It won't be officially revealed the end of January, but it looks like RIM's new Bold-alike smartphone has made another unsanctioned appearance.
The N4BB site has come across some new, clearer photos of the QWERTY-toting N-Series device, offering a vast improvement on the blurry images that surfaced a couple of weeks back.
The leaked snaps offer a much better look at the physical keyboard and showcases how the rows of BB10 app icons fit with the screen proportions.
The N-Series (or the X10 as it may eventually be known) will be running the long-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system when it is finally revealed at a launch event on January 30.
BB10 lift off
At the event, RIM is scheduled to offer an in-depth look at the completed BB10 OS, which was first announced well over a year ago.
At the event, the company is likely to unveil two handsets; the N-Series device mentioned above and a heavily-leaked all-touchscreen L-Series device.
Will RIM have any surprises in store come January 30? TechRadar will be covering the event as it happens, so stay tuned.
Check out the source link for additional pictures of the N-Series.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will not be involved in the next round of the never-ending Apple vs Samsung patent war.
The little brother of the flagship Galaxy S3 had been named alongside a host of Samsung devices which, according to Cupertino, infringe Apple's intellectual property.
The warring companies had been asked to present their lists of disputed devices as they gear up for a second trial in California, scheduled to begin in March 2014.
As the Galaxy S3 Mini is not being sold in the United States, Apple has sportingly agreed to strike it from the list.
Round two
However, it's not as if Samsung will be doing cartwheels about the news. Apple's list still includes the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Rugby Pro devices.
Apple also reserves the right to reinsert the S3 Mini if Samsung decides to launch it Stateside.
The second trial, which follows Apple's crushing victory this summer, will also hear Samsung's claims about the iPhone 5.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini will not be involved in the next round of the never-ending Apple vs Samsung patent war.
The little brother of the flagship Galaxy S3 had been named alongside a host of Samsung devices which, according to Cupertino, infringe Apple's intellectual property.
The warring companies had been asked to present their lists of disputed devices as they gear up for a second trial in California, scheduled to begin in March 2014.
As the Galaxy S3 Mini is not being sold in the United States, Apple has sportingly agreed to strike it from the list.
Round two
However, it's not as if Samsung will be doing cartwheels about the news. Apple's list still includes the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Rugby Pro devices.
Apple also reserves the right to reinsert the S3 Mini if Samsung decides to launch it Stateside.
The second trial, which follows Apple's crushing victory this summer, will also hear Samsung's claims about the iPhone 5.
It's been almost impossible to keep up with Microsoft in 2012.
Even after the Windows and Surface and Windows Phone 8 and Xbox Music and Outlook.com launches, the announcements have kept on coming: SkyDrive for Xbox, Halo 4, updates to Skype, the autumn Xbox dashboard update, ramping up Surface production and a quick attack on Google for turning its shipping section into a set of paid ads rather than an actual search.
Microsoft isn't slowing down for the holidays, but what's left for 2013? Quite a lot, including the perennial rumours about a new Xbox - or two or maybe three…
1. Windows Phone 7.8 and 8.5
Despite the on-again, off-again rumours throughout December, the Windows Phone 7.8 update won't come out until early 2013. Windows Phone 7 users get the new Start screen with three sizes of tiles, a version of the Kids Corner child lock, 20 new accent colours and dynamic lock screen wallpaper (with at least the Bing image of the day); Nokia phones also get a ringtone maker, Bluetooth sharing and lenses for the camera that let you remove unwanted objects and make partly animated GIFs.
Windows 8 coverage Windows 8 review Windows 8 vs Windows 7: 8 ways it's different 50 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets Windows 8 tablets: what you need to know Making sense of the Windows 8 versions All our Windows 8 content
But what about Windows Phone 8 users? US users are already getting the minor Portico update that fixes some bugs, prioritises Wi-Fi and lets you easily send a text message to explain why you didn't pick up the phone.
That comes to European users early in 2013, but the big update will be Apollo Plus; we're expecting that to be Windows Phone 8.5, to be announced at Mobile World Congress in February – but unless we're also getting Windows Phone 9 next year, we don't expect to see it until the autumn.
2. Office 2013
We know Office 2013 (which is already finished and available for businesses, as well as on Surface RT) will go on sale in 2013, in January or February. Will we see Office for the iPad in 2013 as well? This is another persistent rumour that doesn't necessarily add up; Office isn't the only advantage of Windows RT but it's a key feature.
