The 25 most innovative products of the year
Make no mistake, the Web is taking over. Applications are moving to browsers
en masse, and technology to take Web apps offline promises to smooth the road
ahead. And let's not forget breakthrough devices advancing the Web-anywhere
world: Apple has redefined the phone, and One Laptop per Child's sub-$200 laptop
is delivering Internet-style collaboration to kids in developing nations. But
innovation isn't all on the Web; the PC is evolving as well. Apple has reenvisioned
backup, HP has created the first useful touch-screen PC, hybrid hard drives
boost speed and battery life, and ultraportables have become even more useful.
Chosen from the hundreds of products we reviewed in 2007, here are 25 that will
change the way you work, communicate, and play this year--and beyond.
1. Google Gears
Innovation: Plug-in lets Web applications work offline.
Benefit: Tackles the single biggest hurdle to making Web apps truly convenient.
Imagine firing up only one application--a Web browser--for handling all of
your daily computer tasks. It's a nice dream, but it has one major problem:
What do you do when you're offline? Google Gears, a Windows application now
in beta, solves this problem by allowing service designers to create versions
that still work when your PC doesn't have an Internet connection. Google Reader,
Zoho Writer (which added offline editing via Gears in late 2007), and online
task manager Remember the Milk already use it, and Google is working to add
Gears to other applications in its stable. (If you're thinking of ditching desktop
software entirely, read one writer's take in "Life
Without Desktop Software.")
2. Apple iPhone
Innovation: Gee-whiz touch-screen interface and spartan case dial up a mobile
revolution.
Benefit:Mac OS-simple software offering slide-and-glide access to bright, colorful
menus sets this cell phone apart from its rivals.
The $399 iPhone has taken some criticism for its shortcomings, mainly its lack
of 3G connectivity, but you can't deny that the sleek handset is innovative.
Apple made navigating via a touch screen--sure to be a staple in future PDA
phones and other small devices--intuitive and fun. iPhone's Safari browser makes
the handset a great mobile Web device (at least when you can get a Wi-Fi connection.)
And, sure, many phones play music, but Cover Flow cranks the iPhone up to 11
as a music player.
3. One Laptop per Child XO
Innovation: $200 laptop does mesh networking, is sand- and waterproof, and
works well in direct sunlight.
Benefit: What every child in the developing world needs; makes you ask, "When
will my laptop be able to do that?"
Innovation isn't always about being bigger, better, and faster. One Laptop
per Child's Linux-powered XO laptop, with a 7.5-inch display--designed for children
in poor countries--is one of the cheapest, most power-conscious, and sturdy
notebooks on the planet. It also has features you might wish you had on your
mainstream laptop. One clear standout: XO's Wi-Fi allows it to function as a
mesh-network node that can connect with other XOs, even when no Internet connection
is available.
4. Time Machine, in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Innovation: Backs up changes hourly to an external drive behind the scenes,
then lets you "go back in time" to restore data.
Benefit: Makes light work of the one task that every computer user should do
and most people put off--and gives the function a pretty face, to boot.
Time Machine is the killer feature in Leopard. You'll either love or hate this
wild and wacky space-and-time user interface, but performing backups will never
be the same. One question: Why doesn't Windows Vista have anything this simple
and useful?
5. Amazon Kindle
Innovation: Device takes the e-book to the next level with free EvDO connectivity.
Benefit: Tight integration with Amazon's bookselling site; thoughtful design.
Electronic-book readers are not new, and Sony's experience with its Reader
shows that sales are not guaranteed. But with its Kindle reader ($400), Amazon
has brought the e-book into the connected age by including free EvDO wireless
connectivity to the e-commerce giant. Did we mention the seamlessness of buying
books with this always-on device? EvDO could be the magic that e-books have
lacked.
6. NetGear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000
Innovation: Only streaming-media device to play protected files in both iTunes
and Windows Media formats. Also handles 1080p HD video and acts as a DVR.
Benefit: It makes life easier in a multiple-DRM world.
Netgear's Internet media player, the NetGear Digital Entertainer HD EVA8000
($400) busts through the DRM (digital rights management) wall, and even allows
you to check your e-mail and watch YouTube videos on your television.
7. HP TouchSmart IQ770 PC
Innovation: The first all-in-one PC on the market to boast a touch-screen display.
Benefit: Does for the computer what the iPhone has done for mobile handsets.
