Standout technology products of 2024

Many amazing products have been launched this year, and we will cover some of them. However, unlike most years when it was difficult to decide, one product stood out above the rest as revolutionary. What makes it particularly special is that it was a bold bet that paid off and helped its maker become, for a time, D The most valuable company in the world.

Normally, I don’t do a product of the week for this column because it focuses on product of the year, but I ran into a dessert that I’m almost addicted to, thanks to my love of dark chocolate, so I had to squeeze it in. It’s from a small company called Sweet as Fudge. So, before we revisit 2024 and discuss some standout products, let’s talk about this chocolate.

The product is Dark Chocolate Triple-Dipped Malt Balls. There is also a sugar-free version that is surprisingly good. A pound costs about $15, but this stuff is so good. I put them in the refrigerator so they melt more slowly in my mouth. If you drink chocolate and love malt (chocolate malt is my summer drink), give them a try this holiday season.

Now come to the main event. Let’s start with the contenders that didn’t make it to the top of my list and end with one that earned the title of Product of the Year.

Fisker Ocean

Image credit: Fisker

It’s a shame this company didn’t last years, but the Fisker Ocean – which I planned to buy – was arguably the best electric SUV on paper. It had a bunch of cool, unique features like a solar panel roof and a pull-up table so the driver could enjoy a snack or meal in the car without making a mess.

This ESUVT was well designed and had decent range, and I thought it was one of the best cars on the market. Operating inefficiencies and apparently some financial mismanagement killed the company and the car. RIP Fisker.

2025 Audi RS e-tron® GT Performance

Image credit: Audi Communications

I bought a used 2022 Audi e-tron GT after going under Fisker. Right after I bought it, Audi released it 2025 modelAnd it’s a beast. It has about 1,000 hp, it delivers brilliant performance (more than I need since my base car is fast enough), the hydraulic suspension allows it to adjust its height almost instantly, and the car is beautiful.

Oh, they added about 100 miles of range on my car, making it much more useful for a daily driver. At $171,000, it’s out of my budget, but wow, what a car!

Hyundai Ioniq 5N

Image credit: Hyundai

I think Hyundai’s approach with this Ioniq 5N For those who miss the engine noise and gear shifting in a manual gas car, an electric car is the way to go. This Hyundai is arguably the funnest electric car in the world. It does a decent job of faking engine noise, and when shifting it feels like you’re shifting a car — even though it simulates and actually slows the car down. But the car is incredibly fun to drive and reasonably quick (0 to 60 in 3.25 seconds).

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N isn’t bad for a performance car listed under $70,000, and it’s probably faster than your friend’s much more expensive foreign car.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Wow, talk about an offer that changed the world! chatgpt The core technology underpinning both Apple and Microsoft’s AI efforts. Its Dal-e capabilities for images are impressive (like Google’s Gemini, which I also use), and it has changed the way many of us write software, create images, and even write entire works.

ChatGPT is moving incredibly fast, and promises to change how we create what we read with the help of artificial general intelligence (AGI). ChatGPT and its peers are starting to change what we see. It’s a truly revolutionary platform, although Google’s Gemini Advanced has no cachet While ChatGPT launched before 2024, it became the basis of Microsoft and Apple’s massive AI efforts this year.

Windows 365 link

Ever since the PC came out we’ve basically been told to go back to the terminal. We love the freedom PCs give us, but we’re not crazy about the complexity of supporting them ourselves, especially at scale. Microsoft helped create the problem, and, to be fair, it alleviated a lot of related pain by improving Windows.

however, Windows 365 link It’s a near-instant, on-terminal-like device that promises and delivers Windows capabilities with most of the terminal’s reliability and simplicity. It’s a “back to the future” product and a bit of a man-bites-dog story. I hope this will eventually be the future of the PC.

Bluesky

Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter, many of us have been looking for alternatives. Every time we get excited about a new endeavor, we’re disappointed.

Bluesky It’s the closest thing to a good Twitter so far, and more and more people I know have migrated to it. Given its distributed architecture, it also has some technical advantages over X/Twitter.

Its moderation, in my opinion, seems better than Twitter. It was a huge step in the right direction and I hope it carries us into the future.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

D Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Now my carry-on phone, and it’s great. Phone updates have been helpful. It locks if it’s moved suddenly, like someone stole it, for example. It gets locked if you fly it while reading on a plane, but you can log in again. It folds into a small tablet, so if I don’t have my glasses handy, I can still make the text large enough to read. Speaking of reading, this is the best e-book alternative since the discontinued Microsoft Duo.

