Top Best Gadgets Of The Decade, Part - II

Browsing the internet on your cellphone generally meant having to put up with low-feature WAP sites. Opera Mini changed all that with its ability to render desktop versions of websites on a handset. And it did so at a blazing clip. And it worked on just about any cellphone. AND it was free. It was and remains a mustdownload for any cellphone owner.

Before Google threw in its version of email, one had to cough up cash to be able to access mail from an e-mail client and had to keep deleting mails to ensure that one did not go over one's storage limit. Gmail brought in gigabytes of storage, free POP and iMAP access and integrated chatting...mail would never be the same again.

Sales of 138 million units, a library of almost 2,000 games...Sony's PS2 might be considered a relic by hardcore gamers but there has never been a more successful console in videogame history. The PS2 yanked gaming out of PC territory with its (then) brilliant graphics and great gaming library. Consoles would never play second fiddle to the computer again.

Ultra-portable, light notebooks were supposed to be niche, expensive products. Asus turned that on its head by introducing the eeePC in 2007. It weighed about a kilo, was compact, ran blazingly fast and cost less than a highend phone. The era of the netbook had arrived.

Bookworms hated reading on computer screens and found those of mobile phones too cramped. Amazon came up with the perfect solution — a lightweight ebook reader that let you browse and download books over the air and look snazzy too. Sure it does not support colour, but fourteen days of battery life more than compensates.

A cellphone was supposed to be a functional device rather than a style statement. Until Motorola unleashed this slim and sinful flip phone in 2004. Pundits carped at its tech specs and users lined up to buy it, making it one of the most successful phones of all time.

Millions of gamers all over the world log in to play this amazing online game, coughing up a monthly fee to boot. People may talk about social networking, but the World of Warcraft gaming community is perhaps one of the most committed in the world, making this arguably the most successful game of all time.

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