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Having just left a year that gave us the LG Chocolate, Apple's range of computers using Intel processors, the start of the Blu-ray / HD-DVD battle and the Nintendo Wii launch at Christmas, we now face an even bigger year for avid gadget lovers. 2007 will be a year that many of us will remember for just a few gadgets, but these will be some of the most important in a long time. In January, the first operating system update from Microsoft in over five years will hit the machines of the consumer market. It is hugely overdue, and 'Vista' will be a real overhaul of the out-dated current system; but will it be good enough to make up for lost time? Sporting brand new features such as Instant Search and Flip 3D along with Aero visual effects, the update should make sure that 'The "wow" starts now'. However, Apple's new update to their OS 10 will be available before the summer, and this, named Leopard, may turn out to be a system that can take Vista by the scruff of the neck and throw it against the wall. Many of the features brand new to the Microsoft based PC are already standard on Mac machines, but the universal familiarity of the Bill Gates brainchild will still make it highly successful. In February, a relatively quiet month (the calm before the storm?), there will be the release of a brand-new mobile handset from the guys up North, the Finnish company Nokia. This handset, the N95, covers everything from taking 5 MP photos, playing video, playing your music, surfing the web, using GPS, uploading pictures automatically to Flickr, and even making calls. It also has Wi-Fi, HSDPA, 3G and Bluetooth. If February was the clam, then March is the tempest. The sequel to the highest selling games console of all time - selling over 100 million units - hits the shelves. Expect carnage and empty stock messages from every High Street and Online store in the country as the PS3 is introduced. It has a Blu-ray drive (making it the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market) and processors that are nearly twice as fast as the Xbox 360. It is going to be the product of the year. This month also sees the release of Microsoft's answer to the iPod: the Zune. It will bomb. If we skip a few months until May, there are two products of interest to us. Firstly, the Sony eBook Reader will be the first major brand gadget devoted to the reading of only eBooks, and with 7500 pages of battery life, and capacity for 80 eBooks, it may change how we read in the future. The other is Philips 3D TV, a product that gives 3D images without the need for dorky glasses, is not going to be a huge seller, but it will be interesting to follow the release of this to gauge the market for these screens. From here on in we have to rely on looking toward 2008 for any really exciting products to arouse our gadget-loving libido. Oh, except of course for the iPhone. This, you may have heard (if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past month), is the new mobile phone from the California whizz-kids at Apple. With a touch screen interface and over 200 patents, this is what I believe the phrase 'hot product' was created for. It combines a phone, and iPod and an Internet communicator into one slim-line, lawsuit-fuelled wonder-gadget. It looks smooth, clever, fast and not just a little bit gorgeous. The third quarter release this side of the pond will be a frustration, but it will most certainly be worth the wait with its big bag of tricks. This is the year ahead. The PS3 and the iPhone will steal the show, but the supporting acts aren't too shabby either. I look forward to watching the Vista/Leopard sparring session, and of course the on-going Blu-ray and HD-DVD battle progress. For me, the PS3 games console, the Leopard operating system and Blu-ray drive will walk away with their respective victories, and absurdly large profits for their CEOs.
Staff editor, Electronics Section, January 2007 |
