20 most innovative products of the year

PC, which is half a desktop computer, and half a laptop. An operating system that is fully hosted on the website. Thoroughly redesigned office suite. Our laureates are the most significant technological advances, and you can get them right now.

1. Microsoft Office 2007
Innovations? In Microsoft? We were also surprised, but the latest update of the most popular package contains several innovations that can radically change the usual ways of working with documents. The most outstanding innovation is the “ribbon” instead of the usual cascading menus at the top of the screen, which allows you to use functions that you constantly forget about the location of which in the hierarchical menu system. Thanks to the new Live Preview feature (real-time preview), you can evaluate how the changes will look, for example, when formatting, before applying them to the document. Also, users of the new version will get better support for XML. Product prices range from $ 149 for the Home & Students version to $ 679 for the most comprehensive Ultimate edition. 2. Intel Core 2 Duo
As the fastest processor we have ever tested, the Core 2 Duo series can have a huge impact on each of the products on our list. Most technological innovations are hidden under such names as Advanced Smart Caching, Smart Memory Access and Wide Dynamic Execution. Intel’s real achievement is that it has managed to combine all the technologies together and significantly reduce power consumption. 3. Parallels Desktop for Mac
The idea of ​​using Windows on Macintosh computers was discussed very actively last year, and many publications were devoted to it. Determining which of the developments is the most innovative is quite difficult, but in the end we chose a Parallels product (costing $ 80) as the most convenient way to run basic Windows applications on the Macintosh. Also here it would be worth noting developers WinXPonMac. 4. Nintendo Wii
The Wii game console, priced at $ 250, is equipped with modern sensors that respond to the player’s physical movements. This innovation makes the game much more entertaining and active. In specially designed games, holding a Wii Remote sensor or a Nunchuck-like joystick in your hands, you can take a tennis ball or strike a dangerous left-handed blow at the hero of your game. It's pretty funny, it quickly becomes familiar and almost foreshadows the advent of a new era in the gaming industry. 5. Samsung 32Gb SSD
The drive on flash memory, suitable in size for laptops. This 32 GB drive (the price at the time of publication has not been determined) opens up a new stage for high-speed drives and sets the stage for future hybrid drives. 6. Sony Reader
E-books (e-books) are still far from truly mass distribution, but the Sony Reader for $ 350 can turn the tide. Among the advantages - the screen with anti-reflective coating and innovative technology E Ink, which provides the same resolution as the traditional newsprint, and looks better than a conventional LCD monitor in bright light. The Sony Reader, slightly larger than a pocket-sized paperback book, is easy to use and weighs only 254 g . 7. YouOS
Have you ever wondered how far a fashion can go on an Ajax-application-in-browser? How about a fully functional operating system that works in your browser? The free YouOS site, currently in alpha testing, is dedicated to this. Applications, data and all settings are located on the server. Create an account, and you can use your computer with YouOS from almost anywhere, which gives a completely new meaning to the phrase “remote access”. 8. Dell XPS M2010
Not exactly a desktop PC and definitely less portable than a regular laptop. This hybrid system successfully combines the advantages of both. You get a 20.1-inch screen, a DVD drive, a detachable Bluetooth keyboard, a webcam, eight built-in speakers and a subwoofer. The system is equipped with graphics from ATI and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. The maximum amount of RAM is 4 GB. When folded, the device resembles a briefcase, which is even equipped with a handle, but its weight is about 8 kg. Prices start at $ 2,999. 9. Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750Gb
With the increasing popularity of audio and video files in the past few years, the problem of the volume of stored data has reappeared as the traditional longitudinal recording has reached its limit. Perpendicular recording technology allows manufacturers to significantly increase the amount of data written to disk. Laptop users were the first to appreciate the benefits of this innovation. And with the advent of the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, the merits of a new technology are becoming available for desktop PCs. This model not only has the largest capacity, but also surpasses other disks in performance, especially in write tests and when using large files. 10. T-Mobile Dash
With the advent of the Motorola Q, Windows Mobile smartphones have a handy QWERTY keyboard. Then T-Mobile Dash was developed, to which all other necessary components were added. Combining an ultra-thin design, extra keys that we lacked in Motorola Q, and providing the ability to use wireless connections, T-Mobile Dash leaves a very good impression. You also get a 1.3 megapixel camera and a miniSD card slot. Among the noted shortcomings - the amount of internal memory is only 23 MB, and the software package is somewhat inferior to competitors. 11. Pioneer Inno
Satellite radio has reached a new level of portability with the advent of the Pioneer Inno XM receiver for $ 299. Earlier devices simply recorded excerpts of radio broadcasts. The new receiver also allows you to save and play songs, and also leave bookmarks on the station, the use of which you plan to pay later (the Samsung Helix, which we have not tested, has similar characteristics). 12. Farecast
Many websites help to find the cheapest prices for air tickets if you plan to buy them right now. But the price, which today seems to be an excellent offer, may become unreasonably high tomorrow. The Farecast service tracks changes in ticket prices over time, telling you whether the price will go up or down next week. 13. Sony BWU-100A Blu-ray disc rewritable drive
Sony's $ 750 BWU-100A for $ 750 was not the first external Blu-ray drive we tested (the Pioneer BDR-100A cost $ 1,000), but it has the most complete equipment for the best price and unlike other able to record as single-layer discs with a capacity of 25 GB, and 50 GB dual layer. 14. Olympus Evolt E-330
The $ 950 Evolt E-330 digital SLR camera provides a unique feature for this class of devices: an LCD display that displays the contents of a frame. Especially it should be evaluated by those who have to wear glasses, and those who are engaged in macro photography. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, just click the Live View button. The image is displayed on a scale of 92% (in autofocus mode) and 100% (with manual focus) with the ability to magnify details to ensure that the image is in normal sharpness. The quality of the images in our tests was pretty good. The camera is also equipped with an original Olympus mechanism for protecting the photosensitive matrix from dust. 15. Google Sketchup
With this program to draw three-dimensional models easier than easy. You can create a 3D model in just a few minutes, and then save, print, or add to Google Earth, providing access to it for other users. It also offers access to a large number of ready-made structures from the Google 3D Warehouse stored in the library. The application works under both Windows and Mac OS and, best of all, absolutely free.

