Favorite stories from 2011: Tethering, TouchPad, Steve Jobs

Review, the Year Ahead" class="alignright size-full wp-image-790" />

The end of year period of reflection is in full swing, and since I have already shared the year's top stories on ZDNet Mobile News, a few stories this year are my personal favorites. Some of the topics on my list of favorites are recurring stories that just won't go away, while others have personal angles. This year I have been warning readers that carriers in the U. S. are set to crack down on those who use smartphone data plans to provide connectivity for laptops and tablets without paying the extra monthly fee. The act of tethering is a growing phenomenon as more folks discover the practice, and how easy it is to bypass the carrier's terms of service and avoid the fee. I have been clear that I believe the carriers will not allow tethering to continue, as it directly affects the bottom line. Over the year we've seen this crackdown begin, with customers receiving warnings from carriers that they have been detected tethering their smartphone, and detailing what bad things will happen if they continue. The tethering police are coming, unroot your phones I told you the tethering police were coming, and now they are here Forget the tethering police, the rooting police are here, led by Google Verizon tethering police reach into your phone and disable the hotspot

This year started with excitement from HP over the upcoming TouchPad tablet running webOS acquired through the Palm purchase. I doubt anyone could have predicted how bizarrely the TouchPad/ webOS story would unfold over 2011, ending with HP throwing in the towel after only a few weeks. I bought one of the TouchPads on launch day, only to watch in horror as HP cancelled the product line, brought it back, and then cancelled it once and for all. HP TouchPad: Everything you want to know How to improve the performance of your new HP TouchPad HP TouchPad: Homebrew patches that improve productivity Overclocking the HP TouchPad cranks up the speed How HP doomed the TouchPad to failure HP TouchPad app developers: Run to other platforms Requiem for the HP TouchPad: Time to move on One of the events this year that will be remembered for a long time was the passing of Steve Jobs. No matter what you thought of him or the company he built, the emotional outpouring at the news of his death was touching. In a rare moment of my tech coverage, I was also caught up in the memories of what Steve Jobs has given us. Thank you Steve Jobs