In Depth: 10 tech trends to watch for in 2013

Some predictions are easy.

In 2013 Facebook will do annoying things, people will get into trouble for posting rude messages on Twitter and it won't be the year of desktop Linux.

But what about the more interesting issues?

Seismic shifts are happening in technology as we move to mobile, always-on devices that stream stuff instead of storing it - and that's causing massive disruption to some of tech's biggest players.

Here's what we see in our crystal ball.

Microsoft's business remains enormous, but it's under pressure: tablet and smartphone sales are booming as more and more computing is done on mobile devices, and the PC market is saturated.

So far at least Microsoft's efforts in new sectors haven't been huge successes: Bing is costing a fortune and remains a distant second to Google in search, Windows Phone trails not just Android and iOS but even the ailing BlackBerry, Facebook doesn't think Windows RT is important enough to justify a dedicated Facebook app and if Microsoft was selling stacks of Surfaces, it would be shouting the numbers from the rooftops. It isn't.

Windows RT, Windows Phone, Surface and Bing are all long bets, of course, but in 2013 we'll see if they're going to pay off.

Steve Jobs said that his greatest invention wasn't a product, but Apple itself - and in 2013 we'll see if his confidence was justified.

After a few wobbles in 2012, including the Maps debacle and the subsequent departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall, Apple has changed the way it does things.

Jonathan Ive has inherited Jobs' role as the man who says yes or no for both hardware and software, and all he needs to do in 2013 is ensure that iOS 7, OS X 10.9, the iPhone 6, iPad mini 2 and iPad 5, and possibly the new Apple TV, are the greatest products the universe has ever seen. So no pressure there, then.

We've reached Peak Text: in many countries, the volume of SMS messages being sent is slowing or starting to decline.

Instead, people are using 'over the top' (OTT) systems such as WhatsApp, iMessage, Skype and Facebook messaging.

These systems can use SMS to send messages but they aren't limited to it, so you can use them to communicate over broadband and Wi-Fi as well as traditional mobile connections.

Expect WhatsApp to be a very big deal next year.

At the time of writing, the first four seasons of Breaking Bad are £44.99 on DVD - or you could stream five seasons as part of a £5.99-per-month Netflix subscription. Netflix, Spotify, Xbox Music, LoveFilm Instant and many, many more offerings are cheaper and more convenient than discs, especially now that fast broadband is generally available indoors and out.

Why shop when you can stream? Services such as Netflix are much cheaper than discs

Why pay more for things that you then have to store?

It's make or break for the BlackBerry platform next year: market share is in freefall in both the consumer and the business sectors, and the platform's would-be saviour, the brand new BlackBerry 10 OS, didn't ship in 2012 as originally planned.

2013 is make or break time for RIM: will BlackBerry 10 save its skin?

It's due in January now, and while we like it a lot, BlackBerry now has to tempt people away from Apple, Android and Windows Phone.

That won't be easy, and if it doesn't happen then RIM is toast.

Forget Everything Everywhere's risibly named 4GEE and its comedy bandwidth allowances: in the UK, the real 4G action will take place in 2013, with all of the operators getting in on the speedy broadband act.

That means we'll see more devices, rapidly improving coverage, and, most importantly of all, competition between operators.

The Wii U's already out, and we should see both the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 in 2013 - and these days there's much more to consoles than gaming, as they want to be the devices you use to listen to music, watch videos and communicate on social networks.

Unfortunately for them, they face stiff competition from streaming-enabled smartphones and tablets, many of which are perfectly good games devices, and it's just a matter of time before Apple TV gets Angry Birds.

Could 2013 see the last generation of dedicated games consoles?

In 2012 we saw the Nexus 7, 4 and 10, Amazon's Kindle Fires, Barnes & Noble's Nooks and Microsoft's Surface, and the trend will continue in 2013: Amazon is reportedly working on a smartphone and Facebook might be; Microsoft plans to make more Surfaces next year and possibly a phone too; and more Kindle Fires and Nooks are clearly coming too.

Tech firms increasingly want to sell you hardware, software and services together

2013 will be all about the ecosystems, not just the hardware: firms will increasingly want to sell you everything from soup to nuts, and if that means getting into the hardware business then so be it.

Google's ill-fated Nexus Q was US-made, and some of Apple's latest iMacs are assembled in the US instead of China. We don't mean the build-to-order ones, either.

This could be a trend: firms such as GM and GE are 'insourcing', going back to hiring people in the US instead of subcontracting to overseas suppliers.

PC assembly usually happens in Asia. Could it be returning to the USA?

For many firms, outsourcing's benefits have disappeared amid record oil price rises (which massively increases shipping costs), rising Asian wages, increased Western productivity and lower energy bills due to the current natural gas boom.

According to The Atlantic, when GE insourced the manufacturing of expensive water heaters, it found that it could make them faster, to a higher standard and for less money than by outsourcing the work.

It's all coming together: as basic networking tech gets smaller and cheaper it becomes more widespread, and before you know it you've got everything from fitness trackers to thermostats, door locks and lightbulbs, connecting to a router or talking to your smartphone.

Philips' Hue: controlling lightbulbs with your smartphone? There's an app for that

From cars to coffee machines, if it's possible to control it with an app, someone's going to find a way to do it.

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By: Dilusha On 11:01 AM

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In Depth: Jubilee Time Capsule: Inside the world's largest online history project

This year saw Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her Diamond Jubilee and 60 years as head of the Commonwealth.

To mark both The Queen's Jubilee and to tell the story of the last 60 years, the Royal Commonwealth Society created the Jubilee Time Capsule.

The Jubilee Time Capsule is an online social archive, containing stories from people across all 54 Commonwealth countries, either as a written memory, a film, an audio recording or a photographic memory.

The time capsule marks the eventful six decades The Queen has seen, from Accession Day on 6th February 1952 to 2011's Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

These memories recount moments of Royal and historical significance, as well as personal histories, including weddings, family migration stories and individual tales of conflict and loss.

When The Queen became Head of the Commonwealth in 1952, there were eight member states - there are now 54. During Her Majesty's reign, 42 Commonwealth members gained independence from Britain and all chose to join the Commonwealth.

All Commonwealth residents, both adults and children, were invited to contribute a story about their family, community, country or the Commonwealth itself, from any time during Her Majesty's reign.

Over 37,000 people submitted contributions, via jubileetimecapsule.org and an Apple app.

Celebrities and members of the Royal Family to have taken part in the project include Prince Harry, Princess Eugenie, Paralympic and Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and William Hague.

The most popular day for people to remember was 29th April 2011 – the Royal Wedding – with more than 200 entries.

A massive 80,000 stories were submitted into the Jubilee Time Capsule in total, creating crowd-sourced People's History - an authentic legacy of the last 60 years.

The mass of entries was whittled down to the 60 'best' memories by a panel of distinguished judges, including the director general of The Royal Photographic Society, the Royal Librarian and Telegraph Deputy Editor Benedict Brogan.

These selected entries have formed the Diamond (re)Collection, and were presented to The Queen by the Royal Commonwealth Society during Her Majesty's tour of the Society's headquarters, on 14th November.

