2003 the year of Gadget Mainstream adoption and some shattered Gadget
Dreams.
2003 has seen several new exciting Gadget and Technology announcements. We
are looking back with this story on the past year and pick the Top 10 Gadgets
Trends of 2003. Several of the mentioned Gadgets are not on the market, but made
a big splash this year and excited Gadget Fans around the globe. Some other
technology trends gained mainstream adoption in 2003. Read On.
Camera Phones
Camera Phone became mainstream. Everybody seems to have one. A camera has
nearly become a standard feature in mobile phones. Drivers for the
adoption where low-cost phones like the Sanyo
8100, Sanyo 5300, Nokia
3650, Sony Ericsson T610
and others. The Japanese camera phones are still much more advanced. They
got the Casio A5403CA
2MP Camera Phone or the p504is
with 2 cameras built-in.
Smart Phones
Several Smart Phones hit the market this year. Phones powered by either
Microsoft OS, Palm OS, Linux or Symbian. The first mobile phone was
introduced 20 years ago with the Motorola DynaTec
8000. The Smart phones show how far we came since then. Some of the
interesting Smart phones are: Treo
600, Sony Ericsson P900
(avail. in Europe) and the Nokia
7700 (avail. 2004).
Handheld Game Consoles
The Handheld Game Console space got also rejuvenated. For the longest time it
was in the sole hand of the Nintendo
Gameboy. Silicon Valley's Tapwave launched their Palm OS powered Zodiac
Handheld Gaming Console targeted primarly at the Gameboy graduates (20 and
up). The Zodiac is a Full Palm PDA, but has a 3D Graphics chip, analog joystick
and stereo sound in a slick package. Sony countered by pre-announcing the Sony
PSP handheld gaming device. When the Sony PSP will be available is unclear.
Worth mentioning is Nokia's attempt on the handheld gaming market with their N-Gage
Mobile Phone. It got them bad
press, but they still managed to sell some of them, mostly in Europe.
Personal Video Players
Handheld Video Players have landed in 2003. Most of them use the MP4 video
compression format. They present a valid upgrade and alternative to MP3
Jukeboxes, because most of the Video Player also can play MP3 music files.
We identified the RCA Lyra
RD2780
as the leader of the pack, which is surprising that RCA is capable of such
a leading Gadget. A bit more bulky and pricier, but comes with more
flexibility, more Storage (up to 80GB) and add-ons is the Archos
av300 series. The Sony Personal Video Player PCVA-HVP20
is a bit disappointing. It has no MP4 support and it looks pretty big.
MP3 Jukeboxes The iPod started it all, but in 2003 several
iPod alternatives made it on the market. Worth mentioning are the Dell
DJ Jukebox and the Napster
branded Samsung Player.
Most Jukebox player vendors also offer a music download site. Buy.com,
Dell.com, Walmart.com
all of them have music download sites, after Apple's
iTunes went online. Napster
is back as well. Watch out in 2004 for dozens of music download sites. The good
thing the price war already started. Walmart
sells each song for 88c.
Robots
Many new Robots were born in 2003. The Robodex
2003 show cased many of them. Just this week Sony announced that their new QRIO
Robot can run. Robots also become more human, just look at the Atroid.
On the low-end many cleaning robots came on the market, like the Samsung
VC-RP30W, the Electrolux
Trilobyte, The small Hitachi
and the Roomba.
Small Digital Cameras and Small Digital Video Cameras
Sony made a home run this year with Qualia 016 Digital Camera. Uncanny
pricy,
because its hand assembled and comes with a case full of accessories. And of
course its the world's smallest digital camera. Sony also kicked of a new
generation of mainstream 5MP cameras with the world's thinnest 5MP camera the
Sony DSC-T1. Also a contender in the smallest digital camera category is the
Casio Exilim S20. We developed a chart that compares a whole set of small
digital cameras. Expect in 2004 more small cameras with more and more features
of high-end cameras.
Consumer DVD Recorder Computer DVD Recorder where already accepted in the market. In 2003 DVD
Recorder for the Home-Theater gained dramatic momentum. With lots of models to
choose from, DVD recording is the new must have component in a complete Home
Theater. Some of the DVD Recorder feature basic TIVO functionality. Others are
networked into the home LAN.
Worth mentioning: Pioneer DVR810HS,Sony DVP-NS530,Sony RDR-GX7 and the
Sony PSX
Wireless MP3 for Home Audio For people who wondered how to get their MP3 collection on their PC to play
on any Stereo in the home got the answer in 2003 from
Creative Labs,
Slim Devices and
Yamaha.
There are definitely more technology trends that took off in 2003. But with any
Top 10 listing it never can cover everything. Lets see what 2004 brings. We at
I4U will keep you on the up-to-date of course with the latest in Future
Technology.
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August 19th marked the beginning of our 100 days Holiday Gift Guide 2008 countdown until the Thanksgiving Sales 2008 start. I4U News brings you a Holiday gift tip each day for the next 100 days. On Thanksgiving Day we will have 100 tech-gift tips in 10 categories online for you.
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