If we do see Office for iPad it might only be the OneNote and Lync tools - after all, the Word, Excel and PowerPoint Web Apps were rewritten this year to run on iPad and Android tablets, which could be what Microsoft means when it keeps saying "Office will work across Windows Phone, iOS and Android". And whatever Microsoft has planned might be delayed or cancelled over arguments with Apple over whether they get a cut of Office 365 subscriptions for Exchange and Office licences for Windows and Mac sold through iOS apps.
How Microsoft Office web apps are catching up with Office 2013
3. No more Messenger
As expected, Microsoft will retire its Messenger IM service in favour of Skype in the spring (except in China, probably because of concerns that the government often discusses blocking the service). You can already merge your Microsoft and Skype accounts by logging into Skype with your Microsoft account (and you can still send messages to friends on Messenger and Facebook) but at some point that will become the only option.
Given the Facebook and Messenger integration in Windows Phone 7.5 and 8, we expect that will coincide with the full release of Skype for Windows Phone (and possibly even an update to Windows Phone to make it all work together). The good news; there will be special offers to make the move more palatable - maybe free Skype minutes like those on offer with some Office 365 accounts.
4. Xbox 720 and Xbox Loop
Another year, another set of rumours about the new Xbox. After seven years, we definitely expect Microsoft to launch a new Xbox late in 2013 and we really hope it includes the Forteleza Kinect Glasses project we've heard about, which seems to combine Google Glasses-style augmented reality with 3D screens.
The $299 price that's been suggested probably isn't for what we're still calling the Xbox 720 for convenience (although it might be the Xbox8 and the internal codename is Durango) which might be based on ARM or x86 chips, possibly with PowerPC chips to run existing Xbox games.
The cheaper model is rumoured to be a set-top box based on Windows 8 for playing casual games and running the kind of entertainment services (like Netflix and BBC iPlayer) that are already on Xbox 360, in something that doesn't look so out of place in the living room if you're not a Halo fan. Think midway between Xbox and Windows Media Center…
5. Surface 2 and more
The other Xbox rumour is a 7-inch Xbox Surface gaming tablet running a custom version of Windows RT with SmartGlass.
Like the rumoured Surface Book touch Ultrabook, AMD-based Surface Pro 2 and smaller Qualcomm-powered Surface RT 2, this was suggested by tipster and "social experimenter" @MSnerd. CEO Steve Ballmer has said that Microsoft will "obviously" make more hardware "where we see important opportunities to set a new standard" and thanks to the job adverts TechRadar discovered back in August, we know Microsoft is working on a second generation of Surface tablets so we'll see new models. Other rumours say Microsoft is ramping up its own manufacturing and distribution facilities, which you need when you're a "devices and services" company rather than a software developer.
Microsoft Surface review
What we're not sure about is the specific hardware Microsoft will use or the exact products we'll see (we're similarly a little sceptical about the often-rumoured Surface Phone).
Microsoft bought giant touchscreen maker Perceptive Pixel this year and CEO Jeff Han is hard at work in Redmond, probably on cheaper versions of the 80" touchscreen system that businesses can use with Windows 8 and Kinect for video conferencing or visualising data – or it could be an all-in-one PC for the home. We expect new Surfaces will come later rather than sooner in the year and run Windows Blue.
6. Windows Blue
If you have a new Surface every year (to compete with the new iPad every year), you need an update to Windows RT to go on it. Full updates to Windows 8 will probably still come every 2-3 years but we expect to see annual updates of Windows RT (and WinRT on Windows 8) that are cheap or even free.
The project codename is Windows Blue, according to rumours, and we expect to see the first release in the autumn with the next Surface models.
7. Something we know nothing about
Given how much better the company has got at keeping secrets, we're expecting at least one big surprise from Microsoft that we haven't heard about yet.
Perhaps the "ground-breaking hardware, software and experiences across computer vision, machine learning, human-computer interaction, image and video processing, networking and graphics" that the team behind Kinect is building to "revolutionize consumer electronic devices" according to a recent job advert. That might be Kinect 2 and Kinect Glasses, or it might be something completely different.
It's been almost impossible to keep up with Microsoft in 2012.