HP's kitchen-friendly computer, the HP TouchSmart IQ770 PC ($1650), is beautifully
designed, and its touch screen makes it suitable for use on a countertop as
well as a desktop. HP also supplies a software interface, optimized for use
with the touch screen, that ties into news, weather, and calendar details, among
other daily-living information. The handy, customizable HP control panel lets
you quickly access photos, launch a photo editor, and play back music, too.
8. AT&T Tilt
Innovation: Clever, unique hinge lets you slide the screen up at an angle.
Benefit: Well-positioned QWERTY keyboard results in what looks like a tiny
notebook that you can use in your hands or rest on a table.
The tilting screen is the main innovation, but the Tilt (made by HTC under
the name TyTN II, $400 with a two-year AT&T contract) is one of the most
powerful phones available, period. Want a quick rundown of the specs? How about
the Windows Mobile 6 operating system, a large screen, 3G wireless connectivity,
GPS, a 3-megapixel camera, and the ability to talk to corporate BlackBerry servers?
Top that, iPhone.
9. Facebook API
Innovation: Platform lets anyone with a good idea and some coding chops add
real value to Facebook.
Benefit: Facebook taps developers' creativity, in turn permitting Facebook
users to customize their pages.
Sure, the killer app of Facebook has not been written yet--and many of the
ones that exist now are kind of silly. But Facebook has been on a roll in more
ways than one, having led to the creation of the Google-backed OpenSocial, which
looks likely to result in open platforms' becoming widespread. Common ground
should spark lots of creativity, and it should keep the social networking and
media buzz alive.
10. DeviceVM Splashtop
Innovation: Allows a PC to boot in a few seconds into a simple, secure interface
with a Mozilla-based browser.
Benefit: Lets you save energy by keeping your PC powered off when you're not
using it.
DeviceVM's Linux-based technology allows you to boot into its Internet-appliance-like
platform in a few seconds, so you don't have to spend minutes waiting for Windows
to start up. If all you want to do is check your Web mail account or make a
Skype call, for example, you'll save both time and watt-hours. Though the technology
is currently shipping as a feature only in the Asus P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi AP motherboard,
it should be more widely available in desktops, laptops, and additional motherboards
in 2008.
11. Toshiba Portege R500
Innovation: First ultraportable laptop to squeeze in an optical drive.
Benefit: You don't have to give up much at all to go truly lightweight.
Thin takes on new meaning with the lightweight Portege R500 ($2000 for the
R500-S5002). But you don't have to sacrifice function for form with this laptop,
which is equipped with an ultralow-voltage Intel processor. The stylish 2.4-pound
ultraportable manages to include both a rewritable-DVD drive and a 12.1-inch
LED-backlit display in its svelte, 0.77-inch-thick chassis. Enough said.
12. Data Robotics Drobo
Innovation: High-end, redundant storage for the masses.
Benefit: USB 2.0 storage appliance delivers RAID 5 benefits without mind-numbing
complexity.
"Redundant array storage" and "sexy" don't normally go
hand-in-hand. But Data Robotics' unique Drobo ($500) offers high-end storage
features in a sleek design with software that doesn't require a master's degree
in IT to figure out. Drobo uses storage virtualization algorithms to provide
many of the benefits of RAID 5, but is relatively easy to set up: Just place
the drives into the case, plug in the USB cable, install the software, and you're
off.
13. Hybrid Hard Drives
Innovation: First hard drives with a built-in NAND flash memory cache.
Benefit: Power savings and performance boost for laptops.
Samsung and Seagate each have shipped new hard drives that combine traditional
hard-disk media with a flash cache to improve both reliability and performance.
Our tests of the Samsung Spinpoint MH80 and the Seagate Momentus 5400 PSD ($250
and $190, respectively) showed that the 256MB NAND flash cache provides some
clear benefits--particularly in power saving and read speed.
14. Eye-Fi Card
Innovation: Allows digital cameras to upload wirelessly to photo-sharing sites
or your PC.
Benefit: Wi-Fi-enabled SD Card bridges digital photography's wireless divide.
The Eye-Fi Card ($100) does what few digital cameras have done, and what no
digital camera has done well: enable wireless uploading to a photo-sharing site.
Pop the 2GB SD Card into your camera and fire off a few shots, and the Wi-Fi-enabled
card transmits the images to your preferred site--and, if you like, to your
PC. The setup is simple, the device imposes no limitations on the image size,
and the uploads happen.