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The 20 Most innovative products of the year. PC World , February 2007, p. 104

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For materials on the remaining five innovations, see the CD.

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Top 5 innovations expected in 2007 What technological changes will occur in the next 12 months? Pay attention to the following achievements.

• Hybrid drives. These discs, expected from manufacturers such as Seagate and Samsung, combining the components of flash memory and traditional disk plates, will provide better performance while maintaining a lower cost compared to drives built only on flash memory. First of all, such disks should reduce the boot and resumption time of the computer. They will save time when accessing data, since much of it can be stored in flash memory. However, to use these drives, you will need Windows Vista.
• Offline Ajax applications. Thanks to the Ajax programming tool (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), web pages are being improved more and more, they can now preload data and change information on the fly. This year, the power of Ajax will go offline, making client applications much more convenient to use. For example, Zimbra, an open-source web-based email service, demonstrated code that allows users to view mail, calendar and RSS feeds even when they are not connected to the Web.
• Windows Vista SlideShow. Want to view email headers, even if your laptop is closed and in sleep mode? SlideShow, a successful combination of hardware and software innovations, allows you to do just that. Laptop manufacturers will have to add an LCD display to the external surface of the computer in the manner that it does with mobile phones - clamshells, and software developers will need to adapt their applications to work with such a display. All this should happen in 2007, making laptops even more convenient to use. Smartphones equipped with SlideShow will provide similar functionality.
• SED TV. It seems that after several delays, TVs based on the promising technology SED (Surface-conduction electron-emitter display - displays with electron emission based on surface conductivity) will finally appear. The mentioned technology brings the brightness of flat screens to almost the same as for displays with a cathode ray tube, but with electricity consumption 3 times lower than that of similar plasma panels. In addition, such displays will have noticeably shorter response times, better contrast and a wider viewing angle. In 2007, Canon and Toshiba, who jointly developed the SED technology, plan to release the first 55-inch screens.
• Large-scale WiMax. Small, local WiMax deployments have already begun, but in 2007 you will see the ubiquitous deployment of this technology, which promises high-speed connectivity for all types of mobile devices, from cell phones to laptops, with a much larger coverage area than Wi-Fi. Sprint Nextel, together with Intel, Motorola and Samsung, will most likely give the technology maximum acceleration, starting its implementation in late 2007 as part of its 4G services. According to the WiMax Forum, you can deploy a WiMax system and provide a channel with a capacity of 40 Mbps, operating in a radius of 3 to 10 km. This will allow mobile users to get broadband access almost anywhere.

Based on materials http://www.osp.ru