-This week on the CNET Tech Review, all year long, we've toasted the good, shunned the bad and taken a hard look at the bottom line.
Now it's time to take a look back, pick the best and worst and draw the bottom-est line of the year.
It's all coming up right now.
Hey everyone, I'm Molly Wood and welcome to the CNET Tech Review, where we collect our hottest videos of the week and tell you what's good and what's bad in the world of tech,
plus offer some unique tech wisdom in the form of the Bottom Line.
But this week, it's a special end of the year show.
The CNET Tech Review 2010 year end review.
We'll feature the products that we ranked as the best of the good, the worst of the bad.
And in the Bottom Line, the one gadget that dominated the entire tech world in 2010.
I'll give you one guess.
But let's dive in with some of the good stuff, shall we?
Apple came out of the gate with a bang this year and not only
with the iPad, the latest iPod Touch and the MacBook Air got if possible, even thinner and hotter this year.
They're like the Angelina Jolie of gadgets.
-Hey, I'm Donald Bell, and today we're taking a First Look at the 4th Generation Apple iPod Touch, a CNET Editor's Choice for 3 years in a row.
This isn't a radical departure from the iPod Touch we know and love.
But there are some
noticeable improvements.
In terms of price, you're looking at 3 different models in 8 gigabyte, 32 gig and 64 gig version priced at 229, 299, and 399.
All of the hardware features from the previous versions have been preserved.
You saw the 3.5 inch capacity of touch screen.
Only now, it's using Apple's higher resolution retina display.
There's a home button on the bottom, a screen lock at the top.
Though now the button is shifted from the left to the right.
And you have controls for volume on the side here, but
there are now 2 different distinct buttons instead of one single rocker switch.
On the bottom, you have a headphone jack, a dock connection, and a teeny-tiny speaker grill.
If you take a look at the back, you'll notice 2 things.
First, the chrome steel doesn't bulge out quite as much as the previous version, giving a slightly thinner profile, a lighter feel and the ability to lay flat on the table without wobbling.
But the really big change is the camera lens up here at the top along with its little omni-directional microphone.
This is an
HD video camera that can capture 720p footage at 30 frames per second.
Just like the iPhone, you can use the built-in editor to trim your video clips or spend an extra 4.99 on iMovie App with more advanced features.
The camera takes still frames, too.
But the camera quality isn't nearly as good as the iPhone 4.
Now, if that weren't enough, Apple's also giving you another video camera on the front with a lower resolution.
And you can use this same camera for snapping self portraits that its main purpose is
for making video calls using Apple's Face Time app.
By using email addresses instead of phone numbers, you can make free video calls over WiFi to other compatible iPhones or iPod Touches.
It's a cool feature, it works well, and Apple puts the new app right here at the top of the menu.
Under the hood, you have a few significant improvements which have trickled over from the iPhone 4 including an A4 processor and a gyroscope sensor for detailed 3-axis motion control and games and other apps.
You also have support for 802.11n WiFi, and existing support for Bluetooth 2.1.
Compared against the iPhone 4, you don't get the phone, the 5-megapixel camera, GPS or a 3G data connection.
But you're also gonna have to deal with contracts.
The rest of the iPod Touch is just as you'd expect.
The core apps for email, web browsing, music, photos and video are all better than ever under IOS 4.
You now have the new ability to rent
TV shows.
Games look and perform better than ever.
With the internal mic, you no longer need a microphone headset or an adapter to take advantage of audio recording or the voice memo app.
And some third party camera and video apps now work as well.
So that's the 4th Generation Apple iPod Touch.
If you've been waiting to make an upgrade, I really feel that the 2 cameras, the face time calling and all the little performance tweaks really makes this year's model worthwile.
For CNET.com, I'm Donald Bell.
-Hi, I'm Dan Ackerman.
And we are here mere blocks from the Apple Campus in Cupertino with a very first hands-on look with the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air.
As everyone expected, the newest member of the MacBook family is this 11-inch Air.
It looks and feels a lot like a cross between the current MacBook Air, and those 11-inch premium netbooks that we've seen a lot of this year.
