For entrepreneurs obsessed with technology, this is the perfect opportunity to reward yourself with that hot gadget you’ve been pining over for the last year.
It’s been a great year for technology. From the iPad, to eReaders and the growth of high-powered set-top boxes, it seems that a new piece of high-tech gadgetry is hitting shelves every month.
With the consume electronics industry moving so quickly, here’s a guide to the hottest gadgets of 2010 – and the best products yet to come in 2011.
Another year, another iPhone. While Apple’s fourth version of the much-loved smartphone was essentially spoiled months in advance by a controversial leak, (which ultimately ended in a police investigation), that didn’t stop the gadget from taking over the smartphone market.
The phone comes with a suite of improvements over the 3GS – a retina screen bursting with pixels, a thinner design, rounded edges, glass plating, a front-facing camera to use with video conferencing and an LED flash that works with a video camera as well.
The iOS 4.0 software also came with the iPhone 4, allowing users to finally use multiple apps and have programs run in the background. It was a feature users had pined after for months and was finally delivered.
Of course, the iPhone 4 release wasn’t flawless. Part of the gadget’s design which puts the antenna on the actual exterior of the phone was faulty, meaning users would experience a signal fault if they placed their hand on certain parts of the device.
The controversy caused Apple to issue free cases to every smartphone owner. And apart from another delay that means white iPhone 4 versions are still unavailable on the market, the iPhone 4 is still one of this year’s best gadgets.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
