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Technology

The Year's Best Gadget Ideas 136

Posted by Zonk from the good-riddance-2005 dept.
valdean writes "David Pogue, the influential personal technology columnist for the New York Times, has chosen what he calls '10 of the year's best small, sweet improvements in our electronic lives.' Rather than your average pseudo-commercial list of branded devices, it's a list of improvements. As Pogue puts it at the end of his column: 'Come New Year's Eve, raise one tiny toast to the anonymous engineers whose eccentricities or idealism brought these sparkling developments to life.' They are (sans explanation): the folding memory card, the voice mail VCR, the front-side TV connector, the bigger-than-TV movie, TV à la carte, the outer-button flip phone, the free domain name, the modular DVD screen, the family-portrait burst mode, and the hybrid high-definition tape.'"
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The Year's Best Gadget Ideas More

The Year's Best Gadget Ideas

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  • no mention.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @09:55PM (#14368556) Homepage
    What, no mention of the invention of blogging [go.com]?
    • Well, they did say the year's best gadgets.
    • i know you meant to be funny but most of what's on that list read a lot more like the 'best inventions of 1995' than of 2005... i mean my 6 year old TV set has front side inputs... as does my 8 year old vcr... and ten the 'free domain name' haha I had free domain name hosting for the blog i ran in 1999...

      what will they invent in 2006 to top this list the Wheel? Sliced bread? maybe Color Television? no no i know They'll invent Fire!

  • ...and where's the obligatory iPod plug? (Score:3, Funny)

    by throatmonster ( 147275 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @09:57PM (#14368560)
    Gawd, if he doesn't mention the iPod, he's TOTALLY Un-Hip.

  • Is this a gadget? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dada21 ( 163177 ) * <adam.dada@gmail.com> on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:00PM (#14368574) Homepage Journal
    USB charging ports on cell phones is my favorite "gadget" for the past year. I'm not sure if they existed in 2004, but I have 3 different phones in my household that use USB charging ports, and it is a Godsend for my desk.

    The other "true" gadget that I really appreciate is the iPod. I don't use it, but it surpassed the WAF (wife acceptance factor) enough that I literally saved about 50 square feet of wall space by dumping all our CDs permanently, and saved 3 units of shelf space in the entertainment center as the CD changers are gone.

    • Re:Is this a gadget? (Score:5, Informative)

      by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:07PM (#14368601) Homepage
      USB charging ports on cell phones is my favorite "gadget" for the past year. I'm not sure if they existed in 2004, but I have 3 different phones in my household that use USB charging ports

      They've existed for a few years now [amazon.com]. Maybe in 2006 you'll discover the Wall->Usb adapter [amazon.com], and possibly even the CAR->USB power adapter [mobilefun.co.uk]. So you can use all those mobile gadgets when you're, you know, mobile.
      • Already have both :) I've found that the cheap car->USB adapters don't seem universal, though. Very odd.

        I buy 2-3 different cell phones per year, and I believe I had my first one in 2004, but it wasn't until 2005 that everyone I knew had one.

        • Re:Is this a gadget? (Score:5, Informative)

          by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:41PM (#14368687) Homepage
          well, what's really cool, is that a lot of gadgetry that doesn't have a USB charge jack, takes the correct voltage such that they can be charged directly via USB. Like, for example, the PSP and the iriver iHP-340 both take 5v input, and can both be charged with the same ziplinq cable [ebay.com]. And I can use that same 5-pin ziplinq cable to get pictures from my camera.

          So rather than go to best buy, and spend $25 for a mobile charger for the PSP, another $25 for one for the iRiver, $15 on a "sync cable" for a camera, and another $20 camera travel charger, you can do all that with one $3 cable from hong kong. Usually, you can get ziplinq cables for $0.99 + shipping on ebay, because ebay is flooded with them. And shipping is dirt cheap. (With all the auction fraud, that's all ebay is good for these days. items under 10 bucks)

          I carry a total of three ziplinq cables in my bag(4pin USB, 5pin USB, treoUSB) and they charge/interface every piece of gadgetry I have, both at home, and in the car (with the Car-> usb adapter).