15. Panasonic TH-42PZ700U
Innovation: Packs full 1080p high-definition resolution into today's most popular
size for flat-screen televisions, 42 inches.
Benefit: Stellar image quality.
Though 1080p LCD sets quickly became commonplace in 2007, showing 1080 vertical
lines on a plasma TV this small remained technically difficult. Panasonic's
efforts paid off: In our tests the TH-42Z700U ($1800) earned stellar image-quality
marks. With high-definition content from Blu-Ray and HD DVD sources, the picture
is phenomenal; and because it's a plasma, even standard-definition programs
look pretty good.
16. Yamaha Tenori-On
Innovation: Inspired and intuitive handheld instrument redefines music-making.
Benefit: Nothing else even comes close to Japanese media artist Toshio Iwai's
digital instrument.
While the Tenori-On is likely to appeal to a fairly specialized audience, the
device screams innovation. Consisting of a 16-by-16 grid of LED-illuminated
buttons that a user touches to manipulate sound in a variety of intuitive and
eye-catching ways, the Tenori-On--designed by the creator of the cult-hit Nintendo
DS music game Electroplankton--is like nothing you've ever seen (head to the
Tenori-On clip on YouTube for a product demonstration video). It has 256 built-in
sounds, and an integrated SD Card slot lets you copy original samples from your
computer. You can also use its MIDI-out port to connect with your PC's music
software or your other hardware instruments. Currently it is sold only in Great
Britain, but anybody willing to pay £599 (about $1200) can order one from
dolphinmusic.co.uk.
17. Zoho Notebook
Innovation: Web-only app stores just about any kind of content and allows you
to share it with anyone.
Benefit: More full-featured than competing online tools.
AdventNet's Zoho tools include everything from wiki software to customer relations
management and project management applications, many of them free. Zoho Notebook
(free, in public beta) continues the winning streak. You can enter text, graphics,
audio, video, and embedded content from other sites onto your notebook's pages--or
use the page as a single word processing document or spreadsheet. Put together
everything on a certain subject, and you're ready to share your work with online
compatriots.
18. 'In Rainbows' by Radiohead
Innovation: Band allows its fans to pay whatever amount they want for this
new album, starting at zilch.
Benefit: Approach calls the bluff of illegal downloaders, who say they're happy
to pay artists but not music studios.
The recording industry is desperate for new ideas about how to sell music.
Radiohead's pay-what-you-want approach may not work for all acts--and the band
has remained mum on reports that 62 percent of early downloaders paid nothing
for the group's new album--but the strategy certainly does one thing that most
music companies seem loath to do: It respects fans. And all of the voluntary
fees go directly to Radiohead, not to a publisher.
19. IOGear Wireless USB Hub and Adapter
Innovation: USB-speed connections without cable spaghetti.
Benefit: Presents none of the flakiness and proprietary technology that hobbled
previous wireless USB products.
IOGear's hub and adapter are based on an industry standard that should soon
be built into laptops and other devices. Setting up IOGear's Wireless USB Hub
and Adapter ($160) was tricky, but once we had everything arranged, our data
flew, thanks to its streaming, HD-capable, 250-megabits-per-second throughput.
Wireless USB will become more versatile once it's built into devices.
20. Mint.com
Innovation: Web site aggregates your financial account transaction data, alerting
you to any unusual activity or to a rapidly dwindling balance.
Benefit: Takes most of the work out of keeping on top of your money.
Signing up for Mint requires a leap of faith--you must give the site the numbers
and passwords for your bank and credit card accounts. But once you do, it acts
as your personal-finance lackey. Mint downloads your latest transactions for
all accounts and does its best to categorize them. You decide when you want
to receive an alert, such as for when a bill is due, a big purchase appears
on your credit card, or you just got a nice, fat deposit.
21. Microsoft Popfly
Innovation: Lets you use Microsoft's Silverlight platform to create Web mashups.
Benefit: Though Popfly is still in early beta, its operation is clearer and
its display is more attractive than that of the similar Yahoo Pipes tool.
If you ever played with Legos as a kid, then you should be able to assemble
a Web mashup in Microsoft's Popfly. No coding know-how needed--using Popfly
is as simple as choosing content sources (such as pictures, video, or news feeds
from various online sources) and connecting them to a display model (such as
a video player, a dynamic box for text, or a game of whack-a-mole that pops
up pictures, for instance). Voilà, you have your mashup. You can embed
the resulting creation in a blog entry or Web page, or just share its URL so
others can admire your work.
