Best in Tech Awards for 2010

Today's mobile lifestyle requires the very best in mobile technology to keep you from derailing under duress. Here's the gear Executive Travel's editors have selected as the finest to take on the road in 2010.

Our Best in Tech Awards couldn’t come at a better time. Nothing can make or break a business trip like having the right high-tech gear with you, so it’s essential to make the right choices when you make purchases. Breakthrough technology always gets major media play but, in a year filled with upgrades and enhancements, surprisingly little has landed in recent months that’s truly groundbreaking.

That said, the refinements and improvements we’ve seen made lately to some of the market’s best products have rendered them even more impressive. We’ve fallen in love all over again with some of our favorite products now new, improved and often a lot cheaper. And we honor these products with our 2010 Best in Tech Awards.

Phones & Accessories

Apple iphone 3GS, 32GB

The iPhone still isn’t perfect (AT&T’s coverage remains a sore spot), but it’s inarguably the best smartphone on the market. The iPhone 3GS includes voice control and video recording, and its storage capacity has been upped to 32GB.

apple.com; $299 (with two year contract)

Best because: Does more than any other phone on the planet.

Runners-up: Palm Pre, T-Mobile myTouch 3G

Aliph Jawbone Prime

The Jawbone didn’t just get smaller—it got pretty, too. Now available in seven colors, this headset can be matched to your favorite outfit, or you can stick with basic black, coffee or platinum.

jawbone.com; $115 (estimated street price)

Best because: Great quality matched by upscale style.

Runners-up: Plantronics Voyager Pro, Jabra BT 2080

Video

Casio Exilim EX-FS10

Casio’s EX-FS10 may look unassuming, but it packs an incredible, high-speed shooting mode, capable of snapping slow-motion video at up to 1,000 frames per second, into its tiny frame. Anti-shake and night-mode features round out a killer package.

casio.com; $299

Best because: Everything you need in a camera for any shooting situation.

Runners-up: Canon PowerShot A2100 IS, FujiFilm F70EXR

Samsung HMX-R10

Tired of hunching over or holding your camcorder up to your face in order to capture shots? Samsung’s R10 is the first high-definition video camera to take ergonomics seriously, with an angled design that lets you see the LCD touchscreen while holding the camera comfortably.

samsung.com; $500

Best because: Exceptionally portable yet still offers impressive quality.

Runners-up: Flip UltraHD, Canon Vixia HF200 or HV30

LG LH90

LED backlighting gives this LCD from LG Electronics unbelievable clarity and contrast. It also consumes as little as a quarter of the power of traditionally-lit flatscreens. Other features include four HDMI ports, 240Hz refresh and a 24p cinema mode.

lge.com; $1,900 (42-inch) or $3,200 (55-inch)

Best because: As future-proof as a television can get—with no feature left out.

Runners-up: Vizio VO420E, Panasonic Viera G10

Audio

Onkyo HT-RC160

You don’t need to spend a fortune to get a state-of-the-art receiver that can power every high-def gadget in your house. Onkyo’s budget system can feed sound to up to nine speakers, features five HDMI inputs and goes for less than 400 bucks.

onkyousa.com; $380

Best because: Absurdly inexpensive yet capable of handling the needs of even hard-core entertainment buffs.

Runners-up: Yamaha RX-V465, Denon AVR-2310CI

Apple iPod Classic 120GB

The Classic may seem quaint in a world ruled by iPhones, but it’s still the easiest way to carry extremely large music and movie collections with you wherever you go.

apple.com; $249

Best because: Storage aplenty, plus Apple’s legendary ease of use.

Runners-up: Sansa Fuze, Sony Walkman X-Series

Shure SRH440

Long the king of high-end earbuds, Shure at last delves into over-the-ear headphones, with resounding success. The SRH440 cans aren’t noise-canceling, but they don’t really need to be. These oversize, super-soft muffs are comfortable for long flights and muffle the outside world wonderfully.

shure.com; $100

Best because: The same quality and comfort of headphones that cost three times as much.

Runners-up: Etymotic ER-6i, Razer Moray

On-the-go

Lenovo Thinkpad USB Portable Secure HD

Here’s a portable hard drive with a uniquely secure spin: It has a numeric keypad built right into the shell. Punch in the wrong digits, and you’re locked out of the data on the drive. 160GB capacity.

lenovo.com; $175

Best because: Security shouldn’t be an afterthought for your essential files.

Runners-up: Samsung S1 Mini, Iomega eGo

Amazon Kindle

Portable, reliable and effortlessly simple to use, Amazon’s second-generation Kindle is the e-reader to beat right now. We like it better than the jumbo-size Kindle DX, which has usability and durability concerns.

amazon.com; $299

Best because: The gold standard of e-book readers, with a great selection of titles.

Runners-up: COOL-ER eReader, Sony Reader Digital Book

Garmin Nuvi 885T

Every GPS bell, whistle, triangle and glockenspiel can be found in this best-of-breed gadget. Bluetooth, voice recognition, FM transmitter? It’s got ’em. The 885T even tells you which lane to get in, so you don’t miss your turn.

garmin.com; $299

Best because: Positively filled with features, ensuring you’ll never get lost.

Runners-up: TomTom GO 740 LIVE, Mio Moov S501

Optoma Pico PK101

The days of lugging a projector around in its own suitcase are over. Optoma’s Pico weighs just four ounces and can slip into your pocket, but it projects an image as large as 60 inches diagonally when connected to just about any mobile device.

optoma.com; $300

Best because: Projects a quality image from a gadget the size of a cell phone.

Runners-up: NEC NP300, Dell 4310WX

CHRISTOPHER NULL is a technology writer who blogs for Yahoo! Tech.