by Mark Standland

Created on: November 08, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2010

Every year new products are made to make our life easier, less complicated or simply bring more fun into already existing products. In that way 2009 was no different. Upgrades were made to already popular gadgets and all new designs were created to spice up every day tasks. Here are a few of the notable gadgets from 2009.

Nintendo DSi

The popular gaming device comes back in a new and upgraded version. Nintendo has been the leading company in portable gaming device since making releasing the GameBoy in the 1990s. With the DSi Nintendo takes another step in the right direction by upgrading some key features. Even with a .25 inch larger screen the DSi is still 12% thinner than the DS Lite.

Wii MotionPlus:

With Wii MotionPlus the already extremely popular Nintendo Wii gets a substantial upgrade. The Wii MotionPlus is an expansion device for the Wii Remote that enables the Wii Remote to recognize more complex movement making it a lot more accurate and thereby improving the overall game play of the Wii.

The critical reception of the MotionPlus has been very positive. Some reviewers have even gone as far as comparing the Wii Remotes improved accuracy with the improvement from VHS to Blu-ray. Commercial response to the product has also been very good as the MotionPlus sold approximately 650,000 units in its opening week in Japan while selling 374,000 units in North America in the month of June.

Amazon Kindle 2 & DX

E-books have gained interest through the last couple of years and Amazon's Kindle has been the best of its kind on the market for a while. In 2009 the Kindle 2 was released and set new standards for e-books.

The biggest improvements in the new kindle 2 are a 25% improved battery life, slimmer design (from 0.7 to 0.36 inches in depth), increased storage capacity (going from 250MB to 2GB (200 to 1500 books)). The display also got an upgrade going from a 4-shade to a 16-grade grayscale.

Amazon later released a DX version of the kindle that added an accelerometer to the device. The accelerometer made it possible for the kindle to automatically rotate pages between landscape and portrait view.

Some would argue that the kindle 2 did not offer much improvement over the first version leaving the e-book market open for other companies to take over.

Transparent Toaster

Burned toast is a thing of the past with the transparent toaster. The concept consists of the piece of toast being placed between two heated glass plates. The glass-heating technology ensures an even toasting while enabling the person using the toaster to watch the toast while it is being toasted. The person can then take the toast out when it has the desired color.

While this toaster is still only a concept (expected for release in 2009) it has a lot of upside that will make it popular gadget. Not only does this product provide easier use than the current toasters but it will also save you time and offers a completely different and modern design.

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