This guy actually has an Intel
Core 2 Duo processor.
And NVIDIA's GeForce 320M Graphics, and that's pretty much the same as you'd actually get in the white 999 MacBook.
Although this is an ultra low voltage version of that processor.
Still, for an 11-inch, you know, premium netbook style system- that's a fairly reasonable and powerful set of hardware.
You're gonna find pretty much the same full-sized keyboard and large multi-touch trackband as you find on other members of the MacBook family.
And the screen on this, this is actually really interesting.
This is the first MacBook ever with a 16x9 display, that's really
the industry standard now.
It's 1366x768.
The 13-inch version of the MacBook Air still has a 16x10 screen.
MacBooks are really some of the only laptops left with 16x10 displays.
Besdes the new version of iLife- the upcoming OS X Lion Edition and the new App Store.
The thing you're probably gonna be most excited about is, get this, not one but count them 2 USB ports that's twice as many as in the original MacBook Air, and really [unk] one of the main complaints people had about that system.
Like the original MacBook Air, it's actually very tapered.
It's about .68 inches in the back.
Tapers are very thin in the front.
The 11-inch is actually just as thick as the 13-inch.
It's not really any thinner.
And there you go, we just turned it off and turned it back on again- that's the instant on that something else people are very excited about.
Observe again, I close the lid.
It goes into kind of very low power mode.
And then, when you open it up, instant on.
Almost like you get with your iPad.
The new 11-inch MacBook starts with 65 gigs of solid state memory
for 999.
It's actually not an SSD hard drive.
They actually take the memory modules out of it, and put it right on the motherboard.
And of course, you can trade up from there to more memory or a faster processor.
Or the 13-inch screen.
There's one kind of bum note about the design I'm not too pleased with, and that is the lack of edge to edge glass on the display.
You see, it's got the silver bezel here.
It doesn't look nearly as good as the black bezel with the glass over it that you see on other MacBooks.
But that's about the only negative so far in our very early hands on impressions.
I'm Dan Ackerman and that
is the new 11.6-inch MacBook Air.
-Some unexpected hits this year including the surprise must have gift of 2010 for Microsoft and what could turn out to be the best Dark Horse Android tablet out there- the new Nook Color.
-Hey, what's going on everyone?
I'm Jeff Bakalar for CNET.com.
We've got a First Look here with Microsoft Connect, Microsoft's motion control
system that they unveiled at E3 2010.
Had some first hands on with 2 games, Connect Joyride, and I also got to play Connect Adventures.
There's a little bit of a learning curve with all the new motion control.
There's no physical control [unk] you're gonna have to learn how to sort of play the game without anything in your hands.
It's a lot of fun, you're gonna get a good workout because you're moving around a lot.
And we played a few games.
I was a big fan of Connect Adventures, had me in a raft and I was jumping around to
collect pins.
Was a lot of fun.
You really have to move around a lot.
It's not just your hands.
You have to move your entire body around.
Really good time.
Also got to check out Connect Joyride, which is a racing game where you use both of your hands to control the car you're driving, and body motion to create boost and to perform tricks while your car's in the air.
Had a lot of fun with that, too.
So that's our first look at Microsoft Connect.
You could try it out for yourself when it comes out in November 4th for the Xbox 360.
I'm Jeff Bakalar
for CNET.com.
Thanks for watching.
-Hi.
I'm David Carnoy and I'm going to give you a quick tour of the Barnes and Noble Nook Color.
Back at the end of 2009, Barnes and Noble released an E Ink reader, the Nook that differentiates itself from the Amazon Kindle by having a small color LCD at the bottom of the screen for navigation and keyboard entry, among other things.
Now the company isn't messing around with the strip of color.
It is instead
betting the farm on a full color E reader that features a 7-inch touch screen LCD, built-in WiFi, and has people asking- is it an E reader or a tablet?
The short answer is both, or as Barnes and Noble is spinning it, this is a reader's tablet.
It's just a shade less than a pound.
It's about twice the weight of the latest generation Kindle.
