The 10 most disappointing gadgets of 2012

We’ve looked at the best gadgets of the year that was: now it’s time to look at the most disappointing ones. Read on for our list of the gear we’re most bitter about from the last twelve months. Do you agree? Now it’s worth pointing out that these aren’t necessarily the worst gadgets of 2012. They’re just the ones that didn’t live up to their potential. Without further ado, here’s our list of biggest offenders: Amazon Kindle Fire HD It took Amazon more than a year to bring one of its Kindle tablets to the UK, and when it finally did, it was too late. The similarly priced and sized, faster Google Nexus 7 from Asus was already on sale, with more apps and absolutely no adverts getting up in your grill. If you’re going to tweak Android, Amazon, at least make it better than what Google has to offer to start with. Sony PS Vita Sony’s hoping for a long tail success with its turbo-charged gaming handheld, in the same way the Nintendo 3DS is now enjoying. But right now, it’s just lacking the top notch games to tempt us – threatening to lock it into a terrible death spiral of no customers – no games – no customers. Nokia Lumia 900 Nokia was supposed to blow the doors off with this monster-sized Windows Phone, but the poor screen and lack of apps meant it just couldn’t compete against the Samsung Galaxy S3 which arrived at the same time. To cap things off, it went on sale just a few months before Windows Phone 8 was announced – and it’ll never, ever taste it because an update isn’t possible. PS3 Super Slim Even after a few months of use, we still don’t see the point of the new look 500GB Sony PS3. It’s not really any quieter, it’s barely any smaller, and the lack of slot-loading tray for discs is just plain fiddly. Why bother? Luckily, the 12GB version now brings the Sony PS3 under £150 for the first time ever, making it a much more tempting offer if you can cope without the storage space. Nintendo Wii Mini At least the new PS3 super slim doesn’t strip any features out from Sony’s current PlayStation. The Nintendo Wii Mini does: inexplicably, it lacks Wi-FI and internet of any form. That means no multiplayer Mario Kart, no Netflix movie streaming, no software updates, and no Virtual Console for retro gaming. Way to cripple the world’s most popular console, Nintendo. Thankfully, it’s only on sale in Canada for the moment. iPod nano 7G Don’t get us wrong. As a gym accessory, the new iPod nano is cheap, beautiful and easy to use device, and it’s nice to have the option to watch video on it once more with the seventh generation model. But as we said in our review, Apple could do so much more with the iPod nano. Why doesn’t it have Wi-Fi? Why doesn’t it connect to your iPhone? Why doesn’t it read your emails to you? With iPhone sales on the up, and iPod sales on the down, it feels like a missed opportunity, and more of the same. Orange San Diego The chances are, the computer you own is powered by an Intel processor. But the silicon giant’s been a non-player in the smartphone explosion. The Android-powered Orange San Diego was supposed to prove that it could play with the big boys of mobile hardware, but with a weird screen resolution and out of date OS, it was as tepid an entry as they come. Luckily, the Intel-powered Motorola RAZR i that followed was much more promising. BlackBerry Curve 9320 What’s this? Another low end BlackBerry with the same software and design of the three year old Curve 8520? Yawn. Microsoft Surface It looked gorgeous in press pictures and promised to be a true iPad killer. But the Microsoft Surface is deceptively large, thick and long, and Windows RT is more than a tad confusing: why is there even a desktop mode on it at all when you can only use it for Office? It’s just weird. Here’s hoping Microsoft can fix things for a follow up as it still has lots of potential – not to mention an amazing keyboard cover. iOS 6 The new version of Apple’s software for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is unquestionably the most poorly received of any update in iOS history. Sure, it’s still bleeding fast, and Siri is smarter than ever. But Apple Maps remains a disaster – it’s shouldn’t come as a surprise that iOS software boss Scott Forstall and the man in charge of the Google Maps replacement was pushed out of Apple just a few months after the release and bad headlines. And in the meantime, Google has raced ahead with Android “Jelly Bean” – only Jony Ive can fix things for Cupertino. What were your most disappointing gadgets of 2012? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments below! www.tell-me-first.com

The 10 greatest gadgets of 2012

 

The world may have not come to an end as Mayan naysayers contended, but the year certainly has. As we move onto 2013 and all the tech to come, we’re taking a look back at the year that was, and the top ten gadgets of the last twelve months. Read on to see what made the cut, and chip in with your thoughts in the comments.

Apple iPad mini

It was slated on launch for its high pricetag compared to seven inch rivals, but Apple’s trimmed down tablet proved its worth with its pure power and premium build. Make no mistake, at some point soon this will soon be the iPad that everyone thinks of as the iPad.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2

It’s rare for a company to invent a whole new category of phone, yet that’s exactly what Samsung’s done with its giant Galaxy Note series. Not only is the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 turbo-charged with fantastic, speedy software, it’s single-handedly resurrected the stylus and put it to good use. Or two-handedly, anyway.

Google Nexus 7

Asus stunned pundits with its low price seven inch Android tablet this summer. Its speedy software puts Amazon’s Kindle Fire efforts to shame, and six months on – a century in tech terms – it’s still the best slate in its class. At £159, it’s a feat of engineering and software married together that’s worthy of Apple.

