By James Kim
What makes a tech product sexy? To some people, the function of a device itself makes it inherently sexy. But to most, a product's sexiness starts and ends with design: a compact and visually pleasing body with clean lines and curves and a futuristic attitude. Add an ounce of panache, sprinkle in some hype, and toss in a smattering of features and performance. We've assembled a gorgeous group of products from the last 10 years, and most can certainly back up their fabulous bods with brains.
 |  Motorola Razr V3 (2005)
No tech product is more high profile than a mobile phone. And while we've seen plenty of so-called must-have phones over the years, such as Motorola's V70 and Sanyo's SCP-6200, the Razr V3 is the sexiest one of them all. Measuring only half an inch thick when closed, the flip-style Razr V3 has no equal when it comes to fashionable and original design. From the dual color screens to the stylized interface, this phone was born to star in a sci-fi flick. |
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 | | Apple iPod (2001) | 
When it hit the streets in late 2001, Apple's iPod really had no competition in the style department. Sure, it held only 5GB of music and had weak battery life, but there's good reason that both the physical design and software interface have been emulated over and over again. The first-generation iPod (with a scrollwheel that actually turned) laid the foundation for the sexy iPod Mini, the minimal iPod Shuffle, and of course, several generations of high-capacity iPods. The iPod may be commonplace today, with more than 20 million units in rotation, but back in 2001, it was white hot. | | |
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 | | Sony PSP (2005) |  I quote David Carnoy: "From an aesthetic perspective, the Sony PSP is a gorgeous device." Sure, almost any pocket-size gadget with a 4.3-inch screen could be construed as sexy, but when you add polished buttons, a glossy black finish, a wide-screen display, and the Sony name to the mix--well, you have something that everybody wants a piece of. But it doesn't stop there. The Wi-Fi-enabled portable gaming device also plays music and movies, displays photos, and has a built-in Web browser. That's almost a bit too much fun for one pocket. | |  |
 | | Casio Exilim S1 (2002) |  | The first digital cameras were anything but sexy. They were bloated beasts that could capture only low resolution, Web-friendly images. Things changed in 2002 when a handful of manufacturers started the trend of petite yet able cameras ("credit card-size"), and the most notable of these was Casio's Exilim S1; a 1.2-megapixel camera that measured a mere 0.4 inch thick. The sturdy metallic charm of a camera (marketed as a "wearable camera") took OK photos and lacked a zoom lens, but it looked so good.
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 | | Fujitsu PlasmaVision PDS-4201 (1996) |  | Ultrathin high-definition plasma displays are the epitome of tech sex appeal. Who wouldn't want a 60-inch flat panel mounted on their bedroom wall? Fujitsu was the first company to commercialize the modern plasma display with the PDS-4201--a 42-incher that cost a staggering $14,999. Nowadays, you'll find gigantic plasmas from Pioneer, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, and others with much lower prices, but they still own the living room when it comes to sexiness. | | |
 | | Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 5 (2002) |  | No list like this would be complete without the mention of Bang & Olufsen. Purveyors of sleek and cutting-edge industrial design, the Scandinavian company has wowed the public with its "lifestyle" A/V products such as the BeoSystem 2500 hi-fi and visually stunning loudspeakers. The BeoVision 5 is a 42-inch plasma display with an integrated sound system, and its square-framed design blends art and science in a way unlike any other TV on the market.
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 | | Sony VAIO X505 (2004) |  | The majority of laptop computers are utilitarian devices first and foremost. Then there was the Sony VAIO X505 (Pentium M 1.1GHz, 512MB of RAM, 20GB HDD), which measured 10.1 inches wide, 8.2 inches deep, and a remarkable 0.75 inch thick at its widest point and 0.3 inch at its thinnest. It was also one of the lightest laptops available at 1.85 pounds (it's now discontinued). While its small size kept the feature set and battery life low, the X505, as described by CNET laptop editors, was "the laptop equivalent of the ancient siren, said to have lured sailors to their deaths with her bewitching song." On the other side of the fence, Apple's stunning PowerBook G4 Titanium (2001) with its 15-inch wide-screen display and silvery industrial design, became an instant trend, and backed its looks up with excellent G4 performance.
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 | | Apple iMac (1998) |  | Occasionally, you'll spot an old Bondi Blue iMac at a coffee shop or a garage sale. The original iMac is far from sexy today, but that wasn't the case for this seminal all-in-one computer back in 1998. The egg-shaped iMac was actually a computer built around a 15-inch CRT monitor and it came in a variety of candy colors, from Blueberry to Grape. Consumer friendly, the iMac did away with a floppy drive and legacy ports and introduced the reliance on USB (as well as a built-in handle). The success of the iMac led to the slot-loading iMac (with five refined colors), the equally sexy flat-panel iMac G4, today's iMac G5, and of course, the development of hundreds of products inspired by the iMac's technicolor nature. | | |
 | | Canon GL1 (1999) |  | Canon's GL1 helped to bridge the gap between the professional and consumer worlds of videography. Though it wasn't the first small-form-factor three-CCD chip MiniDV camcorder, it certainly gained notoriety both as a quality camera a film student could afford and as a camera oft used in the porn industry (that alone made it sexy). And because of the GL1's small size, users could capture broadcast quality video in a variety of places and situations. Plus, it was hard to miss that distinctive pearly white finish with red accents and that sexy Fluorite 20X optical zoom lens.
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 | | GM EV1 (1996) |  | You might have seen one of GM's rare EV1s out on the street--if you were lucky. The world's first "mass produced" electric automobile (and grandfather of today's hybrid cars), the attractive and futuristic EV1 represented a promise of a cleaner and greener world. Debuting in 1996, the first batch of EV1s were powered by lead acid batteries that were good for 55 to 95 miles per charge. The second generation (1999) used nickel-metal-hydride batteries and had a range of 75 to 135 miles per charge. Leased out to individuals and corporations in California and Arizona only, the EV1 experiment lasted only until 2003. | |