The entire Diamond (re)Collection was made public on the internet, immediately following this.

The 60 photographs, drawings, poems, essays and videos were given to The Queen on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet PC – the digital time capsule.

The tablet PC was presented to The Queen by 12-year-old John Samson, from Malawi, whose contributing essay, 'The day I wore my best clothes', was about the day he received his first school uniform.

John won the Royal Commonwealth Essay Junior Prize, which ran alongside the Jubilee Time Capsule project.

12-year-old John Samson, from Malawi, and winner of the Royal Commonwealth Essay Junior Prize, presents The Queen with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet PC, containing the Diamond (re)Collection. ©Capsool / Joe Gardner

The tablet PC will be stored at Windsor Castle as part of the Royal Collection, which is held in trust by the Sovereign for her successors and the nation.

The Royal Collection already includes technology, including PCs and DVDs, as well as art, furniture and other memorabilia, but this is the first artifact on a PC tablet to be added.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society said: "The Commonwealth has been at the heart of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and we wanted to do something innovative to celebrate the association and the 2.1 billion people that live in it.

"The Jubilee Time Capsule is an amazing collection of stories and memories that shows the shared history and aspirations of the Commonwealth's citizens."

The first date in the Jubilee Time Capsule timeline is 6th February 1952 – A National Parks employee in Kenya shares a photo and remembers the day Princess Elizabeth found out about her father's death and her imminent accession to the throne.

Some of the other best entries are of 7th June 1954 – The legacy of Alan Turing as remembered by his former PhD student, and 14th November 1990 – a personal account by Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, who recalls his childhood realisation that disability is not synonymous with disadvantage.

Many of the children's entries are very special and poignant; including one about 15th November 2011 – The day Woody Street's dad was awarded his Green Badge black cab license for passing 'The Knowledge'.

Although only 60 of the 80,000 stories submitted made it onto The Queen's tablet and into The Royal Collection, the others are by no means wasted.

On the contrary, the complete library of 80,000 entries will remain available online in perpetuity, forming part of the world's biggest online history project and occupying around 150GB of digital space.

The online capsule is unique in its ease of accessibility for such a large social archive, which will be of great value to teachers, academics and historians, as well as the general public, as it provides such a unique look at the last 60 years.

All of the 80,000 entries submitted into what's become the world's largest online history project will be kept avaliable indefinately at www.jubileetimecapsule.org

All of the 60 entries that made it into the Diamond (re)Collection are both interesting and arresting and easily accessed as a collection at the Jubilee Time Capsule website, under the 'Collections' tab in the top right.

There is also a People's Choice Collection and the option to view entries by decade, region, Science, Culture & Education, Politics & Environment, Life & Royalty, or to simply browse through the capsule in its entirety.

There's also a search function, should you be looking for a particular subject or event.

If you have an iPhone or iPad you can also download the free Jubilee Time Capsule app, which has a great easy-to-use interface.

Apple's app for iPhone and iPad has a intuitive interface and makes browsing the events of the past 60 years lots of fun

The online platform for the Jubilee Time Capsule is provided by Capsool, a company that creates (re)collections - social archives that collect people's stories and memories.

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By: Dilusha On 10:16 PM

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In Depth: Best apps for your new tablet or smartphone

Just got an Android or Apple phone or tablet for Christmas? Lucky you!

Both platforms have a wealth of apps, free and paid-for, that you can download and enjoy on your new device.

But with so many apps available, how do you know which ones to get? That's where we come in.

TechRadar is well known for its definitive lists of the best apps for Android and iOS, which we keep regularly updated.

So whether you're looking for the best games, apps to help you take control of your social networks, or apps to help you be more productive at work, we've got you covered.

Below are links to our most popular app roundups…

60 best free Android apps

40 best free Android games

10 best free Android apps for kids

10 best office apps for Android

Best Android browser: 8 compared for speed and features

8 best Android keyboard apps reviewed and rated

10 best Android music players

10 best Android movie player apps

70 best free iPad apps

60 best free iPad games

Top 230 best iPad apps for iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad 2 and iPad mini

70 best free iPhone apps

60 best free iPhone games

5 best iPhone sat nav apps

10 best iPad and iPhone apps for mobile working

5 best Android and iOS benchmark tools

Best iPad and iPhone 2D shoot 'em ups

Best iPhone and Android apps for cycling from our colleagues at BikeRadar

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By: Dilusha On 9:58 PM

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In Depth: 5 years on: How the BBC iPlayer sparked a TV revolution

Something amazing happened on Christmas Day 2007, and we don't mean Santa getting stuck in the chimney or Gran overdoing the sherry: the BBC launched iPlayer, its on-demand internet video service.

As LoveFilm's Simon Morris recalls, iPlayer changed the game: "They normalised the idea of catch-up TV," he said. "The service went a long way to explaining to middle England that streaming content was normal."

iPlayer was a hit from the very start, shifting 3.5 million programme streams and downloads in its first three weeks, and by April 2008 it accounted for one fifth of all UK internet traffic. By early 2012, 40% of online adults were using it.

Remember the launch ad?

iPlayer thrived for several reasons. One, it did something useful. Two, it did it very well. Three, it's constantly being improved - for example, it got a dramatic, social media-inspired makeover in 2010 and added links to other broadcasters' programmes in 2011. And four, it's constantly finding new devices to play programmes on.

By early 2008, iPlayer was our go-to service for both TV and radio shows

The Wii, PS3 and iPhone got iPlayer in 2008, but Microsoft's boneheaded "no free stuff for free users" policy meant the Xbox didn't get iPlayer until 2012 - although when it finally arrived, the BBC made sure it worked with Kinect.

Late 2008, with the new

iPlayer came to Android in 2011, and in October of this year it completed the roll-out to the UK's major broadcasting systems when it arrived on Sky+ and YouView.

iPlayer didn't make it to the Xbox 360 until 2012. Boo! It supports Kinect! Yay!

There were iPlayers for BlackBerries and for Sonys, for smart TVs and smartphones... if it had a screen, chances are you could watch iPlayer on it - although the April 1, 2009 story announcing a special iPlayer-enabled toaster with an integrated OLED display was, of course, a hoax.

The iPlayer isn't available on toasters, despite BBC April Fools

As iPlayer embraced new devices, so did we: today, just 50% of iPlayer viewing is happening on computers, down from 65% the year before and 100% on day one. Some of those views are on TVs, of course, but around one-quarter of them are on tablet and phones.

iPlayer is available on pretty much everything. This is the PS3/Smart TV version from 2011

It hasn't all been plain sailing. Over the years the iPlayer has been plagued by everything from ISP throttling and anti-DRM protests to moaning commercial rivals, although as our Dan Grabham pointed out at the time, rivals really needed to make services that weren't rubbish instead of whingeing. Rupert Murdoch was particularly unhappy, claiming back in 2008 that iPlayer had "squashed other competition".

