Home telephone service without a monthly bill. A bookstore that delivers best sellers to an e-book reader in a jiffy. And a smartphone that all but rewrites the rules of what a cellphone should be. These were among the tech items to capture my fancy this year.
It's customary for columnists to compile annual "best of" lists. A list this year has to start with Apple's aaplseminal wunderkind, the iPhone.
And yet even as it advances the state of the art, the iPhone — and all the products on the 2007 Baig's Best list — is something less than perfect. Perhaps more than other years, the roster includes products because they're cool or broke new ground, rather than because they can't dramatically improve. So Baig's "Pretty Good" might be a more apt descriptor for the list.
I selected honorees from the pool of products I reviewed in my Personal Technology column. They were chosen because I (mostly) liked them — not because they necessarily racked up big sales.
IPhone:
Living up to the hype. I'd love to see an iPhone that's compatible with a speedier third-generation, or 3G, data network, which provider AT&T thas hinted is coming next year. IPhones now work with Wi-Fi or AT&T's poky Edge network. The 8-gigabyte version costs $399 — $200 off its debut price — and requires a two-year voice and data plan (in the USA) with AT&T.
The device marries a slender fashion phone with a slick iPod and true-to-life Internet browser. IPhone has a striking 3.5-inch touch-screen display that shows off pictures and movies beautifully. And there's a virtual keypad or keyboard that turns up only as needed.
Apple OS X Leopard:
One cool cat. With all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone and iPod, it's easy to forget that Apple sells computers — very good ones. Apple's latest operating system for those machines, OS X Leopard (included on new Macs; $129 to upgrade), boasts several terrific new features, from prettier e-mail to a prettier desktop environment.
