The Year's Best Gadget Ideas

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.'"

Comments

no mention..

[User 956]

What, no mention of the invention of blogging?

Re:no mention..

[_tognus]

Well, they did say the year's best gadgets.

Re:no mention..

[kesuki]

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!

Re:no mention..

[Anonymous Coward]

"...the influential personal technology columnist for the New York Times"

The Times they are a changin'

Hope /. at least got some advertizing dollars out of them for this one :-O

-me (can you smell that Rick?)

...and where's the obligatory iPod plug?

[throatmonster]

Gawd, if he doesn't mention the iPod, he's TOTALLY Un-Hip.

Re:...and where's the obligatory iPod plug?

[throatmonster]

Oh, then I went and read the article. Nevermind ;-)

Re:...and where's the obligatory iPod plug?

[daspriest]

it was part of the tv ala carte plug.....

Is this a gadget?

[dada21]

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?

[User 956]

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. Maybe in 2006 you'll discover the Wall->Usb adapter, and possibly even the CAR->USB power adapter. So you can use all those mobile gadgets when you're, you know, mobile.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[dada21]

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?

[User 956]

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. 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?

[mikiN]

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 expect any sudden increase in important functionality in new phones.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[Kadin2048]

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 cellphone companies.

First it was analog to digital phones. If you didn't upgrade, they couldn't force you, but if you wanted to change billing plans or anything else that required them to re-activate the phone, no way, Jose. Time to buy a new phone -- either pony up big bucks or accept a years-long contract to get a subsidized one. Then just recently it's been non-GPS enabled phones that are getting cut out. If you have a phone that doesn't have GPS, don't bother trying to get anything done to it with Verizon: you're stuck. They won't touch it, even to move between two numbers on the same customer account. If you want to do anything, you need to buy a new phone.

I have no doubt that three or four years from now, once people are starting to think about whether to get a new phone (which, at least in the U.S., basically implies re-contracting with a company for a 'term of years') or keep their old one, something else will come up that Verizon will use as an excuse to force another round of upgrades.

I still have a few of my old phones -- all in perfect working condition -- that aren't worth their plastic now because of Verizon's policies. About all they're good for is (maybe) being able to dial 911; the analog-only ones I'm not sure I'd even trust for that.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[dada21]

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 supporting EDGE now, GPRS was old news. Bluetooth tethering is very important -- as in the ability to hold up to my abuse.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[GoodOmens]

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.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[ottothecow]

Those are pretty much all Verizon problems. They are a crap company and they love to make you buy phones from them (that they have crippled with inferiour OS and disabled many functions). None of those problems exist on GSM phones. If you stay with the same provider, you can switch SIM cards no matter what. If you switch providors, usually your old provider is willing to unlock your phone after about half of your contract period and half of the time they are unlocked anyway and thus accept ANY valid SIM card so you could switch phones every day of your life and they couldnt stop you.

Stop using verizon and you will be happy.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[drgonzo59]

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 only - I am buying a phone with a service (network that comes with it). Verizon so far is the best in my area, everyone I know that has either Cingular or T-Mobile has crappy reception.

Also, what is up with GSM phones that they interfere with the electronics in my computer - when the phone was on my desk it would periodically induce this clicking noise in my speakers...

Re:Is this a gadget?

[tsa]

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.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[tsa]

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 :-)

Re:Is this a gadget?

[Simon Brooke]

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 things on Win95/IE 4).

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

Re:Is this a gadget?

[Aadomm]

Why move your data to the new computer? Leave it on the old one and just use the new one for what it has to offer.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[zeno_2]

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.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[Jerry Smith]

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 :)

You mean the memory is full? Battery is empty? Raging fits because it didn't do what you wanted it to do and ended up crashing into the wall? Needing machines to blame, perhaps?

You must be great to work with, or for.
Gadgets are there to make life easier or better. If you can't handle life and all that comes along with it, then no gadget will help.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[dada21]

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 of my daily business.

Do I like seeing these devices fall apart? No. Lucky for me, I make sure that I have a decent agreement with my cell provider and my laptop supplier -- I always get a replacement cheaply or even freely. Do enough business with people and they'll back their products up.

I only broke a phone once out of spite and anger -- and it deserved it. All the others are just not up to par, yet.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[Jerry Smith]

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

Sir, I take back mostly of what I replied earlier, having read your reply in another fork. I might be right, but it's not justified based on what was stated in the original post.
Anyhow: I stíll think the amount of damaged stuff is ridiculous. But then again, stuff lives long with me.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[daviddennis]

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

Re:Is this a gadget?

