesterday, we announced <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011readerschoice/">your selections</a> for the 2011 Engadget Awards, and now we're back with our picks. Editors' Choice awardees are designated for each of the same 15 categories that you voted in <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011awards/">earlier this month</a>, but these results represent our own opinions, and are not influenced by your nominations. Naturally, there's some overlap here and there, but there are plenty of newcomers as well. As you can see in the teaser just below, we've included a brief summary for each product to give you an idea of what motivated our decisions, which you'll find just beside the rest of our favorite products once you click past the break.</p><p> Also, be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win an unlocked <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/24/galaxy-nexus-hspa-review/">Galaxy Nexus</a> -- courtesy of the folks at <a href="https://negrielectronics.com/">Negri Electronics</a>. All the rules for entering await beyond the list of winners on the other side of the break.</p>
The winners of the 2011 Engadget Awards -- Readers' Choice
<div class="author_landing_top"><h1 id="awards-header" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011readerschoice/"><img alt="" border="0" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/02/eng-awards-11-readers-choice-1.png" vspace="4"/> </a></h1>The results for the 2011 Engadget Awards are in! With more than <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011awards/">250,000 total votes</a>, the response this year has been tremendous -- and no, that's not just another name for the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/GalaxyNote/">Galaxy Note</a>, which garnered just 3.5 percent of tallies in the Smartphone category. Instead, the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/iPhone4S/">iPhone 4S</a> took top prize for Smartphones, followed by the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/SamsungGalaxySII/">Samsung Galaxy S II</a> as the runner up. The <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/21/asus-zenbook-ux31-review/">ASUS Zenbook</a> was the first pick among this year's Laptops, with the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/09/apple-imac-spring-2011-review/">Apple iMac</a> besting the rest of 2011's Desktops. Canon and Nikon battled it out till the end, but the former eventually came out ahead, earning 17.9 percent of the Digital Camera vote for its <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/07/canon-introduces-canon-rebel-t3-and-rebel-t3i-dslr-cameras/">T3i</a>, while the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/04/nikon-d5100-dslr-surfaces-with-16-2-megapixel-sensor-1080p-vide/">Nikon D5100</a> represented a very respectable 17.6 percent. That's just a small sample of this year's top gadgets -- there are 15 categories in all, and we're crowning both Readers' and Editors' Choice winners for each. Jump past the break for an unabridged look at your selections for the 2011 Engadget Awards, and check back tomorrow for the Editors' Choice. And if you're wondering who came in almost-first place, you can find the runners up for each category in this week's issue of <a href="http://www.engadget.com/tag/EngadgetDistro/">Engadget Distro</a>.</div>
Reminder: Vote for the 2011 Engadget Awards!
Emmys? Check. Grammys? Check. Engadget Awards 2011? Almost there. Now that we've gone through the nomination process, it's time for you to let us know who deserves to be crowned king of its category, which in some special cases, might not be something to be completely proud of. The clock's ticking and you have until 11:59PM ET on Monday February 20th to drop your precious ballot in. We'll let you know soon thereafter who's walking away a winner and who's heading back to the shelves empty-handed, as well as who earned our Editors' Choice picks. Who's got your vote? Fill us in by hitting up our voting page here.
Vote for the 2011 Engadget Awards!
<div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011awards/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/02/eng-2011-awards.png"/> </a></div>With the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011awardsnom/">nomination stage</a> now complete, it's time for the real fun to begin -- let's get to voting! We've gathered your recommendations, adding the tops picks from each category in the 15 polls you'll find past the break. While we realize you may have several favorite gadgets for each award section, you're only permitted to vote for one in each category. You can, however, vote in as many different categories as you'd like, though you need to vote in each category individually. You have until <strong>11:59PM ET</strong> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Monday February 20th </strong>to cast your vote. We'll be announcing your top selections alongside our Editors' Choice picks before the month is out, so head on past the break to get started!
SWTOR receives AbleGamers' Accessible Mainstream GOTY award
The AbleGamers Foundation, an organization focused on providing disabled peoples with information and technology that allows them to more easily enjoy video games, has awarded Star Wars: The Old Republic its 2011 Accessible Mainstream Game of the Year Award for launching with "colorblind friendly options, full subtitles, and control options to let those with mobility impairments play the game as easy as possible.""BioWare did a wonderful job including a large number of options right at launch with the promise of including more as soon as possible," said AbleGamers Foundation president Mark Barlet. "It's very rare to see a game of this caliber initially released with so many accessibility options." The Old Republic is actually BioWare's second title to receive this award; Dragon Age: Origins was dubbed Accessible Mainstream GOTY 2009.
Nominate your favorite gadgets for the 2011 Engadget Awards!
