SAYS 7 Best And Worst Gadgets Of 2013
Wearable gadgets, curved smartphones and new game consoles defined technology in 2013. While some lived up to the expectations, others bombed. We at SAYS decided to have a look at a bunch of them.
By Sadho Ram — 31 Dec 2013, 04:22 AM — Updated almost 11 years ago
1. Google Chromecast: It's a wonderful gadget for its size and price, which lets you beam video from ‘any device’ to your TV
Its a small US$35 device which connects to TV screens or monitors through HDMI to mirror content from your smartphone or computer’s screen to the big screen through WiFi. Although as of now, it can show content from Chrome browser and a handful of other apps such as YouTube, Google Play Movies, Google Play Music and Netflix, support for other popular apps is coming soon.
Also, some intelligent devs have found code which shows that Google is planning to launch full screen mirroring from Android devices through Chromecast. This nifty little device is compatible with Android, iOS, PC and Mac devices and $35 is really an ultra-cheap price to pay for its features. Google Chromecast is a must buy gadget if you don’t want to spend more than US$50.
gearburn.com
2. LG G Flex: LG's first-ever curved phone, the G Flex is the only smartphone of its kind. It's 6-inch screen doesn't lay flat it bends, it flexes. And it auto-heals.
The G Flex exists almost entirely to show off LG's curved OLED display, the 6-inch, 720p screen that is the centerpiece of its design. LG says the curve makes the phone feel more comfortable against your face, provides a more immersive video-watching experience, and makes the screen less prone to glare because of the way light reflects off it.
theverge.com
Additionally, LG covered the back of the phone with a "self-healing coating." That doesn't mean the device is impervious to scratches, but users don't have to worry much about their keys messing up the phone when in the same pocket.
phys.org
3. Apple's iPad Air: It takes the tablet design to a new level of portability. iPad Air is so light that you can hold it with just your fingertips.
Apple released the iPad Air - a thinner, lighter, sleeker version of its popular tablet - in November. The $499 iPad Air is 0.29-inch thick and weighs exactly a pound. It's also outfitted with Apple's speedy new A7 64-bit chip, making it perfect for gaming.
mashable.com
Apple’s new mobile operating system, iOS 7, looks great on the iPad Air. The large screen offers plenty of room for sweeping up from just outside the screen to access the Control Center, where you can quickly adjust brightness, audio volume, the clock, the camera, airplane mode and more, and sweeping down to see your daily calendar and notifications.
trustedreviews.com4. HTC One: The One is a premium Android smartphone, made of an aluminium unibody weighing 143g, with a rounded back that sits comfortably in the palm
Complete with design finesse second to none, a screen sharper than the market has ever seen and a processor with more punch than a high school prom, on paper there’s nowhere the HTC One falters. It has a full HD 4.7" display at an eye-popping 468 pixels per inch, the best of any current smartphone (the iPhone 5S is 326).
It also boasts 'BoomSound' front-facing stereo speakers with Beats Audio technology, raising the audio quality significantly. It has a quad-core 1.7ghz processor to keep things speedy and a 2,300 mAh battery – good enough for a day's use but it isn't replaceable. It has 32gb/64gb versions but no option to expand memory.
A further innovation is HTC's UltraPixel camera, which shoots 1080p HD video but it is just 4MP.
tamworthherald.co.uk
5. Sony PS 4 and Microsoft Xbox One: The two systems are fairly similar, offering 500-gigabyte hard drives in similarly styled black shells. But the companies are taking different approaches in marketing their products.
Sony is going after hard-core gamers, offering them the ability to easily share video of themselves playing games over the Internet by tapping a "share" button on their game controllers.
phys.org
Meanwhile, Microsoft wants the Xbox One to be the center of users' home theaters. By saying "Xbox on" followed by a command, users can control their entertainment systems with their voices. The Xbox One can also load up specific users' profiles and preferences by detecting them with the Kinect motion-sensor device.
phys.org
For now, neither system has separated itself as the clear-cut top choice, and picking between them comes down to users' personal preferences. The PS4 retails for $399.99 while the Xbox One goes for $499.99, but good luck finding either one. At many stores they're back-ordered.
phys.org
6. Samsung Galaxy Gear: It's one of the worst attempts from Samsung. The Galaxy Gear has a long list of disappointments.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear is the highest-profile smartwatch ever. It could have turned the often-ridiculed clever watch into a desirable gadgety sub-category. Instead, it has reaffirmed the smartwatch as a gimmick that still doesn’t work in real life.
It only lasts for a day between charges, it’s far too expensive for most people, and at launch it barely did anything at all. And as it hardly works with any phones, the market for it is exceptionally narrow. It’s a stinker, sadly. Maybe Samsung will hit the right note with the Galaxy Gear 2, but on this evidence Samsung has a lot of work to do.
trustedreviews.com7. Apple iPhone 5C: Made of plastic, the so-called cheap "new" iPhone 5C is definitely not cheap. At its core, the iPhone 5C is simply the iPhone 5 with its 2012 parts, with a less expensive cover on the outside.
Despite recent reports that this budget iPhone in multiple colors is starting to catch on with consumers, one report says Apple has cut production of the 5C model by 35 percent. Why the decline? Try holding one in your hand. It feels a bit cheap and goofy compared to the solid iPhone 5S.
inc.comThe 5C lacks a fingerprint sensor. Another problem: take a close look at the specs. The processor in the 5C is the exact same chip as the one in the older iPhone 5. But the biggest issue is how the 5C degrades the Apple brand. It's just not a brilliant phone. It's a so-so consumer phone.
appleinsider.com