[laaama]

Here in Finland, and probably some other European countries too, it's illegal for the providers to sell locked phones. This isn't the only means to enforcing competition in the provider market. Providers must also rent out network capacity to 'virtual operators' who don't have their own networks. And the best thing is, you can change providers and keep your phone number.

Especially the ability to move to a different provider while keeping your number has really driven the prices down. Also as you need to buy the phone separately, you can choose whatever model you fancy and it's cheaper when your provider doesn't have a monopoly.

Data transfer is a bit expensive though, 10/month for unlimited 64kbit/s.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[ottothecow]

It's too bad you live in a bad area as verizon's practices and pricing is really near the bottom of the barrel--in the two markets I live in (Minneapolis and Chicago), there is decent GSM coverage and people are much better off with Cingular (hey...free talk time with every customer on the nations largest network) or even T-mobile than the spotty verizon service. The post though, really wasnt meant for you. It was meant for the guy who was going through 2-3 phones a year because he obviosly didnt want just a phone, he wanted every single new feature there is.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[ottothecow]

expensive? Data here is insane (its like they dont want anyone to use it). 1c per kb, plans range from $5 for 1mb to $20 for unlimited. SMS messages are 10c to send AND 10c to recieve (sucks rather much on a family plan).

People would be so much more likely to run up huge bills like they do in other parts of the world if the barrier to entry wasnt so high. Even if you manage to run out of minutes, its cheaper to call someone and pay overage than it is to use SMS.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[Anonymous Coward]

some people get a high from buying new stuff. sad but thats todays culture.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[jafuser]

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.

Re:Is this a gadget?

[drgonzo59]

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...

New Spin

[mysqlrocks]

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.

Re:New Spin

[Adeptus_Luminati]

If I had mod points I'd give you some!!

Re:New Spin

[ottothecow]

Just fucking suck it up and sign up already. You will never have to do it again and its the fricking new york times...they arent going to try to steal your identity or report you to the FBI for reading to many terrorist articles. It's not like its a link to some unknown source thats not worth your time. Think of it as what you need to do for the priveledge of reading one of the premier papers free...if you dont agree, walk down the street and buy a copy (dont even think about subscribing, then you not only give them your email and some bogus info but you give them your real address and credit card number...GASP)

Re:New Spin

[Anonymous Coward]

You will never have to do it again and its the fricking new york times...they arent going to try to steal your identity or report you to the FBI for reading to many terrorist articles.

Wanna bet their use of cookies on their site exceeds that of the NSA on theirs?

Re:New Spin

[Anonymous Coward]

How about paying for stuff, rather than being a whiney freeloader?

NYTimes Logins

[MikeWasHere05]

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

Re:NYTimes Logins

[Anonymous Coward]

Or:
http://www.mezomorf.com/circuits/news-18530.html

Re:NYTimes Logins

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus Christ. Just register for crying out loud. It takes a couple of seconds and saves you from copy and pasting logins that might not work every time a new article pops up.

True, Bugmenot is useful for sites I rarely visit yet force me to register. But for NYTimes? Come on! And if you don't want to give out your personal info, just fake it. Ugh.

Re:NYTimes Logins

[Anonymous Coward]

Never thought of using a fake name, and all these years I've been missing out on quality NYT articles! Seriously, sign up for the fucking site and stop bitching.

Tire inflator

[dubbayu_d_40]

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.

Re:Tire inflator

[The Wooden Badger]

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

[timshea]

Like on my 10-year-old Sony TV?

Re:the front-side TV connector

[HermanAB]

Yup, the front connector was invented for use with the camcorder, circa 1980, long before the dinosaurs...

Re:the front-side TV connector

[HFShadow]

At first thats what i thought too, then he mentioned the HP microdisplay's so i googled: http://news.designtechnica.com/featured_article21. html "All models have a seemingly unique lighted front-connection panel (instead of the traditional rear jack pack), designed with a special slot under the TV so that audio and video cables can easily be connected from the front and then hidden from view. " couldn't find a pic though

Re:the front-side TV connector

[AC-x]

Too right, where's this guy been? my 5 year old sub £300 POS TV has them, as does EVERY TV.

