Xbox One: A Gadget Only Microsoft Could Make

Last's weeks Xbox One release was met with shouts from fans, detractors and longtime followers of the company's plays in the consumer space.

Of course, the most noise originated from users who aren't fans of the decisions made by Microsoft as of late. There was also an audible cheering from fans who are simply ecstatic to have a next-generation Xbox One to call their own. Though both extremes are valid, I think those paying attention to Microsoft's handling of the Xbox One will realize that the device perfectly encapsulates Microsoft as it is today.

Take the company's approach to the console itself. Rather than create a next-generation gaming system that simply allowed users to do the same things they could on the Xbox 360 with higher fidelity, Microsoft choose to put future entertainment ambitions at the forefront. Sure, the Xbox One is a next-generation gaming system, buts it's also a television set-top box that comes closer to meeting consumer standards than most living-room focused products.

Instead of relying on DVDs and just an updated controller, the company made the decision to ship every console with a completely overhauled Kinect sensor and set a baseline for what users expect from its future consoles. Yes, attempting to innovate while facing a competitor who's perfectly content with not pushing the envelope and coming in at a lower price is bold.

All of these decisions didn't exactly harmonize Microsoft's base of users. There are some gamers who are absolutely offended by Microsoft's decision to create one device that costs users $100 more than the competition. Many users weren't fans of the Metro interface that Microsoft introduced in Windows 8, and you can bet they aren't too happy with having that same interface here. Early on Microsoft was even willing to upset the used game market if it meant it could, theoretically, make it easier for gamers to switch games and share digital titles with friends and family. Yes, it back tracked on that it, but there are still users clamoring for both of those features. This is a Microsoft that isn't afraid to make tough decisions that everyone won't agree with. It's not a characteristic we've much of from Microsoft until recently.

Finally, the Xbox One is a device that only Microsoft could have created. The console's headline features are a perfect snapshot of just how many businesses and technologies Microsoft has. The foundations of Xbox OS belong to Microsoft's HyperV and Windows businesses. Its voice and search technologies are from the TellMe and Bing Teams. Its Cloud Compute servers are powered by Microsoft's Azure platform. Microsoft is one of the few companies who could create a project like this, and this is the same company industry watchers browbeat year after year for not working in unison.

Of course, there are things here that perfectly represent one of the biggest things this 'new' Microsoft gets wrong. We all know that the Xbox One will evolve overtime, that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, the Xbox One's software doesn't feel done. Big name apps like Comcast and AT&T U-Verse are flat-out missing, Xbox Music lacks access to the same music video catalog users had access to on the Xbox 360.

The Xbox One doesn't allow users to customize it outside of pinning apps in one section of the Dashboard and changing their tile color. This is an issue we've seen with Windows Phone and Windows too. Not a single product outside of what SkyDrive and Outlook feels done by the time it goes to consumers. I suspect that it's a side-effect of shipping software products so often. However, I don't think end users care why it's a constant struggle for them as much as they want to see one idea fleshed out in an initial release.

Like it or not. The Xbox One is Microsoft as it exists today. A bold, divisive, monolithic company who prefers to meet deadlines in the hopes of not arriving into a market too late. I suppose whether these characteristics are good for the Xbox One or Microsoft as a whole depends on whether consumers respond well to either.

Travis Pope is a Reporter-at-large for GottaBeMobile. He's currently enjoying a romp in the dangerous quicksand that is Microsoft's Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Xbox ecosystem.

Your traditional Black Friday Walmart gadget brawl footage

Somehow, the early beginning to Black Friday shopping didn't deter people from storming after their favorite gadget bargains.

(Credit: TheBlackhawk715/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

You might still be digesting your meal of vast gratitude.

Indeed, you might have barely begun to digest it when many of your fellow humans lined up outside America's retailers to express their buyer's enthusiasm.

For Black Friday came early on Thanksgiving this year.

Which means the fights over gadgets at Walmart did too.

A quick trawl of YouTube already reveals at least one brawl.

At this unnamed Walmart, there is frenzy beyond Bieberism. Yes, this is consumerism.

There are cheap TVs to be had, and many people are desperate to have them.