HD streaming came to the iPlayer in 2009, much to the annoyance of some ISPs

For a while, there was even talk of opening up iPlayer to other broadcasters, although the BBC Trust decided that that was a really terrible idea. Rivals did eventually raise their game, although plans for the BBC and commercial broadcasters to team up as one big happy family under the Project Kangaroo banner were crushed by the Competition Commission. It has, however, gone global:

iPlayer's interface is particularly good on tablets, as you can see from this 2012 screenshot

Rivals might not have liked it, but we all did: in 2010's TechRadar awards the iPlayer team walked away with two gongs - the most essential online innovation award, and the most innovative home entertainment platform award. Perhaps that was because it enabled everyone to watch World Cup matches when they were at work.

One of the reasons iPlayer is so well liked is because it keeps improving. In January, BBC policy and strategy director John Tate said that the BBC shouldn't rest on its iPlayer laurels, and it didn't: we got the ability to pause and resume live TV in June and mobile downloads in September.

iPlayer was early to the iPhone, and gained an iPhone 5-friendly version this year

So what's next? According to iPlayer general manager Matthew Littleford, the aim is to avoid what happened to Kodak: instead of embracing digital photography, Kodak stuck with film and let competitors kill its business.

"We can set the iPlayer up for the future or resign it to obsolescence," Littleford said. "We are having the 'Kodak moment' right now; we don't want to come up with catch-up TV and then see everyone else overtake us." With iPlayer, it seems, we ain't seen nothing yet.

This early-2012 image shows how the BBC has kept iPlayer simple. That's part of its success

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By: Dilusha On 9:28 PM

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In Depth: Apple in 2013: what to expect

Because TechRadar's powers-that-be inexplicably rejected a perfectly sensible expenses request for a fully working TARDIS, we're stuck merely putting on our 'informed guessing hat' again, to figure out what's coming from Apple over the next 12 months.

This year, such predictions are perhaps tougher than usual: Apple's meticulous regularity regarding release schedules was thrown to the wind during 2012, most notably with the iPad 4 following the iPad 3 after only six months. Also, we were a year ago totally wrong about the iPod Classic finally bowing out - it's still on sale.

Still, we are heroically soldiering on regardless, with a list of 'Apple in 2013' predictions. They perhaps aren't as bonkers as some of those you'll find elsewhere on the web, but they are therefore probably more likely to come to pass!

You'd be crazy to think Apple wouldn't update the iPhone in 2013, given that it's responsible for much of the company's revenue. Judging by iPhone release patterns to date, it's likely to be a smaller bump this time round: an iPhone 5S, perhaps, with incremental improvements to speed, battery life and the camera. What's less certain is when it'll appear. With the recent autumn event suggesting a new iPad next October or perhaps every six months, the next iPhone might well arrive in the spring.

Tim Cook recently referred to TV as "an area of intense interest" for Apple, adding: "When I go into my living room and turn on the TV, I feel like I have gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years." So obviously this means a literal Apple iTV, right? Not necessarily. TVs aren't updated regularly, yet Apple likes to refresh hardware often. Smart money is instead on the existing Apple TV box in 2013 becoming more than a mere hobby, and disruption coming from further integration with iOS devices, bespoke Apple TV apps, and an iTunes Match-style service for video, along with other deals with broadcasters and TV companies.

2013's Apple TV will be this same Apple TV, but with apps and more services

We last year predicted the last ever Mac Pro would arrive in 2012. Instead, we got a half-hearted update and a promise from Tim Cook that the company was "working on something really great for later next year". Macs remain the minority of Apple's revenue, desktops are the minority of Mac sales, and Mac Pros sell in lower quantities than the iMac and Mac mini. Still, if Cook's true to his word, we will see a new Mac Pro next year - and we reckon that will be the last one Apple releases before it concentrates entirely on appliance computing.

In October, Apple fired Scott Forstall, and Sir Jony Ive, senior vice president of industrial design, was given the role of leading and directing all Apple's 'human interface', including software. We doubt we'll see a wholesale shift from overblown textures to sleek minimalism, but by the end of 2013, Ive will make his presence felt on OS X and iOS. We hope whatever the result it will at the least mean more usable Apple operating systems, and potentially more beautiful ones as well.

Apple to date has used plenty of textures in its apps — something Ive might soften now he's leading all of Apple's human interface

Apple's expected to revolutionise an industry about every eight seconds or tech pundits get all huffy. In reality, though, Apple has always been a company of iteration, only occasionally making breakthroughs: the Apple II (1977), the Mac (1984), the original iMac (1998), the iPod (2001), the iPhone (2007), and the iPad (2010).

Nonetheless, expect question marks to be raised during 2013 if Apple doesn't disrupt another market, regardless of how well its other devices are selling. Also expect people to remark a lot how the company's not the same now Steve Jobs isn't around, despite the company being a corporate-sized embodiment of the man.

Having ditched Google Maps data, Apple rolled its own mapping solution for iOS 6. The results were problematic and error-strewn. Tim Cook apologised, Scott Forstall in part got the boot for the mess, and Apple doubled down, yet still didn't fix things fast enough for the Australian state of Victoria's police force, reportedly concerned about people becoming stranded. (That last story was a tad overblown, as it turns out, with only one person actually stranded. Still, it showcased the system's inability to make sensible assumptions when two places have similar names.)

Apple's pretty hopeless when it comes to online services, but maps are an area in which it cannot afford to fail, and so we've two predictions: first, Apple Maps will improve at a rate of knots; secondly, the service will be under close scrutiny, and so will ostensibly appear to remain broken but will in reality be less so as time moves on.

Apple Maps: not as good as it should have been. Expect that to change in 2013

Siri arrived on more devices through iOS 6 and also learned some new tricks in 2012. Although it doesn't yet do everything people want, the voice-control system is a little more intelligent regarding finding information, and it can now launch apps. Apple needs to up its game to compete with the impressive Google voice search, though, and so 2013 will see major enhancements to Siri, primarily in terms of speed, but also regarding the information it can access. Also expect Apple to increasingly use Siri to circumvent the need to search online — much to the chagrin of Google.

For a time, Apple's release cycle was like clockwork, especially when it came to iOS: new iPads in the spring and an iPhone in late summer. The iPad 4 changed all that, arriving a mere six months after its predecessor. Expect competition from rivals to further disrupt Apple's release schedule, with some devices moving to six-monthly rather than annual updates, and others shifting from previous cycles. Also, given Apple's launch/shipping misses regarding the new 27-inch iMac (which launched alongside the 21-inch new iMac) and iTunes 11, we won't be surprised to see the company revert to simply not announcing future products unless they're pretty much ready to ship that day.

The iPad 4: six months early, by 2012's schedule. 2013's will be more turbulent

We don't think we're in for a repeat of Windows/Mac OS when it comes to Android/iOS, but cheap Android tablets and smartphones will nonetheless continue to have an impact on Apple's market-share during 2013. Figures will, however, continue to show iOS has the lion's share in terms of ongoing usage and profits. Another prediction: pundits will fail to realise Apple's stalling or falling share of a rapidly growing market nonetheless equals growth, and continue to lump Android into a single group, despite, as Ian Betteridge recently noted, it being "a set of semi-compatible platforms, built around the same technology".

