Week in Tech: Everything is awesome at the Techradar Phone Awards

Week In Tech

While Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift traded Twitter insults and cat vs cucumber became our favourite Vine of the week, there was some proper tech news happening - although not at Apple, whose earnings call told us that Apple Watch sales were "mumble mumble" and "look! Over there! A man dressed as a bat!".

Meanwhile the world got ready for the launch of Windows 10, the UK authorities blasted drone-owning dullards and TechRadar's Phone Week was a whole week of, you've guessed it, phones.

It's week in tech!

And the winner is…


Nicki Minaj tried to make the MTV Video awards more newsworthy, but we all know that the king of awards shows is the TechRadar Phone Awards 2015. But which names were inside the golden envelopes?

Our live blog covered all the action including crucial issues such as the judges' favourite emojis (smiley poo) and where we see the future of wireless charging going.

Gongs were given to the best innovation, best smartwatch, best app, best budget phone and budget tablet, and the world's best phone and best tablet. Can you guess what they were? If you said BlackBerry to either, you might be disappointed.

Are you ready for Windows 10?


Windows 10 ships next week - and if our latest survey is any indication, many of you won't be buying it unless it's really cheap. The update is famously free for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, but everybody else who wants it will have to pay real cash money.

They'll also be saying goodbye to some familiar features, such as Media Center, Windows XP Mode and many Windows games, all of which are gone in Windows 10.

If you'd like to know what Windows 10 actually brings to the PC and phone party, we've got everything you need to know right here.

That was the Phone Week that was


The TechRadar Phone awards were the climax of what everybody is calling Phone Week, which was an entire week dedicated to phones.

We took a peek at a potential design for the iPhone 7, predicted the next 20 years of Android discovered how to make a Hollywood movie on a phone and discovered why smartphone batteries are still rubbish.

Not only that, but we travelled back in time to review phones such as the BlackBerry 8700g, which was pretty hot stuff back in 2006.

Whether you're interested in phones' future or their past, in amazing things you can do or hilarious things manufacturers have done, you'll find all the goodies in our Phone Week coverage.

Deadly drones and idiots in the air


The UK Civil Aviation Authority has released a new "dronecode" after a spate of remote-controlled idiocy including flying too close to aeroplanes.

The rules don't mention guns, however, and maybe they should: an 18-year-old man in Connecticut has wowed and scared social media with footage of a home-made gun mount on a common or garden drone. Armed drones aren't a new idea, of course, but the thought that your neighbour might be able to build one is pretty scary.

OnePlus One plus one is two


This week's "we're rubbish at keeping secrets" badge goes to OnePlus, whose OnePlus Two has leaked like a badly grouted shower stall.

The phone launches next week and appears to have had a metal makeover; it doesn't look much different from its predecessor, though the screen should be sharper: we're hearing it's a 5.5-inch QHD.

All hail our insect emergency services


Good news for anybody who's ever wished that somebody would train cybernetically-enhanced cockroaches to look for disaster survivors!

A team of researchers has been training cybernetically-enhanced cockroaches to look for survivors trapped in disaster areas. The team, from North Carolina State University, have equipped the insects with tiny electrodes that stimulate antennae to effectively steer the cockroaches. By adding a drone-generated radio "fence" the team believes they can make insects go where no human searchers can go. Real-world tests begin this summer.

The TechRadar hive mind. The Megazord. The Voltron. When our powers combine, we become 'TECHRADAR STAFF'. You'll usually see this author name when the entire team has collaborated on a project or an article, whether that's a run-down ranking of our favorite Marvel films, or a round-up of all the coolest things we've collectively seen at annual tech shows like CES and MWC. We are one.