Without further adieu, here is my list of top tech in the year that was 2009

iPhone 3gs

This smart-phone will now shoot video (unhacked) and send it to YouTube, and if you get lost in the woods you have a nifty compass to guide you out! Price: Your f%*ing soul.

New Intel CPUs

Code named “Nehalem” i5 and i7 core chips with “turbo”. Put them in mac books already!!! I’m waiting ’till they do to upgrade. Price: Get one with a new computer (27″ iMac).

Twitter

This micro blogging service exploded in 2009. Words like “Tweet-up” “Tweets-giving” and “Tw-izzlers” entered our vocab. I’m @johnbirdsong, holla. Price: Free (or ALL of your free time).

Tinychat.com/Skype

Skype, one of the most effective low/no cost communication tools has been around for a while. The new version allows screen sharing which is AWESOME. Tinychat.com takes it a step further and allows groups (up to 12 cameras) to communicate with a/v in a virtual room. Perfect for online meetings, and bizarre 3.0 interaction. Price: Free

Facebook

This year my mom and dad both joined Facebook, and they use it (a lot). Price: All of you free time.

Flip ultra HD

Best flash memory video recorder. Reliable, tough, fantastic daylight video, not to bad indoor/low light video. A lesson in minimalism. Price: $170

Any of the LED back lit flat panel HD TVs

Energy sipping, high quality displays for Bluray, DVD, Hulu, Netflix, web browsing, Amazon on Demand, gaming, and oh yeah…cable.  Price: $1,000+ (for Samsung, Panasonic, etc) less $$ for Vizio (which gets very high ratings).

Canon D7 Digital SLR

I havn’t gotten to use this pro-sumer still camera yet, but the picture quality and videos I’ve seen are beautiful. With the D7, Canon has embraced creative filmmaking. The cam features full 1080p HD video @24 fps, adjustable exposure control, and a large CMOS sensor to mimic the shallow depth of field look of motion picture film cameras. Price: $1,899 with a 28-135 lens.

17″ Mac book Pro

This behemoth of a laptop has an 8hr battery, two video cards, up to 8GB RAM, and a 3.06GHZ duo core Intel CPU.  Price: starting around $3,000

Amazon Kindle 2

Paper books are so passe. JK, but the Kindle is a pretty amazing device. First of all:  electronic ink is really cool. Kind of like a 21st century etch a sketch, but with Hemingway and J.K. Rowling instead of that dumb staircase you’d draw over and over.  One of the coolest things about the Kindle 2 is that it comes with FREE wireless. The browser is not perfect, but it gets the job done (for the most part).  Price: $259

Looking forward to 2010:  What’s Next?

1. Wireless electricity…coming soon

2. A proper upgrade for the iPhone…better battery, HD video recording, front facing camera for video chat

3. Faster computers (plz)

4. 3D HDTV

5. Larger capacity more reliable SD cards

6. Flip camera with wireless, optical stabilization, mic jack, AND headphone jack

7. WiMax

8. A redesigned Facebook

9. A new more efficient, less processor intensive video codec. H.264 is great, but is really CPU intensive…takes 20min to transcode a 3 min video. S-L-O-W.

10. A video camera for every cop that records 24/7 and cannot be tampered with, and a less lethal taser. Police need WAY more oversight.

What did I miss? What tech trends do you see for 2010?

Do you disagree? Please let me know.

-John Birdsong

Here is my best of list

1. 1. USTREAM.tv
2. 2. livestream.com
3. 3. justin.tv
4. 4. Qik.com
5. 5. Kyte.tv

Some of these platforms don’t offer services that others do…for example Qik is meant only for mobile phones. while USTREAM allows streaming from a PC or mobile (iphone).

USTREAM

Right now USTREAM is my favorite. It’s really popular and offers some high profile content as well as a ton of user generated LIVE and archived content.

Pros

1. 1. You can use flash media live encoder (if you have a fast PC) for HQ broadcasts.
2. 2. Easy. Like really f%#ing easy.
3. 3. New broadcaster app for iphone allows for spontaneous LIVE streaming (don’t forget to jailbrake and install ‘mobile substrate’ so you can stream over 3g).

Cons

1. Limited quality with mac (no plugin).
2. Messy UI sort of reminds me of myspace (not a good thing).
3. Player app for iphone doesn’t work (that sucks).
4. The ‘youtube’ of LIVE internet broadcast (at least for now).

Livestream.com

Pros

1. Gorgeous design. Site is beautiful, and easy to navigate.
2. Standalone app for mac (can broadcast using h.264).

Cons

1. Annoying (video) ads.
2. Unreliable recording (archiving) with mac app (to be fair: the mac app is still in beta)

Justin.TV

Pros

1. Says it’s compatible with Quicktime Broadcaster (HQ broadcasting for mac)
2. Very experimental (lots of lifecasting going on here).
3. Nice design.

Cons

1. I only got QT Broadcaster working for a minute…(crap).
2. Have you ever heard of justin.tv? (now you have).

Qik

Pros

1. Qik is pretty awesome.
2. Live video from your iphone (jailbroken), and certain Nokia handsets.
3. Syndicates really well. Press the red button and it posts to facebook (live and archived video) posts to youtube, twitter, tumblr, etc.

Cons

1. Only works on mobile phones.

Kyte

Pros

1. OK site design.
2. Offers mobile and PC broadcasting.
3. Quality seems good.

Cons

1. Have you ever heard of kyte?
2. Site seems heavily geared to their pay model and a little hard to navigate because of it.
3. Hard to navigate to FAQ and other HELP info.

Come back here every tuesday for more technology related reviews and best of lists.

Cheers,

-John Birdsong

Many people and corporate industries were represented at #140conf.  With a common interest in Technology, Social Media and real time interaction, people of like interests met.  We engaged with 70 + people over three days and made some interesting discoveries. One such discovery was the Kodak Zi8. I was honored to talk with Jeff Hayzlett of Kodak who made it a point to meet as many people as possible. We explored the social direction of the company and the state of now. It was insightful speaking with the influencers in the social internet.

The distinct features that differentiate the Zi8 from the flip are desirable. The ability to plug in an external mic is clutch when making good quality film.  The Zi8 is a great, compact social media tool.

Only Magic at the Magic Castle!

I want to take the time to thank Jeff Pulver and Jeff Hayzlett for putting the conference together and facilitating a large amount of energy in one place. I look forward to fostering the new relationships made at Jeff Pulver’s 140 Character Conference in LA.

Did we cause the blackout? Does anyone know how that came about?

John Knowles