Tech
Top posts, devices, software and smartphone awards for 2011
2011 was a very exciting year with significant growth in Android, steady progress for the iPhone, and still limited adoption of Windows Phone.
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2011 was another very busy year in the smartphone space with some amazing hardware, unexpected partnerships, death of a platform, extreme growth, and innovation. This summary post list the top 10 most viewed posts from the year, some of my favorite hardware, and some fun awards for the gear I tested this year. You can check out my 2010 year in review post and see what I thought about the mobile phone world at that time.Top 10 most viewed posts of 2011
Android was again the hottest smartphone platform of the year with a ton of phones released throughout the year. Three of my top ten posts were related to Android devices, two were related to Windows Phone 7, two to the iPhone, and three were lists of my favorites at different times of the year. So, let's start this post out with the Top 10 posts of 2011 … for now:- Top 10 smartphones of 2011 ... for now
- Review: Sprint HTC EVO Shift 4G leaves a lot to be desired
- T-Mobile customers will finally get the iPhone as AT&T acquires T-Mobile
- Verizon LTE showdown: HTC ThunderBolt vs Samsung Droid Charge
- Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is the most stable mobile phone OS
- Review: Dell Venue Pro is the best Windows Phone 7 device
- Top 10 smartphones of 2011 (Holiday Gift Guide)
- First impressions of the Sprint Google Nexus S 4G
- Unlike with AT&T, the Verizon iPhone isn't the network's best smartphone
- My top 5 smartphones available today
Notable big news of 2011
There were a few stories that stood out to me in 2011 that I wanted to note in this reference post, including:- Microsoft and Nokia announce my dream partnership so why aren't you all happy?
- The HTC ThunderBolt ushered in LTE speeds
- Hands-on with the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango technical preview
- Becoming a BlackBerry fan when it's not cool to do so
- Sorry BlackBerry fans, I just can't stick around any longer
- T-Mobile's 42.2 Mbps HSPA+ network earns my respect as a 4G network
- Here's the Nokia N9 MeeGo phone and you can't have it (review)
Best of 2011
I have a few titles I would like to award to the devices, accessories, and software I checked out in 2011.- Best QWERTY keyboard: RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900
- Best looking display: Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Super AMOLED and HD resolution rocks!)
- Device that surprised me: Nokia N9 MeeGo device (Best hardware I have even seen from Nokia and an OS that is surprisingly good.)
- Best Windows Phone 7 device of the year: AT&T HTC Titan
- Best BlackBerry device of the year: RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900
- Best Android device of the year: Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Just now released as a GSM world phone. I would award this to the Samsung Galaxy S II that is more widely available if I didn't have the chance to buy the Galaxy Nexus.)
- Best iOS device of the year: Apple iPhone 4S
- Best mobile operating system of the year: Windows Phone 7.5 (aka Mango)
- Worst mobile device of the year: HP Veer 4G(Was anyone really looking for a Zoolander-sized phone running a dead OS?)
- Best overall mobile device of the year: Apple iPhone 4/4S
- Best accessory of the year: SuperTooth HD Bluetooth speaker
- Favorite mobile application: Twitter
- Favorite mobile service: Spotify
Looking ahead to 2012
As we move into 2012 there are actually not many rumored devices and I am personally quite happy with my current collection that consists of the Nokia N9, Apple iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and Dell Venue Pro. Here is what I look forward to trying to evaluate in 2012:- Nokia Windows Phone device on a U.S. carrier
- New Apple iPhone
- Windows Phone device running next version of the OS
- Android device running next version of the OS