Humax DTR-1000 YouView

It was almost lost in all the media hubbub about tablets, iCloud and Android, but 2012 also saw the launch of YouView, the Freeview HD service with a twist. It beautifully integrates all your favourite catch-up service right into the EPG, so you can even watch the shows you forgot to record. Seriously classy TV.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

It seems like a lifetime ago, but at the start of the year, Asus was the first to prove that somebody could create a tablet at the same price as an iPad that would actually sell. It was beautiful, thin and scorchingly fast, and regularly and promptly updated by Asus – if you were prepared to shell out for extra it even had a keyboard dock accessory to turn it into a laptop. A year on, the Google Nexus 10 has superseded it, but it was still an awesome tablet tech milestone.

Nintendo Wii U

If you didn’t get a Wii U this Christmas, it was only because it’s as rare as gold dust already. While the new console has its flaws, it’s wonderful to finally see Nintendo’s characters rendered in glorious HD, and it’s clear the Japanese gaming giant is only just getting started: the potential for the GamePad controller is vast. It also marks the start of the next generation of console wars, and we can’t wait to see what Microsoft and Sony are readying in response.

Nokia 808 PureView

Yes, as a phone, the Symbian-powered (or crippled) 808 PureView is awful. But as an example of what camera phones can be capable of, the 41 megapixel sensor around back is nothing short of breathtaking. Stunning detail and amazing low light performance point the way forward for 2013, and we’re already starting to see the tech emerge in Nokia’s more usable Windows Phones, like the Lumia 920.

Samsung Galaxy S3

With the epic, speedy Galaxy S3, Samsung finally arrived. The 4.8-inch beast is every bit the rival to the iPhone 4, especially now you can pick it up with 4G super speed connectivity. It’s a shame that Siri-rival S-Voice is utterly useless, but at least Google’s since filled that void with its own impressive Google Now service.

HTC One X+

One of the true tragedies of tech in 2012 has been the sidelining of HTC. The Taiwanese gadget company’s phones this year were nothing short of beautiful, and the beefed up HTC One X+ made this spring’s One X even better. With up to date Android Jelly Bean, a faster processor and new look, this is one future-proofed phone for design aficionados. Ignore at your peril.

Roku LT

The £49.99 Roku LT might just be the most improved gadget of 2012. Since launch earlier this year, the little HD rival to the Apple TV has been bolstered with extra channels and new services. But with a huge investment from Sky, it’s only going to get better next year: the Now TV channel will soon get sport and drama too, making it the world’s cheapest Sky box.

What were your favourite gadgets of 2012? Did we miss any? Let’s hear your views in the comments below!

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Which next-gen console is the best?

 

Are we nearly there yet? The first of the ‘next generation’ of games consoles has just been released with two more on the way and a further two still in the realm of speculation. What can we look forward to in the brave new world of gaming and which one deserves your cash? Read on to find out.

Nintendo 3DS The Nintendo 3DS is arguably the first of the Eighth Generation (as the cognoscenti call the ‘Next Gen’) of games consoles and is distinguished by the fact that it is the only one commonly available to play.

The 3DS has a number of innovations compared to earlier DS models including a motion sensor and gyro sensor that can react according to movement and incline, an analog controller and of course the adjustable-depth 3D effect. On their own each of these is fairly unremarkable – being available in other consoles or gadgets like mobile phones or flatscreen TVs. Together, though, they combine to create something potentially very immersive and flexible enough to create some spectacular new games

Sony PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita is another convergence of established technologies – capacitive OLED touchscreen, dual-analog sticks, and internet connectivity. The Vita’s USP will be backward-compatibility with existing titles from the PSP, PS1 Classics (as seen on the Playstation 3) and other downloadable content from the PlayStation Network as well as its own games, distributed on the new NVG flash memory format.

The Vita is an extremely powerful device compared to other portable consoles, with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 core processor and a SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit which should lead to some spectacular games, on a par with some of today’s console efforts. The built-in camera is intended for use in augmented reality games, an area that has only been lightly explored so far.

Wii U The Wii changed everything when it launched with its unique WiiMote controllers, now the Wii U could be set to do it again with its Wii U Controller, which is more like a small tablet computer than a game controller. A built-in touchscreen can be used to play stand-alone games as well as offering fine controls for certain types of game unsuited to the WiiMote motion sensors or D-Pad.

The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to display 1080p HD graphics and Nintendo have promised that the new console will take advantage of its powerful multi-core processor – unlike the Wii, which was rather under-powered compared to its rival consoles.

Xbox 720 and PS4 Right now, both of these consoles are in the realms of fantasy as far as most gamers are concerned. Sources within both Microsoft and Sony have reportedly said that the next-generation PlayStation and Xbox are being developed but for now both companies seem intent on squeezing the last drops of gaming juice from the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Both consoles will no doubt incorporate 3D technology quite heavily (one rumour suggested ‘Avatar like’ graphics for the Xbox 360) and we would expect Microsoft’s Kinect motion tracking technology to feature too, along with some PlayStation equivalent.

As for other features, with neither console expected until 2014 at the earliest, we wouldn’t like to bet what new innovations in graphics or immersive controller tech will come along between now and then.

But which one is best? With the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles not even off the drawing board yet it doesn’t seem fair to include them. Of the remaining three, the Vita seems a bit similar to the PSP for our liking while the 3DS has proven rather less impressive in practice with the 3D effect causing us no end of eyestrain and not really adding that much.

Our money, then, is on the as yet unreleased Wii U. It may surprise us and turn out to be a lemon, but the combination of Nintendo’s reputation with the boost in processing power and the new types of game opened up by the Wii U Controller has us intrigued enough to queue