Time Magazine has named its top ten gadgets of the year. To what I am sure is the bitter disappointment of Apple, Motorola's Droid took the top spot. Does the Droid deserve such honors? Who was left out?Love it or hate it, the Droid has stirred genuine excitement over the Android platform. Not only does it take the Android platform to a new level, it also is a solid device that offers some amazing specs. You might remember that Apple's iPhone has been the top gadget in the past. Perhaps Apple hoped its most recent incarnation thereof, the iPhone 3GS, would earn the top spot again. Nope.

Time says of the Droid:

Everybody likes Android, Google's open-source smartphone operating system. But a smartphone operating system isn't all that satisfying without an actual kick-ass smartphone wrapped around it. Now Android has one: The Droid is a hefty beast, a metal behemoth without the gloss and finish of the iPhone, but you don't miss it.

What else does Time rank in the top ten? No. 2: The Barnes & Nobile Nook; No. 3: Dyson Air Multiplier; No. 4: iPhone 3GS; No. 5: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV; No. 6: Dell Adamo XPS; No. 7: FinePix Real 3D W1; No. 8: Casio G-Shock GW7900B-1; No. 9: Beats Solo by Dr. Dre; and No. 10: Panasonic G10 Series Plasma HDTVs.

OK, so the list isn't all smartphones. What's missing? The Palm Pre should be on the list. It may not be the best piece of hardware ever made, but Palm's webOS is a solid smartphone platform that deserves at least an honorable mention. Others might include the BlackBerry Storm2, the HTC HD2, and the HTC Hero/Eris.