Re:the front-side TV connector

[HFShadow]

Whoops, found one:

http://h10058.www1.hp.com/digital/entertainment/us /en/theater/tvs/mdtv_guide.html

Scroll down a bit..... not a bad idea, it seems to work

Re:the front-side TV connector

[Jerry Rivers]

"...the TV's industry-first lighted connection panel, conveniently located beneath the screen."

The operative word in this sentence is "lighted." I have lots of devices with a few front connectors. None of them are lighted and instead are usually black raised type on a black background, making the flashlight-in-the-teeth scenario only too common. I also haven't seen many devices with more than three or four ports on the front. The HP display in the picture shown via the link in the post by HFShadow has thirty-one ports by my count and it apparently hides them from view.

Re:the front-side TV connector

[Ucklak]

I have a 27" NEC Monitor Circa 1986 that is still my primary video device (no tuner, gotta use an external output device).
It has 3 video inputs (2 stereo and 1 mono) with a video 2 thru and a monitor (to hook up a satellite monitor) feature.
Video 2 jack is in the front which was the only thing like it that I've seen in the 80's.
The Mono is the VTR connector that I've made a converter for with RCA jacks.

There is no remote for this however my 3 year old works pretty well.

Re:the front-side TV connector

[mikiN]

Ah, how I love those product names. A microdisplay with a 65" screen? Can't wait for the megamouse that fits in your wallet...

Re:the front-side TV connector

[c_forq]

The difference is with this TV ALL the connectors are on the front. The area is lighted for ease to see, hidden behind a door with a tunnel to the back so NO cables are visible.

Re:the front-side TV connector

[RollingThunder]

As has been posted, the summary doesn't really make it clear.

The "innovation" is to have all the connectors on the front. Not just one of the sets of A/V inputs.

An example is at:
http://h10058.www1.hp.com/digital/entertainment/us /en/img/theater/mdtv_guide/connect.jpg

Re:the front-side TV connector

[vought]

Like on my 10-year-old Sony TV?

Pogue is talking about TVs that have all their connectors in the front, not just a set of A/V inputs, like your Sony and mine. He describes the HP TV in TFA.

In fact, the HP does appear to have some interesting ideas - the cables all slide under the TV and connect to a hidden, lighted panel at the front of the "set".

Re:the front-side TV connector

[Anonymous Coward]

Something tells me he just bought his first new TV since about 1985.

The Power Squid

[snStarter]

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.

Re:The Power Squid

[blackmonday]

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

[moore.dustin]

"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??

Re:Free Domains

[SeaFox]

you forgot

3) A web presence with ads tacked on by your provider isn't professional, that's like having a redirect from your domian name to an Angelfire account.

I guess you could only look at your homepage with Firefox+Adblock, then you can pretend there are no ads. :-)

Re:Free Domains

[Jugalator]

Or break your ties to a specific browser and just use a proxy like Privoxy.

Free Domain Name?

[pHatidic]

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.

Re:Free Domain Name?

[nuggetman]

I was the guy who went on TechTV and told the world how to get rid of some ads with Javascript

Link without signup

[Anonymous Coward]

Article via a non-stupid-NY-times-signup-site

buttons on the side of flip phones?

[gr84b8]

I'm pretty sure my Motorola flip phones have had the 'ignore call' button on the side for quite some time now.

Re:buttons on the side of flip phones?

[Arjuna Theban]

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.

Re:buttons on the side of flip phones?

[drew]

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 got in 2002.

So I have to agree. This is hardly a new feature. If anything, the only new feature is that they clearly labeled the buttons for people who don't read the instruction booklets, although I think the Treo 300 had that too.

Maybe the only new feature is that it's on the front instead of the side- I can see how that might be considered by some to be a great leap forward.

Re:buttons on the side of flip phones?

[mks113]

My Ericsson T39 from 2001 has an ignore button on the side.

Re:buttons on the side of flip phones?

[Syre]

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.

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.

[MDMurphy]

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?

[hostingreviews]

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

RE: The NYT lost my Email!

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course life sucks. You get what you pay for.

BTW, YHBT, HAND

I have to disagree on HDV tapes

[Sycraft-fu]

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.

Re:I have to disagree on HDV tapes

[IcEMaN252]

DV isn't barely compressed, its losslessly compressed.

It really is a crime that they're calling it HDV, because DV isn't just a tape, its a codec too. HDV may use DV tape, but its certainly not DV codec.

Want real HDTV-quality tape? Look into DVCPRO-HD.... Not cheap tho...

