Top Tech Products of 2010

[rockymtnhigh]

I was just reading my copy of PC World, and came across their story on the top 100 tech products of 2010. I found it a very interesting read.

Best Tech Products 2010: Full List, 1-100 - PCWorld

Android 2.2, ipad, Kindle 3, Netflix, Samsung Galaxy Tab - top five.

Even me (the guy with a Droid Does avatar) was surprised to see the Tab in the top five, but the very fact that the ipad and Tab made up 2 of the 5 says a lot. And I think placing Android 2.2 on top is also pretty much right on given the dramatic rise of the mobile OS.

Thoughts?

1. Google Android 2.2

2. Apple iPad

3. Amazon Kindle (third-generation)

4. Netflix

5. Samsung Galaxy Tab

6. Sony Alpha NEX-5

7. HP Envy 14 Beats Edition

8. Samsung Epic 4G

9. Instapaper

10. Microsoft Security Essentials

11. Samsung UN55C8000

12. HP TouchSmart 600 Quad

13. Apple iPhone 4

14. Google Chrome

15. HTC HD7

16. Crucial RealSSD C300

17. Blizzard Entertainment StarCraft II

18. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

19. Microsoft Office 2010

20. Samsung LN46C650

21. Apple TV

22. Western Digital WD TV Live Plus

23. Canon Pixma MG8120

24. Blizzard Entertainment World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

25. Motorola Droid X

26. Adobe Creative Suite 5

27. Canon EOS 7D

28. Sony Handycam NEX-VG10

29. Alienware M11x (second revision)

30. Sonos ZonePlayer S5

31. Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350

32. nVidia GeForce GTX 460

33. Origin Genesis Midtower

34. Google Voice

35. Logitech C910

36. Bump

37. Norton Antivirus 2011

38. MOG

39. AMD Phenom II X6 1090T

40. Livescribe Echo Smartpen

41. Google Gmail

42. Western Digital 3TB My Book Essential

43. Clickfree Network CN2

44. Flipboard

45. Panasonic HDC-SDT750

46. Handcent SMS

47. HTC Droid Incredible

48. SlingPlayer Mobile

49. At Bat 2010 for iPad

50. XMind

51. PC Tools Internet Security 2011

52. Seagate Momentus XT

53. Cisco M20 Valet Plus

54. Rovio Angry Birds

55. Innergie mCube Mini

56. Lookout Mobile Security

57. Maingear F131

58. ATI Radeon HD 5870

59. iVina BulletScan S300

60. DimDim

61. Smartfish ErgoMotion Mouse

62. Lenovo ThinkPad x100e

63. Second Rotation Gazelle

64. Facebook

65. Plantronics K100

66. Taptrix Brushes

67. Alphonso Labs Pulse News Reader

68. Corsair 800D

69. Qnap TS-259 Pro Turbo NAS

70. Fuze Box Fuze Meeting

71. Evernote

72. Iomega eGo SuperSpeed USB 3.0

73. Gateway SX2840-01

74. Jabra Clipper

75. Lenovo ThinkPad W701ds

76. FitNow Lose It

77. Cisco Flip UltraHD 8GB with FlipPort

78. Samsung BD-C6500

79. PopCap Games Plants vs. Zombies HD

80. Asus Eee PC 1201n

81. Genieo

82. Jabra Extreme

83. Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk Plans

84. Dell UltraSharp U2711

85. Grooveshark for Android

86. Epson PictureMate Show PM 300

87. Polar WearLink+ Transmitter Nike+

88. RideCharge Taxi Magic

89. Belkin Conserve Insight

90. Bitalpha Taska

91. 3M MPro120

92. B&W P5 Mobile Hi-Fi Headphones

93. Apple iPod Touch (2010 version)

94. TheFind.com

95. Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse

96. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3

97. Astro A30 Headset

98. Prezi

99. TomTom XXL 550-TM

100. Ubuntu 10.10

 

[TheForce]

There was a similar discussion on the Bloomberg ( IIRC ) channel on sirius today but not quite as detailed. They gave the top most innovative game changers in 2010 to ipad and Android and Netflix streaming. Galaxy tab was discussed but was listed more of a supportive "Me Too" than a game changer.
Also of interest with respect to the Galaxy was that Google said the application of android OS on the Galaxy is not to their liking as the present versions of Android are optimized for the smaller smart phones, not the tablets. However, early in 2011 they will be releasing an updated version that will make the Galaxy really show off Android as a superior tablet. Thought you'd be happy to hear that, Mike. This might also explain the observation that the image quality on the Galaxy looks color depth crushed. On the down side, question came up about whether the Galaxy will be the ipad killer and the guest said that he doubted it because early in 2011 there will be quite a few competitive tablets that will challenge Galaxy for that title. His opinion was that there will be a clear ipad killer in early 2011 and it will be called the ipad2. In other words, He feels that the head start Apple has will not be touched by any single competing product.

As far as that list goes, I don't understand how PC Mag missed two obvious product innovations- XBOX 360 Kinect Motion tracking and anything in reference to HD 3D. Maybe I just don't understand the criteria. I'll read the article you linked later but it looks like it was a laundry list of products the author bacame familiar with during 2010. Some were clearly not 2010 unique and many I've never heard of. Like Fit Now Lose it and Bump beat XBOX Kinect and HD3D TV?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I was utterly surprised that the galaxy tab was listed as number 5. I would have had Chrome higher on the list than the tab.

Many were not 2010 unique, but their argument was that they were top products of 2010. Not sure about kinnect not being on the list. Maybe I am wrong, but I see it as just an xbox attempt to become a wii?

