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2005 has been a banner year for gearheads, with more hot gadget launches than you could shake a USB cable at. But there's a great chasm separating pre-launch buzz from real-world performance, and not all gizmos live up to the hype. Here's a look back at the most anticipated product launches of 2005. Some were hot, some were not, and we made the call.
Microsoft Xbox 360
With supply falling painfully short of demand this holiday season, the hottest product launch of 2005 is bound to drag out well into 2006. Most retailers are still back-ordered on the new Xbox 360 gaming system until late February. Despite what appears to be a deliberate shortage created by Microsoft (and a dearth of interesting game titles), it's hard to deny that the Xbox 360 is hands-down the most compelling gadget to hit store shelves this year. Astounding graphics performance and intelligent online integration make this console a must-have, provided you can actually get your hands on one.
$400, www.xbox.com
Verdict: 4 (hot)
Apple video iPod
Gadget makers have been working for years to build a mobile video player that people would actually use, but so far only Apple Computer has succeeded in striking a chord with consumers. With a 60-GB hard drive, the new iPod carries up to 150 hours of video, which you can download from the iTunes Music Store. While its 2.5-inch display leaves a lot to be desired, the new iPod is still the best mobile-video solution by far, largely because the video playback is simply an intuitive addition to the player's already stellar set of features.
$300 to $400, www.apple.com
Verdict: 4.5 (searing hot)
Apple iPod nano
On launch day, it was the iPod nano, rather than the new video iPod, that captured the media's attention. Just over a quarter-inch thin, the nano is almost impossibly tiny, forcing users to develop their fine motor skills just to navigate its menus. Sadly, the player was plagued with unforeseen problems, including a wicked vulnerability to scratches and a tendency to crack if you put it in your front pocket and then sat down. While still extraordinarily cool looking, the nano was a bit of a letdown.
$200 to $250, www.apple.com
Verdict: 3 (lukewarm)
Palm Treo 650
Way back in the early days of 2005, a little company called Palm released the Treo 650 smartphone. Riding high on the success of the Treo 600, the 650 boasted significant improvements, not the least of which was a 320-by-320-pixel display that made the handset one of the most useable phones on earth for mobile web surfers. In spite of some annoying performance glitches that cause the thing to freeze up inexplicably from time to time, the Treo 650 remains one of the best smartphones on the market today.
$300, www.palm.com
Verdict: 3.5 (hot)
Sony PSP
Last year's version of the Xbox 360 was the Sony PSP gaming handheld, which ended 2004 by lining up gamers around city blocks all over Japan and began 2005 by flying off store shelves in the United States. With the ability to play feature-length movies on Universal Media Discs (which have yet to prove a worthwhile investment at $20 a film), in addition to console-quality games on its stunning 4.2-inch, wide-screen display, the PSP instantly redefined what mobile gaming could become. The only thing standing in this handheld's way is Sony itself, as the company's tight-noosed business practices continue to ward off potential developers from the platform.
$250, www.playstation.com
Verdict: 4 (hot)
RIM BlackBerry 8700c Electron
2005 has been a rough year for Canada's Research in Motion. Plagued by an intellectual-property lawsuit that has dogged not only the company's stock but also its product sales among prospective new users, the BlackBerry maker has been struggling to keep its head held high. Fortunately, RIM's latest product launch transcends media hype. With a bright, 320-by-240 display and support for Cingular's fairly high-speed EDGE data network, the BlackBerry 8700c is easily the best handset ever to come out of RIM.
$300, with a two-year contract, www.cingular.com
Verdict: 3.5 (hotter than expected)
Sonos Digital Music System
Streaming media has yet to garner a place in most American households, but it's coming to your home, eventually. For a glimpse of what the future holds, just look at the Sonos Digital Music System, which lets you link streamers in up to 32 rooms throughout your home. While that's probably overkill, it's definitely cool.
$1,200 for introductory bundle, www.sonos.com
Verdict: 5 (smokin')
Motorola Rokr E1
Perhaps the mostly hotly anticipated gadget release of 2005 was the Motorola Rokr, aka the iTunes phone. More than a year of almost continuous hype raised expectations for this handset to such impossibly high levels that disappointment was almost assured. And sure enough, it was a letdown. While the iTunes integration remains a smart feature that should certainly be retained in future versions of the phone (and ought to spread to phones from other vendors as well), almost every other aspect of this handset was a joke, especially the arbitrary 100-track limit. If you blew your hard-earned cash on this silly mobile diversion only to wallow in your own regret, you can't say we didn't warn you.
$150, with a two-year contract, www.cingular.com
Verdict: 2 (overburned)
Sony Ericsson W800i
While Apple and Motorola were busy screwing up what was supposed to be a music lover's dream phone, Sony Ericsson was quietly tinkering with its own version of the idea. And suddenly, there it was. The W800i Walkman phone beat the Rokr to market by a couple of months and, perhaps because nobody had any special expectations for it, this music phone actually sort of rocked. With intuitive controls and decent support for the most popular audio formats, the W800i set a high bar for later MP3 phones to jump over. But the whole category has some growing to do.
$500, www.sonyericsson.com
Verdict: 3 (getting warmer)
Samsung YH-999 Portable Media Center
The new iPod may have taken center stage for mobile video players, but its tiny screen falls well short of the mark for viewability. If you actually want to watch a movie on the road, Samsung's YH-999 boasts a tasty blend of screen size and portability. With its 3.5-inch display and Microsoft Windows Media Center software, this handheld player looks great without weighing you down. If Microsoft's Media Center had gained any serious traction in the marketplace, this device would have been a contender. Sadly, that hasn't yet come to pass, so the YH-999 isn't living up to its potential.
$300, www.samsung.com
Verdict: 3 (slow cooker)
Sling Media Slingbox
In this media-drenched world, we're all desperately yearning to keep our eyeballs glued to the set every minute of the day. And while streaming media may show promise for audio, it has yet to demonstrate real usability for video. To that end, the Sling Media Slingbox promised a streaming TV revolution by letting you transmit your favorite shows from your home computer to any other broadband-connected PC. But not everyone keeps their promises, and the Slingbox's performance barely exceeds that of the average internet video stream. In the age of 50-inch plasmas, the Slingbox's 320-by-240-pixel playback would be laughable if it weren't so sad. Still, we like the idea and hope to see a major upgrade in the product's future.
$250, www.slingmedia.com
Verdict: 2.5 (tepid)
Gizmondo
You can't be all things to all people. Don't believe us? Just look at the Gizmondo. With a cellular connection, GPS support, instant messaging, Bluetooth and movie-playing features, the Gizmondo sounds like the ultimate mobile entertainment system. But buggy performance, lame games and a bulky chassis have made this portable plaything a flop on every continent it's landed on.
$229, www.gizmondo.com
Verdict: 1.5 (total meltdown)
Nintendo Game Boy Micro
The dual-screen Nintendo DS has withstood the onslaught of Sony's PSP admirably, finding innovative uses for its wireless connectivity and touch-sensitive screen, so it was more than a little surprising to see Nintendo take a half-step backward with the Game Boy Micro. For a few weeks in May, gamers wondered over the tiny 4-by-2-inch device, then realized it doesn't play any of the cool new titles and quietly went back to whatever they were doing.
$90, www.nintendo.com
Verdict: 2 (cold)