22. Sprint Airave
Innovation: Delivers cheap, unlimited Internet-based calling at home through
any Sprint CDMA handset.
Benefit: You can use your cell phone (and all of the contacts you have stored
in it) as a universal phone, with better reception, while at home.
T-Mobile was first to enhance at-home cell calling with the debut of its Hotspot
@ Home service, but that offering requires use of one of the company's few dual-mode
Wi-Fi/cellular handsets. Sprint's device, made by Samsung ($50 with Sprint service),
creates a mini cell tower in your home to which your phone can roam. As a result,
you can enjoy more convenience and even bigger savings than what you get from
VoIP providers such as Vonage.
23. Ask.com
Innovation: Melds comprehensive search results more coherently than competing
universal searches do.
Benefit: Proves that not every site needs to mimic Google, and that a venerable
search engine company can do cool new stuff.
Ask.com, a compete redesign of the former Ask Jeeves site, asks very little
but gives a lot via its thoughtfully designed interface, including search suggestions
as you type. With one query you can retrieve traditional search results as well
as news, images, blogs, video, and more. Once you've searched, you can filter
the results with useful suggestions to home in on just what you were looking
for. The site is visually minimalist, but you can skin it for a new look. If
privacy is a concern, AskEraser wipes away private data that search engines
typically store.
24. eXpresso
Innovation: Allows Excel users to share their spreadsheets, online or off.
Benefit: Melds the best of traditional office software and Web-based services.
eXpresso ($80 per seat per year) adds a new twist to Web applications, offering
both Web-based sharing in a standard format and tight integration with the most
familiar spreadsheet application, Microsoft's Excel. Users can share spreadsheets
in real time using eXpresso's service, which also allows you to restrict some
users' access to certain segments of a master spreadsheet. In a nutshell, eXpresso
is delivering today what Microsoft has promised that its Office suite will do
in the future.
25. Kodak EasyShare All-In-One Printers
Innovation: The printers are slightly more expensive, but their ink is priced
more like the no-name stuff advertised around the Web.
Benefit: You can print cheaply without worrying that the cartridge will burst
all over your printer.
Kodak's midlevel EasyShare printers (from $150) may be a bit pricier at first.
But when you combine one with the company's paper-and-ink packs, you can print
photos for as little as 10 cents each (according to Kodak)--about half the industry
average. The printer's pigment-ink system uses one black-ink cartridge and one
five-ink tank; replacing them with non-photo-specific inks directly from Kodak
costs just $10 and $15, respectively. We think most people will appreciate the
benefit of having one source for affordable, reliable replacement ink cartridges.
Last Year's Innovations: The Keepers and the Flops
Sometimes the public embraces a product breakthrough like a long-lost friend.
Other times, being innovative just isn't enough. (Remember the Apple Newton?)
Maybe the company just can't find the right way to sell its idea. Or perhaps
the public simply isn't ready for a new technology. With that in mind, we look
back at the winners and losers among our Innovation Award picks from last year.
Keepers
Intel Core 2 Duo: Intel's Core 2 Duo line of CPUs pumped up processing
while reducing power consumption--no mean feat. The company's launch in late
2007 of its 45-nanometer Penryn chips (see our first desktop review, "Desktops:
Penryn PC Takes Power Prize") looks likely to extend its current lead over
key rival AMD.
Nintendo Wii: The wee, $250 Wii broke new ground with its innovative
motion-sensing controller. Since then, the appeal of this still-hard-to-find
console to casual gamers has helped it outsell the more powerful PlayStation
3.
Parallels Desktop for Mac: Apple's dual-boot software, Boot Camp, is now in
Leopard--great. But who wants to reboot every time they need to switch operating
systems? Parallels Version 3 ($80) adds Windows gaming prowess.
Flops
Sony PlayStation 3: The long-delayed introduction of the PlayStation
3 landed it in the eighth spot in our "Top 21 Tech Screwups of 2006,"
and the console might be the poster child for engineering overkill: Even though
the original 60GB model cost $599, analysts speculated that Sony was still losing
$200 on each living-room "supercomputer." The new $399 entry-level
PS3 model should make the console more popular with buyers, at least.
Sony Reader: Last year, we were wowed by this svelte e-book reader's
electronic-paper display, which delivers long battery life and exhibits no flicker.
The company later improved the screen with its $300 PRS-505, but the Reader
has failed to become an "iPod for books."