But it is significantly smaller than an iPad, which weighs in at around 1.5 pounds.
The color screen is a next generation LED
backlit display supplied by LG, which is bright yet energy efficient.
The product's designers added a special layer of laminate to the glass that covers the display to help cut down on glare and improve off access viewing.
Hover like any screen that has a layered glass over it, it's not immune to glare and like the iPad's screen, it is a fingerprint magnet and will potentially crack if dropped.
That's so the touch mechanics are quite responsive and the device as a whole is zippy.
For those who are hoping for a full-fledged Android tablet, you get such features as web browsing and multimedia functionality, along with a little Pandora and some basic games and the ability to read formats such as Microsoft Office documents and PDF files.
But one thing missing is Android Marketplace.
Yes more apps are on the way.
But Barnes and Noble is really gearing this toward readers first, and those looking for a multi-function device like the iPad second.
We were generally impressed with how elegant the user interface is
and how easy the Nook Color is to operate and navigate.
We also like that the designers included a physical Home button, it's the N at the bottom of the device, rather than a virtual one.
The hard button makes going back to the Home screen easier and it's well placed.
Along with its large selection of e-books, the company's making a bigger push into kids content with its new Nook Kids brand that features digital picture books designed to take advantage of such color devices as the Nook Color and the iPad.
At the same time the company is highlighting how well the Nook Color handles periodical
content, particularly magazines.
At the end of the day, despite the limited number of apps available at launch, the Nook Color is a much more polished e-reader than the original Nook was when it launched.
We've called this the poor man's iPad in the past.
And while it doesn't offer nearly the range of functionality, from a reading experience standpoint, it certainly rivals that of the iPad; just on a smaller more portable scale and at half the price.
I'm David Carnoy and that's the Barnes and Noble Nook Color e-reader.
-Now, rumors say the Nook might get Android 2.2 and possibly the Marketplace early next year.
Still skeptical, but if it does, major winner.
And then, just a couple of weeks ago, Google made things interesting in the OS world, previewing Google Chrome OS, and then putting it on what might be the most exclusive and surprisingly sexy not for sale laptop in the world.
Take a look.
-If you love Chrome the browser,
you're about to fall in love with Chrome the operating system.
Hi I'm Seth Rosenblatt for CNET Download.com.
And in this First Look video, I'll be showing you around Google's Beta release of the Chrome OS.
There's not a whole lot new here.
Chrome OS feels and looks almost exactly like Chrome, the browser.
The CR48, Google's demo notebook prototype of what consumers can expect in the summer of 2011, and the computer we've got here, is powerful enough that the operating system wakes from sleep instantly.
Currently,
Chrome OS is running the stable version 8 of the Chrome browser and that's expected to change as the browser updates.
Extensions, Bookmarks, Settings- anything that you've synced in Chrome will be instantly available in Chrome OS.
The Settings window has been expanded to accommodate the requirements of a full operating system.
Although there doesn't seem to be a way to change the clock to 24 hours.
Chrome Web Apps play a big role in the Chrome OS.
The Apps become essential quick links from your new tab window to your email, your productivity suite, notepad,
instant messaging, video and voice calling and other programs that most people are used to being separate from the browser.
The Chrome Web Store link gets you access to even more.
Another nifty feature of the operating system is the log-on procedure.
When you first open the laptop, it asks for your Google username and password, and then takes a photo of you with a dedicated webcam.
Chrome OS supports multiple accounts and has a Guest account option that opens the entire OS in incognito mode.
Chrome's Trackless Browsing option.
The CR48 laptop- the only computer that currently ships with Chrome OS comes with keys that are indelibly tied to an operating system that's also a browser.
The function keys have been replaced with dedicated navigation buttons- back, forward, refresh, full screen and next window controls.
Yes, you can not only open a new browser tab, but a new window as well.
The Caps Lock key has been replaced by a dedicated Search key that opens a new tab and puts the cursor in the location bar.
You can
change this back to Caps Lock if you're really into it.