Re:I have to disagree on HDV tapes

[Sycraft-fu]

No DV is slightly lossy. It uses a DCT similar to JPEG, but higher quality. http://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-tech.html for more info if you are curious. It's damn close to lossless, but you can find artificats sometimes if you try hard enough. However, the amount of problems you find are way less than BetaSP.

What I'd like to see is a consumer version of one of the pro HDTV formats out there, DVCPRO-HD would be fine. Tape might need to be larger than MiniDV, that's fine, just something in a more affordiable kind of camera. All the HD cams are too pro oriented and thus too expensive.

Re:I have to disagree on HDV tapes

[IcEMaN252]

Not to product plug, but take a look at Panasonic's hvx-200. Its probably the cheapest HD cam out there right now. Never used it, but I love the dvx100a. Still not cheap, but also still in the prosumer range.

Re:I have to disagree on HDV tapes

[aibrahim]

Panasonic is selling a new DVCPRO HD camcorder, starting at about $5500 USD

AG-HVX200

You can record DVCPRO HD to a Direct To Edit (DTE) hard disk.

Cineporter CP-2

Bugmenot is Broken

[Indy Media Watch]

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.

Buttons on the outside?

[AndreiK]

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.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[alfrin]

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.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ummm, what the hell idiot phone did you have? On all the phones I've ever had with keylock, the "answer call" and "ignore call" buttons come alive when there's an incoming call. Duh.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[VP]

...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...

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[AndreiK]

My last phone was not a flip-phone, and I did use keylock. But if the buttons come alive when the phone is doing something, what's the point of locking the keys in the first place? I don't want a call to be answered because my pants are too tight.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, in order to accidentally answer the call you have to accidentally push the one button that answers the call in the twenty seconds or so it is ringing. And of course, it has to be in a really loud place so I can't hear the phone (otherwise I'd either answer it or reach into my pocket and send the call to voicemail).

So far this has never happened to me.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[AndreiK]

Hmm, really?

Here in college, it's almost always either too loud to hear it, which is why I keep it on vibrate in my pocket. And if I do hear it, my old phone would answer itself when I was taking it out of my pocket - whether I wanted to accept or not.

I don't have many complaints about my flip-phone, but it's still a bit on the quiet side.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[Anonymous Coward]

The point is so you don't accidentally hit buttons and accidentally call out and really annoy someone else while racking up charges, so you don't accidentally delete contacts, so you don't accidentally change settings with the random keypresses, so your battery doesn't die because every time you move the backlight turns on... there's a lot of reasons to lock the keys, and accidentally answering calls isn't one in my opinion.

And why would some people not want a flip phone? The flip is a point of failure. Sure, yours may have lasted, but the wires connecting the halves wore through within 3 months on my first flip phone.

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I guess you had a sucky phone.

Or sucky pants ;-)

Re:Buttons on the outside?

[jusdisgi]

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 pictures of the inside of my pocket.

Bah Humbug!

[Indy Media Watch]

Shh!!!

Next you'll be telling people that the iPod wasn't invented in 2005.

If you don't want to go to NYT...

[hostingreviews]

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
2. Birdflu v.2.0
3. Boxing Day sans Tsunami
4. European CIA Jail System
5. Removal of Marti Gras from your travel ideas
6. A (great) Daily Show spinoff
7. The spread of Scientology
8. Marines shooting at and killing escaping hostages
9. Adoption Press Release Kits
10. Stem Cell Magicians

Ultra Bright LEDS

[Frogbert]

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.

Re:Ultra Bright LEDS

[drsquare]

I saw those years ago, not exactly this year's best idea.

And coming up with an idea is different to an invention actually being produced and rolled out, the two are often years apart.

Re:Ultra Bright LEDS

[gad_zuki!]

LED traffic lights are a lot older than 5 years. The town I used to live in installed them ages ago.

Re:Ultra Bright LEDS

[dougTheRug]

and how is that a gadget? Traffic lights made of LEDs are used the same way as inacdescent by the end user. Saving energy doesn't make a safety device into a fun gadget.

