Tom's Top Tech of 2007
1) Apple iPhone
For years I have been searching for the perfect mobile device. A Phone,Web and Email in my Pocket, just like I experience it on the desktop. After going through several so called "Smart Phones" which do everything I wanted, but not very well or where too frustrating and fiddly to be worth the effort Iv finally found my match, and so have several million others! The Simplicity of the user interface is staggering but much like the Mac, still holds allot of power. By replacing tens of buttons with a giant touch screen it makes the device easier to use than any phone ever created, paired with its operating system, Mac OSX it is also the most powerful. It is touch to find fault with Apple's creation with the press and public agreeing, dubbing it "The Jesus Phone" this is probably the best mobile device ever created and has changed the entire mobile industry, much like the Mac changed the computer industry, in the short time since its launch.
2) Sony Playstation 3
The heavyweight of the next gen consoles comes from
Sony in the form of their Playstation 3. Its BluRay
Disk player and extensive media playback features
shows Sony are marketing this as more of an AV hub
than games console, but dont think it wont impress
for gaming. With its Cell Processor and RSX "Reality
Synthesizer" it will come into its own when
developers start getting to grips with the machine.
Future games such as Killzone 2 should show us what
Sony's "Super Computer" is made of. The ability to
install other operating systems onto the machine also
adds to its appeal letting you use it (with a little
technical know how) as a desktop computer.
3) Mac OSX 10.5 "Leopard"
Over the last few years Apple have been steadily
improving Mac OSX with a number of major releases,
each one pushing it further and further ahead of the
competition.
Leopard is no different, building on top of Tiger
with improvements across the board, a new refined +
consistent user interface and several new features
such as time machine which is not only useful but
looks out of this world. Under the hood enhancements
such as Core Animation (which plays a strong role in
the iPhones Interface) provide an infinite playground
for developers to push there design and show us all
what the "Delicious Generation" is all about.
4) Apple iMac
How do you go about redesigning the most well known
and most popular desktop computer in the world? Coat
it in aluminum, put it on a diet and give it a
beautiful glossy widescreen display of course!
The new iMac is simply jaw dropping, from the elegant
slimline keyboard to the glass display the attention
to detail is staggering and on that not so is the
price, the value for money compared to other machines
of the specification is amazing and thats before you
start considering Mac OSX Leopard and iLife 08 which
come included as with all new Mac's.
Apple Market the iMac as "The Ultimate all-in-one"
and do so with good reason, the iMac has everything
you could ever want, including an iSight camera &
Microphone, Beautiful WIdescreen display, Wireless N
& Bluetooth 2.0 as well as a generous array of
I/O round the back.
5) Xbox 360 Elite
FInally Microsoft delivered the 360 we had all been
hoping for... and a whole lot more.
With its Huge 120GB Hard Drive to compliment the
newly launched movie rental store, upcoming IPTV
Service and the ever growing marketplace of
downloadable digital content, it gives consumers alot
more space to play with than the puny 20GB the
console launched with.
HDMI was also added to the joy of A/V fanatics and to
top it off, a matte Black finish with looks at home
with the rest of your equipment. Unlike Sony,
Microsoft where extremely generous by throwing in
Component, HDMI Composite/Scart and Ethernet Cables
as well as a Headset considering the £299 ($450)
Launch Price.