Top 6 Gadgets of 2010

Where would we be without our beloved gadgets? They enable us to make decisions much quicker, and more accurately, and they present plenty of opportunities for a bit of relief during a stressful day. Most important, they are small enough that we can keep them with us at arms reach whenever we need them! Here my top 6 picks for the Top Gadgets of 2010.

iPad

website: www.apple.com/ipad

In the weeks leading up to the January 2010 announcement by Apple unveiling the iPad, the consensus seemed to be by many in the tech world that with Apple's history of pricing, and with the experience by others manufacturing devices in the tablet category, that there was no way that Apple would make the iPad available for less than at least a $1000 price tag.

Not only did Apple break that mark by providing the Wi-Fi 16GB entry model at $499, their hype was justified when the iPad became the bestselling and perhaps most beloved gadget of 2010. With a 9.7", it the most perfectly sized tablet currently available on the market. If you want to have a ubiquitous connection to the internet wherever you go with your iPad, choose the 3G+WiFi version, starting at $629 for 16GB of storage capacity, and $729 for 32GB, or $829 for 64GB. The iPad became my top pick of the year because it can do it all, and do it all very well: email, Twitter, web browsing, movies, television, music, photo processing, word processing, spreadsheets, and even presentations, plus thousands more apps make this device the most useful thing that has come out in tech since the first iPhone. Even Oprah Winfrey loves her iPad! How can you argue with Oprah?

Macbook Air 11"

website: www.apple.com/macbookair

When the press received the invite to Apple's October 20th, 2010 announcement, the presence of the Lion seen peeking from within the Apple logo seemed to suggest that demo was going to be all about the forthcoming Mac OSX 10.7, and others speculated that iLife '11 would be made available. They were both right, but what everyone didn't seem coming was the release of a brand new form factor for the Macbook Air at a mere 11" A full powered machine, with a ton of battery time for a laptop, and a reasonable price at $999. It suddenly made the holiday decision to gift someone the iPad or the new Macbook Air 11" a difficult one.

iPhone 4

www.apple.com/iphone

After the release of the iPhone 3GS in 2009, there were still complaints from people that there was not a way to record HD video on the iPhone, nor make video calls using a front facing camera. Apple alleviated all of those concerns and more with the iPhone 4. While the competition keeps coming up with devices that are getting closer to the capabilities of the iPhone, they still have yet to make something as beautiful and awesome to use.

While rumors have persisted for years that the iPhone will come to carriers other than AT&T, such as the CDMA carriers Verizon or Sprint, the drum is pounding louder than normal these days. So, don't be surprised if Apple announces the iPhone availability on other carriers beginning sometime in of January of 2011. If it does come to other carriers, it is unclear whether that will be with the existing iPhone 4 model, or if they will get the new iPhone 5 model, which is likely to be announced sometime in June 2011. I expect it will be a modified iPhone 4 model that will work with the Verizon and Sprint networks in the United States, and perhaps with the few other CDMA networks in other parts of the world. You can get an iPhone 4 for the subsidized two-year contract prices of $199 for a 16GB, and $299 for the 32GB. If you visit the AT&T website, I see that they were recently offering refurbished 32GB iPhone 4s for as low as $249. If you are already an iPad owner and you are thinking of getting an iPhone for the first time, keep in mind that a ton of those apps you just got for your iPad, will do double duty on your iPhone as well for no extra charge!

Droid X

website: droiddoes.com

If are in the United States and you aren't on AT&T, or are loathe to get an AT&T account, then you can always get the Motorola Droid X. The Droid Incredible received a lot of attention this year as the new kid on the block, but the Droid X is clearly the superior model with more storage capacity, better battery life, more accurate camera, and more. The Droid X, which uses the Android operating system, doesn't quite matches the feature strength of the iPhone 4 in the resolution of the display, or the strength of the still and motion cameras, it is currently the phone that comes the closest. While the screen display may not have the resolution of the iPhone 4, it does have a slightly larger screen at 4.3" than the iPhone 4's 3.5". Also, the Droid X comes with removable SD memory capability, which can allow you to expand from the standard onboard memory of 8GB to as much as 40GB. That exceeds the maximum storage capacity of the iPhone 4 by 8 GB!

The other downside of the Droid X, is that while they have an Android App Store, the Android system doesn't have the tightly integrated family of devices that Apple has, so if you want to guarantee compatibility among your devices, particularly if you have an iPad, or an iPod Touch, without having to do some geek mojo to make it work, you'd probably be better off with the Apple family of devices. The Droid X is $299 with a 2 year contract commitment to Verizon.

Apple TV

Website: www.apple.com/ipad/

Cheaper than ever, and easy as pie to install, the 2010 version of the Apple TV allows you to stream any content you have on your PC from your iTunes library, Netflix account, or YouTube accounts to your television. If you happen to have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod, then this is likely the device for you. With "Remote", the free app which you can download from the App Store, you can control your Apple TV with all of the aforementioned devices, and you can pick up where you left off on your TV Show, or Movie, on the go with your iPhone, iPad, iPod, using Airplay; a feature that automatically allows you to stream content from your library from wherever you left off. Airplay was added recently to all Apple iOS devices with the free update to iOS 4.2. The Apple TV is also competitively priced at $99. If you don't like iTunes, or only have a Netflix account, then you might find the Roku XD/S at $99, or the Boxee at $199 to be better suited to your situation.

Amazon Kindle 3

website: www.amazon.com/kindle

For a one trick pony, this device really knows how to ride. The graphite version is lighter, faster, and has more capacity than the previous 6" model. If you love to read longer form works, and have no desire to surf the web, play games, email, or use a wide variety apps, then this is the e-reading device for you. At $139 for the Wi-Fi, and $189 for the 3g/Wi-Fi, it also happens to be one of the most inexpensive e-readers as well.

Devices That Did Not Make My List

There were other noteworthy devices that came out in 2010 that I intentionally did not include on my list. An example was Google TV, which allows you to stream content that is on your PC, from your Netflix or YouTube account, or from other places on the internet on your television. It is similar to what you would receive with the Apple TV, but the Google Marketplace for content is not scheduled to go live until 2011, and I felt that did not allow anyone purchasing the device this holiday season much to look forward to during the rest of 2010. Plus, Apple has a tighter integration of their devices that Android devices do not have yet.

I also considered including the Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 device, which allows you to play gesture based games and apps on your Xbox 360 without the use of a controller. Released just last month, it appears that the device works much better than people had assumed it would when first announced, but great as it might be, it is an add-on device, that requires ownership of the Xbox 360 gaming system. I wanted to make this list about the top gadgets of 2010 that work singularly, straight from the box, without the required ownership of other gadgets, short of telephony service, television ownership, etc... Speaking of televisions, I also didn't include televisions in my decision for this year. There are great televisions that were released this year, don't get me wrong, but I don't really feel that a large, immobile television that costs thousands to be something that really deserves the moniker of "gadget".