There are a ton of hotkeys that have been mapped to this laptop, and they make a huge difference.
Hit Control, Alt, and question mark to see an overlaid map that reveals them all including ones for taking screenshots, revealing the task manager and printing.
Right now, Chrome OS is only available on the CR48 laptop.
Of course, you can download and install Chrome OS's open source parent, Chromium OS on most laptops or desktops.
For CNET with a First Look at
Chrome OS, I'm Seth Rosenblatt.
-A whole new way of computing, really.
Well-played, Google.
Now before the break, and the bad stuff, let's run down some other big splash gadgets we don't have time to show you.
Samsung launched the Galaxy S line of Android phones, which actually outsold Motorola's Android lineup by the end of the year.
Plus, they launched the real first iPad competitor in the Galaxy Tab.
We [unk] 3D all year long, but we
love the Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT25, which is one of the best 2D TVs we've ever tested.
HTC kick started the 4G revolution with the amazing kick stand enabled HTC Evo 4G.
And the Nissan Leaf is bringing electric to the masses.
And it looks like it might actually be a pretty good little car.
But, 2010 wasn't all 4G and roses, people.
There were some serious duds in the tech world, too.
Take a deep breath and a little break.
And we'll be right back with much more
tech review in just a moment.
Welcome back to the CNET Tech Review 2010 year end review.
Our annual video digest of the best and worst we've seen here at CNET TV this year, first annual anyway.
All right, we'd promised you the bad, so let's get to it.
Let's start with some of the high profile crashes we saw in 2010.
After all, the bigger they are, the harder they fall especially
if you're holding it wrong.
-Hi.
I'm Ken Sherman, Senior Editor here at CNET.com.
Today, we'll take a First Look at the Apple iPhone 4.
It's of course Apple's newest iPhone.
It has a lot of new features, has a redesign.
First, we're gonna take it out of the box, though.
Just pop it off the top there, and there it is.
So, from the start you see this is a very different iPhone in design.
Take off the lid there.
And inside you have of course the small instruction sheet.
You get the small wall plug that we've seen, normal
USB cable, and the standard iPhone ear buds.
So, pretty standard as far as the box goes.
Now, the iPhone 3G and 3GS merely were tweaks of that original iPhone's design.
This is a lot different.
It's flat on both front and the back.
So the nice thing is, it doesn't wobble when you put it on the table anymore.
We can compare it with the iPhone 3G that we have here, you'll see that it is a bit thinner.
It's actually 25% thinner.
The Apple says this is the thinnest smartphone around.
That certainly may be true for now.
But, you know, the thin smartphone race changes constantly.
So,
I don't think it'll hold that title for long.
It does have glass on the front and on the back.
I do notice at the back in particular tracks, a lot of smudges and fingerprints that we didn't see on the previous phone.
So you wanna watch that.
You see a metal band encircling the entire phone.
It actually has a new antenna as well.
You do see a couple of notches on the top, on the side.
But Apple didn't say that this would improve call quality.
They didn't actually promise that.
Perhaps this redesign is an effort to make those things better.
Some of the other changes you'll see is there's a new noise cancellation microphone here right on the top, that's next to the 3.5 mm headset
jack and the power switch.
Here in the side, the SIM tray which used to be on the top, it's been moved to the side.
Of course, it is a micro-SIM slot.
And the volume rocker has been redesigned.
It's now split volume buttons- a small change but I like it actually.
The silent button has been revamped just a little bit.
But you could barely notice it.
And down here on the bottom, you see that same 30 pin connector jack, the speaker and the microphone.
And of course, the home button is completely the same.
The phone is 4.8 ounces.
So it actually has the same weight as the original iPhone.
The iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS
were just a little bit lighter.
You don't really notice it.
It definitely is smaller though when I [unk] immediately taken out of the box.
It is a bit narrow when measured across the front face, and I already told you that it is thinner.
I do think that when I look at it alone, it certainly looks small.
And of course, you particularly noticed it when you put the phones side by side.
Couple other changes in design.
You'd see that there's a camera right here that is the VGA camera.