        • Re:Is this a gadget? (Score:2, Insightful)

          by mikiN ( 75494 )
          I buy 2-3 different cell phones per year

          Why do you need 2-3 extra cell phones per year? Do you serve them with French fries and ketchup, feed them to your dog or what? :-)

          I have 2 cell phones, one is a spare: 6 years old and still works perfectly, the other is a PDA/phone that I use to do software development. Besides the obvious, placing and receiving calls, of course.
          When either of them dies, I'll replace it with a similar one. Until battery capacity or energy efficiency improve considerably, I don't expe
          • You aren't in the U.S., or else you don't deal with Verizon Wireless.

            That six year old phone of yours isn't worth the plastic it's made out of; or at least that's the experience I've had. Go ahead and try to get it activated: Verizon won't touch it. Maybe if you have a GSM instead of a CDMA provider you can just put the chip in and it will work (provided you don't have a vendor lock on the phone), but for a great many people, the cell-phone upgrade cycle has been driven -- and driven hard -- by the cellphon
            • Comment removed based on user account deletion
              • What good is my "super Kewl" GSM phone with the SIM card that I can move to another "super kewl" GSM phone if the reception is crap. Yeah I had one of those new and flashy GSM phones except that I got bad reception both at home and at in the building were I work. I could take pictures, connect with bluetooth, play games and all but I couldn't talk on the phone.

                Then switched to Verizon and got a free basic LG VX3200 and now I have a _phone_ that works as a phone. The bottom line is I am not buying a phone

                • Comment removed based on user account deletion
                • Your phone is probably not interfering with the electronics *in* your computer, just your speakers.

                  The transmitter in your cell phone is creating enough electromagnetic energy to induce a current in the wire coil inside your speakers.
                  • Well, I noticed my CDMA phone doens't do that and I also noticed the interference is "loudest" when I bring the phone close to the computer case. But you are probably right, I really don't know that much about electronics...
              • Unlocking your phone isn't illegal (at least in Holland it isn't). There are plenty of people who can do it for you for a small fee. Some can even upgrade your phone's firmware for you.
            • Huh i dunno, I get a new phone about once every 2 years. Usually the only time I get a new phone is when my screen becomes too unreadable and im looking for something new. (last phone I bought, an LG MM 535 had a camera built in, one of the reasons I upgraded)

              Getting a few new phones a year is a bit much, unless a year to you means a couple months to everyone else.
          • Why do you need 2-3 extra cell phones per year?

            Communication and information is key to my business and my billing rate. I am also very abusive of equipment, plus I like the latest and greatest IF it makes me more efficient.

            I go through 2 laptops per year, and I generally go through about 3 PDAs. After 3-5 months of use, they're not really functional :)

            I find constant reasoning to get new phones, PDAs and laptops -- battery life being just one part (actually, reduced power consumption). With T-Mobile supp
            • You must spend a hell of a time moving all your data to new computers, and installing software. I sure hope you don't bill that time :-)
              • I don't know what Dada's computing platform is, but if he uses a Mac, you can just hook up the FireWire cable to your old Mac and suck out the configuration.

                It worked great for me - it took about two hours to suck up the data and applications, but I was productive on it immediately after that.

                Of course with his consulting practice, he probably needs to use Windows. I wonder if there's something similar there?

                D

            • I go through 2 laptops per year, and I generally go through about 3 PDAs. After 3-5 months of use, they're not really functional :)

              You're proud of being careless with your tools? I, too, need fairly up to the minute phones because I need to test systems on them. But I've never broken one, and my hand-me-down phones are now used by everyone in the household. Similarly, while my this-years laptop is on the table behind me, in current use, my seven-year-old laptop is on the desk beside me (for testing thin

              • Breaking things is not big, and it's not clever.

