We've seen this "advanced" technology in elementary gizmos like electric toothbrushes and shavers for decades, but it wasn't until 2009 when companies like Palm and Powermat began generating a fair amount of public interest for some of our everyday devices.

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There was even a New York that in some way resembled the New York familiar to all of you, but was much newer, or, rather, more awash with new products, new toothbrushes, a New York with its own Manhattan that stretched out dense with skyscrapers gleaming like the nylon bristles of a brand-new toothbrush.

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