We last year predicted the iPod Classic's luck would run out in 2012, given Apple's shift to the cloud, its focus on iOS, and dropping flash memory prices potentially enabling larger-capacity iPod touch devices. Amazingly, it survived. Therefore, we're going to predict the iPod Classic will bafflingly remain in play for another year, in part because we were wrong last time, but mostly in an attempt to dare Apple to do otherwise.

The iPod classic, still going strong, against the odds — although that's probably because it is relatively cheap

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By: Dilusha On 4:50 PM

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In Depth: Highs and lows for Samsung in 2012

It's often said that God works in mysterious ways. And for those who believe in the afterlife, the thought that the late Steve Jobs may have been upstairs whispering into the ear of the big man isn't hard to imagine.

After all, it's been a busy year for the South Koreans, from innovating to litigating - and finding $1bn down the back of the sofa to pay a fine to Apple.

How things has changed since Samsung came onto the scene years ago with the dual-screen A300. Now, they're, debatably, the market leader in tech.

Here, we take a look at their highs and lows of 2012.

1. The Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1

Love them, or hate them, there's no denying that 2012 has given us probably the best portfolio we've seen from Samsung.

When the much-anticipated Galaxy S3 was announced earlier this year, it wasn't at CES or MWC like its peers.

The Galaxy S3 – TechRadar's phone of the year, so far

Such was the excitement around it, Samsung was able to hold its own event, taking a cue from arch-rival Apple, because it was so confident the crowds would come specifically to see what was on offer.

The day of launch came and we were there to see the queue at the Samsung store in Stratford. It may not have been iPhone length, but it was pretty big.

It's still at the top of our list as best phone. The punters agree – Samsung managed to ship 18 million of the things in the third quarter of this year.

And don't get us started on the Note 2, which we reviewed and found to be one of the best devices out there.

Even the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet has managed to sell impressively – despite having a fairly lower-resolution screen than those we've grown accustomed to.

2. Beating Apple (to an extent)

Naturally, this annoyed Apple.

Remember how Steve Jobs threatened to "go thermonuclear" on Android because he felt it was a stolen product? Well, as Samsung got bigger, Jobs' ire (and that of Apple after his demise) appeared to shift less from Google and more to Samsung.

Things like S-Voice didn't help the issue (come on – who thinks that isn't Siri rebadged and made into a more rubbish product?)

The legal toing and froing has made us dizzy and reminiscent of a game of ping-pong, with a £652m ($1.05bn) fine in place of the ball.

But the sweetest part of Samsung's fight will have been the victory it scored in forcing Apple to publish an apology on its website. Not just tucked away anywhere as was originally the deal – but on the UK front page, no less. Ouch! And it's still there, for all to see as they head to Apple online to buy their Christmas presents. Double ouch!

3. Giving us the first Galaxy Camera

Nobody (even Cupertino) could accuse Samsung of not being innovative.

Sure, a lot of things in Android (and TouchWiz) are similar to those found in iOS, and vice versa. Who invented them is a whole other story.

But the newly launched Galaxy Camera has been a great creation.

Snap Happy – The Galaxy Camera, allowing peeping toms to Instagram their naughty snaps

Again, Wi-Fi enabled cameras aren't new – but one running 3G and Android?! Now, that is cool.

Remember, this isn't a phone with a great camera. It's a great camera with a phone added on. Or, at least, the phone functionality - without the calls bit.

Naturally, it's more of a niche device – and it's hardly sleek or cheap - but the thought of being able to edit your phones on the go and even mix up a bit of Instagram action, then tweet or Facebook them, is truly marvellous. We're currently working on our detailed review – but early indications are that it's a belter.

4. Getting a new boss

And it's not just new products hitting the shelves; it's new people at the top too. Never ones to accuse companies of nepotism, we wouldn't dream of saying that Jay Y. Lee's recent appointment to vice president has anything to do with the fact that he is the son of the chairman.

In fact, his dad, Lee Kun Hee has been the big cheese there for the last 25 years – meaning old Junior will have learned from the best. And the news went down well within Sammy circles – meaning there's every chance Jay Y. Lee will continue to build on Samsung's incredible success.

5. Golden publicity

At London 2012 the world was watching and Samsung had a front-row seat as one of the main sponsors, meaning it got even more publicity worldwide.

The partnership was highly evident during the games – and tickets to events were even given to those early adopters of the Galaxy S3 if they bought direct from a Samsung store.

A golden endorsement even came from Goldenballs himself, David Beckham, as recently as late November, when he refused to answer a reporter's iPhone at a press conference because it wasn't a Samsung product. The video went viral. PR doesn't get better than this.

1. Losing out on key partnerships

It's not been a great year for some of Samsung's partnerships though.

Apple and Samsung have long held a deal where Samsung supplies parts to Cupertino, including memory chips. But Apple was reported to be cutting its reliance on its bitter rival amid the court action that has had the two sides at such odds.

Samsung's had to make up with orders from its own handset division and so, even though it's making huge profits on its phones, it'll be taking a hit on components, which can't be great for balance sheets.

Not only that, but Google went with rival South Koreans, LG, for their latest phone offering - the Nexus 4.

While Samsung did manage to secure a Nexus tablet deal, it will have been a bitter blow after successfully holding the Nexus contract with Google for nearly two years, giving us the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus handsets in that time.

2. Confusion over Ativ S

Samsung has also been struggling with other product lines.

Yes, Android is going great guns, but remember that motto, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket'? Yup – that's one Samsung could be learning from, as the firm's Windows Phone 8 offerings seem to have been given the B-Class treatment.

In fact, the debut Windows Phone 8 handset from the firm has been delayed until January, according to Carphone Warehouse, which means that it's missing out on that key Christmas market. Especially galling, considering offerings from the likes of Nokia and HTC are on the shelves and that by the time the Ativ S does grace us with its presence, it's going to be nothing special in most eyes.

The unloved sibling: The Ativ S has seen more delays than London Bridge station

3. Dropping fail

You know those videos that show idiots smashing up phones that we would kill to have? Yeah, those. Well, despite our personal feelings, there was something voyeuristic about seeing which would come out top when dropped onto a hard floor.

It made sense to pitch the Galaxy S3 against the new kid iPhone 5 and, sadly for Samsung, in most cases - surprisingly - the iPhone 5 proved to be more of a hard man. It's not what we'd have expected considering the weight and materials used in both, but the proof is all over the web.

And don't say that it doesn't matter because you take care of your phone – we do too. And all the casing and protection made no difference when we dropped our S3 on a concrete floor last week, shattering the screen. Cue tears, rants, emptying of bank accounts and insurance claims!

4. Security fears

And it's not just the physical side where Apple came out top, but the security element, too. Yep, we know Apple has long prided itself on that walled-garden approach when it comes to apps (for non-jail-broken devices), which means you're not susceptible to viruses, compared to Android.

But the fear was stoked earlier this year when it was revealed that Samsung devices in particular contained a specific line of code, thanks to TouchWiz, which made them vulnerable to nasty people and their nasty plans to do bad things to your phone if they so wished. There weren't reports of any handsets actually being exploited – but Samsung was forced to rush out a fix and the publicity wouldn't have done it any favours.

