There's a foul vapor in the air.
Is it the wet stink of the season's first snowfall? Some forgotten Thanksgiving leftovers? It tickles the back of the throat -- is it Swine Flu?
Wait a second.... Of course! It's that time of year again.
Voting is now open for Wired's 12th annual Vaporware Awards, our yearly showcase of the tech products pitched, promised and hyped, but never delivered.
Once again, we'll rely on you, our gentle readers, to nominate your picks for the hardware, software, games and gadgets that left the biggest gaping holes in your wish lists this calendar year.
It seems almost criminal to consider, but Duke Nukem Forever won't be around to enjoy this year's party. The venerable Duke, two-time winner of our lifetime achievement award and Vaporware's official mascot, has officially shuffled off this mortal coil. The company developing the DNF first-person shooter, 3-D Realms, officially closed up shop in May, and Take-Two Interactive, the company that owns the rights to Duke, hasn't commented on the game's future. He'll be missed.
There are still plenty of suck buckets to pull from, however. The global economic downturn has thrown much of the tech industry into disarray, and some key products from some pretty big players were either shelved, delayed or downright forgotten. All the major categories pumped out plenty of stale fail in 2009: electric cars, mobiles phoness, set-top boxes, console games, web apps, anything with a touchscreen.
Got a prime candidate you want to nominate for Vaporware '09?
The rules:
- The product must have been promised to ship during 2009.
- No rumors. That means no Apple iTablets, Nike hover boards or 99-inch LED TVs. It has to have been announced with a 2009 release date attached.
- If you can buy it, play it, download it or open it in your browser, it doesn't count. If it shipped -- even if it sucked -- it's not vaporware.
- Software stuck in a never-ending, pre-release, beta-testing stage can be considered vaporware.
- Likewise hardware prototypes. It may exist in some company's lab or trotted out at trade shows, but it's vaporware until it hits store shelves.
To submit a nomination, do one of the following:
- Tweet it to us. Send a public @ message to @wired on Twitter. If there's room, tag it #vape09.
- E-mail it to us. Send your nomination to wiredvaporware@gmail.com. To make it easier on us, please put the name of the company and product in the subject line.
- Leave a comment on this blog post.
In all cases, don't forget to include a couple of acerbic comments we can quote. Links are a big help, too.
The final list will be assembled by Wired.com's editors. Awards will be handed out in late December.
Image courtesy 3-D Realms
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