Issue Date: January 1, 2006

INNOVATIONS 2006

What's Next?

By Reed Karaim

Here's our annual roundup of the people and things we'll see in the new year. It includes everything from the first affordably priced, hydrogen-powered vehicle to the coolest pen in the history of the world.

Endless hurricanes, record gas prices, bewildering political follies: Let's be honest, 2005 was not the best of years. But the good news is, 2006 is bound to be better. To give it a nudge in the right direction, we present the trends, entertainment, products and people that could brighten the new year.

Our list includes what you might be driving, what you could be wearing, what you'll love watching and even what many of you probably will use to check on your health.

In the spirit of optimism, we have even included a trio of innovative convertibles for (fingers crossed!) next summer's flawless, storm-free weather.

The $100 computer
Developed by scientists at One Laptop per Child (made up of members of MIT's Media Lab) and intended for use in the developing world, this laptop computer is amazingly cheap, and it can be powered by a hand crank where there's no electricity. The system relies on innovative design and open-source (that's free) software to hold down costs. Several nations have expressed interest, and Massachusetts may buy them for every middle and high school student. The Media Lab is considering a commercial version to subsidize distribution in the developing world, which means the $100 computer could cost U.S. consumers about $200.

The $99 home DNA kit
Genetics has moved from the lab to the supermarket. Lund Food Holdings, a grocery store company, has started selling home DNA kits developed by Sciona Inc. within its pharmacies and at sciona.com. Purchasers can test their genetic predisposition for disease in five areas: bone health, heart health, inflammation, insulin resistance and how well the body rids itself of toxins. "This is a way of finding out if you're susceptible to illness before symptoms appear," says Yael Joffe, a Sciona dietitian. Consumers use a cheek swab to take a DNA sample, which is mailed to a lab. Within three weeks they will receive a detailed report that reviews the findings and offers nutritional steps to improve their health.

The solar-powered backpack
Backpacks were once for campers, then for students, and now they have become increasingly popular with commuters. To help you keep your cellphone and other gadgets charged, several companies offer backpacks with built-in solar panels. Two of the best reviewed: Voltaic "Solar Bags" (left) and Reware's "Juice Bag." Prices for the backpacks start at about $200. Find them online at voltaicsystems.com or rewarestore.com and at select stores nationwide.

The name is Bond, and, yes, I'm blond
Daniel Craig has played second fiddle to Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Paul Newman and Tom Hanks in Road to Perdition, and Eric Bana in Munich. But in 2006, Craig not only gets his name above the credits, he gets the fancy car, the beautiful girl and his martinis shaken not stirred. The 37-year-old Brit is set to become the sixth actor to play James Bond; he'll star in Casino Royale, the 21st Bond movie. The role has made a star of nearly every actor who has stepped into Bond's classic tuxedo. Craig's steely intensity makes him a good bet to bring Bond into the new year in timeless style.

The Great White Way turns to classics
Meryl Streep is set to star in Mother Courage this summer in Central Park. "This is a play in which she's trying to survive life in a war zone with her children," says Jeremy McCarter, New York magazine's chief theater critic. "It's one of the great roles of the 20th century starring one of the great actresses of the 20th century." The script, originally by Bertolt Brecht, is adapted by Tony Kushner. McCarter also awaits the February debut of Defiance, John Patrick Shanley's follow-up to last year's Tony- and Pulitzer-winning drama, Doubt. On the musical front, McCarter puts his money on an off-Broadway dark horse that could follow in the footsteps of Rent and Avenue Q: The Seven, a hip-hop adaptation of Aeschylus' play Seven Against Thebes, which previews this month.

A tailored tropical look
Watch for a shift to a more refined, elegant look reminiscent of the tailored 1940s -- but with a softer twist. There is still a smattering of the gypsy look, but "in a cleaned-up version," says George Simonton, a professor at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. "It's not so much bling-bling. It's about mystery and holding back." It's also tropical and floral, "almost Hawaiian," with ocean blues, melon shades and yellows the hot hues.