Even after the Windows and Surface and Windows Phone 8 and Xbox Music and Outlook.com launches, the announcements have kept on coming: SkyDrive for Xbox, Halo 4, updates to Skype, the autumn Xbox dashboard update, ramping up Surface production and a quick attack on Google for turning its shipping section into a set of paid ads rather than an actual search.
Microsoft isn't slowing down for the holidays, but what's left for 2013? Quite a lot, including the perennial rumours about a new Xbox - or two or maybe three…
1. Windows Phone 7.8 and 8.5
Despite the on-again, off-again rumours throughout December, the Windows Phone 7.8 update won't come out until early 2013. Windows Phone 7 users get the new Start screen with three sizes of tiles, a version of the Kids Corner child lock, 20 new accent colours and dynamic lock screen wallpaper (with at least the Bing image of the day); Nokia phones also get a ringtone maker, Bluetooth sharing and lenses for the camera that let you remove unwanted objects and make partly animated GIFs.
Windows 8 coverage Windows 8 review Windows 8 vs Windows 7: 8 ways it's different 50 Windows 8 tips, tricks and secrets Windows 8 tablets: what you need to know Making sense of the Windows 8 versions All our Windows 8 content
But what about Windows Phone 8 users? US users are already getting the minor Portico update that fixes some bugs, prioritises Wi-Fi and lets you easily send a text message to explain why you didn't pick up the phone.
That comes to European users early in 2013, but the big update will be Apollo Plus; we're expecting that to be Windows Phone 8.5, to be announced at Mobile World Congress in February – but unless we're also getting Windows Phone 9 next year, we don't expect to see it until the autumn.
2. Office 2013
We know Office 2013 (which is already finished and available for businesses, as well as on Surface RT) will go on sale in 2013, in January or February. Will we see Office for the iPad in 2013 as well? This is another persistent rumour that doesn't necessarily add up; Office isn't the only advantage of Windows RT but it's a key feature.
If we do see Office for iPad it might only be the OneNote and Lync tools - after all, the Word, Excel and PowerPoint Web Apps were rewritten this year to run on iPad and Android tablets, which could be what Microsoft means when it keeps saying "Office will work across Windows Phone, iOS and Android". And whatever Microsoft has planned might be delayed or cancelled over arguments with Apple over whether they get a cut of Office 365 subscriptions for Exchange and Office licences for Windows and Mac sold through iOS apps.
How Microsoft Office web apps are catching up with Office 2013
3. No more Messenger
As expected, Microsoft will retire its Messenger IM service in favour of Skype in the spring (except in China, probably because of concerns that the government often discusses blocking the service). You can already merge your Microsoft and Skype accounts by logging into Skype with your Microsoft account (and you can still send messages to friends on Messenger and Facebook) but at some point that will become the only option.
Given the Facebook and Messenger integration in Windows Phone 7.5 and 8, we expect that will coincide with the full release of Skype for Windows Phone (and possibly even an update to Windows Phone to make it all work together). The good news; there will be special offers to make the move more palatable - maybe free Skype minutes like those on offer with some Office 365 accounts.
4. Xbox 720 and Xbox Loop
Another year, another set of rumours about the new Xbox. After seven years, we definitely expect Microsoft to launch a new Xbox late in 2013 and we really hope it includes the Forteleza Kinect Glasses project we've heard about, which seems to combine Google Glasses-style augmented reality with 3D screens.
The $299 price that's been suggested probably isn't for what we're still calling the Xbox 720 for convenience (although it might be the Xbox8 and the internal codename is Durango) which might be based on ARM or x86 chips, possibly with PowerPC chips to run existing Xbox games.
The cheaper model is rumoured to be a set-top box based on Windows 8 for playing casual games and running the kind of entertainment services (like Netflix and BBC iPlayer) that are already on Xbox 360, in something that doesn't look so out of place in the living room if you're not a Halo fan. Think midway between Xbox and Windows Media Center…
5. Surface 2 and more
The other Xbox rumour is a 7-inch Xbox Surface gaming tablet running a custom version of Windows RT with SmartGlass.