Shouts of 'STOP!' are heard. But who can stop when the bargains are this good? Who can even muster any sense of control when Thanksgiving can be made more meaningful with one little purchase of a big TV?

So it is left to the police to restore order.

Two officers pin a woman to the ground, presumably for the offense of having torn the TV from another woman's grasp.

A lady from Walmart shouts, apparently toward the person filming this pastoral scene.

'STOP! STOP NOW!!' she screams.

You might think this was an isolated incident, but, as the Sun reports, one police officer was taken to a hospital after a skirmish at the Walmart in Rialto, Calif.

The store had decided to open even earlier than its scheduled 8 p.m. because 3,000 people had already gathered for the communal feasting on bargains.

Perhaps they should rename it Black Eye Friday.

Pocket

The 10 ^th annual Pocket-lint Gadget Awards brought the great and the good of the UK tech industry together in Central London last night, for an evening of award giving, partying, dancing and taco scoffing.

Also celebrating a decade of Pocket-lint, the mood was electrifying as winners and the unlucky losers combined to make the event the best yet.

The awards kicked off with a moving video illustrating the last ten years of Pocket-lint and the gadgets that have come and gone in the meantime. And then it was time for editor Chris Hall to take the stage to whip everyone into a frenzy.

A Movember-moustachioed Stuart Miles, founder of Pocket-lint, was up next to deal with the serious business of announcing the winners in each of the specific categories, finishing with the coveted product of the year.

READ: Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2013 winners announced

Post awards it was party time. The ale flowed, the music grew and Mr Sax blew. Dancing turned to singing, singing turned to wobbling, and everybody had a great time - pushing the idea of a shaky following day to the back of their minds.

For all that came to the event, great. Thank you for making our 10th awards special. You support us throughout the year and we're honoured that you could come along and let your hair down with the Pocket-lint team.

Each year the awards live long in the memory and thanks to the wonders of modern camera technology we have many moments from last night's to cherish.

A massive thanks must also go to Hotwire PR and O2. Spode for his awesome tweet wall and DJ Pat Scullion and the Dynamo team for the tunes. The judges too, who helped choose the winners.

But the biggest thanks go to you, dear readers. Your votes ensured that the annual Pocket-lint Gadget Awards remains one of the most talked about events of the year.

Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2013 in pictures gallery

Buying technology gadgets on Black Friday usually isn't a great deal

I've never understood what motivates people to show up before dawn at a shopping mall before dawn, simultaneously wild-eyed and sleepy as they await 'Black Friday' store openings. Likewise, the impulse that drives some folks to wait in line for the release of the latest iWhatever will always be sideways to my world view.

I have a different philosophy, especially about technology products. Here it is: calm down.

Who absolutely, positively has to have the very newest gadget? No one, unless he (it's typically a he) has a specific need for some feature that simply doesn't exist in any other product - or, more likely, he need to be first so he can brag to friends who are equally incapable of self-control.

One of the perpetual realities of the gadget world stems from Moore's Law and its corollaries - the idea that hardware improves at a relentless rate, doubling in power (or storage or whatever) on a steady basis at no increase in cost. The flip side of that: A device with today's capabilities will be vastly cheaper a year from now.

Consider this photo. It's a 'micro-SD' memory card that holds 64 gigabytes - more than 65,000 megabytes - and offers relatively high-speed input and output. It cost less than $50. I bought it for my Galaxy Note 3 ' phablet', a $700 device that is far, far more powerful than the desktop computer I was running not many years ago.

I can remember my first 'high capacity' hard drive, the first storage I owned exceeding the capacity of a floppy disk. It was a 10-megabyte disk that by today's standards was unbearably slow and made clunk-clunk noises in an IBM PC-XT. That computer cost about $3,000 new in the mid-1980s. Back then, data consisted mostly of text and numbers, and I doubted at the time that I could ever fill up the hard drive.

Now I'm not suggesting you wait a decade or three to buy a device. I am suggesting a strategy that takes constant improvements into account.

