With holiday shopping well underway, the Times technology
staff has compiled a list of 10 favorite gadgets of 2009 that might
help those who are weighing stocking stuffers for someone else --
or themselves.
Sony Reader Touch Edition
Price: $300
What: Sony, which has been making digital book readers since 2006, has
come up with a device that trumps Amazon's Kindle in two ways.
The first is the touch screen, which users can use to turn pages or
highlight text.
The second is the ability to borrow digital books from thousands of
public libraries around the country. (Kindle readers are restricted
to books purchased from Amazon.)
What's neat about digital library lending is that readers don't
rack up late fees if they can't make the trip to the library in
time; the digital book simply disappears from the device when
time's up.
-- Alex Pham
Motorola Droid
Price: $200 (with two-year service plan with Verizon)
What: If you believe Verizon's nerdy sci-fi commercials, its new
cellphone is going to take over the world.
Not quite, but at the very least, the free GPS app will take over
your car. The latest device based on Google's Android software is
really powerful.
Droid has apps, maps and most of what makes the iPhone great. Plus
a slide-out keyboard. Its camera and dinky flash aren't as good as
you might expect, but come on, at $200 (with a rebate), it's one of
the best phones on the market.
-- Mark Milian
Sonos S5
Price: $399
What: The Sonos music system lets you stream music wirelessly from
your computer to speakers around the house. Sure, the barrier to
entry is pretty high. You'll want to have a good wireless Internet
setup in your home, a computer that's always on and an iPhone or
iPod Touch to control it all.
The S5 is Sonos' first affordable all-in-one, but it's still not
cheap if you want one for every room. However, music junkies will
absolutely love the streamlined approach to digital music.
-- Mark Milian
Nintendo Wii MotionPlus Controller
Price: $20
What: Nintendo has gradually introduced a smattering of new ways to
interact with its popular Wii game system, including the Balance
Board (for fitness and skiing), the Zapper (for shooting) and the
Wii Speak (for remote trash-talking).
This year's addition, the MotionPlus, makes the motion-sensitive
Wii controller respond more precisely to wrist movements and hand
positions, adding a welcome dose of realism -- and difficulty -- to
compatible sports games. Want to put a wicked spin on those
pingpong shots, or add topspin to your virtual forehand? Now you
can. Unfortunately, so can your opponents.
-- Jon Healey
Apple iPod Nano
Price: $149-$179
What: The latest version of Apple's bestselling portable media
player didn't change in price or size, but it got a bunch of new
features, including a video camera, FM radio, a microphone and a
speaker.
The video camera is especially cool -- it's not versatile enough
(and doesn't have good enough optics) to shoot something like a
sports event or wedding, but for the equivalent of a video
postcard, it's just the thing to capture a moment that can later be
uploaded and sent to friends.
-- David Colker
Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth headset
Price: About $70
What: Bluetooth cellphone headsets are great in theory, but for
years -- in real-world use -- they had mediocre-to-awful sound
(incoming and outgoing), and many models were too complicated to
use, especially while driving. But improvements have been made, and
this top-of-the-line model from Plantronics scores well in all
areas: sound quality, ease of use, comfort and battery life. It
even looks less dorky than many Bluetooth headsets, and that's a
major plus.
-- David Colker
DJ Hero
Price: $120 What: In the overcrowded field of music video games, DJ Hero rises
to the top. The game features more than 100 licensed songs, which
make up more than 80 original mixes, and it's bundled with a clever
plastic turntable and mixer.
Game play consists of pressing buttons on the turntable, and moving
the record for scratches, in time with the music on screen. The
music is broad enough in appeal, such as 50 Cent being mashed with
David Bowie, that the new title just might end up being the life of
your next house party.
-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Sanyo R227 Wi-Fi Radio
Price: $140
What: If you've got Wi-Fi in your house, you can put this tabletop
clock radio just about anywhere (no need to hook it up to a
computer) and it will pick up Internet radio stations from all over
the world.
The Sanyo unit comes loaded with thousands of stations that present
a huge variety of music and other programming, and if you know of
an online station not included, it's pretty easy to add. The
styling is mildly retro, the controls are consumer-friendly
(especially on the remote control), and the stereo sound quality is
quite good for a tabletop unit.
-- David Colker
Apple Magic Mouse
Price: $69
What: Taking a cue from the track pads on its laptops, Apple has produced
a multi-touch mouse that can distinguish how many fingers are on
its surface and the direction they're moving. For example, one
finger moving down the top of the mouse scrolls down an on-screen
page (this eliminates the scroll wheel). But if two fingers swipe
lightly to the left or right while using Firefox or Safari, the
browser pages flip backward or forward. This takes some getting
used to, but eventually it gets to be very handy. Gamers, however,
have complained it doesn't include some of the functionality they
crave.
-- David Colker
SaFPWR battery case
Price: $100
What: This line of leather iPhone cases actually doubles as
external batteries, so users of the iPhone 3G and 3GS won't run out
of power quite so frequently. If you're bothered that your iPhone
has only a 5% charge by the time you get home from work, preventing
you from calling your aunt, daughter, husband or all three, just
pop your phone into a battery case and gain up to eight hours of
extra talk time -- all without the need to tether your phone to a
wall outlet.
The cases come in a variety of colors and styles, from brown suede
to dark leather cross-stitch. Because they are batteries
themselves, they need to be charged when you're not using them.
-- David Sarno
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