The first in a new weekly feature rounding up some of the more intriguing, informative or plain baffling tech stories knocking about the internetweb. Casting aside all those cast-iron predictions that Apple would launch the iPhone this week, first up is News Corporation finally starting to throw its weight around in the Web 2.0 world.

Chief operating officer Peter Chernin (left) told a conference that MySpace wants to crush YouTube and, well, basically any other big Web 2.0 service. "If you look at virtually any Web 2.0 application, whether its YouTube, whether it’s Flickr, whether it’s Photobucket…almost all of them are really driven off the back of MySpace, there’s no reason why we can’t build a parallel business."

One reason why that might not be the case? If you look at virtually any Web 2.0 application, it's easier to use than MySpace. And you don't have to worry about your content getting spewed out of other parts of the Murdoch empire. Mashable's verdict on MySpace's plans: "This is such a ridiculous strategy that it’s not even worth contemplating."

Must admit we don't normally bang on about dead wood media titles here on Tech Digest, because 1, they are complicit in the murder of millions of innocent young saplings, and 2, they pinch advertising space that should by rights be ours. Give it back now!

But we'll make an exception for the thoroughly nice crew from PC Pro magazine who hosted a top awards event last night at the stunning Park Lane Hotel in London. We had sumptuous food, top comedy and some great hosts in PC Pro's ever amiable king boffin Tim Danton and Sky News' super sassy anchor Ginny Buckley (love the wind tunnel hair effect btw). There was also an award or two and you can find out about them after the turn.

Put on your Burberry scarf and switch on your iPod Shuffle. While the iPod nano may be the king of cool, Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny's panel of the UK's top gadget experts* have voted its budget sibling the iPod shuffle this year's 'Must Chav Gadget.'

The shuffle is perfect for chavs. It's cheap. It's by a cool brand, and you can let others know you have one as it is designed to be worn round your neck. As it is white it also accessorises well with those classy gold chains Chavs wear. The sad part is that the shuffle is the worst player in the Apple range - more like some dodgy back street knock-off than the excellent other iPods. The fact it has no screen so you can't program it or choose a track - it chooses the music for you - also saves Chav brain cells for the much more important business of, ahem, 'pimping their rides.

Runner up in Chav Gadget of the year is the ultra skinny Motorola phone the RAZR. Once the height of cool, this has now become standard fixture for every Tom Dick and Chav. Motorola has done it pink which is obviously topm of Vicky Pollard's Christmas list, maybe they should be thinking of a Burberry version.

The awards, given by top gadget websites Tech Digest, Shiny Shiny and Games Digest in conjunction with broadband/digital TV/telephony company Telewest also include gongs for most indispensable mobile phone, which was won by the Samsung SGH-D600 and the most bling gadget which went to BabyPhat's gold-plated £20,000 case for the Sony PSP.

Gadget of the year, which was voted for by the websites' readers, went to the Sony PSP handheld gaming console, Apple's excellent iPod nano won the Shiny Shiny icon award while the Sky Gnome, an add-on for the company's satellite systems that lets users listen to music and radio channels anywhere in the home, took best gadget accessory.

* The awards were voted for a by a panel of 15 that includes gadget writers from most of the UK newspapers, specialists from technology magazines and the staff of Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny. There's a full list of winners after the turn

• 1.5 million page impressions
• 1 million unique visitors
• Second Telewest Shiny Awards

Shiny Media celebrates its first anniversary today with the news that November is on target to be our biggest and best month so far. Across our network of 14 blogs we look set to record 1.5 million page impressions in 30 days, over 1 million of them unique visitors.
But that's not all. In the latest Google page rankings - a measure by which higher quality sites receive a higher score, our sites have all performed exceptionally well. Shiny Shiny - the world's leading girls' gadget blog - is the only UK consumer electronics website to have a ranking of 7/10 for its home page. That's higher than T3, Crave (CNet), Pocket-Lint and Stuff.
This Thursday also sees the return of the Telewest Shiny Awards in which readers and top industry journalists decide on the best and worst gadgets on the market. Thanks for all your support in making this last 12 months so exciting. And look out for new launches from the rapidly expanding Shiny Media network over the next few months.

So now you have your eight Meg broadband connection what are you going to use it for? Here are the applications that our judges like. We'll announce the best use for broadband on December 2nd.

Apple's HD movie trailers
Napster to go
Skype
Snapfish
Wippit

So which is 2005's coolest computer. Here's our list of top models. Find out which PC our judges picked on December 2nd

Apple 15inch G4 Powerbook laptop
Asus U5
Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P7120
Philips Media Center PC MCP9350i
Sony VGN-TX1
Toshiba Qosmio G20

So which mobile is the one that our judges simply won't leave home without? Find out here when we name the year's most indispensable mobile on December 2nd

Sharp 903
Motorola RAZR
Nokia N90
T-Mobile Sidekick II
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman
Samsung SGH-D600
Nokia 6680
Sagem My-X8

So what's the gadget du jour for our Burberry-clad, tracky-wearing Daniela/Goldie Looking Chain wannabees? Here's the nominations. We'll let you know which is this year's Must-Chav gadget on Friday December 2nd.

Motorola RAZR
Apple iPod shuffle
Nokia 8880
Nintendo DS
Sega iDog
Motorola / Oakley RAZRWIRE
Sony PSP

Oscars Smoschars, Baftas Waftas, yep it is that time of the year when we host the one award ceremony that truly counts - the Telewest Shinys. Due to be held on December 1st in a glittering venue in London's fabulous West End - well that's what the club owner told us to say anyway - the Shinys salute all that's cool in gadgets, design, games and much more.