Here's how I buy my laptops, for example. My provider of choice is Lenovo, which bought IBM's laptop and PC business a few years ago, because the quality is good and the support excellent. But I don't buy the absolute latest model. I tend to buy the one that was state of the art last year, or at least a few months ago, for several reasons. First, the capabilities will be more than good enough for what I do. Second, Lenovo will have tweaked and improved the devices, and fixed the bugs and flaws that afflict all new system types. Third, I run the GNU/Linux operating system, and there's always a bit of a lag in its support for the latest hardware. Finally, it's bound to be cheaper than when it was new. So I'm getting a computer that's more powerful and stable, and less expensive, than the one I'd get if I was one of the early adopters.

Whatever personal computer you like realize that anything you buy a year from now that was launched now will run any software you can throw at it, as long as the software was written for that platform. It may not have the latest central processor - sometimes this is a big deal, as this year when Intel's power-efficient chips started going into newer PCs - but it'll work fine.

Peripheral hardware follows this rule in a big way. There are ups and downs along the way, the storage lesson is the same in just about everything. For reasons good and bad, however, computer and device makers have been making it harder if not impossible to add memory and internal storage after purchase. If you buy one of Apple's newest laptops, for example, you'd better decide ahead of time how much RAM memory and disk capacity you need; the more you need, the more you'll pay prices for the extra memory and storage that would be much less if you could add them yourself. (Lenovo is moving this way with some models that I plan to avoid; it's a semi-obnoxious industry trend.)

I'm closer to an early adopter on mobile devices, I admit. So when I bought the Note 3, I knew perfectly well that in only a few months the new market leader will be a device with even more power, and the Note 3 itself will be less expensive. In this case I decided that the features were sufficiently better than what I'd been using to justify an early purchase.

I have one major caveat about mobile devices when it comes to waiting. As I've noted in this space before, the manufacturers of Android OS devices and carriers have been unconscionable in their failure to update the operating system - risking their customers' safety as major security holes go unfilled in some cases - due to their wish to sell you new devices. That's one reason why I predict Google's Nexus line of phones and tablets, and its Motorola unit's Moto G phones are going to keep gaining market share. Only Google seems keen on keeping the OS up to date to the extent possible. This is also an argument for Apple's mobile devices; Apple, which releases newer, better devices on a roughly annual basis, is much more committed to updating its mobile software than the non-Google Android device makers. Ditto Microsoft, which has learned from the Android follies.

When it comes to televisions, price-induced buyers remorse is almost a guarantee. The makers of flat-screen TVs have been cutting prices and boosting quality at an amazing rate for years, and I don't see much sign that they're slowing down. We buy TVs so rarely that every time we're at Costco I'm dazzled by the latest prices of the latest TVs. Prices do tend to drop after Christmas, and they fluctuate to some degree all year long, but you can almost always count on getting something better and cheaper by waiting. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

The one gadget arena that's probably most exciting this season is gaming, in part because the software titles being developed for games are simply incredible - and immensely profitable for the companies that create the best-sellers. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have all launched new devices in recent months, and Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PS 4 fighting it out for top spot with an array of new capabilities that are embedding these consoles into people's lives well beyond just games. They have to, because the iPad and Android devices, as well as traditional PCs, are excellent game platforms themselves. You don't need dedicated console for Minecraft.

I won't even attempt to suggest to hard-core gamers, or the parent of a game fanatic, that it's best to wait. But even though I have my eye on the new Xbox, I'll definitely hold off for a while. I want it. I don't need it. So if and when I eventually get it, I'll have saved time - not waiting in a line at some mobbed store - and money. Sounds like a better deal all around.

Gadget gifts for the holidays

Kindle Fire HDX. OK, so the Kindle Fire HDX is a tablet and therefore familiar. But it comes with something unfamiliar: a human tech support representative available at the touch of a button. This could be the tablet for your tech-unsavvy relatives. (Amazon.com, $229-309 depending on memory size)

(CNN) -- When it comes to tech gadgets as holiday gifts, the familiar is always popular.

Apple iPads. Samsung Galaxys. Eighty-four-inch LED TVs with a 3-D, 4K ultra-high definition picture, four built-in speakers and smartphone control.

OK, so that last one might be a little pricey. (It would also be popular.)

