Year in review: Gizmos up the style ante
Flocking to the Razr phone, iPod Nano and other stylish gadgets, consumers affirmed that design matters.
Year in Review: GADGETS
Gizmos up the style ante
From the super-slim Motorola Razr phone to the ultra-sleek and skinny iPod Nano, design ruled the land of gadgets in 2005.
After becoming the party favor of choice at this year's Oscars, the Razr helped Motorola regain its rank as the world's No. 2 cell phone maker, knocking Samsung back to the No. 3 spot. The stylish handset, half an inch thick and just 3.5 ounces, was the top-selling mobile phone in the third quarter, when phones sales leapt 30 percent in the U.S.
Now available in pink, the Razr has helped revive the Motorola brand in the eyes of consumers, as has the company's tie-up with Apple Computer. This fall, the companies introduced the Rokr phone, which can hold up to 100 iTunes songs. Yet analysts still question whether consumers are ready for phone-music player hybrids.
A new generation of super-thin iPods kept consumers enthralled with Apple's popular portable music players. Unveiled in September, the tiny iPod Nano, which is not much bulkier than a credit card, replaced the iPod Mini, and holiday shoppers are clamoring for them. Retailers were selling out of them ahead after Thanksgiving, despite complaints that the the device scratches easily--a gripe that led to a class action lawsuit being filed on behalf of Nano owners.
Apple followed up on the Nano with a new video iPod that plays music videos and TV shows--both for sale at iTunes. It's sending ripples through Hollywood, as networks get hip to the idea of offering television shows through the digital music player.
But devices that fit in your pocket were only part of the gadget story in 2005. At the other end of the size spectrum, digital, big-screen TVs were in hot demand, and that set prices tumbling. Forty-two-inch liquid crystal display sets were expected to dip to $2,800 by the end of the year, slicing 41 percent off last year's prices, analysts predicted. The price of plasma TVs and rear-projection, digital light processing sets fell too.
Game fans had cause for enthusiasm this year with the release of Sony's PlayStation Portable entertainment console and Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Meanwhile, notebook computer manufacturers made energy efficiency a big focus. Chipmaker Intel pushed its partners to produce a laptop that can run for eight hours straight on a single battery by 2008. Other companies made fashion and luxury a priority, coming out with suede-covered notebooks and portable computers featuring wood paneling.
And while your laptop may look good, it could leave you feeling bad. Doctors this year reported a growing number of computer-related injuries linked to the machines as people spend more of their workday using them. While the machines' compressed design is great for portability, it can wreak havoc on posture, some experts said.
In an effort to narrow the digital divide, MIT Media Lab led the charge in developing $100 laptops for schools in developing nations. The proposed machines feature a hand-crank and built-in wireless and are expected to hit schools in Brazil and Thailand late next year.
--Alorie GilbertCES 2005: Digitizing entertainment
Technology companies large and small all want a piece of the digital living room.
Razr phone boosts Motorola to No. 2 sales slot
Slim, trendy handset helps Motorola edge past Samsung to again be second in cell sales only to ever-dominant Nokia.
Sony's big push for the PSP
The PlayStation Portable arrives in North America amid expectations that it's not just any old game machine.
PC milestone--notebooks outsell desktops
Increase in retail notebook companies, drop in prices help bump up portable sales, analysts say.
Get ready for the 9-to-5 notebook
Will your notebook work as long as you? Maybe, if a few component dreams come to fruition.
Clearing up the HDTV picture
Consumers want their HDTVs, but they're not always as happy with their fancy sets as they expected to be
Digital-camera growth has peaked, study says
Industry slowdown was expected, but sales of camera cell phones may also account for the numbers.
Digital TVs: More screen for less green
With prices for high-end TVs dropping, a 50-inch plasma, LCD or projection television set may be in your future.
With Nano and Rokr, Apple makes itself heard
The iPod keeps getting smaller, even as it stays the big kid on the music player block. Also: iTunes in a phone.
Suit filed over Nano scratches
Complaint alleges that Apple violated state consumer protection statutes, as well as warranties.
Apple unveils video iPod, new iMac
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils an iPod that lets you play last night's episode of "Lost." Also onstage: a slim new iMac.
$100 laptop expected in late 2006
MIT's Nicholas Negroponte and U.N.'s Kofi Annan announce details of hand-cranked laptop for kids in developing world.
The Xbox 360 rush is on
Microsoft kicks off the next-generation of consoles with a special Xbox 360 launch event in the Mojave desert.
Laptops getting extreme makeovers
The Flybook pushes the envelope on size. If that's not your style, how about a suede case?