                I don't break my "tools" on purpose -- I take great care with the majority of what I own.

                Portable communication devices are not built to last. When you're in a cubicle, maybe they last forever. When you're on the run, constantly, things get beaten on. I've cracked PDA screens, fumbled a laptop out of my hand onto a platform 10 feet below, broken electronics dropping phones in the snow and generally watched low build-quality items not hold up to the rigors o
    • I got my razr the day it came out ... early august of 2004. It has a usb mini port.


      When I got it it had a wall-mini usb charger and I bought a car - mini usb charger.


      So they did exist in 2004.

  • New Spin (Score:5, Funny)

    by mysqlrocks ( 783488 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:02PM (#14368579) Homepage Journal
    This year, the high-tech industry made clever steps forward and put new spins on old features.

    How about online newspapers that don't make you sign up to read their content? That's a new spin.

  • NYTimes Logins (Score:4, Informative)

    by MikeWasHere05 ( 900478 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:03PM (#14368585)
    U: bimbyflam
    P: bimbyflam


    U: brillemann
    P: brillemann


    U: fuck
    P: you


    U: trynopasswords
    P: bugmenot


    From http://bugmenot.com/view.php?url=nytimes.com [bugmenot.com]
    • The Bugmenot plugin for Firefox (and I assume other browsers) is broken at the moment. Bugmenot is aware of the problem, but it's a royal pain.

      Even their home page is busted right now: "Uh oh. Something just broke. Probably because we are testing new code. The bugmenot administrators have been informed. Please stay tuned."

      Hopefully the new upgrades will be worth the wait, it's a tremendously useful service.
  • w/auto-off and plugs into lighter socket. Probably been around for years but new to me. Gave a bunch for the holiday... life improved.
    • The companion to the tire inflator is the flat tire repair kits that you can get for about 2-3 bucks. Sure beats waiting for some greasy tire shop guy to paw you stearing wheel and charge 10-15 for the same service.

  • the front-side TV connector (Score:5, Insightful)

    by timshea ( 257474 ) * on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:04PM (#14368591)
    Like on my 10-year-old Sony TV?

  • The Power Squid (Score:4, Insightful)

    by snStarter ( 212765 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:08PM (#14368608)
    Yes, it's got squid in the name so geeky is definitely implied. But even more it handles those damned power bricks elegantly. I gave 'em out as Christmas presents and they seemed to be well received.
    • Dude, I hate to tell you in front of everybody, but that was a LAME gift. I returned it to Frys the next morning. Whatever thoug,h its the thought (and 9 bucks) that counts. Merry Christmas!

  • Free Domains (Score:2, Insightful)

    by moore.dustin ( 942289 )
    "Yes, you'll see ads on the screen (unless you pay for the adless version) - but plenty of people won't mind viewing them in exchange for a free, professional-looking Web presence." 1) That has been around for a while and 2) Thats not free - It's free from ads if you pay... oh wait... free??
  • I got the domain for my home page from a free domain registration service. Name Zero eventually went under along with all the other dot coms (the free registration part at least), but the service isn't exactly new.

  • Link without signup (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:41PM (#14368688)
    Article via a non-stupid-NY-times-signup-site [nytimes.com]
  • I'm pretty sure my Motorola flip phones have had the 'ignore call' button on the side for quite some time now.
    • No shit. I had a Samsung E715 (just say no, btw) through almost all of 2004 and it had the feature to silence the ringer or send the call directly to voicemail using the volume adjust buttons on the side.
    • My wife's first flip phone (purchased from Sprint in 1999) had both the screen on the front of the phone and buttons to cancel/ignore an incoming call. I believe it was made by a company called Touchpoint. Both of my Samsung flip phones (first one purchased in '99 as well) had this feature (albeit without the screen on the front, so it's good for getting a phone to shut up quickly if you forgot to turn it off before going to a meeting, but not for screening calls) as well as the Handspring Treo 300 that I
    • My Ericsson T39 from 2001 has an ignore button on the side.
    • My Motorola Nextel i1000Plus flip phone, released in 1999, has two soft buttons on the front, as displayed (using a later version as an example) in this image [mot.com.mx].