Re:Ultra Bright LEDS

[NOPteron]

They got 3 watt white LEDs over at http://www.luxeonstar.com/, brighter than damn near anything comparable ( certainly brighter than any off-the-shelf LED I could find in me normaller electronics-shop ), efficienter than normal incandescent, 100k hours lifespan, they got lenses for the things ( I'm using a wide-angle for the immediate-ground light and an elliptical for the "high-beam" light in my 2-LED bike-light. . . that puts-out up-to 160 lumens, in stepped levels, and runs around 1.5h on 8 Ni-MH AA's, gotta mount the LEDs solidly onto heatsinks, though, so I'm using a big aluminum-case as a heatsink, and epoxying the things solidly on, with a copper-wedge to angle the "high-beam" up a bit & the wide-beam down a bit. . . )

Really read the technical stuff for heat-sinking 'em, as some of the stuff, like a single LED on a HUUUGE heatsink indicates these suckers need special treatment. . . and the special-power-supplys for 'em make some things interesting, like dimming the LEDs. . . constant-voltage, variable current, it seems. . .

Also, watch-out for the life-span: the 5 watt white ones, in the "portable" section, have only 500 hours life, avg, and there aren't any ( at the present ) 5 watt white normal ones, so the III's are the brightest long-life whites you can get from them, anyways. . .

Digikey.com, of course, for the rest of the stuff: the weather-sealed switches, the potentiometers for making the multiple levels of output for the power-supply, the not-electrolytic thank-you-very-much tantalum 220uf capacitor for power input stabilization, the sealed aluminum case to build the suckers onto. . . great fun

And I WISH someone was making a 2-head lamp with these things commercially, but no, that ain't the case, so Gerry-rigging it is the only way to go

Disclaimer, I'm just some average-joe, making me a bike-light because no-one produces 'em the way I want 'em, not affiliated with anyone, and all that. . .

and they've got conversion-units, if you want to convert your normal-incandescent-flashlight to an LED unit, BTW, costly bastards, though. . .

Re:Ultra Bright LEDS

[skrolle2]

I'm pretty sure my city (Stockholm) started switching all traffic lights to the LED version 10 years ago, and completed the switch in about 2 years.

Re:Sounds like a shameless plug for some companies

[Garabito]

6. Yep. Buttons on the outside of the phone. Can't argue with that one. Good call.

And that one isn't even new, my Motorola V500 (released in 2003) had them, just that they're on the side, not at the front, and I can choose to ignore a call with them. And I don't really think that there weren't phones with that feature before.

Re:Sounds like a shameless plug for some companies

[Ryuu]

6. Yep. Buttons on the outside of the phone. Can't argue with that one. Good call.

Funny, if I squeeze my Samsung SPH-A620 flip phone in my pocket, it stops ringing because it has buttons on the outside, and I believe my LG 5350 did the same.

front-side TV connector (is probably not a gadget)

[ElephanTS]

Right I was going wha? My Sony widescreen bought in 1996 has front connectors.

Re:Sounds like a shameless plug for some companies

[Dumass]

My StarTac circa 2001 (although I know StarTacs came out well before that) had them.

Re:Sounds like a shameless plug for some companies

[topham]

His criticism applies to the StarTac series from Motorola.

The StarTac I had did not have a visible display when closed so you had to open it to see who was calling.

You could how-ever use the buttons on the side to toss the call.

TV a la carte?

[J. Random Luser]

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.

Re:TV a la carte?

[shawb]

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 (and I believe producing 1 minute of movie costs more than producing 1 minute of TV show) or it would cost $12.00 a movie to download, and who would pay that price? They could try some compromise, but there may simply not be a point between where releasing a movie for download on the internet is profitable for a movie company. Either the fee won't offset the costs (including potential costs of very easy piracy, and the opportunity cost of potential loss of sales of physical media) or it will be so high that nobody is willing to pay it and so get no return on the investment of setting up the store, advertising, support, tracking sales, etc etc etc.

THE FAMILY-PORTRAIT BURST MODE

[Anonymous Coward]

"That's why Casio digital cameras, in self-timer mode, automatically shoot three consecutive snaps, a fraction of a second apart."

The day Casio makes a digital camera feature break through, I'll sell all my photography stuff and commit suicide. How can a self-timer mode that takes 3 shots in a row be a break through or new...or by Casio. It isn't. Who the hell is this guy?

Re:Sounds like a shameless plug for some companies

[c_forq]

I'll bite.

1. Everyone thats anyone has a flash card reader
Not always true, at all. Many people use their camera's as card readers, or have a external card reader that is just as much of a choir as using a camera. Also this makes it EXTREMELY portable, as you can now carry pictures to anyone's computer, without having to download them and then upload to a different media or upload to a server.

