2006 in review, part 1

Nintendo springs a new handheld, and Apple drops the MacBook Pro

26 December 2006 9:00 GMT / By Amber Maitland

The beginning of last year started with a bang, with a number of products being announced or launched that have proven to be big sellers or popular with critics.

In the gaming, Nintendo announced the Nintendo Lite would be launching in March in Japan, and Sony admitted that there could be delays that could hold up the planned Spring launched of the PS3. As Europe isn’t due to receive its first PS3s until March 2007, this means that the console is a whole year late in this part of the world.

In the camera world, Kodak unveiled the first of their wideangle, dual-lens compact cameras, the V570, which features a 5x zoom that starts at 23mm. Olympus, meanwhile, dropped its E330 DSLR, the first DSLR with a live view on the LCD.

Lest we forget, it’s been less than a year since Apple launched its first Intel-based laptop, the MacBook Pro; it also unveiled the much-critised iPod Hi-Fi, which was mainly derided over its 250 pounds sterling price tag.