British monthly Tomorrow’s Technology Today, better known as T3, which specializes in gadgets, gizmos and other technology, is out today with its shortlist of technology products, brands and personalities for 2011. T3 Gadget Awards, one of the biggest tech awards in the UK informally recognized as the “technology Oscars”, already has over 350,000 user votes.

A strong Apple showing is evident, with some interesting Apple vs. Google battles shaping up. The Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics powerhouse has fifteen nominations, only trumped by eighteen nods for Google and its Android operating system. Samsung comes in third with eight spots on the shortlist, while Sony picks up six.

Kieran Alger, editor of T3.com, comments for 9to5Google:

The rise of Google in the past twelve months continues to impress and has really benefited the tech industry with increased competition. In the smartphone market alone we’ve seen HTC and Samsung adopt the Android platform and team it with hardware that’s really challenging the dominance of Apple. We’re yet to see that cross properly into tablets but it’s surely only a matter or time. It’s great for the industry and we’re expecting the finals of the T3 Gadget Awards to be the hardest fought yet.

Apple’s iPad 2 and iPhone 4 face off Amazon’s Kindle and Samsung’s seven-inch Galaxy Tab for the Commuter Gadget of the Year award. With Android tablets taking up 30 percent of the tablet market in June, anything is possible in the Tablet of the Year category which includes Apple’s iPad, Motorola’s Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, Asus’s Eee Pad Transformer and LG’s Optimus Pad.

Google’s Android Honeycomb operating system for tablets is also up for a vote in the Innovation of the Year category. There is plenty of time to vote up your favorites at the official website – the winners will be announced at the star-studded awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate, London on Monday, October 10. The full list of entrants and award categories is right past the break.

The prestigious Phone of the Year category pits iPhone 4, HTC’s Incredible S and Sensation, Motorola’s laptop-killing Atrix, Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Samsung’s Galaxy S II against each other. The Atrix also ranked first in the T3 Hot 100 earlier this year, while HTC took home the Phone of the Year award in last year’s T3 Gadget Awards with its Desire handset. Apple Stores, Amazon and eight other retailers are battling it out for the Retailer of the Year award. The App of the Year category includes social news reader Flipboard, Apple’s music creation tool GarageBand, Sky News for iPad, video calling app Skype, Angry Birds-killer Tiny Wings and Marco Arment’s Instapaper, an awesome app to save web pages for reading later.

Cross-posted on 9to5Mac.com

The T3 Gadget Awards 2011: shortlist by category

Innovation of the Year

Motorola Atrix Nintendo 3DS LG ST600 Smart TV Upgrader Android Honeycomb Nvidia Tegra 2 Razer Swtichblade

Gaming Gadget of the Year

Microsoft Xbox Kinect Nintendo 3DS Sony PlayStation Move Apple iPad 2 Sony PlayStation 3 Alienware M17X

App of the Year

Flipboard GarageBand Sky News for iPad Skype Tiny Wings Instapaper

Retailer of the Year

Amazon John Lewis Apple Store Carphone Warehouse Three Store Orange Store PC World Tesco Argos Jessops

Commuter Gadget of the Year

Apple iPad 2 Amazon Kindle Apple iPhone 4 Nintendo 3DS EBCO Eagle LSR-50 Samsung Galaxy Tab 7

Digital Media Service of the Year

Spotify Twitter Virgin Media Tivo Facebook Dropbox Sky Anytime+

TV of the Year

Samsung UE55D8000 Philips 46PFL9705H Sony Bravia KDL-40NX713 Toshiba Regza 55WL768 LG P50PZ950T Panasonic Viera TX-42GT30

T3 Design Award

Apple MacBook Air 11-inch Apple iPad 2 Leica M9 Titanium Samsung Notebook Series 9 (900X3A) Fujifilm X100 RIM Blackberry Playbook

Phone of the Year

HTC Incredible S Motorola Atrix Apple iPhone 4 Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Samsung Galaxy S II HTC Sensation

Digital Camera of the Year

Fujifilm X100 Olympus E-PL2 Nikon D3100 Canon EOS 600D Panasonic Lumix GF2 Canon Powershot G12

Tech Brand of the Year

HTC Apple Google Samsung Twitter Facebook

Gadget of the Year

Apple iPad 2 Motorola Atrix Amazon Kindle Nintendo 3DS Samsung Galaxy S II Apple iPhone 4 Virgin Media Tivo Microsoft Xbox Kinect HTC Incredible S Sony PlayStation Move Apple iPad 2 Motorola XooM RIM BlackBerry Playbook Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Asus Eee Pad Transformer LG Optimus Pad

Computer of the Year

Samsung Notebook Series 9 (900X3A) Apple Macbook Pro Apple MacBook Air 11-inch Sony Vaio S Series (VPCSB1V9E) Alienware M17X HP Envy 14

Music Gadget of the Year

Denon Ceol Philips Fidelio DS9000 Pure Avanti Flow B&W Zeppelin Air Cambridge Audio Minx Monster Beats Pro

Work Gadget of the Year

Logitech Performance Mouse MX RIM Blackberry Bold 9780 Apple iPhone 4 Asus Eee Pad Transformer Apple iPad 2 Motorola Atrix and Lapdock

Home Gadget of the Year

Dyson Digital Slim DC35 Krups Nespresso Citiz Philips Actifryer Pure Twilight Tefal Vitacuisine Compact Cuisinart Soup Maker

Gadget Accessory of the Year

Idapt Universal Charger i4 Apple iPad Smart Cover Joby Gorillapod Video Eye-Fi Pro X2 Griffin Adidas miCoach Armband Miniot Cover for iPad 2

Tech Personality of the Year

Pollyanna Woodward Suzi Perry Jason Bradbury Rory Cellan-Jones Richard Branson Stephen Fry Mark Zuckerberg Spencer Kelly Dr Dre Lady Gaga