The CNET 100

Ten lists. Ten tech products each. Some of these products you probably own, some you may never have heard of, and some we wish would just die already. The tech experts at CNET put together these lists to give the final word on the devices, apps, and tech ideas--good and bad--that mattered in 2011.

The winners: These are the hands-down most important tech products of the year in each major gadget category. They will change the industry and your life--if they haven't already.

Kindle Fire

"Underdog" doesn't typically describe Amazon products. But the well-reviewed Kindle Fire isn't a typical device. This Android-based tablet enters a market dominated by the iPad 2, but comes from behind with a not-so-secret weapon: an astoundingly low $199 price point. Possibly losing money on each tablet, Amazon is banking on its ecosystem of music and media to squeeze profits out of the lightweight tablet. We think the strategy just might work.

Link to all the Winners: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010530.html


The disappointments: Early on, these products had promise and shine, but ultimately, they didn't cut it. These were the 10 biggest letdowns of the year.

3D TV
Sure, 3D TVs are selling OK because the feature is built into so many TVs. But here's the thing: not a whole lot of people are actually watching 3D in their homes.For starters, there continues to be a dearth of 3D content. And then the experience itself leaves something to be desired. New passive 3D displays cut resolution in half and competing active displays still have picture glitches. And oh, the whole glasses thing and poor off-axis viewing aren't helping things either.

Link to all the Disappointments: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010531.html


The celebrity entourage: What gadgets do the technology elite take on their Virgin Atlantic flights? We polled 10 big names and top thinkers in the industry to find out what products they love best.

Kevin Mitnick and his iPad 2
Famed hacker Kevin Mitnick travels a lot, so he values compact gadgets, good battery life, and--of course--security. His favorite item is his iPad 2 because it is lightweight but has a big enough screen to watch movies. But for functionality, it's his iPhone 4 he says he can't live without. He recently paid about $950 for an unlocked iPhone 4S. "The Android has a lot more security problems than the iPhone and I'm a constant target for attacks," he said. He uses a mobile browser other than Safari (he declined to name it) for Web surfing and e-mail access so that if his phone is lost or stolen his data won't be exposed. He also has two Mophie Juice Pack Plus battery cases--one he keeps on his phone at all times and the other charging--so he never runs out of power.

What he'd really like for Christmas is the Swinglet CAM mini drone with high-resolution camera. "I would love it just as a toy because I'm a kid at heart," he said. "To have your own little drone you could program, and it fits in a light briefcase, that's cool."

Link to all the Celebrity Entourage: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010505.html


The beautiful ones: With their sleek lines and supple curves, these beautifully designed gadgets are the ones we couldn't keep our hands off of.

Nike+ Sportwatch With GPS
Nike's innovative Nike+ technology gave runners an easy way to keep tabs on their miles logged, as well as connecting them to a like-minded community, when it debuted in 2006. But it wasn't easy to track routes. So Nike teamed with TomTom to add GPS to a watch. GPS provides accurate speed and distance information, in addition to the time, distance, pace, heart rate, and calories that the first version offered. And the style mavens at Nike have crafted the watch into a gorgeous device that's slim and displays large, bold numbers on its high-contrast LCD screen. Read our review.

Link to all the Beautiful Ones: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010526.html


The 1 percenters: Run a hedge fund? Head of a Hollywood studio? Hit the lottery? These are the products for you. Be sure to buy in bulk--one for the penthouse, one for the beach house, and one for the place in the Seychelles.

Audeze LCD-3 headphones
CNET contributor and audiophile Steve Guttenberg raved about Audeze's $945 LCD-2 headphones, saying they produce extraordinary clarity, openness, and articulation, but without exaggerated detail or annoyingly overdone treble. He's even more impressed with the LCD-3 headphones ($1,945).

"Audeze has advanced the state of the art of planar magnetic headphone design yet again with the LCD-3," he said in a blog post earlier this year. "I thought their recently revised LCD-2 was the best-sounding full-size headphone on the planet, but the LCD-3 is even better. It looks a lot like a LCD-2, but the new one uses a completely different driver. The supersoft lambskin leather pads felt great on my ears. The new headphone is 'faster' and sounds clearer and cleaner."

Link to all the 1 Percenters: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010471.html


The ones that keep us up at night: Sometimes the news we cover makes us want to crawl under our beds and wait for the apocalypse. These are the trends that emerged this year that make us want to cover our eyes and plug our ears and sing "La, la, la."

Next target for hackers: Utilities
For years security experts have warned that the next hacker playground would be energy and utility firm networks. That day has come. Last year we saw the emergence of Stuxnet, which experts say was designed to sabotage Iran's nuclear program. And last month a hacker posted screenshots to the Web as proof that he hacked into a Texas water utility and claims to have hacked into other SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems.

Link to all Scary Tech: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010525.html


Best. Apps. Ever.: There are now officially 1 gazillion apps available for today's mobile phones--give or take. But most are too buggy or boring to hold our interest for more than a few days. These are the apps you'll actually use.

Pandora
One of the early greats, Pandora is the perfect music-discovery app. Just pick a song you like and let Pandora put together a playlist of similar-sounding bands to discover something new.

Link to all Best apps: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010507.html


The sleeper hits: These gadgets didn't grab the limelight, and you won't see them advertised on prime-time TV. But these understated products were some of the best releases of the year, according to CNET editors.

HP Pavilion dm1z
There's no doubt that the iPad is a great device--but some of us still need a real laptop to get the job done. That's where the HP Pavilion dm1z found its niche. The 11.6-inch ultraportable laptop tips the scales at less than 3.5 pounds, offers long battery life, and--thanks to its capable AMD E-series processor--can be found online for less than $500. Unlike the underpowered Netbooks of years past, the dm1z delivers on the promise of an affordable, lightweight, everyday laptop.

Link to all the Sleepers: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010529.html


The forgettables: These products built up a ton of prerelease hype--but, honestly, we forgot about them almost as soon as they launched.

Motorola Xoom
It started off as the golden child of the Consumer Electronics Show this January, and now the Motorola Xoom is being steeply discounted for holiday sales. Its hype peaked before the product was even released, demonstrating the difficulty some Android tablets are having in distinguishing themselves from the pack.

Link to all Forgettables: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010497.html


The maybe next years: Some tech we wait and wait for and it never arrives--or it arrives but doesn't quite deliver on the promises. Maybe these good ideas will come through next year.

Glasses-free 3D technology
Who hasn't dreamed of enjoying 3D movies without fumbling for an annoying pair of glasses? This year has seen glasses-free 3D tech--most notably the Nintendo 3DS and a Toshiba Qosmio glasses-free laptop -- but there are still challenges. Viewing angles are a big concern: anyone who's used a Nintendo 3DS knows how perfectly you have to hold your head in place. Large-screen implementation is also a challenge: the larger the screen, the harder the 3D experience is to replicate. The Toshiba Qosmio pulled it off on a 15-inch screen, but we still have a ways to go before hitting a living-room home theater size.

Link to all Maybe Next Years: http://www.cnet.com/2300-33506_1-10010508.html