Apple's iPad tops Time's 2010 Gadget list

When the Times Magazine top 10 of America’s Gadget world was announced for 2010 last weekend, it threw up a few surprises at the helm, Best of the Web directory says in an article.

The iPhone no longer was the most sought after gadget by American users. As a matter of fact it had slipped from the 2nd position last year to the sixth. Nor was the Motorola Droid the faster smartphone which had surprised all as the winner last year, thanks to some great marketing stunts pulled out by the Motorola team to outdo top favorites Apple. This year it was in the oblivion dispatched to the history books.

The top gadget of the year was none other than the iPad, the touch screen Tablet PC of Apple that has nearly sold 10 million pieces since its introduction during the second quarter of 2010. Introduced without any earth shaking marketing blitz, the 10” Tab has surpassed all demand expectations of analysts prompting Jobs to say that Apple was riding a tiger by the tail in the Tablet market. Predictably by the end of the year Apple missed quarterly estimates as its production of 4.1 million units fell short of forecasts by 10% as it hit 89 global destinations to fly off the shelves. With Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and RIM’s Playbook entering the market and DELL and ACER planning to follow suit the iPad could face serious challenge next year despite early lead.

The next Gadget on the Times list was the glitzy Samsung Galaxy smartphone driven by Android OS which scorched the sales chart, with 71.4 million pieces sold globally in the 3rd quarter as against 60.2 million sets sold in Q2. The heavy duty light weight full flash compatible 11” MacBook Air with super quick boot time was a surprise third on the Times list with Google TV via Logitech Revue that works seamlessly with your existing TV coming fourth on the list.

Google’s own smartphone tops the iPhone this year on the Times list perhaps because AT&T networked Apple smartphone is not highly popular in the big cities of New York and several states. With Apple reportedly inking a deal early next year with Verizon, the sixth placed iconic smartphone of Apple should again move up the charts next year. Apple TV was the seventh on the list the Toshiba Libretto W 100 dual screen laptop following at number 8.Named as a concept PC this 7” dual screen device will start of a popular niche market that will grow in the years to come. One screen of this could be used in the future models as a TV and the other for the laptop integrating work and play culture that is slowly becoming acceptable.

Microsoft’s motion control gaming Kinect takes the ninth place and highly attractive Barnes and Noble’s Nook color E reader bagged the 10th place. On the whole the price of gadgets have become indeed affordable and one of a piece in the lot of comprising of a smartphone, a tablet, an internet TV’, a gamer, and a E Reader for Christmas will cost you less than ten grand. That is not too big a price tag to change all your Gadgets by the year end.