      If a call comes in, the left button becomes an "ignore" button. Press it and the call goes straight to voicemail. At the same time, the right button becomes a "speakerphone" button, allowing you to answer the call and put it on speakerphone at the same time.

  • USB-SD Card: I love it. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MDMurphy ( 208495 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @10:46PM (#14368708)
    I heartily agree with the Sandisk SD card with built-in USB. I have one on my keychain now, though I'd like a beefier holder. Better than your basic thumb drive, I can I also plug it in as-is into my PDA or camera. I can't imagine buying another SD card that wasn't one of these. No cable, no readers. Now I can put my keychain drive into my PDA to review a document or picture or movie. It's also smaller than most every thumb drive out there.

    Lexar had their "jump drive" years back with USB on a CF card, but it took a cable to plug into a proprietary connector on the card's backside.

  • domain names? (Score:2, Informative)

    by hostingreviews ( 941757 )
    Free domain name registration isn't a new idea this year. What's that all about? Mine was free 7 years ago.

  • I have to disagree on HDV tapes (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sycraft-fu ( 314770 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @11:18PM (#14368782)
    That's the technology he's talking about for doing HDTV rez on DV tape, it's called HDV. Now, they aren't kidding in that it really does store HDTV resolution on DV tape. However the problem is that they do it at DV data rate, 25mbps. That means, of course, higher compression.

    One of the great things about DV is that it's barely comrpessed. So it survives editing very well, as well as multi-generational copies. That was the whole idea, a cheap digital format that would work as well or better than BetaCam. It does too, you can really do no shit, broadcast quality work with a good camera and normal computer.

    Well HDV decided to go with MPEG-2 compression to get the higher rez in the same space. They couldn't do MPEG-4, too processor intensive. Ok so it works, but not that well. The image isn't as clear as the increase in resolution should yeild, but worse is that there are MPEG artifacts. That's not a huge deal if you are just going to play the tape back, but if you are going to go to computer, edit, and then back to some compressed format, it's a problem.

    I'm not saying the format is worthless, but it gets rid of some of the coolest parts of DV. I'd much rather see a new HDTV tape format.
  • Is it just me, or does that "feature" completely remove the whole purpose of a flip phone?

    The main reason I use a flip phone myself is so that I can carry it around in my pocket without having to mess around with the keylock - and by the time you turn keylock off, the call goes bye-bye. If they put on the outside, you can't just slip it in your pocket and go - there will be a lot more missed calls.
    • Not to mention how the "outside buttons" can often be pressed when pulling the phone out of your pocket, sending it to voicemail. I heard a peer once say to put a "Key Lock" outside then. And so the loop continues.
    • ...and by the time you turn keylock off, the call goes bye-bye.

      Your phone doesn't let you answer an incoming call with keylock on? My Siemens S46 (i.e. about 4-5 years old model) handles this just fine - you can answer the call without having to turn keylock off...
    • I disagree. I've been carrying samsung flip phones for 4 years now, all with outside buttons, always in my pocket with other stuff, and I don't think it adds significantly to the missed calls. Pressing the outside buttons just silences the ringer, it doesn't immediately go to voicemail...so you nearly always hear it before you push the button, even if you push it accidentally.