5. Being blinged up – badly

You remember that scene from ET where a young Drew Barrymore gets her hands on him and dresses him up? Yeah, that feeling when you see someone walking a cat in a pair of mini Ugg boots or pushing a pooch in a pram? That's how lots felt when they saw what Swarovski had done to the Galaxy S3.

The crystal kings got their hands on a model and rushed out this concept for those with more money than sense. Yours for a snip at £2,099 - but bad news for the wallet. At least you get a free case with it though – so the spirit of Christmas is alive and well.

Bling tidy – but imagine the insurance premium on this!

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By: Dilusha On 9:49 PM

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In Depth: Unsung heroes of tech: 6 innovators from 2012

2012 wasn't just about the big names

Apple and Google get all the recognition. Yet, there are those who invent useful technology, innovative gadgets, and ground-breaking services who go unheralded.

These six brilliant thinkers invented a product, released in 2012, that pushed the tech industry forward.

Tech innovation: Puzzlebox Orbit

Our top pick for an innovating product, the Puzzlebox Orbit is a brain-controlled helicopter. The helicopter uses the NeuroSky MindWave Mobile EEG headset, which can read your level of concentration to make the helicopter fly. Steve Castelloti, the CEO of Puzzlebox Brainstorms, is innovative in another way: the company creates open source software for use in schools that teach kids about neuroscience. The product was also funded through Kickstarter.

Tech innovation: Cadillac Safety Alert Seat
One of the great challenges in the auto industry has to do with distracted driving. Any new safety measure introduces yet another chime or video signal that could cause even more problems. The Cadillac Safety Alert Seat, available in the 2013 XTS sports sedan, addresses this problem. The seat pulses on the left or right side if you edge into another lane or if you are about to bump into a rail in a parking lot. For collision alerts front and back, both side of the seat vibrate as a warning. Ray Kiefer is a Technical Fellow at General Motors and invented the tech and holds the patent.

Tech innovation: Memoto

Wearable technology will hit full stride next year, but Martin Källström is already ahead of the game. In 2012, he invented the Mometo, a life-stream camera you attach to your shirt that snaps two photos per minute all day long. (The battery lasts for two days on a charge.) The photos are geotagged and sent to an app automatically – there are no button son the camera at all. The geotags automatically adjust the photo orientation and add the location information to the photos.

Tech innovation: Uberconference

Videoconference tools are not exactly innovative, but Uberconference is different. The Web app does not load any extra plug-ins or software. When you first sign-up, you can start holding a multi-point video chat within seconds. The immediacy is the one missing piece of the puzzle that could help us switch over to more video calling. Craig Walker might be the unsung hero to make it all happen. He invented Dialpad, which is now Yahoo Voice. And, he started GrandCentral, which morphed into Google Voice.

Tech innovation: Philips Hue

This LED lightbulb system is the first of its kind. You can control the lightbulbs using your iPhone, iPad or Android device, setting the light intensity and color. You can set "scenes" for individual rooms of the house, such as a sunset theme or dim lighting. Your mobile device can connect to the bulbs remotely, so you can turn lights off and on, or even set timers. Filip Jan invented the idea of how people could interact with the lightbulbs, and George Yanni came up with the technical infrastructure.

Tech innovation: GoPro Hero3 Black Edition
The GoPro cameras invented an industry of extreme sports filming for everyday users. The latest version, the GoPro3 Black Edition, ups the quality to 4K video, exceeding the quality of most home televisions today but anticipating the next revolution of 4K video. Just as importantly, the Black Edition can capture 240 frames per second for life-like video quality at WVGA resolution. Surfer Nick Woodman invented the camera idea way back in 2002, but the GoPro3 is a major step up in quality.

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In Depth: Highs and lows for Apple in 2012

Apple used to be the underdog, but of late it's spent time flirting with being the biggest company in the world by market cap (depending on the price of petrol - Exxon's its closest rival at any given time).

Because of this, Apple continues to be a company people love to love (if they use its products) but also love to hate (if they don't use its products… and sometimes if they do).

2012 was the first year Apple was without its charismatic and forward-thinking founder Steve Jobs, and many pundits fired up their bonehead-o-meters and predicted nothing but doom and gloom.

Instead, we got the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and the bloke Apple bafflingly hired from Dixons got fired.

But there were lows to match the highs; not least Apple's disastrous iOS Maps app, and the realisation from onlookers that although the company is angered by plagiarism, Apple itself isn't against the odd bit of pilfering.

1. iPhone 5

The iPhone 4S was great, but underwhelmed people who apparently didn't understand something can be new without changing shape.

No problems with the iPhone 5. Taller! Thinner! Faster! Better! Of course, a few doomsayers said it wouldn't sell. Predictably, they were very wrong indeed.

The iPhone 5 with its new tall design, better camera and general loveliness

2. iPad mini

The worst-kept secret in tech arrived in October 2012.

It wasn't the first smallish tablet, and the display is closer to the one on the original iPad than the Retina models. However, those who've used an iPad mini mostly say it's surprised them: the device is light, fast and every bit as good as its larger siblings.

3. Retina displays

High-res displays on smartphones are one thing, but the iPad 3 wowed with its 9.7-inch Retina display.

Apple then took things further later in 2012, giving its MacBook Pro line the most beautiful displays imaginable; they come at a price and complicate Apple's line-up a touch more than we'd like, but they look gorgeous and are the new benchmark everyone must beat.

4. Growth and profits

If you've been around the block a few times, you'll remember Apple earnings calls used to be depressing affairs.

By contrast, the term 'record' is now used an awful lot. Apple in 2012 grew fast and was hugely profitable, which is a high in anyone's book.

5. A pile of new iPods

At Apple's September 2012 event, the iPad mini was expected, but new iPods showed Apple could still keep secrets.

The iPod touch got major upgrades (redesigned case; new camera; faster chip; better screen) and even the nano found itself back in favour, with a sleek new design and revised iOS-like interface.

New iPods arrived in late 2012. They're lovely. Also, we had no idea they were coming

6. Optical drives are go

And by 'go', we mean 'gone - as in 'outta here'.

The Mac Pro and the old MacBook Pro are now the only shipping Macs with optical drives. Good riddance. The fewer moving parts, the better; and, let's face it, someone needs to drive this kind of thing, or we'd all be using floppy discs.

7. Social integration

On the face of it, Apple welding Twitter and Facebook functionality to iOS and OS X doesn't seem like a big deal; but we're listing it as a high as recognition, more than anything, that Apple's realised it sucks at social. It also shot Ping. Hurrah!

8. Sir Jony Ive and chums

Ive has a major hand in all Apple's hardware, and 2012 was a great year for him: new iPads, new iPods, the iPhone 5, new iMacs and MacBook Pros. Oh, and he got a knighthood.

It's understandable, then, that Apple CEO Tim Cook now has Ive in control of all Apple human interface teams.

Jony Ive is now a Sir. He's also still a fantastic designer. Keep hold of him, Apple!

