PC World today announced the winners of its annual World Class Awards. The “100 Best Products of 2006” in the July issue features the finest products and services of the past 12 months, from antispyware utilities to wireless broadband technology, from Adobe Photoshop CS2 to Z-Wave. The issue will be on newsstands June 13, and the article is now available at http://find.pcworld.com/53822
This year’s list of World Class winners contains a wide range of products and services for work, home, and everywhere in between. The editors’ picks reflect the ever-changing world of technology, with revolutionary products in various categories, such as remote access software, power notebook computers, portable hard drives, home-theater receivers, and online bargain trackers. The 2006 Product of the Year is the Intel Core Duo, a Notebook/Desktop CPU. Editors noted that it ” …provides multitasking power never before possible on a portable PC … The Core Duo processor is so good that it’s the CPU of choice not only for Windows laptops but also for Apple’s Windows-capable laptop and desktop Macs.”
PC World editors also selected “Top Companies of the Year” in various categories: Web Company of the Year: Yahoo!; Software Company of the Year: Adobe; Worst Company of the Year: Sony; and Hardware Company of the Year: Apple.
With a huge RD budget and a single-minded despot running the show, Apple once again introduced products that made everyone else look bad. iPods (#36) that play video have created a new market for reruns, Core Duo-based Macs (#35) have expanded the market for Intel chips, and Boot Camp software (#10) has opened the door to running Windows on the Mac hardware. We continue to hope that some of the Cupertino crowd’s design ideas will trickle down to the rest of the tech industry.
Also included in the article is “The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time” (http://find.pcworld.com/53824). In addition, site visitors can view two streaming videos narrated by staff editors with more information on the “Best Products of the Year” and the “Worst Products of the Year.”
A new component to the 2006 World Class Awards article is a live online chat hosted by PC World Senior Writer Alan Stafford. The interactive discussion will answer questions about the featured products and how they were rated, all in real-time. The event will take place on June 6, 2006 at 4pm/Pacific. Interested participants can sign-up here: http://find.pcworld.com/53808
Transcripts will be available on PCWorld.com post-chat.
The complete list of ranked winners follows; editors made their selections based on exemplary design, features, performance, innovation, and price. The honorees were selected after editors reviewed hundreds of products, including those that have appeared in the magazine over the last year.
Selected 2006 PC World World Class Award Winners include:
1. Intel – NOTEBOOK/DESKTOP CPU: Intel Core Duo
4. Apple – DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER: Apple iPod nano
6. Google – SATELLITE IMAGERY: Google Earth
9. YouTube – VIDEO-SHARING SITE: YouTube.com
10. Apple – MAC DUAL-BOOTER: Apple Boot Camp
12. Mozilla – WEB BROWSER: Mozilla Firefox 1.5
13. Weblogs – GADGET BLOG: Engadget.com
16. NVIDIA – GRAPHICS CARD CHIP SET: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
17. Google – SEARCH ENGINE: Google
22. Adobe – IMAGE EDITOR: Adobe Photoshop CS2
28. Mozilla – E-MAIL APPLICATION: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5
31. TiVo – DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER: TiVo
35. Apple – VALUE DESKTOP COMPUTER: Apple Mac mini
36. Apple – DIGITAL AUDIO/VIDEO PLAYER: Apple iPod
43. Apple – DIGITAL AUDIO SOFTWARE: Apple iTunes
46. Creative Technology – DIGITAL AUDIO/VIDEO PLAYER: Creative ZEN Vision:M
47. Google – DESKTOP SEARCH: Google Desktop
48. Opera Software – BROWSER: Opera 9.0 (Beta)
69. RealNetworks – ONLINE MUSIC: Rhapsody
78. Yahoo! – PHOTO-SHARING SITE: Flickr
82. EvDO – WIRELESS BROADBAND: EvDO
86. Salling Software – PRESENTATION REMOTE: Salling Clicker 3
90. iRiver – DIGITAL AUDIO/VIDEO PLAYER: iRiver Clix
92. NVIDIA – GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GTX
98. Mozdev.org – FIREFOX EXTENSION: Greasemonkey
99. NewsGator – RSS READER: NewsGator FeedDemon 2.0
Full article with complete list of winners here.
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Ah, life is good for Apple…….Hmmm, where was Creative in this list? Or Samsung? I see iRiver though…..where is Microsoft? No Xbox awards?
Where is Dull, I mean Dell?
Apple should have taken spot 47 also for Desktop Search. Spotlight is far superior to Google Desktop!
hmmm.. too bad life ain’t so good for the stock price today.
I thought the future was very dark however i am realizing HYDROGEN cars will probably take over the future and it wont really be a dissaster. Future looks bright.
wait…
Real got on there for their music store, and nothing from iLife got picked?
wtf?
I don’t see any Dells listed. Good.
“Real got on there for their music store, and nothing from iLife got picked?”
Thier readers aren’t using it (except for iTunes). They have to coddle the target audience. To tout iLife would be to alienate them. Sad.
Stock price means probably a good time to buy. I have a sneaky suspicion this Christmas is gonna turn some heads.
Steve Jobs acceptance speech:
“Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to wear jeans and a black vest… yet again <cheers and jeers>. Apple is striving to make the best products for consumers and businesses in the marketplace, and we look forward to kicking ass on the rest of the companies in the marketplace for years to come. Oh and one more thing… <crowd hushes>
Will we be opening up our web store tomorrow with another batch of fine, new products, which I think are fantastic. The Mac Pro tower and the Mac Pro mini go on sale. And that is not all. We will also offer the new iMac mini for education and small businesses. And last but not least, I just happen to have one right here <Giselle walks on stage with a suitcase> the all new UltiMac wireless notebook, running a new notebook version of our OS X operating system.”
Enjoy.
Apple also received an award for Hardware Company of the Year. Take that, Michael Dell.
SJ is a single-minded despot? Well, we’ve heard him called worse. I think.
Apple once again introduced products that made everyone else look bad. Yeah … nice of them to notice. <u>And</u>, made a nice profit while doing it!
10. Apple – MAC DUAL-BOOTER: Apple Boot Camp At #10?!?!? DILLIGAF?? Maybe replace that with Parallels Workstation and I’ll agree at such a high rating.
iPods (#36) that play video have created a new market for reruns, Core Duo-based Macs (#35) There’s an iPod mentioned at #4, they didn’t feel that was worthy of mention?
One more thing… Apple also was the only company to have TWO items in the top ten. One hardware (iPod nano) and one software (Boot Camp). Amazing, right Steve Balmer? Where is XBOX and Windows?
Nothing from Microsoft until #37, and that is just the Windows Live Local. Oh and that ugly keyboard at #54. Oh there is the XBOX! At #89!!
Balmer must be walking down the halls with a scythe looking for his next victim.
Digital Kid,
64. Dell UltraSharp 3007WFP
Apple also had quite a few products in the bottom 20. Deservedly so.
Interestingly not a single listing for Microsoft. There was a time……
Worst Company of the Year: Sony
Hard to believe anyone could out-suck MS.
But the music CD scandal, Blu-ray, and ensuing PS3 delay were biggies.
Unless someone really chokes, Vista should earn MS a few worst-of titles for 2007 (whether it ships or not).
rofl.. SONY managed to out-suck M$.
You gotta admire the spirit of such a large company so willing to trash its rep and be so asinine to get the bottom feeding honor of being the “worst company.”
Bravo, SONY, job well done, you did it, you officially suck the most.
Wonder what they have planned over the next year for an encore!?
At least lets hope M$ gives them a run for the money, it’s lonely at the bottom.