Still, you almost certainly know about the new iPad Air. You probably also know about the new PS4 and Xbox One gaming consoles.

But have you considered a portable solar array? Or some electric paint? Or a camera that creates a visual diary of your life?

Take a glance at our holiday gift gallery, above. We hope it offers some interesting ideas that go beyond the usual roundups of phones and tablets.

And if you have some ideas of your own, let us know in the comments. We'll be checking them twice. (Prices listed are full retail, but you can probably do better.)

Sony files patent for vibrating, gadget

Forget the smart watch. The wave of the future may be the Sony 'Smart Wig.'

By Matthew Shaer / November 27, 2013

We're still not entirely convinced this isn't a really early April Fools' joke, but Sony appears to have filed a US patent for a vibrating, antenna-heavy 'Smart Wig.'

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In the patent, which was originally uncovered by Kotaku, Sony lays out plans for a high-tech hairpiece kitted out with Wi-Fi antennas and tactile sensors and a GPS unit. At this point, you're probably having nightmares of people walking around the streets of your town with a range of electronics sprouting off the top of their dome. But fear not: Sony promises users can 'wear the wearable computing device as a regular wig while looking natural at the same time.'

In the filing, Sony explains the appeal of a wig as wearable tech (as opposed to a watch, for instance):

The usage of a wig has several advantages that, compared to known wearable computing devices, include a significantly increased user comfort and an improved handling of the wearable computing device. As the at least one sensor, the control unit and the communication interface are arranged in the wig, most of the components or all components of the wearable computing device are covered by the wig and are, thus, not visible.

Later, there is talk of an integrated video camera and the possibility of (and we're not making this up) 'wig-to-wig communication,' facilitated by 'vibration actuators.' Forget texting or e-mailing. In the future, we may chat with each other via our toupees.

In an interview this week with Bloomberg, Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, called the wig 'an interesting idea' that 'would be very difficult for Sony to commercialize. Who will want to use this wig will become a problem.'

Perhaps this is a preemptive patent - an attempt by Sony to get ahead of any competitors that might be mulling something similar? Stay tuned for more.

2013 electronic gadget holiday gift guide

San Francisco Chronicle2013 electronic gadget holiday gift guideSan Francisco ChronicleThe experts have rounded up a sweet list of devices that you can't possibly go wrong with. From smartphones and tablets to wearable tech and smart-home items, they've got something sure to please even the pickiest elf on your list.

The 37 Best Gadget Gifts You Can Buy This Year

The holiday season can be an incredibly tricky time to buy gadgets.

Whether you're buying for yourself or someone you love, you have to keep track of new gadgets being released and prices being cut across many different product categories to get a good deal.

If this isn't something you keep your eye on regularly, it can all be overwhelming.

Click here to skip straight to our holiday gadget gift guide >>

That's why Business Insider handles all of that work for you. With our 2014 Gadget Gift Guide, we've made shopping for gadgets the easiest part of your holiday routine.

We've rounded up the best gadgets in the most important categories. Don't worry about sifting through products you'd never want to buy - we give you the top options for several uses and software preferences in order to keep it simple.

A note on pricing: The prices listed here can vary wildly as manufacturers and retailers put up deals for the holidays. Make sure you shop around for the best prices.

Smartphones: These are the seven best phones to get for yourself or the gadget lover in your life. The iPhone 5S is the single best phone on the market today.

It's powered by the same desktop-class processor as the new iPad models and the new Touch ID feature keeps your data safe without requiring an annoying lock screen.

Click here for the full Business Insider review of the iPhone 5S >> Google's Nexus 5 is the closest you'll get to a 'pure' Android phone.

As the latest in the company's series of custom-made smartphones, the Nexus 5 will be the first to get updates to Google's Android operating system. Unfortunately, Google doesn't offer a model that works on Verizon.

Click here for the full Business Insider review of the Google Nexus 5 >> See the rest of the story at Business Insider See Also:

How to Get Goodreads on Your Kindle Paperwhite Right Now

Amazon's acquisition of Goodreads was met with a mix of cheers and disdain. Regardless of how you feel about the purchase, though, Goodreads' integration with the Kindle Paperwhite is a welcome addition this long travel weekend - that is, if you can get it working.

