Without having to fear roundish, white-logo-clad products whose names begin with a lower-case vowel, the scads of nearly identical-looking glossy black rectangles (notwithstanding a touch or two of color) can safely saturate the HDTV battlefield with their "Hz"-infused blood, assured of relatively equal footing.

Or is it? Judging from our list of most popular HDTVs of 2009, accessible below in suspense-building reverse order, said field is dominated by two titans that pummel the rest. Of the ten HDTVs listed, only one--the remarkable Pioneer Kuro PRO-111FD, still the highest-rated television I've ever reviewed--comes from a brand other than Panasonic or Samsung.

The disparity between brands is no coincidence. Products that made the list, which is arranged by total pageviews over the span of 2009 (and so includes a good number of TVs from 2008), invariably spent a lot of time atop or near the top of the Best Products lists.… Read more

CNET's hottest software in 2009

The year is beginning to officially draw to a close. And 2009 has been an interesting year in terms of software, crammed with two jackpot operating system releases and some major updates to popular programs. Which software titles won your interest? See for yourself in our slideshow of the 10 most-viewed programs on CNET Reviews.com in 2009.

Before you dive in, keep two caveats in mind. First, the list necessarily favors some products released earlier in 2009, which have had more time on Reviews.com to attract a larger number of eyeballs. The same principle applies to titles that … Read more

Top 5 most popular products for December

We're headed into the holidays and it's time to count down the products you seem to like the most, as determined by your page views on CNET.com.

And, of course, there is a lame prize as usual. So watch the show, then come back here and post your trivia question answer below. We'll choose one of the the first 10 correct posters to win the Star Wars Episode 1 Electronic CommTech Reader.

The answer to the lame prize question from last week's tech turkeys countdown was: Meet Me Tour.

Top 5 most popular products for November

We're getting close to the holidays and we know you're starting to make your wish lists. So we're treating this month's most popular products list as a request. You're spending a lot of your time viewing these products. We get it. Feel free to send this video around to friends and family as a hint.

And while we're at it, let's give you something. Well, one of you. Go watch the video, answer the trivia question, and come back here and post your guess. It could light up your holidays. Literally.

The answer … Read more

Top 5 most popular products for October

The old most popular list is really coming back into its own these days. For a while there I thought it would be all phones forever. But it's two months running with only two phones on the list. I guess most of you all finally picked a phone and are moving on to better TVs, Netbooks, etc.

So watch in good health this week and then come back to this blog post and take a crack at answering the trivia question for a chance at winning the lame prize.

Popular Mechanics awards highlight innovators

Popular Mechanics magazine on Thursday will unveil its fifth-annual Breakthrough Award winners, an august collection of designers and products that could do much more than their share to change the world for the better.

From famous inventors like Dean Kamen to a flying car for the Third World to bacteria-powered batteries--and much in-between--the awards are meant to highlight technologies that will shape the way people around the world live and how they interact with everyday products.

Each year, the magazine's editors scour the country for a worthy group of winners, and this year, in the end, Popular Mechanics settled on one leadership award winner, one next-generation honoree, eight Breakthrough innovators and 10 Breakthrough products.

"In all cases, there's a really practical application that we see coming about," said Jerry Beilinson, the magazine's deputy editor, "so these aren't theoretical scientific applications. (They're going to) change the world and have a really positive aspect on people's lives."

Beilinson said that after five years of identifying technological breakthrough products and innovators, certain themes have emerged in the editors' preferences. Among the most important, he said, is alternative energy and products and designers that push that category forward.

"If I look back (at the last few years of doing the awards), we looked at aviation and we looked at medicine," he said. "But over the last few years, I think the things that have been clear themes that we've been looking at that have emerged (are) alternative energy and appropriate technologies for the developing world."

And while the themes can be forward-looking, the individual awards celebrate a "moment in time," he said.

"We're sort of picking the moment at which it's become real, and passed the threshold and seems like its worthy of an award," Beilinson said. "But most of these kinds of things do take some time to develop."

For this year's Breakthrough Leadership award, Popular Mechanics honored Dean Kamen, an inventor with more than 440 patents who may be best known for creating the incredible but commercially disappointing Segway personal transporter. … Read more

Most popular products: September

Time once again to check in on the most popular, and the trend away from cell phone domination continues this month! Hooray for Netbooks and TVs! Maybe it's the fall shopping season finally starting to turn people's minds away from phones. It's so much nicer to buy a gift that doesn't come with a two-year contract.

And of course there's a prize in this Top 5. So watch it, and answer the question in the comments below. One of the first 10 people to answer correctly wins the racing shirt. Properly laundered, I promise.

Top 5 most popular products for July

Time once again to check in on the products you folks are spending the most time looking at on CNET these days. Remember, these are based purely on the number of page views for the product review page.

Just like that cheerleader, Brittany, you knew in high school, these aren't necessarily the best, but they are the most popular.

And don't forget to be one of the first 10 people to watch the video and then post the correct answer to the trivia question in the blog comments below. That Mandelbrot Set commemorative T-shirt is waiting for you.… Read more

Top 5 most popular products for June

It's time to check in on the most popular products of the month, which usually means phones. This month is no exception. We do have one not-phone. And to keep the suspense, we don't know which of the phones will be number one. Note: this all came out before the iPhone 3G S.

So watch the video and come back here to post your answer to the lame-prize trivia question.

Top Most popular products for May 2009

I am very very excited because this month's most popular list is not entirely phones for the first time in awhile. It's mostly phones, But there's one member of the top 5 that is not a phone. How exciting.

Also exciting is this weeks lame giveaway. It almost doesn't qualify as lame. In fact it's pretty cool. It's a Playmobil Knight of Malta. You read that right. Watch the top 5 to get the trivia question and then answer in the comments below. Be one of the first ten folks to get the answer … Read more