 

[TheForce]

The Wii Motion sensing system is closer to the Sony PS3 Move as it requires the user to hold a controller. The unique thing about these controllers as opposed to the traditional game controller is they are one handed wand devices that have an accelerometer and positioning sensing technology to track it in 3D space. Sound impressive? It is until you enter the XBOX 360 Kinect technology. This uses no controller at all. It is closer to entering a Holodeck room where the system tracks your every position. Not just your body location, but your limbs and head in several segments. It also uses facial recognition technology and sound command recognition. With Kinect, you enter the sweet spot in your room and the sensor detects your presence, who you are and logs you in to Xbox live account. Then you command the system with either voice instructions ( I haven't set that up yet on mine ) Or you use hand gestures to let Kinect know you are ready to begin. The sensor tracks your hand body arms and leg movements and translates them to your avitar on the screen. The avitar moves around tracking your actual body movements. It is sensitive enough that in some programs it can track your heat calories burned during exercise and create an exercise log for you. There is a very short lag time in the avitar's response but it seems like about a half second at the longest.
There is also a non game function that replaces the game controller to just operate and navigate the XBOX by reaching out and pointing to an item on the screen and selecting it as opposed to using nav arrows or joystick and a select button.

The function of the Kinect is to get gamers off the couch and in that respect it is copying the purpose of the Wii gaming experience. But Kinect is on a whole different level of technology than the systems that require a device you must hold to make it work.

 

[Steve Mehs]

Nice list, glad to see Froyo as #1 and a few Android devices on this list. Why the iPhone 4 is even on the list is beyond me and Apple TV appears to be a total flop. I guess some Apple Fanboy must be working at PC World. I’m shocked to see that my Evo is not on the list. That phone created the most media buzz out of any new smartphone this year (aside of the iPhone 4 and it’s subpar antenna) and it was the first 4G phone, one of the first phones to get Froyo, it set the bar for the 4.3” screen, dual cameras for live video chat (that can be done over cellular not just wifi like the Jesus Phone) among other things. The fact that it was the first phone in America that could connect to a cellular network and achieve data speeds of over 10Mb down should be enough to put in somewhere on the list. And much as I love HP, I have to disagree about the Envy laptop. It’s a fancy boutique laptop meant to attract the artsy fartsy types who worship Apple. The DV Series is better, has slightly better configurable specs at a lower price and features Beats Audio as well.

Also extremely disappointed to see Facebook on the list. The only list I’d ever but that on is my own personal list of top 10 stupidest things of all time, and stick Twitter in there as well. This social networking nonsense appears to have been taken down a slight notch in recent months.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I expected the EVO to be on the list, but my DX is on it at #15. Probably due to Verizon really being the big boy out there in terms of networks. Just a guess.

Facebook deserves to be on the list; you might not use it, but it has changed the way MILLIONS of people communicate and stay in touch on a daily basis. That can not be denied. I am not sure it is nonsense.

 

[Steve Mehs]

Not so sure network size play into in, after all the Epic is high up on the list in the Top 10, maybe due to the keyboard or the Super AMOLED screen, but the Evo has a lot going for it and one has to wonder why not the Whole Galaxy S line, instead of just the Epic was named. As for Facebook, after years of refusing to join in the stupidity of social networking I joined Facebook in the Summer of 2009, about 6 months later I removed myself. I cannot believe how difficult it is to remove yourself from that cesspool. Having to wait two weeks for full deactivation is just ridiculous. Zetterberg should be jailed for life. The South Park episode ‘You Have 0 Friends’ was the best summary of the whole Facebook thing I ever saw.

 

[ChrisM10]

Facebook is worse than I thought...

 

[TheForce]

OK I was mistaken about 3D. I see number 11 is a Samsung UN55C8000 which is their popular 55" 3D LED/LCD TV.

Does anyone know how they measured the ranking? Is it units sold? No, can't be. I hardly believe more people own Galaxy Tab than are on facebook. If numbers matter, then I would think Facebook would be #1. The Kindle third edition? Maybe they polled people in a Barnes & Noble bookstore for their ranking as opposed to owning an XBOX 360. But I would think that the new edition of the XBOX 360 would have beaten a 3rd edition of the Kindle outside of the bookstore. Rockymtnhigh is the only person I know who owns a 3rd Kindle. Used to know more ( original Kindle)but they all went out and upgraded to ipads. Speaking of ipad numbers, ipad sold 1 million units in a weekend right after introduced. Latest figures from Samsung said Galaxy Tab hit 1 million sales in 2 months. These numbers indicate there is no correlation between units sold and ranking on the list. So, how do they rank the stuff on the list?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I have seen there ipads in the wild. I think you see what you want to see. Kindle 3 not only dropped the price point, it perfected the device.

Oh and for the record, I own two K3's.

 

[diogen]

Another "Best Gadgets of 2010" list...
Best Gadgets of 2010

Diogen.

 

[TheForce]

diogen- That list looks too Apple Head favored.

Reason- they selected Apple TV over Roku. I thought Roku was more popular but I guess not.

 

[diogen]

Another Top 10 with a geeky angle and known metric: most discussed by readers
A year in Gear & Gadgets: 2010's most popular stories

Biggest differentiator from other Top 10: no Apple products (except iPhone 4 losing to Froya in Javascript).
Phones: Droid X, Nexus One and EVO 4G.
E-book readers: Kindle 3 and Nook.
Death of Palm, 10 years of smartphones and sorry state of Android tablets.

Actually makes sense...

Diogen.

 

[John Kotches]

I think the QHD (quarter high definition) display on the iphone 4 is marvelous... Other than that iphone 4 is just the next iPhone.

Retina markets much better than qhd too

Glad to see some other people noticed the glaring omission of the HTC Evo ... It's one terrific phone, especially if you root it and install a rom without the sense interface. Sense is nice but slow.

Swyped on my PC36100 using tapatalk!