Like the rumoured Surface Book touch Ultrabook, AMD-based Surface Pro 2 and smaller Qualcomm-powered Surface RT 2, this was suggested by tipster and "social experimenter" @MSnerd. CEO Steve Ballmer has said that Microsoft will "obviously" make more hardware "where we see important opportunities to set a new standard" and thanks to the job adverts TechRadar discovered back in August, we know Microsoft is working on a second generation of Surface tablets so we'll see new models. Other rumours say Microsoft is ramping up its own manufacturing and distribution facilities, which you need when you're a "devices and services" company rather than a software developer.
Microsoft Surface review
What we're not sure about is the specific hardware Microsoft will use or the exact products we'll see (we're similarly a little sceptical about the often-rumoured Surface Phone).
Microsoft bought giant touchscreen maker Perceptive Pixel this year and CEO Jeff Han is hard at work in Redmond, probably on cheaper versions of the 80" touchscreen system that businesses can use with Windows 8 and Kinect for video conferencing or visualising data – or it could be an all-in-one PC for the home. We expect new Surfaces will come later rather than sooner in the year and run Windows Blue.
6. Windows Blue
If you have a new Surface every year (to compete with the new iPad every year), you need an update to Windows RT to go on it. Full updates to Windows 8 will probably still come every 2-3 years but we expect to see annual updates of Windows RT (and WinRT on Windows 8) that are cheap or even free.
The project codename is Windows Blue, according to rumours, and we expect to see the first release in the autumn with the next Surface models.
7. Something we know nothing about
Given how much better the company has got at keeping secrets, we're expecting at least one big surprise from Microsoft that we haven't heard about yet.
Perhaps the "ground-breaking hardware, software and experiences across computer vision, machine learning, human-computer interaction, image and video processing, networking and graphics" that the team behind Kinect is building to "revolutionize consumer electronic devices" according to a recent job advert. That might be Kinect 2 and Kinect Glasses, or it might be something completely different.
Google entered the tablet market with not one, but two tablets, both of which offered the compelling combination of great specs and low prices.
Apple launched two full-sized iPads and the iPad mini, and even Microsoft got in on the game, with the first batch of Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets, such as the Microsoft Surface.
Not much is yet known about what will come next year, but a lot can be deduced - or at least guessed, based on what we've already seen.
1. The next Nexus
It doesn't seem too much of a stretch to imagine that Google will unleash a new wave of Nexus tablets at some point in the year.
Their Nexus phones have all been spaced roughly a year apart and much of the rest of the industry seems to work in the same way.
The Nexus 7 was announced at Google I/O in June and released the following month.
If the same thing happens again we could have a new Nexus tablet in as little as six months, though bear in mind that the Nexus 10 was only released in November.
The Nexus was a huge hit for Google; can they keep that momentum?
What we may get is a new Nexus 7 (or whatever Google choose to call it) in the middle of the year, along with a tweaked version of the Nexus 10 with 3G capabilities, since the Nexus 7 already has that.
Then towards the end of the year we might get a whole new Nexus 10.
Since the two were launched a good few months apart in 2012 it's entirely possible that the same will hold true next year, but one way or another we're pretty confident that there'll be a new version of each of them before the year is through.
A version of the Nexus 10 with 3G, and even 4G, is not unlikely
So, what can you expect from them?
Well, even more cores seem likely for a start. ZTE and Samsung are already talking about handsets with a whopping eight cores and Google's flagship devices don't normally skimp on specs.
They're also likely to coincide with a new version of Android, as new hardware is always the best way to show it off.
That's thought to be Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, and if that '5.0' sticks you can expect some pretty big changes or additions compared to the last two versions (Android 4.1 and 4.2), which more just refined what we already had.
We can also tell you something that you aren't likely to see - a microSD card slot. For whatever reason Google have shunned the feature from all of their Nexus devices to date, and there's no reason to think they'd start incorporating one now.
It's an odd decision, as for some people that expandable storage is one of the key selling points of Android devices, but it's one they've stuck with so far.
2. iPad 5
This one's a given - Apple release a new iPad every year - and in fact last year they released two! Three if you count the iPad mini.
Despite the iPad 4 only just having launched, the wait for a new iPad might not be long, as it's rumoured that the iPad 5 might even appear early in the year and display a slimmer, lighter form factor, more in line with the iPad mini.
The iPad 4 merely got a spec boost, expect a new form factor on the iPad 5
3. iPad mini 2
Apple isn't likely to forget about the iPad's little brother either and it's a pretty safe bet that we'll see the next iPad mini launched in 2013.