2. Oh no, yet another "as easy as VCR" thing.
Yes many office phones have this, but no cell phone I have encountered has this, which is what this is about. I would love this on my phone, and it is a good feature giving the Treo an edge on the competition.

3. Front side TV connector?
ALL the connectors are on the front, with a nice tunnel and door so NO cables are visible, this makes hooking things up much easier, and the door/tunnel combo makes things much nicer looking.

5. Finally, something thats sort of new. Except for Tivo and personal video recording and...gasp...VCRs?
If you look at the article you see this is talking about LEGAL downloads of TV sponsored by the networks, which is something completely new. Especially since Tivo and VCR's don't apply to mobile players or computer screens

7. Free domain name - 1999 called, it wants its news back.
This mentions the new MS Office Live Beta, which is to give everyone free domains and e-mails (though laced with adds). This is something quite a bit different then the 99 version.

8. Ok, so its a portable DVD player with LCD screen and a plastic mount.
You missed entirely, it is a portable LCD. The way TFA mentions it the DVD player is not portable, but the screen is able to be moved between several devices.

9. A multi-shot mode on cameras.
Multishot with a timer. The timer being the important part. My Canon has this too (up to 10 shots) but my Canon is also fairly new (SD400, or IXUS 50 for Europeans).

10. high definition camcorders.
The fact that the camcorder uses normal DV tapes is what is remarked about, instead of using the opportunity of switching to HD to bring in a higher priced format. These camcorders use the exact same tapes as HD camcorders, and can even hold both formats without a problem.

I hope that clears things up for you. I am thinking I should have just copied and pasted the text of TFA though...

Offtopic, but relevant to ./ posting NYT articles

[arth1]

Jesus Christ. Just register for crying out loud. It takes a couple of seconds and saves you from copy and pasting logins that might not work every time a new article pops up.

True, Bugmenot is useful for sites I rarely visit yet force me to register. But for NYTimes? Come on! And if you don't want to give out your personal info, just fake it. Ugh.

I think you're assuming that other people are using their computers the same way you do; not much at all.
Some people use dozens of different computers, and browse so many sites that it's become near impossible to remember the userid/password for each and every one.
Use the "Forgot my password" link, I hear the unwashed ones cry. Again, that presupposes that you have but one email address it could be, and have access to that email right there and then, and betting on the email arriving instantly.

So the only real alternative for many of us is to re-register each time we're on a new machine (or use a new browser on the same machine, or have zonked old cookies, or...), with a new user ID and password. Which we promptly forget.

No, thanks, I prefer a service like bugmenot, until the online newspaper editors get it through their heads that requiring registration was a bad idea.

--
*Art

Pretty disappointing article

[slashdot.org]

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!

Re:Pretty disappointing article

[plover]

• 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 expensive) the buffer has to be to provide the same performance.

• 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.
  The front panel has ALL the jacks for the set behind a hidden door, an illuminating light so you can read the labels and see the cords to align them, and a tunnel for the cords to come out the back. Sounds clever.

• 6) [outer button flip-phone] Come freaking on. A bad UI design has been corrected.
  Far as I'm concerned, it created a different and worse problem. I'm forever hitting the side buttons accidentally while the phone is closed, causing random bleeps and boops, and the occasional incorrect-voice-dialing on the misinterpretation that my pocket lint must have said my wife's name. Why can't I turn these damn side buttons off when the phone is closed??? If nothing else, activate them only when it's ringing, otherwise they're just damn annoying!

• 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.
  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!

Re:Pretty disappointing article

[fishbot]

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' way to access this feature. I dunno ...

I do find, though, that sometimes the 2nd and 3rd shots have peoples mouths open, part-way through saying "Has it taken yet?" :)

Re:Pretty disappointing article

[Atario]

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.

I'll be rich

[Stan Vassilev]

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.

Re:I'll be rich

[shawb]

I propose that someone write a article on the ten worst top-ten articles of 2005.

Re:I'll be rich

[Infe]

> If I could get a penny for every newspaper that pulls out "top 10 whatever" straight out of its *ss.

Just out of curiousity, I did a google on "top 10 list" and got about 2,380,000 results. So even though most of those are NOT in newspapers, and even though SOME of the lists would know what they were talking about, let's pretend they were all clueless top 10 lists in newspapers. A paltry $23,800 would hardly make you rich. Ok, that was a waste of time :)

This is a crap list

[IntelliAdmin]

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??!?