Last Tuesday, Amazon announced an over-the-air update for its second-gen Kindle Paperwhite that lets you see what books your Goodreads friends are reading and rating directly from the e-reader. You can post what books you're currently reading and rate them from the Paperwhite as well. It all sounds great, until you realize the update actually isn't on your Paperwhite yet. In the announcement, Amazon stipulated that the update 'will be delivered automatically in the coming weeks.' If your flight is tomorrow and you still haven't received the update, here's how to force it.

Step one: Head to Amazon's software update page for the Kindle Paperwhite. Download Software Update 5.4.2 to your computer and make a note of where you save it. Don't try to uncompress the file.

Step two: Plug your Paperwhite into your computer with a micro-USB cable. The Paperwhite will show up under the Devices sidebar on OS X and the Storage area on Windows. Drag and drop Software Update 5.4.2 (update_kindle_5.4.2.bin) to the top-level folder of the Paperwhite. Do not put it in the documents folder or any other folder.

Step three: After the file finishes copying over, disconnect the Paperwhite from the computer. Navigate to the Home screen of the e-reader. Tap on the Menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top right hand corner. In the drop-down, tap on Settings. Once in Settings, tap on the Menu icon again. In the drop-down you'll see Update Your Kindle. Tap that!

Step four: Your Paperwhite will install the update and restart. After restart, you'll see a 'g' in the menubar that signifies Goodreads is ready to go. Now to double-check the weather and your flight. Yeah, you might want to download a few more books based on your friends' recommendations.

Roberto is a Wired Staff Writer for Gadget Lab covering cord-cutting, e-readers, home technology, and all the gadgets that fit in your backpack. Got a tip? Send him an email at: roberto_baldwin [at] wired.com.

Read more by Roberto Baldwin

Follow @strngwys on Twitter.

How a handheld gadget for testing blood sugar levels keeps diabetic pilots ...

IN THE two decades since he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes Jon Hall has rarely let his condition get in the way of living life to the full.

Yet the keen amateur glider pilot was almost forced to give up his passion for flying when new EU rules decreed that diabetic flyers must test their blood glucose levels every hour while in the air.

That was something he thought would be almost impossible to do safely while flying solo because of the need to assemble complicated testing equipment.

Type 1 diabetics need to monitor their blood glucose several times a day to keep their levels within a target range. Failure to do so could lead to problems such as heart failure and blindness.

However 63-year-old museum designer Jon got the chance to try out a new type of testing kit called the Mendor Discreet, an all-in-one monitoring device that enables diabetics to check their blood glucose levels quickly and discreetly.

The gadget, which resembles a smartphone, has been designed for patients who find it difficult to monitor their blood levels as often as they should, such as workers in large open-plan offices with no privacy.

The device contains an integrated meter, lancing device and cartridge that holds 25 strips at a time and the test can be carried out within 20 seconds. The Mendor Discreet was launched in the UK last year but has only recently become widely available through diabetes specialist nurses.

It is estimated that one in 20 people in the UK has diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed) and there are two types.

Type 1 develops if a person cannot produce any insulin, the hormone that helps glucose to enter the cells where it is used as a fuel by the body.

This type accounts for 10 per cent of all sufferers with the disease.

With Type 2 the body can still make some insulin but not enough, or the insulin that is produced does not work properly.

Recent European legislation stipulates that pilots who are diabetic have to test their blood glucose 30 minutes before take-off, every hour while in the air and then 30 minutes before landing.

Jon, from Bristol, says: 'When the new legislation was announced I thought, 'That's it, I'm not going to be able to carry on flying'. All other blood glucose monitors need to be put together before you can use them, which you just can't do safely when flying solo for hours.

'For commercial pilots it's not really an issue as they usually fly with another pilot but for solo glider pilots it was virtually impossible.

'The Mendor Discreet is amazing. Because it's integrated it doesn't need assembling so you can test quickly while you're flying without having to let go of the controls.'

Jon, who is married to Loraine and has two sons, adds: 'I've always been good at managing my condition and my medical advisers are amazed at how I have been able to keep my blood glucose readings nearly the same as a non-diabetic person.