In fact, the first one might have only just been released but there are already rumours about the iPad mini 2.
It should come as absolutely no surprise that the biggest addition is likely to be a Retina display or something similar, bringing the display up to a rumoured 324 pixels per inch.
After all, just about every other Apple product has a Retina display and the screen on the iPad mini was one of the few bad things about it.
There's no release date yet but expect it sometime in the latter half of 2013.
An iPad mini with Retina display would be formidable providing it's priced reasonably
There's a good chance Apple will roll out iOS 7 to go with their shiny new tablets, and while literally nothing is yet known about that, you could always check out the 12 things we want to see.
4. Windows tablets
Having ignored it for a long time, Microsoft is finally making a big play for the tablet market. They've launched not one, but two tablet-friendly operating systems in the form of Windows 8 and Windows RT, and Microsoft's own Surface tablet has already launched.
Microsoft's Surface may not be setting tills alight but there are plenty more Windows tablets to come
Next year should see a host of new Windows tablets from other manufacturers. We already know about a bunch of them, from the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, to the Acer Iconia W700.
But that's just the beginning.
CES 2013 is just around the corner and it's not unlikely that manufacturers will use the opportunity to announce new Windows tablets.
Just don't expect a keynote from Microsoft - 2012 was its last. Any big news from Microsoft themselves is unlikely to come before its 'Build' event towards the end of the year.
5. Everything else
Amazon are having quite a lot of success with their Kindle Fire line, so expect the 3rd generation Fire to launch sometime next year, ready to go head-to-head with the new Nexus.
There is likely to be an increasing number of low-cost, high-spec tablets available from other manufacturers too.
Asus are rumoured to be working on a low-cost 7-inch slate and other companies will probably look to release budget devices of their own in order to stay competitive.
Amazon led the charge in the affordable tablet march; don't expect them to back down now
With Blackberry 10 launching in January there's every chance that RIM will make another play for the tablet market too. Whether they'll have any more success than with the ill-fated Blackberry Playbook remains to be seen.
With all this, and probably a few surprises besides, it looks set to be one of the biggest years yet for tablets, and we'll bring you coverage of it all as it happens.
With 2012 drawing to a close, there are plenty of retrospective views around. So who are we to differ?
It's been a brilliant year in the technology space, so let's focus on what really got us excited: the stuff that changed the technology landscape, for better or for worse.
These are our key tech highlights from the last year.
It's been another bumper year for phones. Things are as tight as ever at the top, with key launches, patent wars and new tech taking centre stage in a way we rarely get to see. Be it Apple and Samsung's interminable courtroom battles, RIM's persistent system failures or mobile networks crashing, there's been a lot of negativity flying around.
Galaxy S3 takes on iPhone 5 and wins
The two key handset releases saw Samsung's Galaxy S3 rival the iPhone 5 in terms of hype and sales. It shows that perhaps the Apple hype-machine is starting to slow down.
Buying guide20 best mobile phones in the world today
Both launches came with a huge fanfare and impressive specs, but interestingly Apple's newest mobile hasn't gained the approving reception the Cupertino brand is used to.
It's impossible to expect something amazing to appear every year, but Apple also suffered badly from the fiasco surrounding its inaccurate Maps app and the subsequent embarrassing apology. This was definitely the biggest apology of the year – Apple event went as far as to suggest rival apps for users to download.
Now that Google has released its Maps for the iPhone, reports are suggesting that huge numbers of people are upgrading to iOS 6.
Google Maps vs Apple Maps
That mess aside, it's been an excellent year for phone software. Windows Phone 8 appeared to join Android Jelly Bean (in two variants) and iOS 6.
The iPhone 5 impressed, but it wasn't the best
Windows Phone moves up a gear
As we'll discuss in the computing space shortly, it's been a huge year for Microsoft. Windows Phone 8 is absolutely key to Microsoft's future stategy with phones and it brought a tranche of new features: resizable Live Tiles, NFC support, HD screens and multi-core processors, all designed to helps its devices sit proudly alongside the best on the market. And it's a decent OS – some may not like the stark design or limited apps store, but it's certainly a worthy addition to the landscape.
The UK finally got itself 4G mobile speeds, courtesy of EE. This means up to five times faster downloads on phones and tablets, although the cost is ridiculous - up to £56 a month for 8GB of data, £36 for 500MB.
