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The 25 Most Innovative Products of the Year
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DeviceVM's Linux-based technology allows you to boot into its Internet-appliance-like platform in a few seconds, so you don't have to spend minutes waiting for Windows to start up. If all you want to do is check your Web mail account or make a Skype call, for example, you'll save both time and watt-hours. Though the technology is currently shipping as a feature only in the Asus P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi AP motherboard, it should be more widely available in desktops, laptops, and additional motherboards in 2008.
Innovative Products, Numbers 11 through 15
Innovation: First ultraportable laptop to squeeze in an optical drive.
Benefit: You don't have to give up much at all to go truly lightweight.
Thin takes on new meaning with the lightweightPortege R500($2000 for the R500-S5002). But you don't have to sacrifice function for form with this laptop, which is equipped with an ultralow-voltage Intel processor. The stylish 2.4-pound ultraportable manages to include both a rewritable-DVD drive and a 12.1-inch LED-backlit display in its svelte, 0.77-inch-thick chassis. Enough said.
Innovation: High-end, redundant storage for the masses.Data Robotics Drobo
Benefit: USB 2.0 storage appliance delivers RAID 5 benefits without mind-numbing complexity.
"Redundant array storage" and "sexy" don't normally go hand-in-hand. ButData Robotics' unique Drobo($500) offers high-end storage features in a sleek design with software that doesn't require a master's degree in IT to figure out. Drobo uses storage virtualization algorithms to provide many of the benefits of RAID 5, but is relatively easy to set up: Just place the drives into the case, plug in the USB cable, install the software, and you're off.
Innovation: First hard drives with a built-in NAND flash memory cache.
Benefit: Power savings and performance boost for laptops.
