The chips of some of the world's largest technology companies have shined in the supply chain dilemma and have won a place in this year's best new products.
Written by Stan Horaczek | Published at 11:00 AM, December 1, 2021
In many ways, 2021 will have a question mark. The year began at the All-Remote Consumer Electronics Show, which provided a reduced product line and ambiguous delivery dates. Despite all these uncertainties, 2021 will be an important year for gadgets, thanks in large part to the fact that large companies have absorbed some of the impact of chip shortages. The two largest technology companies in the world-Apple and Google-have transformed their hardware; Samsung has released a truly mature folding device; Microsoft has improved its Surface Pen with seemingly small changes that affect the entire experience. Of course, there are some surprises, one of which involves an illustration of a fashionable ape worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. seriously.
Looking for the full list of 100 winners? Check it out here.
Apple's M1 chip has a total of 16 billion transistors. You can zoom in and try to calculate them. Apple
As early as 2019, Apple announced its intention to break up with Intel, the company that has provided CPUs for Macs since 2006. Then, at the end of 2020, Cupertino announced the M1. It is a system on a chip, which means that a piece of silicon contains the CPU, graphics processor, system memory, machine learning hardware, and almost everything else needed for the operation of the computer. Since Apple controls the software and hardware around the M1, its system can eliminate inefficiency levels. The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro were updated when the chip was launched, and these laptops canceled benchmark tests of similar products. Apple also implanted its new chip into the Mac Mini and the new ultra-thin iMac. They are equally impressive. The company has updated the M1 with new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, which were launched in October. The performance of laptops with these guts has surpassed the more expensive Mac Pro using the old architecture. This is a huge change for Apple, at least so far, it is a huge achievement.
Even with all the photographic firepower built in, the A1 is still smaller than the old flagship digital SLR camera. Sony
High-end digital cameras often require photographers to choose between high-resolution or ultra-fast shooting. With the A1, Sony designed an image sensor with its own onboard memory and paired it with one of the most powerful image processors on the market (if not). Therefore, this flagship body can capture 30 full-resolution 50.1 megapixel original files per second, while performing 120 autofocus and auto exposure calculations in the same blink. For more fun, photographers can choose to close the mechanical shutter and shoot quietly.
Popular NFTs can be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in popular markets such as OpenSea.io. OpenSea.io
In March 2021, Christie’s auction house sold the work of a digital artist named Beeple for $69. It is not a painting or sculpture, but a set of irreplaceable tokens, or, as we all know, NFT. These tokens exist on blockchains, public online ledgers, and are used to track transactions involving digital assets. Think of them as virtual items you buy in a video game. Only this kind of ownership exists in the IRL and may be worth thousands or even millions of dollars. Athletes and celebrities spend huge sums of money to buy NFTs from projects such as Bored Ape Yacht Club. Disney even made NFTs for its most popular characters, which is as obvious as any sign that any technology has surpassed the cryptocurrency community and become mainstream.
It would be nice to easily install AirTags on the keychain ring, but there are plenty of keychains and other mounting options on the market. Apple
They look like large Mentos, but Apple's AirTags are very smart small GPS-less locator devices that can help people pay close attention to things that are easy to lose. These gadgets are powered by small button batteries and use ultra-low energy Bluetooth connections to ping Apple devices on the company’s FindMy network. Each tag can ping ultra-specific location information via Bluetooth, allowing you to use your phone like a fortune-telling wand, turning the frustrating process of finding keys into a fun hotter/colder game. The company also has built-in anti-tracking protection, so if someone else’s AirTag starts to move with you, it will sound an alert on your phone.
You must be a special nerd to get the Motorola Razr feel from Samsung's Z Flip3. Samsung
When used, Galaxy Z Flip3 feels like a typical high-end smartphone. Strangely, this is why it is so special. When closed, it is just over half an inch thick, and its longest edge is approximately 3.4 inches. This makes it small enough to fit in almost any pocket. After unfolding, it presents a 6.7-inch AMOLED display comparable to a thick flagship handheld device. However, the usability upgrade really makes this a huge leap: the screen is less prone to splitting than the previous version, thanks to a protective polymer film that is firmly tucked into the bezel on the edge to prevent peeling.
Low-resolution photos are large enough to be printed after being automatically enlarged using super-resolution. Adobe
Although you may have seen these on CSI, "enhanced" photos often introduce digital aliasing called artifacts, which erase details. A new feature in Adobe Photoshop called Super Resolution uses machine learning to enlarge photos without making them look like old low-quality JPEGs. Intelligently identify discrete objects in the scene to fill in the blanks, instead of blindly guessing what these pixels should look like. When 8 megapixels (lower than the resolution of a 4K screen) become a true extension, the result can modernize the photos.
The brains of Google’s new flagship phones rarely need cloud support. Google
For the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones, Google has built its own system-on-a-chip, dedicated to handling arduous tasks such as image processing, real-time translation, and transcription without the need to call the cloud. The Tensor chip includes two high-performance cores, a pair of medium high-performance cores, and four high-efficiency cores. Efficient modules handle the most typical tasks, while more powerful modules can be handled freely. For example, Pixel 6 can apply high dynamic range capture to every frame in the video, so the movie has bright colors and no highlights.
The shape is slightly different from the previous Surface Slim Pen, but the interior has undergone a lot of changes. Microsoft
Open the Windows Sketchable application on Microsoft Surface Pro 8, and then use Slim Pen 2 to start drawing with a virtual pencil. It mimics the feel of a graphic pen tip dragging on paper with creepy accuracy. Switching to "chalk", the feeling will change, providing a fairly accurate-although far less unpleasant-essence of marking on the blackboard. Thanks to the custom chip inside and the strategically placed tactile motors, these tactile motors can cleverly shake and rattle in an ultra-precise way, and the stylus can eliminate these impressions.
If you see the inside of most laptops, it's because you made a terrible mistake. The frame is good and you can hang out there. frame
Turn on most laptops and you are already in trouble. Whenever manufacturers try to cram powerful PC parts into increasingly trimmed machines, they will play a game of logistic Tetris. This usually involves gluing the components in place, which makes the computer a nightmare to repair or upgrade. The fully modular design of the Framework Laptop requires people to replace parts when they are damaged or out of date. The snap-in components can easily change everything from the keyboard to the motherboard, memory, and ports. The enthusiastic advocate of repair rights, iFixit, gave it a score of 10 (out of 10), which means that it stays in the recycling center longer than the machine you see now.
Textured labels help people find specific buttons or ports based on their feelings. Microsoft
People with disabilities often modify computing devices so that they can interact with them effectively. The auxiliary toolkit provided by Microsoft for its Surface computer allows them to get rid of such hacking attacks. Textured labels on keycaps make specific buttons easier to find without seeing them; tactile port indicators do the same thing for connections; sticky labels with loops and lanyards make it easier to open and adjust the laptop without Manual operation. Although these simple add-ons are not engineering marvels, they represent an effort to make Surface computers available to more people—without bringing them into the unpredictable world of unpredictable third-party accessories.
He is the senior equipment editor of popular science and popular photography. His past signatures include Rolling Stone, Engadget, Men's Journal, GQ, and almost any other publication on gadgets. For a while, he even wrote a widget page for "Every Day with Rachel Ray" magazine. He collects vintage cameras, eats pizza, and hopes that even if the link is there, you won't read his tweets.
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