Taken from gamasutra.com; this is an interesting list, see: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26360/Game_Developer_Announces_2009_Front_Line_Award_Finalists.php for the full article.
:bulletblue: Art Tool
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010, Autodesk
Corel Painter 11, Corel
Modo 401, Luxology
Autodesk Mudbox 2009, Autodesk
ZBrush 3.12b, Pixologic
:bulletblue: Audio Tool
FMOD Designer 4.27, Firelight Technologies
Miles Sound System 7.2e, RAD Game Tools
ProTools v8.0.1, Digidesign
Vivox Precision Studio SDK v. 3.0.6, Vivox
Wwise 2009.2, Audiokinetic
:bulletblue: Middleware
Havok Physics 6.6.0, Havok