Re:This is a crap list

[jbrax]

So to get my FREE domain with FREE ADS on it I just need to buy Office Live Online Software Suite for Small Businesses from Microsoft, and then change my computer to one that runs HastalaVista? What a great gadget idea! Thank you NY Times!

Re:Offtopic, but relevant to ./ posting NYT articl

[John Nowak]

Considering that your NYT registration is hardly sensitive data, you should just keep a file uploaded somewhere with your account info if you're really going to so many websites that you can't remember any of the logins (in which case, you may have another problem to worry about).

Flip phone button nonsense

[trixies_binge]

I find it odd that he chose the outer button flip phone as one of the ten best gadgets of the year because I have been doing this same thing with my LG TM510 since early 2001. The volume buttons on the side of this phone, as well as most other LG phones, double as ignore buttons. You press once to make the phone stop ringing and twice to send it to voicemail. It's strange that LG would add a new button when the volume buttons function for this purpose just fine. I sent an email to david pouge saying as much and he replied: Interesting... I wasn't aware!

Re:Flip phone button nonsense

[dvd_tude]

My soon-to-be dismissed Motorola V710 (otherwise known as the Bluetooth-less wonder) also uses the volume buttons as call ignore when the phone is closed.

Now, where is that damn box Verizon is supposed to send me so I can shove that phone up their... settlement!

My favorite gadget is...

[Anonymous Coward]

the cell phone jammer, for peace from cell phone using fucktards.

Re: disappointing RESPONSE to the article

[insignificant1]

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 TV's with connectors in front, but it is unsightly and in the end I always go with the rear connectors. Nice job, HP. Of course the completely wireless (data, not power) hi-fi home theatre would kick more ass, but until then...

Camera whose self-timer takes multiple shots. Guess you missed the point. But cheers! A great idea!

Geometrically. You're the hoot, unless I'm missing something completely out of my league; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometrically

Bad UI on the phone is fixed? Great. Somebody willing to break the barrier deserves customers, and praise. I guess irrational bitterness gets high marks from Slashdot moderators... And another person commented on accidentally hitting buttons placing calls, but if the buttons only do ignore/fwd to voicemail, then hopefully there is no possibility of making an embarrassing call by touching these buttons accidentally. And need they beep?

Downloadable TV shows? I've been waiting for it ever since I left the TV era behind, every once in a while I'd like to check out a NOVA episode or something. Great idea, but only more reason for bitterness, apparently.

And remember, we never talk about true tech/sci advancements in consumer electronics. It's all about using current tech for a better experience. Dude, you must be having a really bad day! But cheer up!

The guy's ignorant

[DrSkwid]

> 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 sets.

er, how about because presentation projectors do 1024x768

> THE FREE DOMAIN NAME ... It took Microsoft ... 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
> Yes, you'll see ads on the screen (unless you pay for the adless version)

It's not available in 2005 AND having to view ads is not "for free".
And if I can't have fuckmicrosoft@fuckofficelive.com then it's not free either

We've had domains for 1p in the UK for years under similar terms.

> THE HYBRID HIGH-DEFINITION TAPE JVC and Sony developed the first camcorders capable of recording in spectacular wide-screen high definition. This would have been a perfect opportunity for them to introduce yet another type of videocassette - some expensive, proprietary new format that wouldn't fit any other camcorder (and would generate millions in sales).

Ask anyone in the video industry (with a clue) and they'll tell you that Sony's DV tapes are already slightly incompatible with other machines.

lol, ark at me moan moan moan

Re:The guy's ignorant

[egomaniac]

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.

Re:The guy's ignorant

[DrSkwid]

lol, see, I'm ignorant too

I wish *I* got paid for it =)

Re:The guy's ignorant

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, if by "similar" you mean 640x480

No, NTSC is 750x480.

Re:Sounds like a shameless plug for some companies

[ErroneousBee]

1. Everyone thats anyone has a flash card reader Not always true, at all. Many people use their camera's as card readers, or have a external card reader that is just as much of a choir as using a camera. Also this makes it EXTREMELY portable, as you can now carry pictures to anyone's computer, without having to download them and then upload to a different media or upload to a server.

But its still fragile, and its not as useful as a direct USB connection to the camera (charges the battery too).

2. Oh no, yet another "as easy as VCR" thing. Yes many office phones have this, but no cell phone I have encountered has this, which is what this is about. I would love this on my phone, and it is a good feature giving the Treo an edge on the competition.