The rollout is only in major cities at the moment, and while it's certainly faster, it's only useful where it's available. The spectrum auction for the other networks is taking place over the next couple of the months - expect rollout later in 2013.
Can Windows Phone 8 make a difference?
The year of seven inches
Moving onto tablets, this was the year that gave us three iPads, a Surface and two Nexuses plus new Amazon Kindles. We've long been of the opinion that a seven inch tablet is a great size of device as well, so hats off to Google and Amazon for forcing the price down.
Saying 2012 was the year of the tablet is a bit like saying 2012 was an Olympic year – the buying public sucked up iPads, Kindle Fires and Google Nexus 7 tablets like there was no tomorrow.
The Google Nexus 7 (made by Asus) has had a huge impact, as has the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. So Apple was forced into producing an iPad mini in October which failed to match the Google and Amazon efforts on price.
All three devices offer consumers a great choice: be it stunning design from the iPad mini, simple content access from Amazon's offering or raw, cheap power from the Nexus 7.
Apple forced home its advantage in the 10.1-inch space, replacing Spring's iPad 3 with the iPad 4 late in the year. Other players including Samsung and Asus also played to strengths here and Samsung partnered with Google for the Nexus 10.
The tablet of the year: Google Nexus 7
Can Surface make an impact?
And then there was Surface and the cut-down version of Windows 8 that it runs, Windows RT. This is Microsoft's reaction to the iPad, which is essentially Windows 8 on ARM. Surface has been a success in terms of profile but it doesn't seem to be translating it to sales, with everybody acknowledging £399 ($499) is too much for a stripped-back version of Windows 8.
Despite Microsoft reportedly upping production late in the year, it boasts lovely hardware but a poor app ecosystem at the moment. With Windows RT you see, desktop apps aren't supported, just apps from the Windows Store. As time goes on it seems more like Windows RT is a dead duck.
Onto full-blown Windows 8 for Intel and AMD devices then – this certainly is a seismic shift for Windows as Microsoft. We saw a lot more touch-based hardware than we were expecting to and more exciting Windows hardware continues to appear by the week.
Surface isn't selling in numbers, while Intel is surely rubbing its hands with glee as it continues to push laptops hard on price. The Intel-powered Surface Pro is due in January, but for a high end price – rather 'cheaper' is where laptops are heading. We've seen laptops like the Asus VivoBook S200 that combine portability, Windows 8 and a touchscreen for £450.
Our favourite Windows 8 laptop so far, the Asus VivoBook S200
Ultrabooks and Apples
2012 was certainly the year of the Ultrabook – these Intel-backed thin and light MacBook Air-equivalents made an impact over the last 12 months (even if sales seem a bit of a mystery), as did touchscreen tech thanks to Windows 8.
Best Ultrabook: 18 top thin and lights for 2012
Google continues to try and launch Chromebooks (why? And why aren't they Android-based?) – some for as little as £199 – but, like Windows RT, they disappoint with their restricted approach to computing.
Apple trundles on, its Macs continue to succeed, but its sales remain dwarfed by the still-powerful PC. OS X received an iOS-style makeover with version 10.8 Mountain Lion, but it was mainly window-dressing. Still, the hardware impressed. One of its smartest moves was the Hybrid Drive, an innovation on OS X that makes an SSD and traditional hard drive appear as a single storage drive, with oft-used apps transferred to the SSD.
It also gave us high-resolution retina displays on some MacBook Pro models, something that looks set to give us far better displays across the board.
Apple continued to plead the post-PC message with iOS 6 for iPad and iPhone, but was quite happy to innovate in the Mac space, seemingly missing the point that Macs *are* PCs.
The retina display Macs impressed
Going beyond the PC
We didn't see a big leap in x86 CPU performance during 2012. We did see Intel launch the 22nm die-drink of its Intel Core processors (codenamed Ivy Bridge). AMD continued struggle and make cheap, decent chips, but it faces serious questions about its future next year despite the performance message of its new Trinity A-Series. AMD has said it will also make ARM chips in future.
Despite the ropey start to ARM-powered PCs, ARM-powered chips will press Intel hard over the coming years. "Is the era of x86 over? Not yet, but maybe soon if the weight of ARM-related processor developments is anything to go by," says our own Jeremy Laird. "One thing's for sure. The desktop CPU war is over."