<div style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011awards"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/01/eng-2011-awards.png"/> </a></div><br />Welcome to the 2011 Engadget Awards! This year we've got 15 categories up for grabs, with 30 total awards to be decided. All finalists for Engadget Awards are reader-nominated, and the editors of Engadget will then select the best of those nominations (usually somewhere between 4-6 devices) as finalists. There are two awards per category: Readers' Choice (voted on by you!), and Editors' Choice (selected by us). The vote will take place in a few weeks once the nominees are picked, and winners will be announced shortly thereafter.<br /><br />Submit your favorite devices for consideration using the form just past the break, and feel free to elaborate in the comments. You don't need to fill in every field, but <font color="red">you are required to answer at least one question</font> in order for your form to be processed. You've got until 11:59PM ET on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 to get your entries in. Now, go nominate!
Steve Jobs awarded posthumous Grammy for 'significant contributions to music'
It's pretty difficult to argue that both Apple's iPod and -- to an even greater extent -- its contentious iTunes software haven't had a massive impact on the music industry. The Recording Academy has decided to recognize this, naming the former CEO and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs for a Trustees Award for "outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity." It will be the second Grammy to celebrate Apple's contributions to the music industry -- its work in recording netted it a Technical Grammy exactly ten years ago.
LG flexes its pre-CES design muscle with a cubey AirPlay dock, svelte 3D HDTVs (update)
LG has a habit of creating gadgets for everyday use with super-thin and ultra-sleek designs. This year, the company was recently awarded a whopping 12 Innovation Awards for CES 2012, which notably included very light details on three of its upcoming Smart TVs and its cubey Powerful Sound AirPlay-enabled speaker dock. Among the displays are two 55-inch HDTVs, dubbed LED Cinema 3D LM8600 and Nano Full LED Cinema 3D LM9600 -- both are listed as sporting "LG's narrowest bezel and ultra-slim Clear Screen design," but the Nano variant is said to offer "brighter and smoother" picture quality. For the plasma lovers out there, LG's also let details loose on its PM9700 -- a massive 60-inch 3D HD Plasma display, complete with a Magic Motion remote. For those on the audio side, that cubey AirPlay speaker is said to pack 80-watts of power and a 2.1 stereo speaker array, along with an obligatory iDevice dock on its top. We'll let you know if we catch a glimpse of the new gear at CES, but in the meantime, you'll find details in the press release past the break. Update: LG has requested that the images be removed, sorry folks.
EverQuest joins Ultima Online in GDCOA's Hall of Fame
EverQuest may not be the recent hotness that everyone's talking about, but its impact on the MMO genre continues to be felt to this day. As such, it's great to see this classic game reaping its reward, as the Game Developers Choice Online Awards inducted EQ into the Hall of Fame yesterday. EverQuest was chosen for its lengthy advancements in MMO gaming, including it's focus on raiding and guild improvements. It now joins old-time competitor Ultima Online as the only other title in GDCOA's Hall of Fame. Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley graciously accepted the honor: "When we set out to create EverQuest, many felt it was an unattainable stretch of the imagination. As it turns out, EverQuest exceeded even our wildest expectations. Twelve years later, we are about to release its 18th expansion, and have big plans for its future. We are incredibly proud of its impact on the industry and the community we have built. Tonight's honor is a testament to the hard working individuals who have contributed to EverQuest -- both past and present."
The Game Archaeologist answers Asheron's Call 2: The highlights
MMO sequels are funny animals. Sequels (along with prequels and "reimaginings") are ingrained into the entertainment industry so deep that it makes sense that MMO studios would follow suit. And yet these types of games -- with their ever-growing nature and heavy involvement with loyal playerbases -- are not always conducive to such projects. More often than not, a sequel to an online game becomes its ancestor's main competition, which is not a desirable outcome for the studio. Perhaps back in the early 2000s, studios simply didn't know better. There's good evidence that the typical "hit video games need a sequel" mindset ran rampant across the industry, from the multiple attempts at Ultima Online 2 to the release of the don't-call-it-a-sequel sequel of EverQuest II. Perhaps developers didn't realize that MMO players didn't necessarily want to be uprooted and moved to a new game every few years. While sequels, spin-offs and remakes are still present, the genre learned a hard lesson with Asheron's Call 2 in the first half of the decade. Asheron's Call was a success on Microsoft and Turbine's behalf, and a sequel -- with vastly improved graphics and deeper gameplay -- seemed like a logical next step. Unfortunately, it was a Greek tragedy in the making, destined for a short but memorable life in our world. This month we're going to look at the brief shining star of Asheron's Call 2 and get all sorts of misty-eyed romantic over it!
