We are nearing an end to the best of 2012 series. Only one or two more categories remain and this one is about the most significant innovative gear (products) that the world saw rise in 2012. Once again, we encourage you to comment and add products to the list for us. In no particular order, let us have it.
Nintendo Wii U
Nintendo wowed the world with it's 'different' approach to consoles with it's original Wii console back in 2006. Wii wasn't a monster, it did not allow us to play visually stunning games. If anything, the console physically looked like a pup in comparison to the bull dogs that Microsoft and Sony let out. Even then with the Nunchuck and motion controller, the Wii chucked all in sales and popularity.
It is a hard task topping such a successful product, but Nintendo seems to be on the right track. The Wii U has something different. It's once again not super muscle or anything, but the Gamepad. The Gamepad is Nintendo's approach to making the Wii U stand out among the crowd (of next generation consoles, coming 2013 in all likelihood). Oh did we mention, the Wii U can play games at 1080p. Not so weak after all is it!
Lytro light-field Camera
Lytro introduced a square tube shaped camera this year that has a unique ability. The Lytro camera is a light-field camera. It uses a light-field sensor (obviously!) that records data of light travelling in every direction in 3D space. This unique property gives it the even more unique ability to focus on a shot taken by this camera after the picture is taken. In fact the company's tag line was click first focus later.
Lytro is a different kind of camera we give it that. The company updated the product to give it even more interesting features. You can change the your point of view in the picture. That is like flying within the picture to have a better look at something.
Microsoft Windows 8
Microsoft introduced their next Windows, namely Windows 8 OS. Microsoft made a huge gamble with Windows 8, going completely touch focused which is clear from their touch driven Metro UI. And it seems that the gamble has paid off as users across all platforms are accepting this new direction that Microsoft has taken (coupled with aggressive pricing on Microsoft's part as well).
The biggest achievement with Windows 8 is the integration of the Mobile, Tablet and Desktop (ARM) with a unified NT kernel. This will allow for better cross-platform application compatibility. This is somewhere that Apple might be headed as well, unifying their Mac and iOS finally in Apple's mantra of one product to rule them all.
Lenovo Yoga
The Lenovo Yoga has been in the news and has made quite a splash. The Yoga is a different kind of laptop in that it is a laptop cum tablet. You can open up the notebook and use it like any other, or you can twist the display a full 360 degrees around the hinge and tada! You have a really heavy tablet. Nonetheless, the Yoga brought about a new breed of Tablet-Notebook hybrids which are becoming more of feature packed tablets with keyboard docks now.
Of course, the Lenovo Yoga comes with Microsoft's Windows 8 OS.
LG 55-inch OLED TV
OLED is Organic Light Emitting Diode. Using this as backlight for a TV results in unmatchable color, level of detail and contrast, something that would be really difficult to beat using traditional LCD or the better LED technology. The 55 inch LG OLED TV comes with an amazing 4 mm bezel thickness.
55 inch, OLED, 4 mm bezel all check and clear to go. You have a TV any IQ junkie would want in this living room.
5-inch Full HD display
Another obvious entry to this category if we are talking about displays already would be the 5" Full HD panels on smartphones. The year 2012 saw the rise of quad core monster smartphones and HD displays becoming a norm among high end devices. It saw Retina displays (2048*1536 pixels and 2560*1600 pixels) resolution displays on 10" devices as well. But something else came along towards the end of the year.
A year ago, you wouldn't have imagined that the Full HD resolution that your 40-inch TV sitting in your living room would have competition in terms of pixels by a puny 5-inch display, that too one on a smartphone. While we were still in fantasy land to own a HD display smartphone, 5-inch Full HD (that's 1920*1080 pixels for a 441 ppi pixel density folks!) came (HTC Droid DNA, Oppo Find 5) and has become a norm for high end smartphones now (ZTE Nubia Z5, Sony Xperia X & XL). We hardly expect resolution to increase any further. Heck, we can't dream of that. Only wish such a big push came in battery life as well.
That's the end of this article. Hope you enjoyed it.
