It seems that every sub-genre of everything has been its own award to give out — if not an entire awards show. Technology is certainly no exception, but this ranges beyond just handing out “best in shows” at our conventions (although we do that to). One prime example is the Mashable Awards, which take a look at the best of the social sites and features, as well as related tech, each year. This year, Google and a few competitors made their way to the scene.
Google’s appearance was thanks to the Android OS, which won the title of “Best Mobile Platform.” The reason cited by the official Mashable report is the astonishing rate of growth and high achievements in sales for Android this year. Not only has the OS managed to become more popular than iOS (if you’re just looking at smartphones), but Android devices outsold the iPhone in 2010. Our eager Apple fans here at SEJ are quick to courteously remind us, of course, that this is largely thanks to the fact that the iPhone is still only available on one carrier.
It’s interesting that Mashable didn’t mention any of the new features of the Google OS, including the massive array presented by Gingerbread. Maybe it’s assumed that the popularity is due to factors like increased speed, new organization options, or the exploding size of the Android marketplace (over 200,000 apps, not including third-party vendors like the recently released Amazon App Market).
The top device, however, went to Android’s direct competitor, the iPhone. Despite the fact that the iPhone 4 saw some stunningly negative reviews due to a reception bug, it’s nonetheless one of the more impressive single devices on the market. With more than 1.5 million sales on its opening day alone (that’s more than WP7 has sold to date), there’s little doubt that this device deserves its place on the pedestal.
