15 best and worst technologies of 2015: we name, acclaim or shame gadgets, apps, and tech trends
FROM quirky failures to gadgets that made us throw our money at them, we look at what worked — and what went wrong — in 2015.
GENUINELY game-changing technology launched in 2015, revolutionising the way we keep in touch with others, entertain ourselves, and even the way we get around.
But, on the other side of the ledger, some technology let us down badly, failing unexpectedly or squandering our investment in it.
Below are 10 awards we’d like to bestow on the finest gadgets, services, and trends of 2015, and five for technology flaws we’d rather forget.
BEST TECH OF 2015
Best Newcomer: Apple Watch
Apple stepped out from Steve Jobs’ shadow this year with a new category of gadget. The Apple Watch boasts rounded metal edges designed by Jony Ive, redesigned WatchOS software for its 38mm or 42mm screen, a speaker to take calls, and a microphone to ask Siri questions. It might take time (get it?) for everyone to adopt a smartwatch, but Apple made a compelling case for its adoption.
Best makeover: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge
See any plastic here? Boxy design? Bumpy fake leather finishes? Samsung stepped up its style game in a major way this year, overhauling the exterior of its big-selling smartphones. The Galaxy S6 Edge impressed with a screen that curves implausibly down both sides, a toughened glass body with iridescent finish, and metal borders that made us forget the chrome finishes of last year.
Most attractive: LG 4K OLED television
After spending years waiting for organic light-emitting diode TVs to show up, and longer still for them to adopt a 4K resolution, LG finally delivered a screen with both technologies. The 65-inch Ultra HD OLED TV has the blackest blacks and the brightest contrast you can see on a TV and is downright enviable. Plus, it’s already lost $1000 off its price, falling to $9000.
Most productive: Microsoft Surface Book
Microsoft made its first laptop this year and it is a scorcher. The Surface Book is beautifully designed, powerful, adds the phrase “Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge” to our lexicon, and provides the best darned keyboard for touch typists yet. Microsoft may have thrown the Book at its friends (companies who make hybrid PCs with its software), but this Surface is one for we little guys.
Most fun: Motorised skateboards
The closest thing to a hoverboard this year is undeniably fun to use … if you are brave and well balanced enough to get on it. Motorised skateboards from the likes of Kaiser Baas and 3VOLV combine the serene gliding experience promised by Back to the Future II with the navigation of a Segway. When you get the hang of it, riding these boards is as easy as thinking of the direction in which you’d like to head and feeling the breeze rush past you. Users should take care not to overcharge their batteries, or invest in cheap imports, however.
Best free service: Google Photos
Google wants to organise all of the world’s information and it did a damn good job with photos this year. The company launched its Photos app in May with an offer to store an unlimited number of high-resolution photos, with some compression for the largest images, on Android or iOS devices. Its Assistant feature also makes animated gifs for users, and its search feature lets you sort through photos by what’s in them.
Most likely to break the bank: Leica Q
Famous German camera maker Leica does not typically make compact cameras, never mind cameras with autofocus. This year it did both inside the “entry-level” Leica Q Typ 116, a 24-megapixel, full-frame camera with a solid magnesium alloy body and an f1.7, 28mm lens that can deliver pin-sharp shots. After an all-too-brief trial, we can report that it has just two drawbacks: a lack of 4K video capture, and a $5900 price tag.
Best gadget in a supporting role: Microsoft Universal Foldable Keyboard
This accessory is the antidote to Autocorrect. Microsoft’s six-line keyboard features generously sized keys that fold into a form smaller than a sandwich, and works with an impressive array of devices. Users can connect two gadgets to this Bluetooth keyboard, swapping between the two, just as long as they use Google Android, Microsoft windows, or Apple iOS software. Plus, once you’ve connected it, simply unfolding it will turn this keyboard on and reconnect it to your device.
Most likely to get you fit: Fitbit Surge
Fitbit remains the most popular wearable technology brand and this year it delivered its first smartwatch in the Surge. Now in more colours including tangerine, this so-called “fitness super-watch” can measure your heart rate from your wrist, track your runs and rides by GPS, wake you with a vibrating alarm, and deliver text-message and call alerts from your smartphone.
Most likely to take over the world: Rose gold
It’s the trend that took over tech this year: rose gold everything. There were rose gold phones and docks from Apple, rose gold lenses from Olloclip, a rose gold fitness watch from Garmin, and rose gold accents on HTC’s One M9 and even Samsung’s robot vacuum cleaner. Some “rose” gold tended towards pink but, if this continues, the future will be rosy.
And now for the technology that set our world on fire for the wrong reasons.
WORST TECH OF 2015
Least practical design: Apple MacBook
The Apple MacBook is gorgeous. It is a beacon of industrial design, with a body just 1.3cm thick and a shape even its rivals would admire. It’s a laptop, though, and it has just one port. Yes, just one. And yes, it’s used to charge the laptop too. It means users must choose to connect an accessory or charge the computer as you cannot do both at once, and they must carry an adaptor to connect standard USB devices. It’s a vision of the future that arrived too soon.
Least time on sale: LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition
Six days. LG’s latest smartwatch was on sale for just six days before it was recalled due to a “hardware issue” the company later admitted was a fault in a display component. LG has no plans to re-release the wearable technology at this stage, though it attracted plenty of attention while on the market for its ability to use the 4G phone network to work independently of a smartphone. It didn’t even reach Australia.
Least thoughtful way to close: Mobicity/Yatango Shopping
One of Australia’s biggest online gadget stores closed this year, not with a sale but simply by turning its site white. Yatango Shopping, which earlier bought Mobicity, simply vanished in late November, even though it had yet to fulfil customer orders, warn them of the closure, or file for administration like related companies.
Most likely to ruin your personal life: Ashley Madison
It’s hardly a wholesome website at its best but Ashley Madison’s actions in 2015 left many broken relationships in its wake. In July, the extramarital hook-up site with the motto “Life is short. Have an affair,” was notified of a data breach. After failing to respond, it watched as The Impact Team leak users’ details to the web, some of which the site had been paid to delete. Many users have since been blackmailed, others confessed their involvement, and three suicides have been linked to the information breach.
Most likely to make you read the manual: Samsung Pengate
It was a design flaw that proved the pen mighty. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 features a redesigned S-Pen stylus and early users discovered they could break the phone if they inserted it the wrong way around and forced it out. Samsung countered that the design was not “defective” but users should read the manual and use the S-Pen correctly.
Originally published as 15 best and worst technologies of 2015: we name, acclaim or shame gadgets, apps, and tech trends
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