Nintendo Wii U
Nintendo wowed the world with it's 'different' approach to consoles with it's original Wii console back in 2006. Wii wasn't a monster, it did not allow us to play visually stunning games. If anything, the console physically looked like a pup in comparison to the bull dogs that Microsoft and Sony let out. Even then with the Nunchuck and motion controller, the Wii chucked all in sales and popularity.
It is a hard task topping such a successful product, but Nintendo seems to be on the right track. The Wii U has something different. It's once again not super muscle or anything, but the Gamepad. The Gamepad is Nintendo's approach to making the Wii U stand out among the crowd (of next generation consoles, coming 2013 in all likelihood). Oh did we mention, the Wii U can play games at 1080p. Not so weak after all is it!
Lytro light-field Camera
Lytro introduced a square tube shaped camera this year that has a unique ability. The Lytro camera is a light-field camera. It uses a light-field sensor (obviously!) that records data of light travelling in every direction in 3D space. This unique property gives it the even more unique ability to focus on a shot taken by this camera after the picture is taken. In fact the company's tag line was click first focus later.
Lytro is a different kind of camera we give it that. The company updated the product to give it even more interesting features. You can change the your point of view in the picture. That is like flying within the picture to have a better look at something.
Microsoft Windows 8
Microsoft introduced their next Windows, namely Windows 8 OS. Microsoft made a huge gamble with Windows 8, going completely touch focused which is clear from their touch driven Metro UI. And it seems that the gamble has paid off as users across all platforms are accepting this new direction that Microsoft has taken (coupled with aggressive pricing on Microsoft's part as well).
The biggest achievement with Windows 8 is the integration of the Mobile, Tablet and Desktop (ARM) with a unified NT kernel. This will allow for better cross-platform application compatibility. This is somewhere that Apple might be headed as well, unifying their Mac and iOS finally in Apple's mantra of one product to rule them all.
Lenovo Yoga
The Lenovo Yoga has been in the news and has made quite a splash. The Yoga is a different kind of laptop in that it is a laptop cum tablet. You can open up the notebook and use it like any other, or you can twist the display a full 360 degrees around the hinge and tada! You have a really heavy tablet. Nonetheless, the Yoga brought about a new breed of Tablet-Notebook hybrids which are becoming more of feature packed tablets with keyboard docks now.
Of course, the Lenovo Yoga comes with Microsoft's Windows 8 OS.
LG 55-inch OLED TV
OLED is Organic Light Emitting Diode. Using this as backlight for a TV results in unmatchable color, level of detail and contrast, something that would be really difficult to beat using traditional LCD or the better LED technology. The 55 inch LG OLED TV comes with an amazing 4 mm bezel thickness.
55 inch, OLED, 4 mm bezel all check and clear to go. You have a TV any IQ junkie would want in this living room.
5-inch Full HD display
Another obvious entry to this category if we are talking about displays already would be the 5" Full HD panels on smartphones. The year 2012 saw the rise of quad core monster smartphones and HD displays becoming a norm among high end devices. It saw Retina displays (2048*1536 pixels and 2560*1600 pixels) resolution displays on 10" devices as well. But something else came along towards the end of the year. A year ago, you wouldn't have imagined that the Full HD resolution that your 40-inch TV sitting in your living room would have competition in terms of pixels by a puny 5-inch display, that too one on a smartphone. While we were still in fantasy land to own a HD display smartphone, 5-inch Full HD (that's 1920*1080 pixels for a 441 ppi pixel density folks!) came (HTC Droid DNA, Oppo Find 5) and has become a norm for high end smartphones now (ZTE Nubia Z5, Sony Xperia X & XL). We hardly expect resolution to increase any further. Heck, we can't dream of that. Only wish such a big push came in battery life as well.
That's the end of this article. Hope you enjoyed it.
Buying a new phone? Or a tablet? Need help with something everyday-tech related? Ask me and I'm sure to help!
— Preetam Nath (@hipreetam93) April 18, 2013
— Preetam Nath (@hipreetam93) April 18, 2013