Behind the headlines
Year in Review: GADGETS
Gizmos up the style ante
From the super-slim Motorola Razr phone to the ultra-sleek and skinny iPod Nano, design ruled the land of gadgets in 2005.
After becoming the party favor of choice at this year's Oscars, the Razr helped Motorola regain its rank as the world's No. 2 cell phone maker, knocking Samsung back to the No. 3 spot. The stylish handset, half an inch thick and just 3.5 ounces, was the top-selling mobile phone in the third quarter, when phones sales leapt 30 percent in the U.S.
Now available in pink, the Razr has helped revive the Motorola brand in the eyes of consumers, as has the company's tie-up with Apple Computer. This fall, the companies introduced the Rokr phone, which can hold up to 100 iTunes songs. Yet analysts still question whether consumers are ready for phone-music player hybrids.
A new generation of super-thin iPods kept consumers enthralled with Apple's popular portable music players. Unveiled in September, the tiny iPod Nano, which is not much bulkier than a credit card, replaced the iPod Mini, and holiday shoppers are clamoring for them. Retailers were selling out of them ahead after Thanksgiving, despite complaints that the the device scratches easily--a gripe that led to a class action lawsuit being filed on behalf of Nano owners.
Apple followed up on the Nano with a new video iPod that plays music videos and TV shows--both for sale at iTunes. It's sending ripples through Hollywood, as networks get hip to the idea of offering television shows through the digital music player.
But devices that fit in your pocket were only part of the gadget story in 2005. At the other end of the size spectrum, digital, big-screen TVs were in hot demand, and that set prices tumbling. Forty-two-inch liquid crystal display sets were expected to dip to $2,800 by the end of the year, slicing 41 percent off last year's prices, analysts predicted. The price of plasma TVs and rear-projection, digital light processing sets fell too.
Game fans had cause for enthusiasm this year with the release of Sony's PlayStation Portable entertainment console and Microsoft's Xbox 360.
Meanwhile, notebook computer manufacturers made energy efficiency a big focus. Chipmaker Intel pushed its partners to produce a laptop that can run for eight hours straight on a single battery by 2008. Other companies made fashion and luxury a priority, coming out with suede-covered notebooks and portable computers featuring wood paneling.
And while your laptop may look good, it could leave you feeling bad. Doctors this year reported a growing number of computer-related injuries linked to the machines as people spend more of their workday using them. While the machines' compressed design is great for portability, it can wreak havoc on posture, some experts said.
In an effort to narrow the digital divide, MIT Media Lab led the charge in developing $100 laptops for schools in developing nations. The proposed machines feature a hand-crank and built-in wireless and are expected to hit schools in Brazil and Thailand late next year.
--Alorie GilbertCES 2005: Digitizing entertainment
Technology companies large and small all want a piece of the digital living room.
Razr phone boosts Motorola to No. 2 sales slot
Slim, trendy handset helps Motorola edge past Samsung to again be second in cell sales only to ever-dominant Nokia.
Sony's big push for the PSP
The PlayStation Portable arrives in North America amid expectations that it's not just any old game machine.
PC milestone--notebooks outsell desktops
Increase in retail notebook companies, drop in prices help bump up portable sales, analysts say.
Get ready for the 9-to-5 notebook
Will your notebook work as long as you? Maybe, if a few component dreams come to fruition.
Clearing up the HDTV picture
Consumers want their HDTVs, but they're not always as happy with their fancy sets as they expected to be
Digital-camera growth has peaked, study says
Industry slowdown was expected, but sales of camera cell phones may also account for the numbers.
Digital TVs: More screen for less green
With prices for high-end TVs dropping, a 50-inch plasma, LCD or projection television set may be in your future.
With Nano and Rokr, Apple makes itself heard
The iPod keeps getting smaller, even as it stays the big kid on the music player block. Also: iTunes in a phone.
Suit filed over Nano scratches
Complaint alleges that Apple violated state consumer protection statutes, as well as warranties.
Apple unveils video iPod, new iMac
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils an iPod that lets you play last night's episode of "Lost." Also onstage: a slim new iMac.
$100 laptop expected in late 2006
MIT's Nicholas Negroponte and U.N.'s Kofi Annan announce details of hand-cranked laptop for kids in developing world.
The Xbox 360 rush is on
Microsoft kicks off the next-generation of consoles with a special Xbox 360 launch event in the Mojave desert.
Laptops getting extreme makeovers
The Flybook pushes the envelope on size. If that's not your style, how about a suede case?
Behind the headlines