Top Ten Gadgets

TOP GADGETS & TECH OF 2013 twelve AND WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2014 HTC ONE APPLE IPHONE 5S Beautiful design, super-fast 64-bit processor, and fantastic camera make this possibly the best smartphone ever made. WINNER Easily the most stunning Android smartphone,it's highly praised by reviewers but suffers from anemic PRICE: $649 sales. PRICE: CLUNKER $580 10:08. hтс SMART PHONES PRICE: CONTENDER $599 ackdery MOTOROLA PROJECT ARA BLACKBERRY Z10 First to build on the Phonebloks GAME This was intended to be project, which promises to make all essential phone components upgradable. 2014 might see the first Project Ara "phone worth keeping. CHANGER Blackberry's hero phone, the savior of a sinking ship. Didn't happen. PRICE: $350 APPLE IPAD AIR GOOGLE NEXUS 7 Slimmer and sexier, the iPad Air has a 64-bit processor for a total package that combines portability, power and productivity. WINNER The second-gen Nexus 7 has the highest resolution display ever seen on a tablet. PRICE: $499 PRICE: CLUNKER $500 PRICE: CONTENDER $299 TABLETS MICROSOFT AMAZON KINDLE SURFACE RT GAME FIRE HDX Nine months after the CHANGER tablet's release, Microsoft announced a $900-million Using the Mayday button, customers get free 24/7/365 tech support via video chat. PRICE: $229 write-down because of unsold Surface RTs. SAMSUNG ATIV APPLE BOOK 9 PLUS MACBOOK AIR 13" WINNER Simply the best Windows laptop currently in the market, with an unprecedented 3200 x 1800 display running a full 12 hours. Still the best all-around laptop you can buy, with amazing battery life that can go 13.5 hours. PRICE: $1099 PRICE: CLUNKER $1299 LAPTOPS PRICE: CONTENDER $1.400 GOOGLE ASUS TAICHI CHROMEBOOK PIXEL GAME Dual 1080p IPS displays on both sides of the lid, anyone? A productivity boost for business meetings, surely, but will consumers agree in 2014? CHANGER Gorgeous hardware with limited functionality at a price way more than more powerful competition. PRICE: $1300 MICROSOFT SONY PLAYSTATION 4 XBOX ONE Absolutely and unashamedly focused on being the best game console in the market, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. WINNER Mainly a fabulous gaming device, but with only a few fabulous games right now. Wants to take over your living room in the next decade. PRICE: $399 PRICE: CLUNKER $100 GAMING SYSTEM PRICE: CONTENDER $499 OUYA OCULUS RIFT GAME Console shortages, Designed for immersive gaming, it plunges wearers into a virtual world. Will half-baked firmware and a CHANGER lack of apps plague this successful Kickstarter startup. cause a stir if released for retail in 2014. $300 MISFIT SHINE PEBBLE SMARTWATCH A quarter-sized activity tracker that awards users points for walking, running and swimming among other activities. 28:56 WINNER Pebble is taking smartwatches mainstream with an e-paper display, useful apps and a low price. twelve 4.08m thirty five 7:05 PRICE: $150 PRICE: CLUNKER $300 12:45 24 WEARABLE TECH PRICE CONTENDER $100 GOOGLE GLASS SAMSUNG GALAXY GAME GEAR A wearable breakthrough, Glass lets you snap pictures, get directions, speak to text and a whole lot more. Projected to launch in Q4 of 2014. CHANGER Overpriced, oversized, and overly dependent on a companion Samsung device. PRICE: $1500 NEST PROJECT GOOGLE CHROMECAST chrome A smoke and carbon-monoxide detector WINNER Stream videos and other content from your laptop, tablet or phone to the big screen, no the delivers alarms in a calm PRICE: female voice. wires involved. $35 PRICE: CLUNKER $100 nesi OTHER GADGETS PRICE: CONTENDER $130 LEAP MOTION HAPILABS HAPIFORK Leap Motion can read your hand gestures for doing everything from gaming to exploring the universe on your PC. An improved version with enhanced functionality is expected in 2014. Monitors how fast you're shoveling food into your mouth, but can't tell whether it's healthy stuff or junk food. GAME CHANGER PRICE: $80 BLACKBERRY WAZE MESSENGER Turn-by-turn GPS directions, and alerts for speed traps, The handsets might be dying, but the Messenger lives on. 24 hours after release, it notched a combined 10 million WINNER accidents and slowdowns provided by the Waze user community. You're expected to contribute information to, too. PRICE: FREE downloads on iOS and Android. PRICE: CLUNKER FREE MOBILE APPS PRICE: CONTENDER FREE twitmusic TINDER TWITTER #MUSIC It's changing the way people meet people in real life. The double opt-in algorithm means you get to chat with people you like who also like you. Continued success expected in 2014 and beyond. GAME Just because we both follow Barack Obama doesn't mean CHANGER we both like One Direction. 'Nuff said. PRICE: FREE ANDROID 4.4 KITKAT APPLE 1OS 7 A stunningly good operating system that feels every bit as up-to-date and modern as iOS 7, if not more so. iOS 7 with its new flat UI WINNER remains an excellent operating system but doesn't match the power and flexibility of its rival. PRICE: FREE PRICE: CLUNKER FREE 14:42 Mon 4 Feb MOBILE OS PRICE: CONTENDER FREE BLACKBERRY BB10 UBUNTU Not at the level of Android or iOS, but could have given Windows Phone a run for the GAME Streamlined and more intelligently designed, all it needs is dedicated hardware money. Sadly, a lack of killer apps kills the whole package. CHANGER to really fly. PRICE: FREE RIO 1eI