9. Bye bye, Dixons guy

When John Browett was hired by Apple to take over from Ron Johnson as the guy to run Apple's retail stores, Brits uttered a collective BWUH? This was the Dixons guy!

Six months later: boom - he was outta there. Not a high for Browett, but definitely one for Apple, given Browett's mistakes. It also showed Cook would put things right when needed.

10. Education inroads

Our final high is Apple's renewed focus on education.

iTunes U continues to improve, as does iBooks Author, which got a major upgrade in October 2012. Kids are the future, and if Apple can help get them there with more enthusiasm for education, that can only be a good thing.

1. iOS Maps

Each year, Apple has a tech disaster that pundits desperately weld 'gate' to. This year: mapgate.

Having ditched Google data, Apple rolled its own solution. The result: bendy architecture and data occasionally so inaccurate police said it could kill.

But, hey, at least you got free turn-by-turn! Although the Google Maps app now does this too...

The best thing we can say about the iOS Maps app is 'it will improve'

2. The new iPad

We don't mean the new new iPad (a.k.a. the iPad with Retina display/iPad 4), but the new iPad (a.k.a. the iPad 3).

To some, it looked interim at the time, and it became the first iPad to not last a year, punted out of the line-up after six months to make way for a faster successor. Tough luck if you bought one in spring 2012.

3. Lawsuits everywhere

We suspect for every engineer working at Apple there must be several hundred lawyers, if ongoing lawsuits are anything to go by.

To be fair to Apple, it's been the industry's R&D department too often, but even if Apple's sometimes in the right, legal action's never anything but a low.

4. Crazy stock swings

Given how profitable Apple is, its gargantuan cash reserves, and that people clamour for whatever device the company releases, 2012's stock swings were barmy.

AAPL crashed several times, and although it will probably end the year up on 2011, constant worry from an investment standpoint is troubling. (Note: we could say something nasty at this point about analysts regularly getting things wrong and in part causing said crashes, but we won't.)

5. Missing launch windows

iTunes 11: it'll be out in October! Or November! And that new iMac? Pre-order soon, and we'll get it to you, uh, sometime!

Given that Apple's now run by Tim 'clockwork' Cook, that launch-window screw-ups have occurred at all is a nasty surprise and really isn't very 'Apple'.

The competition would be delighted it if wasn't busy being far worse.

6. Increasingly buggy software

Long time Apple users are wondering if Apple's 2012 software slogan is 'fire and forget'.

A lot of software seems almost abandoned, with former iWork and iLife apps becoming increasingly sluggish.

Even new products like Game Center and iTunes 11 are surprisingly buggy coming from a company that prides itself on detail and polish.

7. Web service problems

Apple's never gotten the hang of web services, and 2012 found the company flailing.

Regular outages for iCloud, iTunes Match, the App Store and more caused untold problems for users.

Things didn't get 'MobileMe bad', but Apple hardly covered itself in glory online.

When Apple's online services work, they can be great. When they work

8. Losing Scott Forstall

We hear Forstall was a pain to work with and liked welding textures to iOS and OS X apps.

And, yes, Tim Cook's new system of organising Apple's senior staff could pay dividends. But it's worth remembering that Forstall was much of the brains behind iOS and the system having third-party apps.

He will be missed.

9. Send in the clones

This one's not Apple's fault, but a low for the company this year has been the continuation of rivals cloning its products; not least the MacBook Air.

No, it's not 'obvious' a laptop should look exactly like that - think of your own ideas!

10. Apple pilfering

Of course, Apple comes off as a touch hypocritical when it nicks designs itself, as per the Swiss national rail company's clock, which was more or less copied verbatim for the iPad Clock app.

Apple reportedly subsequently coughed up a cool £13 million for a license. That's an expensive clock-up.

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In Depth: Why BT is bidding for a slice of 4G pie

The Ofcom 4G auction is moving along apace, and we're now seeing the full range of bidders for the superfast spectrum – with some surprising names thrown into the mix.

We've had a word with all the new players and while their plans aren't quite forthcoming due to auction rules stating that bidders can't reveal their intentions, we've done a spot of digging to see what it means for the user.

Along with the usual suspects of Vodafone, O2, EE and 3 we've seen BT, MLL Telecom and PCCW all enter the race to get a slice of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum – so let's take a look at what they're likely to be doing with it:

Operating through its Niche Spectrum Ventures subsidiary, the telecoms provider has made it pretty clear that it's not going to be the next competitor to the incumbent mobile networks.

It has long had plans to use 4G to deliver broadband speeds on the go, and told TechRadar it hasn't changed its stance since its CEO said there were no plans to enter the mobile operator space.

It already has plans in place with EE to share its 4G spectrum to deliver broadband to rural areas, and this bid is almost certain to be part of a plan to further that goal.

This Hong Kong firm is a long standing player in the telecommunications industry through its majority share in HKT, which is making the bid in the UK.

Like BT, the firm is not planning on becoming a rival to the likes of O2 and Vodafone – instead it's looking to bring broadband connectivity using the wireless technology.

PCCW owns UK Broadband, which was set up to provide broadband to businesses and the public sector as well as manage infrastructure, but it was also one of the first to offer 4G wireless broadband in areas of the UK to both consumers and businesses through its Now! Broadband platform.

The response we received was pretty bland over the firm's plans: "It is not HKT's practice to comment on competitive situations such as spectrum auctions. We will comment as appropriate after the auctions conclude."

However, it's pretty clear that PCCW wants to make a big step forward with Now! Broadband, giving even those in rural areas more TV and internet services where fixed line can't penetrate.

You won't have heard of MLL Telecom, a Buckinghamshire-based firm that's over 20 years old, but they're the guys helping get your mobile signal to you.

It works for the likes of BT and Vodafone to help manage and build the infrastructure to send all those tiny bytes of data you use to tell the world what you're having for breakfast or, indeed, what you might be eating in the future.

"Through our experience and expertise within the industry we recognise that the demands on mobile networks are constantly changing and will continue to do so over the next few years; for this reason we have decided to place our bid in the 4G auction to complement our existing spectrum allocation," said Karl Edwards, CCO of MLL Telecom in a statement sent to TechRadar.

"This move will allow us to further support our customers within the mobile industry, enabling us to provide improved backhaul capabilities through small cells as well as reducing the current [operating expense] costs incurred by our customers."

In short: you won't be able to buy a service from MLL, but it will use any spectrum it wins to make a network you CAN buy more efficient. You can forget all about it now.

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By: Dilusha On 9:11 AM

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In Depth: Highs and lows for Microsoft in 2012

You couldn't ignore Microsoft this year; a veritable flood of announcements and launches kept the company in the news.

Ballmer called 2012 "the most epic year in Microsoft's history", and we haven't seen Redmond be this feisty for quite some time.

But it wasn't all good news; there were delays, complaints and unwelcome surprises too. Here's our pick of Microsoft's hits and misses this year.

1. Windows 8

Key was the 16 million downloads of the preview releases, and though the 40 million licences sold in the first month sounds more like PR bluster, we're calling Windows 8 a success.

