Gadget of 2010

2010 saw some great new products and refreshes on existing ones. We saw the launch of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft finally became relevant in a market that they once dominated. Google and Apple both launched TV products and we waited with baited breath for Palm to do anything of note with WebOS.

We saw LTE launch, well in the US at least, promising down speeds of 100mps and up of 50mps. With speeds like this who needs a wired connection anymore? Expect to see UK operators offering LTE after Digital switchover is complete in 2012. If telco carriers were buckling under the strain that 3G was placing on them expect them to collapse with all the downloading you can do with LTE.

A special mention must go to Microsoft for Kinect, something that was looked upon as a gimmick at first but something that I have really enjoyed using and MS have managed to ship 8 million of these into retail. It works as advertised and it is incredible that it can track two players simultaneously so well, Kinect Sports was on constantly post Christmas but MS need to make sure that they can now get behind this with some top games in the next 12 months.

Apple launched a totally redesigned iPhone and managed to whip everyone in to a buying frenzy before antennagate hit but didn't really slow down sales. And rumour has it that this Tuesday Verizon is set to make a special announcement, it would appear that the iPhone will now becoming to Verizon in the US.

3D was in your face whether you wanted it or not, all the major manufactures had at least one in their range and both Sky and Virgin Media had both have a 3DTV offering, with sky opting for a dedicated channel and Virgin opting for 3D via Video on Demand. And it wasn't just limited to the TV, 3D is set to conquer not only handheld gaming with the Nintendo 3DS but can also be found in consumer cameras and video recorders.

Terrestrial TV took a giant leap forward this year with launch of Freeview HD with 3 channels, BBC One HD, BBC HD and ITV HD with another channel set to join the line up post digital switchover next year.

But there is one clear winner of what the best gadget of 2010 was.

The Apple iPad.

It has sold over 7.5 million units since launch making it the fastest selling non phone digital device ever. I went from a sceptic to a believer the first time I held one and spent a few brief minutes with it. The screen is just beautiful, the device is so responsive and is just a pure joy to use. The upgrade to iOS 4.2 really brought some much need functions to it but Apple had better watch out in 2011, they have had the market more or less to themselves but this year all the big players will be gunning for them.