You can use that for self portraits or for the face time video calling feature.
It is 5 megapixel.
It also records HD video.
The iPhone 4 isn't the first handset to offer this feature
but it certainly works well.
We recorded some quick videos and they looked really great.
There's still no white balance or brightness or color tones or anything like that, but kinda used to seeing that from Apple- they've never really taken the camera and added a lot of customization with it.
But I think with these updates, it certainly makes the camera pretty good.
Along with the new camera, you will know a couple of tweaks to the interface.
There is the control for the flash.
You also see a small control for switching between the front and rear cameras.
So, everything is really accessible up front.
So it's pretty cool.
The face time feature is the Apple's new video calling
feature.
That's of course the video chat service that you can use with another iPhone 4 person, and be able to chat over [unk].
Do you need to be on WiFi to use it?
Just for the time being, they say through the end of this year.
They video can be a little pixelated, it can be a little jerky.
I think it works pretty well though.
And it's certainly fun.
I just can't imagine it'd last too much past the novelty stage.
-[unk] the other restriction.
-Yeah.
The other restriction is don't get too close.
-Also we need to talk about the display of course.
This is Apple's retina display.
And
the reason they call that is they think, they say that its resolution is beyond what's perceivable by the human eye.
There's been some debate about whether that's really true.
But I can say that the display is absolutely stunning.
You can't see any pixels at all.
Colors are fantastic, text looks great.
Websites, photos, videos, everything I was looking at was really really great.
When you put it next to you, you really need to get zoomed in to see it, but you do see a definite difference there.
Apple certainly stepped up the display, and made something that's really competitive.
So,
glad to see that.
The iPhone 4 does have a new processor.
And from the start, I can tell you that it was completely faster- doing anything, opening apps, going between menus.
Especially that camera shutter, actually that was really, really quick.
But this phone is certainly faster than what we've seen before.
As I said the iPhone 4 does have a bigger battery.
Of course we haven't done a full battery drain yet.
But, in just some of the brief testing that I've done, it seems like it's doing well.
With the multi-tasking that we saw with IOS 4, there of course is the concern that that will put a drain on the battery faster.
The way Apple designed
multi-tasking, they say that that [unk] gonna do that.
And I haven't found anything yet.
But it's always nice to see a bigger battery.
So, certainly welcome those.
Feature-wise, the iPhone 4 brings a lot of things and with the added IOS 4, it brings even more.
I won't get into the IOS 4 changes here.
But if you wanna learn more about the IOS 4 changes, I did a first look at the IOS 4.
You can check that out.
On the whole, this is the biggest upgrade of the iPhone since the iPhone 3G.
I think if we took them independently, if you took the iPhone 4, you took the IOS 4, you took those independently, they'd be great.
But when you add them
together, you'll really come with a compelling, sleek and really nice device.
Of course, there are so many great smartphones out there.
So, I'm not gonna say that it's the best 'cause to do that would really ignore so many smartphones, and how fast the technology world develops.
If you're an iPhone fan, and if you like what Apple has designed as a smartphone experience, this is a great phone.
I'm Ken Sherman and this is the Apple iPhone 4.
-Now, from that First Look, you'd think you should still be standing in line for an iPhone 4.
But
Antennagate tarnished the phone and Apple's rep.
I mean, you're holding it wrong.
Plus the phone's glass back was more fragile than previous versions.
And some slide-on cases seem to make cracking and scratching even worse.
It was a rare rough outing for Apple.
Still a great phone, but it didn't have a great year.
Speaking of phones, RIM tried to stay in the smartphone race with its only real major launch of 2010.
And once again, can I get a thud?
-Hi, I'm Bonnie Cha, Senior Editor at CNET.com.
And I'm here with your First Look at the RIM Blackberry Torch.
This was just announced today here in New York for AT&T.
And it's the first Blackberry that's gonna launch the Blackberry OS 6.
We'll talk about some of those features in a bit.
But let's look at the design first.
On front, you got a 3.2 inch [unk] touch screen, and it's not using [unk] so you don't have to click down on it like the Blackberry Storm.
