My gadget wishlist for 2008
For a low-income IT guy like me, it’s just natural that I love gadgets but couldn’t afford to buy all of them, therefore my wishlist is never empty! After all these years of waiting and resisting, I’m so used to the old stuff that no longer qualified as gadget anymore, such as my old cell phone, my old PDA and my old iPod. I told myself, if I don’t change anything, then no need to migrate the data nor do I need to learn the new stuff…
But, specially for this coming year, I’m adding 3 new items in my wishlist, after my permanent need for a better camera (Canon 5D Mark II?), more L lens (my lust), and the next generation iPhone that doesn’t weight like a brick in the shirt pocket with a scratch-proof screen and supporting China cell network natively.
ARGARD M10 Bluetooth Headset
The Argard M10 Bluetooth headset is so tiny that it just slip in the ear, no talk-tube outside, weight only 5 grams. It reportedly has 3 hours of talk time, and 100 hours stand-by. This is the perfect companion to an iPhone, although it really looks like you’re talking to yourself when using it on the street or in subway, especially for ladies who have long hair covering their ears, or wearing a tuque… The good news is that it is already available for sale on several stores and websites, and it’s not expensive in its category, ~80$US.
Sony OLED TV: XEL-1
Organic LED (OLED) is the next generation of LCD and Plasma display, our future TV and computer monitor and cell phone and PDA and camera will all use OLED eventually, for its low energy consumption and higher contrast. The most amazing thing about the Sony XEL-1 TV is that it only mesure 3mm thin, and most likely will support the new DisplayPort as yet-another-new-standard-connector. The 11″ and 27″ will be on sale in Japan starting October 2007, but larger models are not announced yet.
(Updated 01/01/2008) After seeing this XEL-1 in person at Akihabara [秋叶原] at Tokyo, I am really impressed by the thinness and image quality of OLED! It is viewable at any angle without color distortion. It is so slick that just makes all the other TV look like last century’s technology, including the latest Bravia, Viera and Aquos. But it’s only available at 11″ so far, at 2,000$US!
Nissan Pivo²
This prototype car is rather special, it looks more like a robot toy than an usual car, and acts like one as well. All electric engine, the door opens from the front, the whole seat cabin can rotate 360°, the wheels can rotate 90° so that it can park laterally on the street. You can kiss your parallel parking trouble goodbye! It can take voice command from the driver, and can talk to the driver also, for example if it senses thru the camera, that the driver is tired, would suggest to take some rest. Expect it not before 2015! See the video for a demo.
But, if you think that your parellel parking skill is good enough to rely on such a loser trick, then try this the next time you’re on a quiet road, slippery road will help…