O’Reilly Radar has a small summary up on new, web-enabled yet computerless gadgets. I wrote before on Web 3.0, which to me is the use of everyday devices, which are using the internet, yet do not access it via a web interface or PC altogether. They are small steps in the direction of Web 3.0 to be sure. The Sonos Digital Music System comes with optional storage space without which you’d still need your PC from which you could stream, although to access internet radio you could do without the PC’s intervention, and you can also download directly from the internet to your Sonos box. The principle is a bit akin to WiFi-enabled storage devices, which double as a network drive and a wireless router -just think an added mp3 player. Considering this, the thing is bloody expensive. Looks slick though, in the absence of an iRadio ;)

The RTX Cordless Dual Phone 3088 is another product specifically mentioned -I fail to see how a phone that plugs into your router to give you VOIP calls is innovative. Especially considering there’s a whole lot of telcos out there that for years have been operating global VOIP networks already -you use them daily, either from your cell phone or your landline. That’s the real Web 3.0 innovation, folks. Apart from that, it looks a bit like those old-fashioned phones with dialers built in you got when ’swithching’ to a long distance callback provider. Oh, wait, I think I just dated myself.

In any case, they are examples of how the internet is getting off our monitors and into everyday objects. Small baby steps. Next up: WiFi-enabled HDTVs with an iTunes subscription built in? No wait, Philips launched something similar two years ago…