Despite continuing arguments over changing the Start menu to the Start screen, we think Windows 8 is a solid improvement that gives Microsoft a solid start in the tablet market, as well as adding more performance, security and battery life to PCs running familiar desktop applications, and a new version of IE that does well in every benchmark that's not designed to showcase WebKit.

Between Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Xbox, Office 2013, Skype and redesigns for Bing and MSN, Microsoft has its new look everywhere.

2. Surface

From a secret launch that had the internet buzzing, and the snap-on, click-in, super-thin Touch Cover, to literally days of battery life and a beautiful, glare-free screen that's strong enough to use as a skateboard and survive being run over at 60mph, Microsoft's first real tablet is new, different and striking.

Microsoft is increasing production on the original Surface and the Intel-based Surface Pro is on target for January. Questions do remain over sales figures though, but more on that later...

3. Windows Phone 8

Without knowing how many it sold last year, we can't tell if Microsoft selling four times as many Windows Phones with Windows Phone 8 is impressive or disappointing; but 40% increases in Facebook usage on Windows Phone and in submissions to the Windows Phone marketplace, and the Lumia 920 selling out almost everywhere it's on sale, argue for impressive.

Skype integration and seamless, elegant and definitely-different interface, plus great hardware options like wireless charging and Nokia's excellent low-light camera give the iOS and Samsung champions some real competition.

4. Xbox sales

It might be seven years old (and we're still hoping for a new model next year), but the Xbox 360 is still outselling the competition.

It was the best-selling console in the US in 2011 and by October this year, Xbox had remained the best-selling console in the US for 22 months in a row.

Most months it sells between 200 and 300,000 units and has 40-50% of the console market; but over Thanksgiving alone Microsoft sold over 750,000 Xboxes in the US (compared to 400,000 sales for the Wii U).

Add in 40 million Xbox LIVE members, over $220M in sales in just the first 24 hours that Halo 4 was available, and 62 streaming TV and movie services on Xbox LIVE , and Xbox is undeniably successful.

5. Xbox Music and SmartGlass

Free streaming in Windows 8 (even with some adverts that haven't shown up yet) and Smart DJ playlists in Xbox Music (on Windows 8 and Xbox) give Spotify some serious competition.

Using SmartGlass on Windows, iOS and Android devices to control your Xbox without ever picking up a controller is a really impressive experience (far more so than the hit-and-miss Windows 8 Play To features).

Add in Internet Explorer, SkyDrive and voice control on Xbox, and those Xbox sales numbers are clearly about more than just gaming.

Apple is still talking about tackling the TV and home entertainment market; Microsoft might have already done it.

6. Outlook.com

Hotmail has an image problem, with long-solved spam problems still haunting the service.

Not so Outlook.com, which has picked up over 25 million active users in just four months (and garnered plenty of praise for its clean Windows 8-style look, as well as for email management features that languished ignored in Hotmail).

A third of those users have come from Gmail, Microsoft says.

Other hits: the fantastic value of the Office 365 deal for students and Microsoft's smart move in snapping up business social network leaders Yammer (think Facebook at work).

7. Perceptive Pixel

The original Surface was a huge touchscreen for use in bars, hotels and sports venues and it never quite took off.

This year Microsoft bought touch pioneers Perceptive Pixel (whose touchscreens were the star of the 2008 US presidential election).

We expect their 80" touchscreens to start getting cheaper and a lot more common, and for some exciting new products to turn up with the Microsoft name on.

8. Botnet takedowns

Is Windows secure?

Windows 8 is the most secure Windows yet, but there are still plenty of infected PCs out there.

To its credit, Microsoft isn't just beefing up Windows security; its Digital Crimes Unit collaborates with law enforcement and security software companies to shut down the command and control servers – and the hackers – behind botnets.

Last year it helped take down Rustock and Waledac; this year it helped shut down the Kelihos, Zeus and Nitol botnets – a public service it deserves credit for.

1. Losing the Metro trademark

Metro was a catchy name that said what the Windows 8 and Windows Phone interfaces are supposed to be; as clear and unfussy as the signs at an airport or train station, with live information like a departure board keeping you up to date.

There was even a 'Metropolis' cityscape at the Windows 8 launch.

But even Microsoft's deep pockets couldn't persuade German supermarket chain Metro AG to let them use the name and that clarity got lost in a flurry of Modern, Windows Store, Windows 8 and Microsoft Design Style branding, and the claim that Metro was only ever a codename.

The cityscape was renamed Micropolis and then washed away by Hurricane Sandy, which Microsoft has to hope wasn't an omen.

Sure, what the product does matters more than what you call it, but a clear and memorable name is even more important when you're trying to distinguish two different versions of Windows.

2. No clear sales figures

At the Build conference, Steve Ballmer claimed an impressive 4 million sales (to end users and stores) in the three days since the Windows 8 launch, and after a month that was up to 40 million.

Initial US PC sales reports from NPD sounded far less positive, but since those figures cover PC sales before Windows came out and PC sales during Hurricane Sandy - but not PC sales in the big Thanksgiving shopping period - they're not particularly reliable.

The trouble is, with no actual Windows 8 PC sales figures, it's impossible to tell how well Windows 8 is selling, and the same is true of Surface.

Ballmer's comment about Microsoft's ambitions with Surface being modest was widely misreported as being about sales figures; it wasn't, and Microsoft has increased production of its Surface tablet.

But, again, until we see the real sales figures, no-one but Microsoft knows how successful it is.

3. Windows Phone secrecy

After Nokia leaked a video with Windows Phone head Joe Belfiore explaining the new features, Microsoft cracked down on everything about Windows Phone – including that the SDK developers need to create new apps.

Concentrating on big-name apps like Angry Birds means more of what the app users want is on Windows Phone 8, but it left smaller developers frustrated – and publicly venting that frustration.

And not bringing out Windows Phone 7.8 until 2013 avoids confusion with Windows Phone 8 (because the Start screens look the same, you'd be relying on the salesperson in the phone shop understanding the difference; unlikely in many cases).

But it also frustrates users who bought a Lumia, discovered they wouldn't get a full upgrade and are worried whether carriers will continue their often-abysmal record on approving Windows Phone updates.

4. IE10 for Windows 7 delays

Microsoft recovered fairly quickly from the 'mis-statement' that Windows 8 wouldn't get Flash updates between RTM and the October launch, and Flash updates now come on Patch Tuesday with other Windows updates.

But Windows 7 users waited for a new preview of Internet Explorer 10 from the end of June 2011 until 13th November 2012 when the Release Candidate finally appeared. That's a lot of Firefox and Chrome updates…

5. No news on Barnes and Noble

Microsoft let Barnes and Noble side-step a big court case over possible Android patent infringement, by announcing that it was teaming up with Microsoft to transform the ebook market.

We hoped for a dedicated Windows Phone or Windows 8 e-reader but all the partnership has produced so far is the Windows 8 Nook app.

6. Arguments over DNT

The Do Not Track standard is becoming a joke, with no real progress (but plenty of verbal punch-ups) in the last 18 months.

