Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s the first personal navigation device that marries cutting-edge Pan-European navigation features with free digital terrestrial TV and radio.

The Story: The Garmin® nüvi 1490TV is not your ordinary GPS. Though only available for now in Europe, it can pick up digital TV and radio content – for free – from over 14 countries across the continent. In the UK there are over 50 digital TV channels and 24 digital radio stations including programs from digital content providers such as the BBC, ITV, SKY, Film4 and Five to name a …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a tremendous-sounding wireless speaker that gets its music from your iPhone or computer. Now, you can have a very expensive music system in every room minus the very expensive part.

The Story: Sonos, Inc., the leading developer of wireless multi-room music systems for the home, today introduced the Sonos ZonePlayer S5, an all-in-one wireless music system that can be controlled with an iPhone, iPod® touch or any Sonos Controller. The S5 delivers crystal-clear, room-filling sound that rivals much larger, more complicated audio equipment. Plus, the S5 provides instant …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a wired or wireless Internet-connected set-top box that allows users to play all their digital media – music, videos, content, etc. – right on the biggest and best screens in the house: your TV(s).

The Story: NETGEAR has just unveiled an Internet-connected set-top box, the Digital Entertainer Live (EVA2000), is an easy-to-use and affordable Internet set-top box that enables viewers to play their digital media collections, YouTube videos and a wide range of other Internet content on big-screen TVs. Rather than having to watch downloaded movies and …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s the world’s first single laser-based projector. Oh, it also fits into your hand. And, it comes with an MP4 player as well.
The Story: Shanghai Sanxin Technology Development (SSTDC) is about to unveil the Laseno SMP-101. Unlike other pico projectors boasting laser capability, which use three different colored lasers, the SMP-101 utilizes a single white laser and a LCoS microdisplay panel. It also supports SVGA (800×600) resolution, a 250:1 contrast ratio and projects images with a brightness of over 20 ANSI lumens, which is brighter than any …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a very small, incredibly efficient video display using electronic ink made for advertisers that derives all its power from either commercial grade indoor lighting, or the sun itself.

The Story: Introducing a new power application using solar cells that produce all the necessary power needed to sell messaging on small, portable displays. After many years of in depth study and research at the NeoLux laboratory in South Korea, the small, solar-powered and portable advertising display is here.
Combining this solar cell with the NeoLux proprietary Ink-In-Motion display, this display …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a dome projection that replaces the flat movie screen – the Immersive Dome puts viewers at the heart of the action, and lets them actively participate. And, instead of the conventional surround sound, a three-dimensional aural experience awaits visitors.

The Story: Imagine sitting in the middle of a lava lamp. You’re surrounded by flowing, larger-than-life-sized sculptures, and you are in complete weightlessness. Spherical sounds emanate that adapt to the movements of the fluid sculptures within the space. In the dome cinema of tomorrow, visitors will embrace entirely …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a 12 megapixel compact digital camera that projects your images so everyone doesn’t have to gather ’round a teeny screen to see a keeper.

The Story: Breakthrough Technology can come at you from a lot of different angles. Like the one that puts together two things that, now that they’re together, seem like this is something that should’ve been done a while ago. Well, now it’s here. Nikon has unveiled the world’s first compact digital camera that also boasts a built-in projector. The COOLPIX S1000pj is …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a mobile answer base. Text any question under the sun to CHA-CHA (242 242), and within minutes, a human expert will provide the answer via text message back to you.

The Story: Put simply, ChaCha is a mobile answer service. Simply text your question to CHA CHA (242 242) and your human-provided answer will be texted back within just a few minutes.
It’s not some typical automaton or algorithm that gives you a list of potential sites to dig through to hopefully give you your answers. Rather, ChaCha …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker (FFL) that’s .25 mm thick, is bendable and flexible and weighs a fraction of existing loud speakers.

The Story: A groundbreaking new loudspeaker, less than 0.25mm thick, has been developed by University of Warwick engineers, it’s flat, flexible, could be hung on a wall like a picture, and its particular method of sound generation could make public announcements in places like passenger terminals clearer, crisper, and easier to hear.
Lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, the speakers are slim and flexible: they could be concealed …

Why it’s Breakthrough: It’s a patent-pending cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor, taking your work – that would have been an otherwise ordinary slideshow – and converting it into something utterly amazing.
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The Story: Slideshows are boring. Your images are not. Welcome to the end of slideshows. Animoto.com is a web application that creates …