Guild Wars 2 wins Eurogamer's Game of the Show
Not many games can claim that they stood up to Batman and prevailed, but Guild Wars 2 fought off the Dark Knight and more to win the Editors' Game of the Show at this past weekend's Eurogamer Expo. Competing against such high-profile titles like Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City, Guild Wars 2 came out as the clear favorite of the editorial staff at Eurogamer. Guild Wars 2 was picked from a field of 10 nominees for its scope and ideas. Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell handed out the high praise: "It was almost impossible to choose between some of this year's nominees, but Guild Wars 2 eventually won us over with its incredible depth and intelligent new approach to MMO design." Eurogamer Expo 2011 attracted over 34,500 attendees, who made up what the show runners claim is the largest audience for the convention yet. [Source: Eurogamer Network press release]
Game Developers Choice Online Awards announces finalists, EQ to be ushered into Hall of Fame
It's not quite to the prestigious level of the Academy Awards -- yet -- but the Game Developers Choice Online Awards is fast becoming one of the more well-known and highly respected award ceremonies in the MMO world while only being in its second year. With October 12th's ceremony coming soon, the field has been narrowed by 400 industry leaders into a competitive pool of nominees in a dozen categories. The categories include Best Online Visual Arts, Best Social Network Game, Best Online Game Design, Online Innovation, Best Online Technology, Best Community Relations, Best Audio For An Online Game, Best New Online Game, and Best Live Game. Several popular MMOs, including RIFT, DC Universe Online, World of Tanks and Wizard101, are up for a possible award. In addition, the awards will recognize Kesmai Corporation founders John Taylor and Kelton Flinn for the Online Game Legend Award. EverQuest, too, will be getting its long-overdue kudos as it is ushered into the Hall of Fame. We'll be anxious to see which games grab the gold this fall, but until then we're just going to grouse that we weren't tapped to be one of the judges.
Microsoft offers 'mad loot' Bluehat prize to entice security developers (video)
Mere numbers aren't enough to describe cash prizes for Microsoft, it seems. The firm's inaugural Bluehat security competition's introduction video opted for a clearer term: "mad loot, lots of it." The big M hopes the hefty first prize of $200,000 will inspire the creation of the next generation of defensive computer security technology. The most innovative "novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities" (phew!) will take home the aforesaid mad loot, while second and third places will receive $50,000 and an MSDN Universal subscription, respectively. The winner won't be announced until Blackhat 2012, of course, and applicants have until April to submit their prototypes and technical descriptions. Hit the break for the official announcement video, complete with CG backgrounds and prize euphemisms.
ARGO Online celebrates new ranking system with contest
Games paying us to play? Ridiculous! What's next -- dogs and cats sleeping together? Mass hysteria? 'Tis true, dear readers; ARGO Online is rewarding top players with in-game AP worth hundreds of real-world dollars. This giveaway is part of a promotion to celebrate ARGO's brand-new ranking system, in which players can compete to see who accumulates the most XP in each level tier. There's also a second ranking ladder that lists players according to wins and losses. During this month, alaplaya is tallying up the initial pack leaders and will be rewarding the best of the best with in-game currency at the end of the 30 days. Lowest level characters have a shot at $50 worth of AP while level-capped folks can compete for $150. In total, alaplaya is giving out $500 just for players giving ARGO their all, which is a pretty sweet deal for those already into the game. If ARGO Online is an unknown entity to you, check out our first impressions and see if it's up your alley!
NCsoft turns the tables by giving awards to MMO journalists
First of all, we'd like to say that if we don't get the "Most Eminently Cheery Journalist" award, we may have to convert to the dark side and start throttling Jawas or something. What's this all about? In order to raise money for GamesAid, a UK-based charity, NCsoft has decided to host the first Golden Chippies Awards to celebrate the best and brightest MMO journalists in the British Empire. These wink-wink, nudge-nudge awards will be handed out on Wednesday, July 20th, and are a lead-up to the real Develop Awards ceremony. Among the awards are "GM Award for Appearing to Know More than the Developers" and the "Twink Award for the Strongest Introduction to MMO Journalism." NCsoft's Cat Channon introduced the event with sentiment that we at Massively would like to echo: "MMO journalism is a labour of love for those involved. A niche but growing subset of traditional gaming media, these guys really are doing it through devotion to the genre."
Apple forced to cough up cash over iPhone location tracking in South Korea
You probably thought all the drama surrounding the iPhone location tracking fiasco was over. Oh, how wrong you were. In fact, the controversy seems ripe for a resurgence after a Korean court ordered that country's Apple arm to pay 1 million won (about $946) to Kim Hyung-suk. The payment was awarded last month, but now Kim's law firm is prepping a class action suit that could put further pressure on the Cupertino crew -- especially in the home of Samsung. This could just be the first in a series of pay outs, as even American courts may look to the decision when considering the fate of other plaintiffs looking to ring a few bucks out of iDevice purveyors. Hit up the source link for a few more details and a host of non sequiturs. [Thanks, Wesley]