Good books
Two Pulitzer-winning authors are releasing books in 2006 likely to win critical approval and wide audiences. Taylor Branch, who won the prize in 1989 for "Parting the Waters," the first volume of his history of the Martin Luther King Jr. years, returns with that trilogy's final volume, "At Canaan's Edge." In April, Michael Chabon, who won the 2001 Pulitzer for "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," is out with his latest, "The Yiddish Policemen's Union." It's reportedly set in an imaginary world inspired by a short-lived plan during World War II to create a Jewish homeland in Alaska.

Dada returns
This year's biggest art show -- Dada, a 400-plus work retrospective of the avant-garde movement -- is set to strike a chord with an increasingly war-divided public. The unique exhibit centers on an important movement that started in Zurich and spread to Berlin and New York during World War I and still reverberates today. "Dada was a reaction to the horrors of war, among other things," explains Art in America editor Elizabeth Baker, "and has been tremendously influential ever since." See works like Raoul Hausmann's "Mechanical Head [The Spirit of Our Age]" at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 19 to May 14, and at New York's Museum of Modern Art from June 18 to Sept. 11.

Indie rock rules
Look for the tide to turn increasingly in favor of indie rock in 2006. "There's a great band from Florida called Against Me! that's getting a lot of buzz," notes Fuse VJ Steven Smith. "They're a very politically charged band -- severe Springsteen fans, actually -- and they're getting courted by the majors. I've been watching their rise for a while and like to describe them as Tom Waits meets Fugazi, although they'd probably die if they heard me say that."

Hardtop convertibles
You know the type: The car looks like a coupe until the metal roof begins an amazing mechanical ballet. Besides looking cool, hardtop convertibles offer better security and interior quiet than ragtops. But till now they've been the province of upscale brands such as Lexus and Mercedes. In 2006, the hardtop convertible is coming to cars for the rest of us. Leading the way is the Pontiac G6 convertible, a version of the car Oprah famously gave away to an entire audience last year. Seating four, with a steel roof that disappears in about 25 seconds, the G6 will list for about $30,000, as will Volkswagen's new Eos convertible. Another 10 grand or so will get you Volvo's C70 convertible, with safety features to protect passengers in a rollover.

A pen that talks and adds and ...
Writing used to be a quiet profession. Not anymore. LeapFrog, the company that specializes in children's digital learning aids, sells a pen that can read aloud the words you put on paper. The Fly PenTop Computer (really just a fat pen) uses an optical scanner and special paper embedded with microdots to read what its user writes. There's more: Draw a calculator, tap the keys, and the pen will tell you the sum. Finally -- officially making it the coolest pen in the world -- you can draw a piano keyboard, tap the keys and hear the notes. It costs $99.

A fuel-cell motorbike
Had enough of wallet-emptying gasoline prices? How would you like a sleek, nearly silent motorbike that reaches 50 mph, runs for 100 miles on $4 worth of fuel, and emits only water vapor? It sounds like science fiction, but it's the ENV, short for Emissions Neutral Vehicle, and its manufacturers hope to sell it by late 2006. The ENV is powered by a small fuel cell that uses pure hydrogen to provide electrical energy. Five ounces of hydrogen fill up the ENV, but for now, hydrogen service stations are few and far between. However, Intelligent Energy also builds technology that separates hydrogen from other fuels and is working on solutions. So far, fuel-cell vehicles have carried Learjet-sized price tags, but the ENV will sell for less than $10,000.

High-definition DVDs

You spent all that cash on a high-definition TV; surely you'll shell out the extra bucks for a DVD of your favorite movie that fully uses that eye-popping resolution. At least that's what the big-name electronics companies are gambling on as two competing types of high-definition DVDs, Blu-ray and HD-DVD, hit the consumer market in 2006. It's too early to declare a winner between the two, however Blu-ray, which holds more data and includes more interactivity, seems to be in the lead. Prices will be higher initially but should fall as the technology spreads.

Broadband in every wall socket
It's the ultimate in Internet access: Plug in a modem anywhere there is an electrical wall socket, and you're surfing the Web. If broadband over power lines, a technology already used in Europe, takes off in the United States, it could be that easy. The approach uses distribution lines and your home's existing wiring to carry high-speed Internet signals. At least 40 utilities are testing the system, which should become more widely available in 2006.

Reed Karaim is a writer in Tucson. Evelyn Poitevent, a writerin New Orleans, contributed to this article.

Cover photograph by Boden/Ledingham/Masterfile