The HTC Hero phone has surprised technology experts after it scooped the top prize in a gadget awards ceremony.

More than 135,000 readers voted for the smartphone as the gadget of the year, as it saw off strong competition from the Apple iPhone and Palm Pre.

The Hero was described as “the jewel in the Android Crown” by judges at the T3 Gadget Awards.

A spokesman for T3 magazine said: “With a mix of svelte good looks – the jutting ‘chin’ on the bottom lends it an iconic air – and slickly intuitive usability, the Hero seems to do everything well, without fuss.”

Featuring a 3.2″ multi-touch screen, 5MP camera, 512MB on-board memory and microSD slot, the Hero was also named as phone of the year.

However, Apple did not end up empty handed, as its iPhone 3GS was named as the gadget that people cannot live without, while it also picked up the commuter gadget of the year.

Apple iPhone users will soon be able to watch live TV programmes thanks to a new application which is being released for the ever-evolving device.

For the last year, computer owners have been able to log-on to TVCatchup.com to watch over 30 Freeview channels over the internet.

To celebrate the website’s first birthday, the founders have now created a Beta application which will allow iPhone users to access the same service through their handheld devices.

Currently 11 channels are available for testing including the five main channels along with E4, Film4, BBC Three and ITV2.

The streams have been specially optimised to work through either the 3G or Wi-Fi networks, while viewers also have the ability to pause programmes or watch them in portrait and landscape modes.

iPhone and iPod Touch users can currently take advantage of the BBC iPlayer on their device to catch any programmes they might have missed.

The smartphone owners can bookmark the website to the home screen of their handset to give quick and easy access to the free service.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has released a new application into the iPhone’s App Store which warns users about how much salt they are eating.

Going hand-in-hand with its current public awareness campaign on TV, the Salt application gives intake advice through a traffic light system.

Health conscious users can enter in the levels of salt stated on the label of their food product along with the weight of the serving and the app will then advise whether the item is healthy.

The application also gives people information on the recommended daily intake for children as well as tips on how to reduce salt in a diet.

Since the iPhone was released, a number of other applications have been released to help users look after their health.

Quitter is an app for people trying to give up smoking and keeps a track of how many days the person has gone without having a cigarette as well as stating how much money they have saved.

WeightTracker allows people to set weight loss goals for themselves and the application will chart their progress towards them.

Apple’s iPhone is the best smartphone device across two different markets, according to an industry study.

A survey by JD Power showed that the Apple iPhone’s consumer score of 811 out of 1,000 beat LG’s smartphones which scored 776 and RIM BlackBerry’s with 759.

Business users also ranked the iPhone as the best in its class with a score of 801.

Furthermore, the research showed that satisfaction among smartphone owners had increased by 14 index points on a 1,000-point scale from six months ago, while business owners’ satisfaction had jumped up by 43 points.

Due to awareness of the advanced features available on smartphones, the satisfaction level of traditional mobile phone owners declined by six index points.

The findings come as consumers are holding out hopes for an iPhone price war in the coming months, after Orange and Vodafone signed deals to supply the device in the UK alongside O2.

People looking for iPhone applications to save them money should make sure they download Red Laser, according to a top ten guide.

The Sunday Times gave the app 4.5 stars out of five while also adding that it was the number one paid-for application in the App Store last week.

Red Laser uses the iPhone’s camera to scan and read barcodes on products, then searching Amazon and Google Product Search for the best online prices for the item.

Other applications which appeared in the list include the Mini Mortgage Manager, which lets people keep an eye on their home loan costs.

The size of loan, term of mortgage and rate of interest can be entered into the phone and the iPhone will calculate the monthly repayments along with a running total of how much has been repaid.

App Sniper is a bargain-hunting app for app hunters as it constantly updates and notifies users of the store’s latest additions along with any price changes and sales.

New versions of Windows Mobile smartphones ar an improvement on past versions but still not groundbreaking, according to an expert.

Peter Cunningham, senior analyst at technology company Canalys, said that the new operating system is more of an evolutionary step rather than a revolutionary step forward "unlike the iPhone".

He added: "If you look at what Windows Mobile has done in the past, it has certainly been behind the curve, especially when you have products like the iPhone coming to market."

Mr Cunningham said that when the iPhone came into view, it was notably ahead of the competition and continues to remain so despite the gap being made a bit smaller.

His comments follow the announcements from Microsoft of a line of new Windows Mobile phones and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which will provide downloadable content.

One of the highlights of the new Windows Mobile service is the access that users get to a cloud service which allows them to back up their phone’s data.