Looking Forward: The 19 Gadgets We Can't Wait For in 2012

Markkus: Asus Padfone Astute Android trainspotters will recognize this as the already-hyped tablet that shoots an escape pod smartphone out of its backside. However, 2012 is the year you can actually buy one, and they're coming to North America this spring. By giving you the computing guts inside a full-fledged Android phone, which snaps into the tasty shell of a full-size tablet, the Padfone appeals to the efficiency expert in us all.

Markkus: Lenovo K91 Smart Tv 55" It's not Google TV; it's an Internet-connected TV running Android 4.0 off a Snapdragon 8060 1.5GHz dual-core CPU. As an old-fashioned idiot box, it sounds solid with an IPS LED backlit screen, 240Hz refresh rate and full 3D support. As long as Lenovo hooks us up with a decent price, and the 100+ preloaded applications include all our favorite VOD and entertainment choices, we'll get along with the K91 just fine.

Markkus: PowerTrekk In 2011, our outdoor gadgets sucked go juice from a solar/wind hybrid charger. But in 2012, it's H2O to the rescue! PowerTrekk ups the sci-fi ante in the portable charger game by putting a fuel cell at yourfingertips. Just fill the disposable PowerPukks with a tablespoon of water, and the PowerTrekk does the rest to pep up any USB-chargeable device. There's also a standard battery inside to double your charging fun. Price and availability TBA.

Markkus: SolarFocus SolarKindle Sticking with the cool charger theme, SolarFocus has made a Kindle case that doubles as a solar charger. This should make serious book worms, for whom the already generous Kindle battery life is not enough, flip for joy, or at least gravely nod in approval. Considering the slow drip at which a Kindle sips power, with the SolarKindle, you should never have to plug in your ereader again.

Katherine: Nokia Lumia 900 I’m really looking forward to the Nokia Lumia 900, which looks to make up for the dearth of choices Windows Phone users have had to suffer thus far. It was one of the darlings of CES, and it’s easy to see why: a durable, soft-to-touch polyurethane body; a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display; an 8MP camera with a Carl Zeiss lens; and support for AT&T’s LTE network.

Katherine: 55-inch OLED TVs After years of hearing about how OLED technology was going to revolutionize displays, it’s super exciting to see the technology finally arrive on large, lustworthy screen sizes. Both Samsung and LG are touting 55-inch models, with Samsung promising its in the second half of the year.

Katherine: Ivy Bridge/Win 8 Ultrabooks Current ultrabooks are respectable enough for bringing thin-and-lights to more affordable levels, but they haven’t been particularly groundbreaking. I’m looking forward to how the one-two punch of Ivy Bridge and Windows 8 will change the landscape. The former’s performance enhancements, particularly in integrated graphics, and the latter’s touch-optimized OS will ring in a new breed of powerful hybrid notebook/tablets like Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga.

Nathan: Razer Fiona “the only tablet in the world designed specifically for PC gamers.” We hope this happens. A handheld gaming tablet with an Ivy Bridge processor that runs Windows and actually looks like it won’t suck? Yes please.

Nathan: Seagate 4G LTE Personal Server A 4G hotspot on Verizon’s LTE network that doubles as a wireless external drive and media streamer.

Mike: IEEE 802.11ac Routers Every room in my house has at least one Ethernet drop, and some have several—there are 26 in all. And yet I still encounter situations where I wish I had another one, because IEEE 802.11n just isn’t fast enough. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting my hands on new routers based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard. Trendnet says its model TEW-811DR will deliver wireless speeds as high as 1.3Gb/s.

Mike: Belkin ScreenCast AV 4 A lot of products are capable of streaming HDMI over the airwaves, but Belkin’s ScreenCast AV 4 looks particularly interesting because it includes both 5.1-channel audio and an IR blaster. It also has four HDMI inputs, so you can connect a set-top box, home-theater PC, gaming console, and whatever else you might have.

Alex: The iPad 3 I skipped the iPad 2, since it wasn’t much of an upgrade over my first-gen model. Although there’s no concrete info available about what will be in the iPad 3 (or even IF there will be one—although you’d have to be an idiot to doubt it), it’s pretty widely agreed it will include a higher-resolution screen, and that’s my main gripe about the iPad 1.

Alex: Windows 8 Beta There’s no guarantee that Windows 8 will hit open beta in 2012, but I think it’s pretty likely. I don’t think the next version of the OS will be as much of a leap forward as Windows 7 was (unless you’re on a tablet, that is), but I’m still looking forward to getting to try it out.

Alan: Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook This is the year, I can feel it. This is the year we’ll be able to get a laptop that’s thin as a tablet with the computing power of a current gen (i series) processor and a decent amount of RAM. OK, wow, that was kind of confusing. Seriously though, Ultrabooks are gonna kick the ass off tablets, and we’re gonna see truly fast computers that are thinner then Tyler Perry’s grasp on reality in 2012. Can’t wait.

Alan: Cooler Master Cosmos II After bestowing our coveted Best of the Best award to the Cosmos II, I just can’t help but squeal in delight at the thought of a GUNMETAL version of the case. Shallow, I know, but that’s what happens when you review cases for a living. Drool.

Dan: Nintendo Wii U Hardcore gamers may scoff at the Wii U, but people also scoffed at the Wii and the DS before those systems proceeded to sell bazillions of units. The Wii U's merging of big screen gaming with its unique controller/touch screen/tablet may seem awkward and offputting, but I'm extremely curious to see what kinds of imaginative, innovative, and straight-up crazy games the boys at Big N design to take advantage of this odd setup. Plus, Nintendo games in native HD? Yes, please.

Dan: Nvidia GTX 600/700 series With AMD raising the bar with its 7000 series Radeon, I'm interested to see Nvidia's response. Nvidia has not released concrete release dates for its future GTX series, rumor has it the 600 series will launch sooner than expected, which may shorten the time frame on the 700 series. We're not picking a horse in the eternal AMD-Nvidia GPU wars, but faster and more frequent iteration means better performance and lower prices, so keep those high-end cards comin'.

Amber: New TVs Since I review displays, I'm pretty excited at all the TVs that premiered at CES including the OLEDs from LG and Samsung and Sharp's 8K. And LG's 84 inch Ultra-definition. And the Haier Designer Transparent TV. And Viewsonic's touchscreen. And....

Amber: HTC Prime Is the HTC Prime still a rumor? Sure, but that doesn't stop me from wanting a decent Windows Phone 7 handset with a physical keyboard. Please?