The Top Gadgets of 2008

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Left:It may not have an accelerometer. Or an OLED. Or lasers. Or image-stabilization. You can't even plug it in to an electric socket. But the Herman Miller Embody chair has got its back (and yours) covered with meticulous engineering. The thing is adjustable to Asperger's levels of obsession; controls exist to cradle your lumbar, hips and neck. Plus the multilayered seat absorbs even the most microscopic shifts in weight, cupping your derriere no matter how much (or little) you move. It's the greatest breakthrough in ass-to-comfort technology since, well, the Aeron chair.
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Photo by David Clugston
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In fact, the only thing we don't like is the shell. The Prius was a hit partly because it looked so different on the road. The Insight looks almost exactly the same as Toyota's green-mobile. But then, maybe that's the point.

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But unlike a real Bond villain, you won't be destroying the world; you'll be saving it. The LaserVue uses a third less power than rival sets and the lasers inside are long-lasting. Besides, what else do you need to know? It has frakkin' lasers!

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Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
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Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
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Photo: Max Buck/Wired.com
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The biggest surprise, though, was the D90, the first digital SLR to shoot video -- and high-def, 720p video to boot. The advantage of relatively cheap, interchangeable SLR lenses together with a Hollywood-style shallow focus not available on even high-end consumer camcorders made the Nikon a must-have for budget movie makers. And that's before we even get to the 12.3-megapixel still images it takes. Sure, Canon answered back with its own hi-def, 1080p camera, the 5D MkII, but Canon's model costs almost three times as much.

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Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com