But 2012 has been more about laying the foundations for a potentially epic 2013. Not epic in the traditional sense of major developments in CPU or graphics technology (though we'll see developments there, too).
But it could well be the year when we see the dissolution of the traditional concept of the PC. In 2012 it wasn't just Apple talking about taking things beyond the PC - even Microsoft is now showing it wants to reinvent PC tech. Every major PC manufacturer turn its attention to tablets; with some remarkably varied results, from convertible laptops to sliders to slates.
Are we seeing the beginning of the end of the x86 era?
OLED and 4K
But these are challenging times for tech companies, not only in computing, but in home entertainment, too. Many tech brands – Japanese ones in particular – are struggling just to keep their heads above the rising tides of financial ruin.
The endless conveyor belt of new products in home entertainment is truly impressive, especially when you consider that we're living in an age of such financial hardship.
The big stories this year revolved around OLED TVs, with Samsung and LG both launching amazing new 55-inch products, and Ultra HD, aka 4K. Ultra HD TVs have four times the number of pixels as regular full HD TVs, making them capable of producing fantastically sharp pictures and also enabling passive 3D tech to operate at a full HD resolution.
Ultra HD as an emerging theme is helped on by the fact that movie studios are now starting to shoot films at 4K resolutions, creating buzz and triggering visible marketing. Of the two televisual themes of 2012, it certainly seems as though OLED is the one that's fast falling out of favour.
Despite the tech producing the best, brightest pictures, yield rates in factories are so low that they're prohibitively expensive to buy and sell. It's been a long time now and no one has figured out the answer, so it could be that OLED goes the way of Canon and Toshiba's SED tech and dies a death.
One possible alternative is Sony's Crystal LED tech which it also launched at CES earlier this year, but that again, while super-impressive, is prohibitively expensive. And so while those two OLED monsters from Samsung and LG, announced in January, are still nowhere to be seen, 84-inch Ultra HD TVs from several brands are going on sale in time for Christmas. All you need to do is save up £25,000 and you'll be able to buy one.
The TV is fast becoming the central hub of entertainment and communication in the home, with Smart TV finally starting to come through as a feature people actually use. The reality is, though, that the high price of the best products continue to keep them out of most of our hands.
The Toshiba 55ZL2 was the first Ultra HD consumer TV announced. It uses the extra resolution to create glasses-free 3D
What happened to Blu-ray?
Since 2006, Blu-ray has had more marketing money thrown at it than any other home ents tech. But in 2012, Blu-ray seems to have hit its peak in terms of market saturation of devices and also in terms of innovation.
Instead, the interesting story in the world of content delivery has taken place deep in the digital ether. In 2012, Netflix became available outside the USA for the first time and launched a worldwide invasion, starting with the UK. A deal was first struck with Sony to get Netflix available on PS3, and smartphone apps,
LoveFilm vs Netflix: which is best for you?
Philips set-top boxes and other compatible products followed in their hundreds. Netflix chose the right time to offer its TV and Movie streaming services to a wider audience – at the same time, Amazon announced that streaming overtook DVD rentals in terms of usage within its Lovefilm service for the first time. Streaming is where it's at. And other services like Rdio and Spotify have come on leaps and bounds, too.
The streaming battle is hotting up
The year in gaming
2012 was also an important year for gaming hardware. We've seen new consoles launch shaped like PlayStation Vitas, Nintendo 3DS XLs, super-slim Sony PS3s, Nintendo Wii Us and in Canada Nintendo has also launched a super-cheap Nintendo Wii Mini.
Most of this new gear was received warmly. The PS Vita was not without its flaws but demonstrated its power and mobile gaming class.
The Nintendo 3DS XL was more or less the console that the disappointing 3DS should have been and thus was also embraced by the gaming world.
However, the super-slim PS3, made out of cheaper materials and containing a cheaper drive tray was a bit more disappointing. "It wasn't cheap enough", was the main complaint.
The Wii U also received a mixed reaction when it landed in November. Its hardware was said to be only just on a par with the 6-year old PS3 and 7-year old Xbox 360. Its games are just not as accessible as the original Wii games - an opinion mirrored far and wide. The Wii U's fortunes will surely make great reading moving into 2013.