I wish Google had used a Qualcomm Snapdragon instead of its own processor, but the difference isn’t as bad as the first Fold. I just love this phone.

Huawei Mate XT is a tri-fold smartphone

Despite some initial growing pains, Huawei showed remarkable skill by navigating the technical restrictions to deliver one of the world’s most desirable smartphones because it was an almost entirely new platform.

Huawei is not allowed to buy technology from the US, this three-screen phone is a technological marvel in the form of iPhone to iPad. It demonstrates where we will likely go with the phone and differentiate itself from competing devices this year.

Huawei remains impressive, considering the problems that have arisen this year due to the conflict between the United States and China. Impressive work.

Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC Concept

Lenovo is another company that stands out this year in terms of sheer innovation. The product that caught my eye was the ThinkBook Auto-Twist AI PC Concept.

What sets this PC apart is that it automatically pans the screen and on-board camera based on where you are in the room. This feature is especially handy for those of us who have to move around during team calls or how to watch videos while you’re doing something else.

Seeing that screen automatically rotate so it’s focused on the user was cool. As AI advances, I expect we’ll see more innovation in AI PCs.

HP Print AI

For me, 2024 was defined by AI innovation. The HP Print AI offering, released in September, directly addresses many of our frustrations with printers, automatically formatting things for pages without cutting borders and positioning data and graphics so that every print job is perfect.

We’ve all run into problems when printing a document and not placing it correctly. Spreadsheets are the worst, often printing one line or column on a page and then spitting out hundreds of useless print copies that make little or no sense, such as:

Image credit: HP

HP Print AI will automatically format print jobs, so the printed document is useful. AI analyzes your print job based on past training to determine the best layout. Then, it auto-configures that result so that every print job is as perfect as the AI ​​can make it:

Image credit: HP

Printer technology needs to change this decade, and this software from HP should do just that. Expect to see more such advancements from many companies that plan to use AI to address customer frustrations with their products.

Disney BDX Robot

Part of BDX Robot Project Groot and use Nvidia’s Jetson robotic technology. you will be Check them out at Disney ParksAnd finally, you will be able to buy one.

This little guy is the closest thing to a true “Star Wars”-like robot I’ve found. I wish I’d been smart enough to invest in Lucas Films instead of spending my money going back and forth to that first “Star Wars” movie. BDX showed how far robotics has come, and we’ll see many amazing robots you can buy in 2025.

Nvidia Blackwell B200 GPU

Image credit: Nvidia

When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang first Presented by BlackwellIt is a fantastic event that demonstrates how a company should release a revolutionary product. This GPU is huge in terms of performance and power requirements, and it’s forcing a huge pivot from air to water cooling in the cloud and enterprise data center as the world pivots to AI.

The story behind this part and Nvidia’s entire AI effort is the stuff of legend. In the early 2000s, when only IBM was really working with AI, Jensen Huang was convinced that it was a much more near-term future. For much of the next 20 years, Nvidia’s financial performance dragged as the company largely bet its future on AI. If Huang wasn’t a founder, he probably would have been fired.

Then OpenAI asked for help, and Nvidia provided it. Thanks to Nvidia, we now have generative AI that works. Blackwell is the current culmination of this work, a massive GPU that is extremely power-hungry but incredibly efficient. Even though it uses a ton of power, it does much more than any group of other GPUs or NPUs with the same power.

AMD’s ThreeDripper CPU was equally innovative, but it was designed for existing market needs. Nvidia was working on Blackwell before AI became a market and it was never done. By taking what seemed like an unreasonable risk and executing on it, Nvidia caught its competitors napping, and now Nvidia is almost synonymous with AI.

Back when there were pensions, CEO compensation was more reasonable, and boards were more supportive of long-term strategic action, such an effort would not have been so unusual. But in today’s world, you don’t see that.

Nvidia’s Blackwell effort gives me hope that the US may be able to bounce back in a more strategic future. It has captured the imagination of a world increasingly focused and concerned about AI. Blackwell was a one-generation leap in performance and a huge gamble that could go wrong, so it’s my pick for product of the year.