      On the other hand, the camera button of my latest phone being on the outside is quite annoying; I have a growing collection of pictur
  • If you don't want to login to NYT, heres my "Top Ten List of New Cool Crap for 2005":

    1. Curious Georges new free Wiretap program [mathaba.net]
    2. Birdflu v.2.0 [thestandard.com.hk]
    3. Boxing Day sans Tsunami [wikipedia.org]
    4. European CIA Jail System [washingtonpost.com]
    5. Removal of Marti Gras from your travel ideas [mardigras.com]
    6. A (great) Daily Show spinoff [colbertnation.com]
    7. The spread of Scientology [nwsource.com]
    8. Marines shooting at and killing escaping hostages [voanews.com]
    9. Adoption Press Release Kits [allheadlinenews.com]
    10. Stem Cell Magicians [baltimoresun.com]

  • Ultra Bright LEDS (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Frogbert ( 589961 ) <frogbert&gmail,com> on Friday December 30, 2005 @11:32PM (#14368819)
    I don't know when they were actually invented but ultra bright LEDS are a huge invention. These days its possible to have LED traffic lights that wouldn't be possible 5 years ago.

  • TV a la carte? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by J. Random Luser ( 824671 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @11:53PM (#14368889)
    Hardly, there's an ovenful more in the kitchen than what's on the menu.
    It took Apple to persuade them to dip a little toe into the Internet waters. ABC took the first plunge, offering iPod owners five shows' worth of archives for a perfectly pitched price of $2 each - and no commercials. NBC came next with a broader menu of shows. The concept was a hit, the floodgates have opened, and the era of downloadable, reasonably priced, lightly copy-protected TV episodes is finally upon us.
    Now when (if? :-( the MPAA finally get this clue, it will be a development worth writing up.
    • If/when the MPAA get a clue? Trying this does not seem like it would be in their best interests. Offering TV shows for download for $2.00 is not the same as offering a movie for download for $2.00. I assume these were all half hour episodes offered (could be wrong here) minus commercials is 20 minutes of show at best. So, you're paying $1 for every ten minutes of programming. A movie is longer than 20 minutes; releasing a 120 minute movie for the same price would be about 1/6 as profitable per minute (

  • Pretty disappointing article (Score:5, Insightful)

    by slashdot.org ( 321932 ) on Saturday December 31, 2005 @12:27AM (#14369002) Homepage Journal
    Keeping in mind that the title is "10 Greatest Gadget Ideas of the Year", you'd have to conclude this really was a terribly lame year. Let's go down the list:

    1) [folding memory card] How about digital cameras taking USB memory sticks directly (I understand this would require a new physical spec, but wouldn't that make a lot more sense?)

    2) [VM VCR] It would be nice if the link pointed to a Treo 700W. I agree that VM should appear like email with VCR like controls on a mobile device. But this is not a device I can go and buy today...

    3) [front side TV connectors] Don't know what he's talking about; I've had front interfaces on my TV for years, but there must be something more to see for people that care to register.

    4) [increased video resolution on digital cameras] Increased resolution is hardly a gadget idea, it's just an incremental improvement, as one might expect (after several years I might add). Fair enough 1024 is a pretty nice jump.

    5) [downloadable video] We'll see how this _really_ pans out. It certainly isn't a bright or clever idea, it's all about (biz) politics.

    6) [outer button flip-phone] Come freaking on. A bad UI design has been corrected.

    7) [free domain name] Seriously. (a) who doesn't have $8/year to register the domain with registerfly or something and get a advertisement-free domain (b) is this really something new? I can hardly believe it.

    8) [modular DVD screen] This is not a smart idea. If it hasn't been done before it is because it's just not going to last. Either the LCD is going to have to support a wild range of interfaces (VGA, S-Video, DVI etc etc) and hence would become much larger then it needs to be if it were driven directly by the hardware (direct digital). Or it could support just analog video say. Now the quality suck. So it could support just VGA. Now the driving logic in the devices needs to add VGA output. Well, it's just not going to happen. You're going to be buying this stuff from one vendor because it sounds great, and a year from now half of it won't work and the vendor has discontinued the idea.

    9) [family portrait burst-mode] Let's grab the quote: the odds of somebody's eyes being closed increases geometrically with the number of people in the group. (emphasis mine). That's a hoot. But, sure I understand the problem. My camera from 2003 let's me take a bunch of pictures in a row. It's not a 2005 idea.