Microsoft is making privacy into a selling point by turning on DNT by default in Windows 8 and IE10; the advertisers are crying foul and Yahoo says it won't respect DNT in IE because users haven't turned it on themselves.

Given that DNT doesn't actually stop most websites tracking you, it all seems a bit of a storm in a teacup and we'd rather see Microsoft invest more in making Tracking Protection Lists (which do actually work) easier to install and use.

7. Negative marketing gone wrong

Microsoft has had some successful grassroots marketing campaigns over the last couple of years, from The Gmail Man to The Browser You Love to Hate to Ben "The PC Guy" Rudolph's Smoked by Windows Phone demos and #droidrage Twitter hashtag.

When Ben personally collected examples of frustrated Android users and raced iPhone and Android users to complete tasks faster on his Windows Phone, he made Microsoft products look genuinely superior.

But when Microsoft turned those into bigger campaigns, with races in Microsoft Stores and a follow-up Twitter competition, there was just as much Windows-bashing as frustration with Android on show.

Bing's Scroogled campaign - pointing out that Google Shopping is now made up of paid ads rather than search results - confused shoppers outside the US (where Google Shopping doesn't switch to the ad model until 2013) and raised a few questions about Bing's own shopping results.

As Microsoft gets its mojo back, claiming to be the plucky underdog doesn't always work quite as well (even when we can understand the company's frustration).

8. Losing Sinofsky

Possibly the lowest point for Microsoft this year (and certainly a low point for the Microsoft stock price) was the sudden departure of Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, soon after the Windows 8 launch.

A controversial figure (mainly because fans and supporters tended to respect his preference not to be talked about or quoted, while detractors were always ready to complain about him), he seems to have disagreed with Steve Ballmer about whether a major internal re-org is the way forward if the problems that hamper collaboration aren't addressed first.

Losing the man behind the hugely successful Windows 7 and the perhaps unproven - but critically important - Windows 8 releases, has to make us wonder what Microsoft will look like in 2013.

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By: Dilusha On 7:22 AM

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In Depth: How it's possible to play high-end games on ultraportable laptops

Gaming on a laptop has traditionally meant using massive desktop-replacement beasts tied to the power socket, with no hope of fun on the road.

On the flip side, trying to play modern titles on a machine with integrated graphics has generally meant staccato frame rates in the single digits.

But what if we told you that it needn't be that way? What if we told you that on an Ultrabook with only HD 4000 graphics we could have Crysis 2 running smoothly, and without too much sacrifice either?

Lucid Logix is a name that will be familiar to most readers as the company that allowed folk with Z68 or Z77 motherboards to use discrete graphics cards and still have access to the funky Quick Sync bits of the Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge chips.

Functional, but not too sexy, right? Its new Dynamix software, though, can double gaming frame rates on integrated graphics, giving laptops without discrete GPUs serious gaming chops. Lucid Logix is a tiny company with big ambitions, and now it's got the software to match that ambition.

We went to see Lucid while we were over in San Francisco for IDF. Usually when we say that we mean we saw a representative, but not this time - we actually saw pretty much the entire company. A good chunk of its small team was in the room with us as Offir Remez, president and MD of Lucid, took us through the demos of the latest goodies.

We saw its Virtu MVP Mobile software running on a laptop and a concept external GPU set up via a hot-swappable Thunderbolt connection - but it was the new software running on an Ivy Bridge Ultrabook that really impressed.

The little laptop, with its relatively feeble HD 4000 graphics, had Crysis 2 sitting on it. While it's not quite the crazy-demanding game its predecessor was, it's still a graphics hog, so on the surface it might seem unfair to put the poor machine through the wringer with it.

And with the machine barely managing to hit 9fps it seemed like a pretty pointless exercise - nobody is going to play at those frame rates. That's where Lucid's Dynamix software comes into play, though.

A quick press of a pre-ordained key to enable it while still in the game, and suddenly the FRAPS frame rate counter jumped up to over 20. Suddenly it was playable and much, much smoother. A credible gaming experience on an Ultrabook - what voodoo is this?

It's a software-based solution, requiring no extra hardware and - in a first for Lucid - operating on a single graphics processor.

"We take everything we know how to do," says Offir. "We know every frame going into the pipeline. We capture it before, we analyse the tasks, we know what it's going to do. We sometimes distribute it between the CPU and GPU, and sometimes different GPUs.

"We said, 'Can we use that in a one GPU environment and walk the fine line between quality and performance?'" he continues. "Would you give up a small percentage of quality - we are playing with pixels here - to double performance? Let's say 2 per cent quality to double performance."

What Lucid is doing here is based on something Intel itself passed around at this year's Games Developer Conference (GDC) back in March - something called Dynamic Resolution Rendering. It was a concept which allowed better frame rates on lower powered hardware, while still retaining much of the visual clarity you want with high-resolution gaming.

But nobody wanted to know. The extra code needed to add this into the developers' game engines obviously wasn't seen as worth it for individual titles on a platform as seemingly niche as the PC.

Lucid though has taken this away from the games themselves, and is creating an ecosystem that it can add to a machine to enable the resolution switching in any game on the fly.

The essential idea is to dynamically adjust the resolution of the 3D scene so that it can run smoother and faster, while still keeping the GUI/HUD of the game rendered in the native resolution. That way the overlay doesn't expand and end up taking over the screen - as it would if you dropped resolution as a whole - and remains clear and crisp and out of the way of the 3D scene.

As Lucid's demonstration showed, dropping the resolution of the actual 3D scene itself this way doesn't harm the image quality too much, and adds a whole heap onto the performance side. You can also, as Lucid is doing with Dynamix, offset much of the image degradation of dropping resolution by using less GPU-intensive post-processing effects to help smooth things out.

The trade-off then is visual clarity. Because the new technology is enabled on the fly, you can immediately see the loss of fidelity - there's a faint smudging visible around the edges, like you'd see anyway running the game in a non-native resolution.

But when you're switching from unplayable-but-sharp to smooth and a little less clear, it's a pretty easy choice. And Lucid hasn't finished optimising yet and is confident it can sharpen things up more in future iterations.

If you want a completely high-end, high-resolution gaming experience then you're still going to need a discrete GPU. But if you just want to play a 3D title with smooth frame rates on your Ultrabook/integrated graphics processor, you're not going to be that bothered about a little loss of clarity.

At the moment Lucid is only looking at this in the mobile sphere, but we also spoke about whether the same could be applied to small form factor machines, the sort of little PCs you stick under your TV for media functionality.

From the sofa the slight smudging is going to be barely visible, and with Valve and its big-screen gaming Steam initiative gaining traction, having a wee PC capable of gaming on your TV is actually quite desirable. This could really open up PC gaming to a whole new section of the PC world.

Now Intel is starting to take notice again and so are the laptop manufacturers. Lucid didn't fully realise just how well-received the software would be and is now being tasked with using it in the first round of Haswell laptops due for release in the middle of next year.

And if the 2x GPU performance of the 4th Generation Core Architecture holds true that could mean 40fps in Crysis 2 on an Ultrabook. Now that's tantalising.

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By: Dilusha On 8:38 PM

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