2010 was a great year for gadgets. It’s always a great year for gadgets! Let’s re-live it a little, shall we? Check out some of the best, worst, and oddest of the year.
1. Xbox Kinect Review: It’s a Brand New Console
Microsoft’s motion gaming peripheral is, if executed correctly, quite possibly the future of gaming. It might even be the future of Windows 8 and computers everywhere. But how much fun is playing with Kinect right now?
2. 11-Inch MacBook Air Review: A Tiny Miracle
The 11-inch MacBook Air is marvelously twee-most people will quite literally marvel at it. It’s stupid thin. And if it were any lighter, it would feel more like a trick than a tiny wonder of engineering and design.
3. Rock Band 3 Instruments Review
As we said before, Rock Band 3 is ambitious because it’s not just a game where you push buttons to music, it’s a game that gives you real(ish) instruments and makes you develop actual, usable musical skills.
4. HTC HD7 Review: Size Ain’t Everything
No smartphone platform is complete without a phone big enough to double as an ice scraper. The hulking HD7 is that phone for Windows Phone 7.
5. Samsung Galaxy Tab Review: A Pocketable Train Wreck
This is it. The Galaxy Tab is the first Android tablet meant for humans. But is it actually fit for humans? No.
6. Lightning Review: Joby Gorillatorch Blade Tactical Flashlight
LED flashlights are the torch to carry these days, but instead of strapping them to your body, would they be more useful with magnetic hugging legs? Joby’s Gorillatech Blade aims to find out.
7. Lightning Review: My New Mechanical Legs
In the week I’ve had these PowerStrider jumping stilts, not a single person I talked to knew exactly what they were. Even I wasn’t sure, as I was wearing them. But after a while, things started to make sense.
8. Control4 Home Automation Review: Access Anything from Anywhere
Now that you’re familiar with the general home automation scene (read that first if you haven’t) we can talk specifics. Like the Control4 system.
9. It’s Official: LED Lights Are Coming of Age
To paraphrase William Gibson, the future of lighting is here, it’s just not evenly distributed. Light-emitting diodes (LED) lightbulbs have been coming on the market in the past few years, but their quality varies greatly, from “almost perfect” to “horrible.”
10. Mypressi Twist Review: Home Espresso Dynamo
Cheap home espresso machines make espresso that tastes just as cheap. The $US170 Mypressi Twist doesn’t.
Been under a rock? See what else happened this year in our Best of 2010 series.