This year for the first time we are giving you dear reader the chance to vote for an award. Tell us which you think is the coolest gadget of 2005 and we'll pop your name down on a bit of paper and plonk it in a rather large hat. Come the day of the awards, December 1st, we'll pull five names out of the hat and they will be receiving a Sony Bean music player. So check out the runners and riders and email us you top gadget here

Apple iPod nano
Canon Digital ixus i zoom
Fujifilm FinePix Z1
Motorola RAZR
Navman ICN 550
Nikon D50
Nintendo DS
Philips WACS 700
Roomba
Sky+ 160
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman
Sony PSP

Oscars Smoschars, Baftas Waftas, yep it is that time of the year when we host the one award ceremony that truly counts - the Telewest Shinys. Due to be held on December 1st in a glittering venue in London's fabulous West End - well that's what the club owner told us to say anyway - the Shinys salute all that's cool in gadgets, design, games and much more.

This year for the first time we are giving you dear reader the chance to vote for an award. As from tomorrow you tell us which you think is the coolest gadget of 2005 and we'll pop your name down on a bit of paper and plonk it in a rather large hat. Come the day of the awards, December 1st, we'll pull a couple of names out of the hat and they will be receiving some rather groovy prizes. Don't vote until we say, but here are the runners and riders

Apple iPod nano
Canon Digital ixus i zoom
Fujifilm FinePix Z1
Motorola RAZR
Navman ICN 550
Nikon D50
Nintendo DS
Philips WACS 700
Roomba
Sky+ 160
Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman
Sony PSP

What Hi-Fi is a magazine that knows it woofers from its tweeters (it's all about dogs and birds ain't it?) so winning one of its awards (which were officially announced yesterday) is quite a salute from the mag's golden eared and eyed reviewers. Anyhow below are a few of our key selections from the winners of Product of the year from different categories:

Arcam Solo - Winner of All-in-one Systems
Forget Hi-Fi separates; the Solo does everything without dominating your living-room and it sounds amazing too, it has an integrated CD player and inputs for an MP3 player such as an iPod.
Read More

Sony RDR-HXD710 - DVD and Hard Disk Recorders
Boasting everything you need in a recorder: huge storage capacity for short term recordings, removable DVD storage for keeping things longer and an integrated Freeview package to save you a few quid on a digital set top box.
Read More

Monitor Audio i-Deck - MP3 3layers & accessories
Compatible with a decent range of iPod types, this docking station will add serious power to the portable unit and probably negates the need for traditional form of home audio entertainment.
Read More

Click the link below to see the full list of winners from all eighteen categories.

The EISA (European Imaging & Sound Association) awards are similar to the Eurovision Song Contest... but for technology instead of songs. Every year, fifty of the head honchos at the top European technology magazines gather to give their verdicts on the year's gadgets. And, inevitably, Britain always gets Nil Point from the judges for its lacklustre efforts.

The results of this year's awards are already in, but for some reason EISA hasn't managed to update its website.

However, here are some of the winners we do know about.

They've been embargoed for weeks, but now we can let you know the winners of the prestigious What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision awards. Of course, we will be following up with comments from the winners and losers as soon as possible....

The What Hi-Fi awards, or What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision awards as we now have to call them, are always good fun with the industry's finest flocking to Park Lane's swanky Hilton hotel for an evening of entertainment and gossip.

This year's event, presided over by new editor on the block Steve Fowler and comedian/writer Tony Hawks, was a slickly-enough run affair, even if the awards seemed to go on forever (there were over 20 awards, but it felt like nearly double that). Certainly some of the smaller names in the hi-fi business will have been given a much-needed shot in the arm by some of the decisions while many of the larger companies will have left feeling despondent and empty-handed.

However, there was a general feeling of bewilderment among some of the people we spoke to at some of the awards which were handed out - especially on the video front. Some felt that What Hi-Fi's transition to a fully-fledged AV magazine is still not yet complete. Among them was Adrian Justins, editor of What Video and Widescreen TV, who told Tech Digest:

"What Hi-Fi does a fantastic job of promoting its brand and has an unmatched global penetration but does the reader get the best advice in all subjects covered by the mag? For example, recent test verdicts on plasma screens and DVD recorders show the magazine is unable to correctly judge the performance of these products. Even the winners of the awards in these categories admitted that their products are not worthy winners. Everyone in the industry knows what the good products are and I sense a lot of disquiet among manufacturers."

What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision's editor, Steve Fowler sees things a very different way.

"We were delighted by the response to this years Awards and, for once, the audience seemed to be pretty united on the winners. However, I'm disappointed that Tech Digest has published what is clearly just knocking comment from the editor of a publication in the same market. It is perhaps hardly surprising that the editor of a magazine with a monthly circulation of under 25,000 should make sweeping statements about the quality of our product reviews without putting forward one shred of evidence to substantiate them. Clearly the 75,000 buyers of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision each month do not share his views."

And the winners are...

There's nothing the consumer electronics industry likes more than an awards bash. Donning the penguin suit for the evening, blowing the company's marketing spend for the year on champagne and, with a bit of luck, managing to stagger home in tact accompanied by a cheesy statuette and a certificate or two.
And quite possibly the most prestigious awards, certainly as far as much of Europe is concerned, are the EISAs which were announced at the end of last week.

Click below for our verdicts on both the awards and this year's winners.