'I've made sure it hasn't made any difference to my life. I sail keelboats, walk and cycle and now I can carry on being a glider pilot.'

The Mendor Discreet is available free from diabetes specialist nurses or by visiting mendordiscreet.co.uk Replacement strips are available on prescription

The 37 Best Gadget Gifts You Can Buy This Year

Mike Nudelman/Business InsiderThe holiday season can be an incredibly tricky time to buy gadgets.

Whether you're buying for yourself or someone you love, you have to keep track of new gadgets being released and prices being cut across many different product categories to get a good deal.

If this isn't something you keep your eye on regularly, it can all be overwhelming.

Click here to skip straight to our holiday gadget gift guide >>

That's why Business Insider handles all of that work for you. With our 2014 Gadget Gift Guide, we've made shopping for gadgets the easiest part of your holiday routine.

We've rounded up the best gadgets in the most important categories. Don't worry about sifting through products you'd never want to buy - we give you the top options for several uses and software preferences in order to keep it simple.

A note on pricing: The prices listed here can vary wildly as manufacturers and retailers put up deals for the holidays. Make sure you shop around for the best prices. Smartphones Steve Kovach/Business InsiderBusiness Insider / Jillian D'OnfroMicrosoft

The Living Room Microsoft / Xbox One via YouTubeAccessories Flickr/Beorn Ours

Check by FAM Sports: The fitness gadget that's your FRIEND

The device sends electric pulses through your nervous system to assess your physical state It'll warn you if a workout could potentially result in injury The device counts Premier League footballers amongst its fans

By Ted Thornhill

PUBLISHED: 15:04 EST, 25 November 2013 | UPDATED: 15:24 EST, 25 November 2013

Regardless of your physical state, many fitness gadgets or apps try and push you that bit further.

But one new sports gizmo has a different approach - it'll pipe up and tell you to sit back and put your feet up if it thinks a workout will result in an injury.

Called 'Check', by FAM Sports, the device searches for signs of fatigue in your nervous system before you set off for a run or begin pumping iron, and warns you if there's a chance you could be overdoing it.

The gadget's website boasts that the check takes just 15 seconds, with the assessment carried out via electrodes that are placed on the forearm (pictured above).

They send tiny pulses of electricity through the body and how your nervous system reacts to these will determine whether the gadget advises you to face the fitness music, or run a bath.

The website says that it's 'specifically aimed for sports requiring speed, strength, skill and coordination'.

And there are reportedly a number of Premier League footballers who are fans, so it's undoubtedly a useful bit of kit.

However, those not on a footballers' salary may find it prohibitively expensive.

It costs £225 and many might prefer instead to fashion training regimes for free with the help of common sense and internet research.

Top 10 Christmas gifts for gadget fans: From iPad Airs and Sennheiser ...

Are they in need of a gadget upgrade? Get your loved ones the latest tech toys but be prepared for conversations around the dinner table to end.

iPad Air, from £399, click here to buy Whether it's the Mini or this full-blown Air, Apple's tablets come with all the trimmings like a gorgeous retina display.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, £109, click here to buyThe Carta E-Ink display on the latest Paperwhite puts the Kindle in front by a nose in the e-reader stakes.

Samsung WB250 F, £129.99, click here to buy A bargain 14.2-megapixel compact camera with wi-fi, full HD video, and massive 18x optical zoom.

Braun CoolTec CT2, £79.99, click here to buy CoolTec shavers house a kind of mini fridge that transports heat away from the skin to minimise irritation.

Pioneer NavGate HUD, £600, click here to buy Feel like a fighter pilot with a sat-nav system using an HUD (heads-up display) to project AR directions onto your windscreen.

Denon Cocoon Stream, £249, click here to buy A wireless speaker with a rather different look for streaming across every platform with any device.

Ruark Audio R2i, £299.95, click here to buy The British brand's audio range comprises beautifully designed devices big and small including this tabletop stereo.

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear, £169.99, click here to buy They sound as good as they look and nestle on your lobes like a pair of comforting suede ear-muffs.

