Exciting Brands, Innovations, and Products Recognized in the 2025 Awards Ceremony
In a celebration of groundbreaking technology, the Hero Awards recognised the achievements of companies and their products that have made a lasting impact on the world of technology. This year, the winners were chosen by the team at Tom's Guide for their impact on the future of technology.
Gemini Live - The Most Intuitive AI on the Market
Google's Gemini Live, an AI software, was awarded the Best New Product in this year's Tom's Guide Awards. The software stands out for its advanced multimodal capabilities, seamless integration across platforms, and groundbreaking audio and natural language functions.
Gemini is designed from the ground up to be truly multimodal, understanding and generating multiple data types such as text, images, audio, and video. It can handle interleaved inputs of these formats to produce rich, mixed outputs, making interactions more natural and versatile.
The software excels in conversational AI by supporting complex dialogues involving multiple AI "actors," each with distinct voice styles. NotebookLM, a specialized platform integrated with Gemini, can ingest diverse knowledge sources and synthesize them into engaging AI dialogue-based podcasts, reflecting deep understanding rather than just reading text aloud.
Gemini also powers productivity by integrating robustly into Google Workspace apps like Docs, Gmail, Sheets, Slides, and Meet. It assists with writing, data analysis, formula generation, visual design, and even live meeting captions and notes in over 100 languages. The software is expanding to Wear OS watches, enabling users to engage with AI on the wrist in a hands-free, intuitive way.
In music applications, Gemini is integrated with YouTube Music to help users find songs, create playlists, and generate radio stations intuitively. Future innovations may include real-time mood detection via sensors to automatically adjust playlists, showcasing the AI’s ability to blend intelligent personalization with user context for highly responsive interactions.
Framework Laptop 12 - The Most Sustainable Laptop of the Year
The Framework Laptop 12 was also recognised at the Hero Awards, being named the most sustainable laptop of the year. This 2-in-1 laptop is the most accessible, sustainable, and upgradable device ever seen. It is designed to be easy to learn, with embedded QR codes leading to step-by-step guides for part swapping.
The Framework Laptop 12 features a bright, colourful, and buttery smooth 180Hz Mini-LED display, a slim and sleek design, and a battery life that outperforms other high-performance laptops. Despite its enhanced design and larger display, the Framework Laptop 12 is 48% thinner than the original Framework Laptop and 26% thinner than last year's Framework Laptop 11.
Asus ROG Flow Z13 - A Game Changer in Portable High-Performance Devices
The Asus ROG Flow Z13, the winner of the Innovation Award, is a 2-in-1 device with integrated graphics that delivers high performance in gaming. Despite being initially announced without a dedicated graphics card, the Asus ROG Flow Z13 has proven to be a powerful device in the gaming space, surpassing 90 frames per second in Cyberpunk 2077 and 92 FPS in Black Myth: Wukong.
The Asus ROG Flow Z13 marks a significant moment in technology, combining high performance with portability in a way that has long been anticipated.
Anthropic - Leading the Way in Safe and Transparent AI
Anthropic, a company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, has won the award for Best Company. Anthropic is distinguished by its focus on AI safety, transparency, and model explainability. The company has received significant funding from Amazon and Google, and has generated $4 billion in revenue.
Anthropic's Claude AI models have surpassed competitors in tasks like writing, summarization, and code generation, leading in SWE-Bench benchmarks.
In summary, this year's Hero Awards recognised companies and their products that have changed the course of technology, broken ground with new innovations, and made significant efforts towards sustainability. The winners, Google's Gemini Live, the Framework Laptop 12, the Asus ROG Flow Z13, and Anthropic, are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in technology.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 - Design and Performance Combined
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 was also recognised at the Tom's Guide Awards, being named the best designed gadget of the year. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 measures 8.9 mm when folded and 4.2mm when unfolded, and boasts an even larger 8-inch main display and a new multi-rail structure that reduces the visibility of the crease. Despite being slightly thicker and lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 does not support S Pen or offer dust resistance.
References: 1. Gemini Live: Google's AI Assistant for the Future 2. NotebookLM: A Platform for AI-Powered Podcasts 3. YouTube Music and Gemini: A Powerful Partnership 4. Google Workspace and Gemini: A Seamless Integration
- Google's Gemini Live, a game-changing AI software, has been acknowledged for its impressive advances in artificial intelligence, making it a standout in both home-and-garden and technology realms.
- The Framework Laptop 12, recognized as the most sustainable laptop of the year, combines a commitment to sustainable living with modern technological designs, making it an exceptional addition to the home-and-garden and laptop market.
- The Asus ROG Flow Z13, a 2-in-1 device, has revolutionized the world of technology by bridging the gap between gaming and portability, making it a pioneer in both the home-and-garden and gaming sectors.
- Anthropic, a leading company in the field of data-and-cloud-computing, is making strides in the realm of technology by focusing on AI safety, transparency, and explainability, setting new standards in the industry.
- The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, a product that excels in both design and performance, has been recognized as a standout gadget in the home-and-garden space, showcasing the potential for seamless integration of technology into everyday life.