You can slide it up, and there's a full QWERTY keyboard here.
So, people who
like physical keyboard will really like this.
There is an onscreen keyboard, both in portrait and landscape mode as well.
On the side here, you've got your usual volume rocker and a customizable key, as well as a 3.5 mm headset jack.
On back, despite all this [unk], it's got this nice soft touch textured finish.
So it feels very solid.
And you also got a 5 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus.
And it only records DVA video.
So, not really up to speed
with the other phones.
As far as the features, Blackberry OS 6 [unk] a new navigation bar here.
So you can expand it to see all your apps.
And you can also swipe side to side to see different categories including media, downloads, frequently used apps, and again all your apps here.
Other new features include a [unk] browser, Blackberry's really in need of a better browser.
So, this looks promising.
It has tabbed browsing, and the performance should be improved to be
faster.
3D, WiFi, all available on the phone.
You've also got a new multimedia experience that includes a cover like flow interface.
So you can browse through albums and your tracks by swiping back and forth.
Other features include a new social feed app that will bring in all your [unk] on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and that sort.
It also has the new Blackberry App World 2.0, so that will allow carrier billings so you can bill your purchases to
your AT&T monthly bill.
We're looking forward to checking this out more in-depth when we get our review unit.
It will be available starting August 12th for $199.99.
And this has been your First Look at the RIM Blackberry Torch 9800 for AT&T.
-Okay, iPhone 4 looking just fine now.
What's not looking just fine, Porsche's attempt at a crossover sedan something rather.
At least not according to Brian Cooley.
-It's the other car they said Porsche would never build- a 4-door hatch back, the Panamera.
So, while we wait for Ferrari to launch a minivan, let's jump in this guy and check the tech.
You know, everyone told me, Panamera looks better in person and everyone lied.
This is not a pretty car, I'm sorry.
Now, the color scheme is not doing it any favors-
candy apple green over infant barf beige.
But even silver over black, this thing would still look like Porsche gave George Barris a 911 and said, go make a cookie custom that looks pregnant, and he did.
Let's get inside.
Now, I gotta tell you, I love what Porsche's done with the interior layout.
This is some really fresh thinking.
There's kinda rising center console here, we have a little bit stylized and a lot of, but very
useful buttons.
And look around the cabin, this is a big deal with this car- 4 full sporting buckets.
This is part of Porsche's thing saying, this is truly a sports car with 4 seats which we'll have to figure out.
Let's get down to the technology now.
The car comes standard with a hard drive base navigation system.
And you can look at different view- we have the 3D bird's eye there, I can also switch that to your standard plain view.
And the map can also be echoed into this very 007-ish round
display to the right of the [unk].
We have an optional media interface- you're gonna hear me say optional a lot on this car- that gives us a standard aux, a USB jack and a proprietary connector for this pigtail that goes to, in this case, an iPod and another male USB for other devices.
Now, let's say you want better audio, go for the Bose 5.1 surround- we have that in this car.
That pumps the power to 585 watts, give you 14 speakers, 9 discreet channels and amplification.
If you wanna really go nuts, get the Burmester
Audiosysteme for about $6000.
I hadn't heard of these guys before.
I'm probably butchering their name, but it's German high end audio.
Now, put this guy in reverse and let's see our rearview camera.
Oh, that's right.
We forgot to get that option added.
Yes, it's $94000 car, and you have to add the rearview camera.
We do have sensors.
Those were optional, too.
Now, all these 4S Panameras come with a sport mode right
here.
If you bump it up to a little more aggressive level optionally, you get sport plus as part of a chrono package.
There's the chrono up there on the dash.
This button here is interesting- a little nod to efficiency.
This is the auto-off thing that a lot of Europeans are doing now.
If you want the engine to stop when you come to a red light or a stop sign, you leave this thing engaged.
In other words, turn that off, and this thing will turn off when you stop, then you lift off the brake pedal, it'll restart the engine.
You know, it's kinda hybrid greeny-weeny stuff.
