U.S. News proposes its best and worst tech of 2008

It's the time of year for pundits to weigh in on what's been cool and what's been awful to come from the world of tech over the last 12 months, and today U.S. News & World Report offers up with its picks.

Some highlights from the magazine's year in review.

The Best

Superthin TV - Now that the race to produce a larger television is essentially over, vendors are turning their attention to other issues, like resolution, color reproduction, and -- most visibly -- thinness. Sony's the champ in this arena for now, with its 1/8th-inch thick XEL-1 television (pictured), which uses OLEDs instead of LCD or plasma. The catch: It's only 11 inches in size and costs $2,500. Still, its a dazzling look at TV tech to come.

Extra-Fast Cameras - Still cameras can shoot video, that's old news, but now they can shoot slow-motion video, too. Casio's EX-FH20 can shoot 1,200 frames per second at standard definition, slowing your kid's jump shot down so dramatically you'd expect to see it on SportsCenter.

The Worst

Overpriced Movies - Yeah, they're talking about Blu-ray, which is dog slow and ridiculously expensive -- not just the players but the media, too.

Destroyed Data - U.S. News cites lots of villains in this entry, but the most visible is Apple's MobileMe data sync service, which was marred by such a botched rollout that Steve Jobs himself chewed out the staff in charge for launching it prematurely.

Check out the other six entries by checking out this link.