The Android commuter tablet of choice with a super-sharp HD display and quad-core processor.

Sony QX10/QX100, £149/£349, click here to buy the QX10 and click here to buy the QX100 Sony's innovative lenses strap to your smartphone and turn it into a high-end compact camera.

Best headphones 2013: 10th Pocket

It's been a great year for headphones, with new devices flooding the market left, right and centre. The headphones available today are almost a fashion statement in their own right, bringing a fabulous style along with great audio.

To be in with a chance of being nominated for this category, the products had to be over the ear headphones, and after a great deal of considering and conversing, we have selected the below as our five nominees in the Best Headphones 2013 category.

Bowers & Wilkins P7

The Bowers & Wilkins P7 headphones were launched in September for £329 and they feature an absolutely beautiful design with quality materials. They aren't too ostentatious for over-the-ear headphones so you can wear them out and about without losing too much street cred.

They deliver superb audio performance, which is what you would expect from the company, and we were really impressed with them. All-in-all, the Bowers & Wilkins P7's have cracked both style and sound quality in one, for a brilliant set of headphones.

Denon AH-D600

Denon launched its AH-D600 headphones at the back end of last year in December for a rather expensive £500. The headphones come with a lovely overall sound, as you would expect considering they are shortlisted in this category, and we found them perfect for watching TV and movies.

READ: Denon AH-D600 review

They feature a stunning bass, which is perhaps a little too hard for those who want a pure experience but they are amazingly comfortable and beautifully clear. In fact, the sound is utterly amazing, we think of them more as a cheap set of home cinema speakers to carry around, rather than an expensive set of headphones.

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear

Sennheiser released its Momentum On-Ear headphones in the middle of this year priced at £170. They are both lighter by weight and price compared to their predecessor, and also available in a range of colours.

READ: Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear review

These headphones are a delight and are well worth their asking price. They look sublime and the sound quality they kick out is as much a delight too - it is punchy, balanced and never overstated. Perfect for when out and about, around the home or pretty much anything - we've barely stopped using them.

Sol Republic Master Tracks XC Studio Tuned by Calvin Harris

The Sol Republic Master Tracks XC headphones were released in November and come with a price tag of £230. They come with two cables included, are comfortable to wear and feature subtle branding, which we like. Whether you're a fan of Calvin Harris or not, the only sign of the man's name is tucked away on the inside of the headband.

READ: Sol Republic Master Tracks XC Studio Tuned by Calvin Harris

The sound is amazing, so credit to the man and Sol Republic on that front. Add a solid build, which is a modular design so should anything break it can be replaced individually. We think the Master Tracks XC headphones nail it, maybe not for classical or jazz, but they are spot on for what most young people want to hear. We think they are great and well worthy of their place in this shortlist.

Sony MDR-1R

Sony brought the MDR-R1 headphones to market in August last year for £300 and their attractive design is eventually very comfy once you have worn them in. Better still they can be found for under £200 today.

They feature a great amount of detail in sound, giving you a fantastic over-ear experience. It's far from neutral though but we think that will be preferable to the wider market, and the bass feels well positioned but not over the top. The MDR-R1 headphones are stylish, comfortable, an awesome home listen and prestigious on all counts.

Voting for your favourite

Voting in the 10th annual Pocket-lint Awards is now open. You can let us know which one of these great devices should win the Best Headphones 2013 award and give us your verdict about all the other tech across the 12 select categories. To vote, all you have to do is visit pocket-lint.com/awards.

Winners will be announced at the exclusive event in London on 28 November in association with O2 and . For now, keep an eye on the Pocket-lint Gadget Awards 2013 hub for all the latest on how the voting works, who the elite judges are and the complete 10th Pocket-lint Gadget Awards shortlist.

The 12 Must

Huffington PostThe 12 Must-Have Gadget Gifts For The HolidaysHuffington PostFrom touchscreen-friendly wool gloves to sleek pocketable projectors, we have some gorgeous gadgets for show ahead. 1. The Tile App. tile. Afraid of losing your keys? Your purse? Attach a Bluetooth-enabled "Tile" to any easy-to-lose object, install the ...