    10) [HD tape] I guess... A great gadget because they DIDN'T change the physical format.

    Very disappointing list to me. Surely there were better tech advancements than just this!
      • 1) [folding memory card] How about digital cameras taking USB memory sticks directly (I understand this would require a new physical spec, but wouldn't that make a lot more sense?)
        Writing to USB 2.0 memory sticks is somewhat slower than writing directly to the new compact flash chips out there, and with 8, 11 and even 20 megapixel cameras out there the cameras are already being designed with expensive buffer RAM so they can take multiple shots rapidly. The slower the media, the larger (and more expensiv
      • The novelty here is it's done with the self-timer. Of course with my family, they'd all wander off after the first flash, leaving two shots of people milling about!

        My Finepix S5100 supports various 'multiple image' modes (top three, bottom three, continuous burst), and they all work with or without the self-timer. Top three + 10 second self-timer results in exactly this behaviour. This camera was available in 2004, and, AFAIK, its predecessors could do it too. Maybe the innovation is assigning a 'one-click'

    • These are, vast majority, really good ideas for consumer devices. I concur with the NYTimes author, and I think that "slashdot.org" just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, and came up with some weak arguments to boot.

      Think about it... you criticize the SD card for not being a USB stick, but... why don't you use SD cards instead of USB sticks, if they have built-in USB interfaces? Smaller. Faster (on the SD side). Fits into more devices. Hmmm. Sounds like a reason to bitch to me.

      I have had T

    • 10) [HD tape] I guess... A great gadget because they DIDN'T change the physical format.
      I was thinking how sad that is. They did something that preserves compatibility, and they're called "surprising, generous[, and] kind-hearted" for it. Yow. Is that how bad things have gotten? What used to be expected is now kind-hearted generosity? And a surprise to boot?

      Excuse me, I must go down a few shots of rum now.
  • If I could get a penny for every newspaper that pulls out "top 10 whatever" straight out of its *ss.

    When will all figure out that the top 10 for the article writer has nothing to do with our top 10, whatever it is.
  • Look at one of the items (Free Domain) "It took Microsoft, of all companies, to make getting your own dot-com name free. Its new Office Live online software suite for small businesses, now in testing, will offer a domain name, Web site and e-mail accounts free. Yes, you'll see ads on the screen (unless you pay for the adless version) - but plenty of people won't mind viewing them in exchange for a free, professional-looking Web presence." What a bunch of crap. Come on! This is a top 10 gadget??!?
  • > front tv connectors have been around for years

    THE BIGGER-THAN-TV MOVIE Most digital still cameras today can also capture video big enough to fill a standard TV screen (640 by 480 pixels)

    er no, PAL is 720x576, NTSC is similar

    > But Canon's PowerShot S80 model goes one step further: it can capture videos at even higher resolution (1024 x 768 pixels).Why on earth would you need a video picture of higher resolution than the TV itself? Three reasons. First, your videos will look better on high-definition
    • THE BIGGER-THAN-TV MOVIE Most digital still cameras today can also capture video big enough to fill a standard TV screen (640 by 480 pixels)

      er no, PAL is 720x576, NTSC is similar

      Sure, if by "similar" you mean 640x480, which is exactly what the author claimed.
  • Some of it isn't even accurate...

    THE FREE DOMAIN NAME A domain name is what comes before the ".com" in a Web address - like NYTimes.com, verizonwireless.com or MarryMeBritney.com. Getting your own personal dot-com name has its privileges - for example, your e-mail address can be You@YourNameHere.com - but it costs money and requires some expertise.

    It took Microsoft, of all companies, to make getting your own dot-com name free. Its new Office Live online software suite for small businesses, now in testing, w
  • So when will I be able to fetch/wget/ftp my voice mail as speex/ogg/mp3 files from any mobile network operator?

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