Someone finally being able to kick and scream hard enough to get a simple design past product testers and marketing is indeed news.

3. Front side TV connector? ALL the connectors are on the front, with a nice tunnel and door so NO cables are visible, this makes hooking things up much easier, and the door/tunnel combo makes things much nicer looking.

Still has the drawback of needing longer cables, and you still need to route the cables from the back into the tunnel. If you have a problem with your TV cabinet, then fix the cabinet, not 'everything else.

5. Finally, something thats sort of new. Except for Tivo and personal video recording and...gasp...VCRs? If you look at the article you see this is talking about LEGAL downloads of TV sponsored by the networks, which is something completely new. Especially since Tivo and VCR's don't apply to mobile players or computer screens

You mean youve been downloading your pr0n.rm files from illegal sites and not direct from the producers? How about these folks?

Actually I think this is how things will eventually go, you have an account with the channel and pay to download episodes as they become available via an rss like scheme. Unfortunatly the entertainment industry will attempt all the wrong solutions first (DRM, PPV, price gouging, 'extra content', proprietry protocols) before ending up with podcasting for video.

7. Free domain name - 1999 called, it wants its news back. This mentions the new MS Office Live Beta, which is to give everyone free domains and e-mails (though laced with adds). This is something quite a bit different then the 99 version.

Its a free domain name (that you dont want anyway, what you really want is free hosting) supported by ads. Domains are as cheap as chips (seriously, my domain is about the cost of a bag of chips (chips are a UK thing, a bit like french fries, only the taste nice)).

8. Ok, so its a portable DVD player with LCD screen and a plastic mount. You missed entirely, it is a portable LCD. The way TFA mentions it the DVD player is not portable, but the screen is able to be moved between several devices.

Ive been wondering when this would happen, take the TV screen to the device instead of the device to the TV. It might even work well.

9. A multi-shot mode on cameras. Multishot with a timer. The timer being the important part. My Canon has this too (up to 10 shots) but my Canon is also fairly new (SD400, or IXUS 50 for Europeans).

New, but not exactly innivotive, and you still have to balance the camera on a rock. Built in tripods with a remote shutter release would be a better option.

10. high definition camcorders. The fact that the camcorder uses normal DV tapes is what is remarked about, instead of using the opportunity of switching to HD to bring in a higher priced format. These camcorders use the exact same tapes as HD camcorders, and can even hold both formats without a problem.

What, like putting data onto a CD instead of music? What you describe is the whole point of digital media, the information is no longer tied to

Re:Offtopic, but relevant to ./ posting NYT articl

[fishdan]

To take it a step further -- rather than a file that's online, how about a site that I could store all of MY insecure passwords so then I'd have access to them from any computer! And, if there were a browser plugin so I could just r-click and have the username and password filled out!!! Damn that WOULD be cool!

Oh, did I just describe bugmenot?

What ..

[torpor]

.. no gp2x?

The NYT article's greatest shortcoming...

[D4C5CE]

Rather than your average pseudo-commercial list of branded devices, it's a list of improvements

...not even naming precisely (let alone linking to) the actual innovations it praises. Whether online or printed, this is a major inconvenience to the reader - but hopefully among next year's top ten, they'll discover "the deeplink".

Scroll down a bit.....

You won't even have to: http://h10058.www1.hp.com/digital/entertainment/us /en/theater/tvs/mdtv_guide.html#connect

Pretty bad list

[Jugalator]

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, will offer a domain name, Web site and e-mail accounts free.

So, in essence he's saying it wasn't a "gadget" of 2005? It's neither a gadget, nor in 2005.

*sigh*

That article looks to be written by a quite confused tech column writer.

Re:Pretty bad list

[advs89]

1. Microsoft allows to small businesses to put content on the domain of the business owners choice.
2. Microsoft still owns the domain, and gets to put all the ads they like on it.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with thousands of customers.
4. Profit for Microsoft.

~Advs89

Voice Mail

[rotenberry]

So when will I be able to fetch/wget/ftp my voice mail as speex/ogg/mp3 files from any mobile network operator?

That article isn't very well thought out

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, things like the outer button flip phone were made by Motorolla in 2004, it wasn't a new invention when LG did it in 05.

Re:Offtopic, but relevant to ./ posting NYT articl

[John Nowak]

No, I think you described a bugmenot where the passwords actually work every time.

I'm just teasing you man... ;-)