And of course, there's the chronograph as part of the sport chrono package, 'cause you know,
you're gonna take your 4-door hatch back to the track a lot.
Give me a break.
Oh, while we're talking about silly, check out the key- shaped like a little Panamera with a great big hood emblem.
A Panamera 4S starts at almost 95 grand.
Then to get it CNET style, you'll be optioning for days.
USB Aux iPod is 440, keyless access- 1100,
parking sensors- 600, rearview camera- 650 on top of them.
The Bose audio is 1440, but the Burmester Audiosysteme hits 5700.
And that's just a small slice of the options available.
Unfortunately, one of them is not different sheet metal.
-I still maintain the Panamera's not that bad.
But I can not do anything to help Google TV.
Talk about a hotly anticipated launch.
Google brings internet TV
to your TV, right?
Well, not all TV is the problem.
Here's just one of the several Google TV products you just don't wanna buy.
-Hi.
I'm Matthew Moskovciak, Senior Associate Editor at CNET.com.
And we're here with the Sony NSZ-GT1 with Google TV.
This is the first Blu-Ray player available with the new Google TV platform, which means it searches through your online and offline media, controls
your cable box, and handles your Blu-Ray and DVD movies from a single box.
And it's selling for $400.
The exterior design is bigger than we were expecting, coming in at a little bit larger than a standard Blu-Ray player.
The top has a glossy black finish, while the rest is white, which isn't our favorite color since it doesn't blend in well with other home theater products.
Now, controlling the Google TV requires quite a bit of typing.
So the way you control it is important.
Sony's included controller looks
a little bit like a PS3 controller with a keypad added.
And while it feels comfortable in your hands, we didn't really like it for controlling Google TV.
The white thumb pad is touch sensitive, and it's used to control the onscreen cursor, but is inaccurate and that can be frustrating to use.
The controls for the Blu-Ray player are also small and sometimes require you to use the function key, which makes it hard for tech novices to use.
Hardware issues aside, our experience with the Google TV software has been mixed as well.
It has a built-in Chrome Browser, capable of playing back Flash and HTML 5 video, but major content providers like Hulu, CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC are blocking Google TV devices from streaming video.
It currently has some basic apps like Netflix, Napster, Pandora and Twitter.
But the included Netflix interface is outdated compared to other devices like the Apple TV, Roku XDS and the PS3.
Cable and satellite box control is fully integrated
if you have a dish network DVR.
But if you don't, then Google TV can't schedule recordings or season passes.
And while we love that we could bring up the Google search bar at anytime to find content, Google currently doesn't find programs on Netflix, and we also found that some of the listings info isn't accurate for shows like The Colbert Report, and the Daily Show.
Altogether, although we love the idea of Google TV and Blu-Ray in a single box, right now, we'd recommend the competing Logitech Review over the Sony
for early [unk] because we prefer Logitech's excellent wireless keyboard.
But for mainstream buyers, we pass on both the Review and the Sony for now, until Google TV can iron out its issues.
I'm Matthew Moskovciak for CNET, and this is the Sony NSZ-GT1 with Google TV.
-Ouch.
At this point, pretty much every network is blocking Google TV.
And there aren't any signs of a truce.
Hey, but CNET TV's still on there.
Okay, with
that, let's get to the Bottom Line, shall we?
In this case, the Bottom Line is the gadget of the year- the transformational device that launched a new product category proved skeptics, including me, wrong.
And made people everywhere kick up their feet and play angry birds and read Facebook on flip board, it's the iPad.
-If there's one new tech product that defined our year, it's this- the Apple iPad.
I'm Donald Bell here to shine the product spotlight on this game changing tech.
-The Bottom Line this week, I think we're all pretty familiar with the iPad by now.
So, where's that iPad 2?
All right, that's it for this episode everyone.
We'll be back next year with more brand new editions of the CNET Tech Review.
Including of course, the best and worst of CES.
And don't forget to watch our live coverage of that show starting January 5th at cnet.com/live.
Until then, there are tons of great videos available everyday at cnettv.com.
And hey, Happy New Year.
See you in 2011.
