Gadget of the Year, 2011

If there's something that's proliferating like cockroaches it's handheld gadgets, otherwise known as "smartphones", but I refuse to call them that until I see them doing something smart.

The winner for me this past year was:

Samsung Galaxy S II



Samsung seems to have found a good formula for making these gadgets, since many specialty sites considered the second iteration of the Galaxy series to be superior to many other Android based phones, and even superior to the grandaddy of them all, the iPhone.

I got to have one of these in my hands not long ago and played with it a little bit, and it was pretty good. This however hasn't changed my opinion that people who don't need most of the features (and certainly being in Facebook 24/7 is not something anyone really needs) shouldn't spend a small fortune on one of these things.


 Originally, the S II was shipped with Gingerbread Android and now it's upgradeable to the Ice Cream Sandwich version, keeping it up to date, until the S III is launched (to be announced in February this year).

The honorable mention goes to the iPhone and it's wonderful auto-correct feature, which gives us laughter every day.

Car of the Year, 2011

As you all know, I love cars. But what I love the most is a car that goes much faster than what it looks. Huge backwheels and exposed, fire breathing engines don't impress me, but if a normal looking car drives as fast and as nimbly as a supercar, then that's a big plus in my book.

So my car of the year is one that does exactly that.

BMW 1 M Coupé

I have to admit I was never a big fan of the BMW 1 Series. I always thought they looked a bit wrong, and were a bit pretentious. As usually BMWs are, the 1 series was much more expensive than similar products from other brands. The back side was all wrong and it looked like a giant had parked it's butt on the roof and squished the sides.

However the 1 M styling follows a more aggressive line, as it should be for a performance model, and uses the coupé model instead of the hatchback (the difference is the ugly rear is gone in favor of a more traditional boot).

Powered by a very quick 3.0L Inline 6, twin turbocharged engine, producing 335 horsepower, it deals with the 0 to 100 km/h sprint in under 5 seconds, and will keep steadily accelerating to it's electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.
One of my favorite features is that the only available gearbox is a 6-speed manual, making this a proper driver-car.

(read more in this excellent piece on TopSpeed)

Other mentions go to the newly updated Nissan GT-R, for the same reason of being much quicker than many more expensive models.

And finally the McLaren MP4-12C, which is completely asphalt burning quick, but lacks a bit of supercar flair and passion.

Fail of the year, 2011

And the winner is:

Capitalism!

Sarcasm at it's best.

Yeah, I know it's been failing since 2008 but the fact that it keeps doing it deserves recognition. Not many entities have this kind of commitment towards failing, and it should be rewarded.

Other nominees were the iPhone 5 turned out to be just the 4S, and Duke Nukem Forever.

The 2011 Awards

Another year has gone and a heck of a lot has happened in this past one, as I've shown in the last post. Now it's time to reward the biggest and best, sometimes worst, of 2011. I'm going to dish them out in the next few days, and starting today with:

Game of the Year

This one should come as no surprise. It's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

But I haven't even reviewed it, you might say? Well, I was too busy playing it, and that is what is trump card is. It's so immersive, you lose yourself in the beautiful landscapes, adventuring in deep dungeons, ancient Dwarven ruins, and fighting fire spitting dragons with your mighty shouts.

Of course, as any other game, it has it's downsides, but unlike many others Skyrim has a distinct advantage: it's completely mod friendly, which means users can create their own content, and the amount of modifications circulating is huge, and when a developer's kit becomes available, mods will increase even more in both quality and quantity.

If you're not convinced yet then think of this... Which other game was so huge as to spawn an internet meme of it's own?

My special mention goes to Portal 2. I enjoyed it, but because of some weird crashing bug I couldn't proceed from a certain point in the story. It was a great game while it lasted for me, although not as engaging as the first one.