Popular Science Names Top Tech Innovations of 2003; 12 Grand Award Winners Lead the Pack in the Best of What's New Awards

NEW YORK--Nov. 6, 2003--Each year, thousands of new products and breakthrough technologies vie for the attention of editors at Popular Science magazine. But only the best of the bunch -- those products that inspire awe, envy, admiration -- are awarded inclusion in Best of What's New, the highly anticipated December issue that ranks as the most widely-read issue of the year.

The 16th annual Best of What's New, which hits newsstands November 12, 2003, showcases the top 100 tech innovations in 12 categories: Automotive Tech, Space & Aviation, Cars, Computing, Gadgets, Home Entertainment, Home Tech, Personal Health, Photography and Recreation -- along with two new categories, Engineering and General Innovation. One winner in each category is awarded the highest honor, Grand Award, in recognition of products representing a leap over existing technologies.

Among the Grand Award winners are "some of the boldest, most mind-blowing innovations we've ever surveyed," said Scott Mowbray, editor in chief of Popular Science. "Best of What's New is the culmination of a year's worth of searching, testing and deciding from among a huge range of products -- all of which stand to change the way we live, work and play. This year's picks range from a 13-second, low-dose, full-body x-ray machine to a privately funded spaceplane and a safety system that helps vehicles steer clear of collisions."

The Popular Science Best of What's New Grand Award Winners are:

AUTOMOTIVE TECH: FORD S2RV CONCEPT CAR

The Ford S2RV concept car is the ultimate showcase for car safety innovations. Particularly exciting is its accident avoidance system, which uses cameras to identify potential collision partners, track their position, speed and movements, and then assess the potential collision risk.

SPACE & AVIATION: WHITE KNIGHT/SPACE SHIP ONE

Tier One is the first viable civilian space program, featuring Space Ship One (the space craft itself), and White Knight (the aircraft that ferries it up before launch). Burt Rutan, its inventor, hopes to win the X-Prize for the first civilian space flight later this year.

CARS: TOYOTA PRIUS

The Toyota Prius has already made waves with its bold styling and amazing fuel economy. The latest model looks more like a regular car and gets even better gas mileage. The hybrid has finally come of age, and its name is Prius.

COMPUTING: 802.11g

This year the wireless networking experience took a major leap forward with the introduction of a new standard, 802.11g. It delivers a win-win proposition that's unusual when technologies advance -- it dramatically improves performance (up to 54 Mbps vs. 802.11b's 11Mbps), and it's backward compatible with all that 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, equipment you already own.

ENGINEERING: SHANGHAI TRANSRAPID

The Shanghai Transrapid train, the most technologically advanced ground transportation system ever, uses Magnetic Levitation (maglev) technology to float a train at speeds up to 200 mph, almost completely silently.

GADGETS: ARCHOS AV320 AND RCA RD2870 AUDIO/VIDEO JUKEBOX

Imagine 40 hours of video in the palm of your hand. That's what the Archos AV320 and RCA RD2870 Audio/Video Jukebox, the first of the personal video players (PVP), deliver on their 3.5-inch screens. If that weren't enough, they also serve as MP3 jukeboxes, still image viewers and portable hard drives.

GENERAL INNOVATION: MIOX WATER PURIFIER

The MIOX water purifier uses water, salt, and a battery to create a solution that, when mixed with contaminated water, purifies it. It can kill Giardia, Cryptosporidia, Anthrax and others -- all in a package about the size of a fat Sharpie marker.

HOME ENTERTAINMENT: MITSUBISHI VS-60XT20U

It's not hang-on-the-wall thin, but Mitsubishi's 60-inch rear-projection high-definition monitor is the first that comes close at just 10.2 inches thick. This commercial display signals the next generation of rear-projection TVs with big bright pictures with near-flat-panel depths.

HOME TECH: STIHL 4-MIX ENGINE

The two-stroke has always been the engine of choice for string trimmers and other handheld yard machines because of its speed and power. But its exhaust is so dirty that emissions laws taking effect in 2005 will essentially doom it. To cope, manufacturers are developing engines with the speed and power of the 2-stroke and the comparatively clean emissions of your lawnmower's 4-stroke. One of the first is Stihl's 4-Mix, which not only delivers cleaner emissions, but trumps the 2-stroke with 5 percent more horsepower and 17 percent more torque.

PERSONAL HEALTH: STATSCAN

The Statscan, originally developed for x-raying diamond miners to cut down on smuggling, was used for the first time this year in Baltimore's Shock Trauma ER. Statscan delivers a low-dose x-ray -- 75% less exposure than conventional methods -- that is digitally imaged for doctors in 13 seconds. Plus, it's on wheels, so it can be brought to patients, rather than the other way around.

PHOTOGRAPHY: JVC GR-HD1

The first high definition programming hit the airwaves in 1998 with impressive detail, color richness, and sharpness. Five years later the same image quality and picture sharpness previously only available to professional broadcasters is now available in the first HD consumer camcorder, JVC's GR-HD1.

RECREATION: SPECIALIZED EPIC

The Specialized Epic is the first bike to use the Fox Brain Shock, which provides all the cushioning of a conventional shock, without losing energy when pedaling on the flat or uphill. The shock can differentiate between force from above and force from below, so it can dampen rocks without sapping your precious energy on climbs.

More information about Best of What's New winners can be found at http://www.popsci.com/popsci/bown/.

Popular Science(R) is published by Time4 Media(R), the world's leading publisher of leisure-time magazines. Founded in 1872, PopSci is the world's largest science and technology magazine with a circulation of 1.45 million subscribers and a readership of more than seven million people. Time4 Media(R) is a subsidiary of Time Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. .