Most talked about gadgets of 2012!

Every year numerous gadgets, from makers both big and small, hit the stage, some to strike gold, while the rest to be lost in the deluge. The gadget freaks however never seem to get the enough of them.

In our wrap-up series of 2012, here we are with the 10 most talked about gadgets of the year!  

1. Google Glasses

Declared as the best invention of 2012, this product from Google, is a pair of glasses with a tiny camera embedded onto them, and a battery inbuilt on one of the arms of the frame. The glasses have in place a "heads-up display," in which the data is projected into the user’s field of vision on a small screen just above the right eye. They are like a smartphone over your eyes, enabling you to not just click pictures but also send messages across & carry out voice-activated commands.

These internet enabled glasses let one enjoy the digital with no disruption to the real. Though, lots of features are yet to go functional, the product has already got eyeballs rolling. Moreover, many a interesting things shall be on the floor once the project is made open.

2. Google Nexus

The Google’s first tablet was a highly anticipated one, developed after a partnership with Asus. It was more of a competitor to Kindle Fire by Amazon to a certain iPad, owing to the attention it paid on putting forth the best content rather than utility based or innovative applications. Closely integrated with Google Play Store, it opens up the world of content to you and lets you manage it efficiently. The tablet runs on a quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM, thus ensuring smooth gaming as well as video-viewing. Hence, undoubtedly it is the best Android tablet.

And Google Nexus 7’s success was followed up by Google’s Android phone Nexus 4, which has been sold within hours of its launch. Even after nearly 2 months of launch, users are still waiting to get their hands on this coveted Google Nexus Device.

3. iPhone 5

Apple’s new iPhone was the first major product release of its present CEO Tim Cook. 18% thinner & 20% lighter than its predecessor, the phone seems to have made dent in the Techie World. With all new mobile broadband technologies such as HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and LTE being added to its specifications was indeed an owner’s pride.

Endowed with an A6 chip, it provides twice the CPU and graphic output than the previous versions. Also, the phone now boasts of a standby time of 225 hours.

4. ipad Mini

 

This, much in-demand iPad from Apple was far from being a just another seven-inch tablet, to compete the rest. Rated as a bit over-priced at approximately INR 22,000 with not so awesome features, this svelte bodied tablet is already rocking the popularity charts, and youngsters seem to be saving to buy that one.

Its negligible weight makes it a device that’s no pain to hold. However, lack of retina display feature in the device is a turn-off for the ones who have been using it in other Apple devices. Nevertheless, it gets users the splendid ecosystem for tablet-optimized apps, movies, and music.

5. Kindle Fire

With Google’s Nexus 7 getting more popular with masses, Kindle Fire HD, the latest generation Amazon tablet, has lost some of its sheen. However, with some of the best content available from Amazon Prime by default on Kindle Fire, it makes this one quite popular. Kindle Fire is also better at carrying out multimedia activities and it includes an optional 4G LTE connection and is good in design and speakers.

6. Micromax Superfone Canvas A100 / A110

This 5 inch screen Android smartphone (or Phablet, whatever you prefer to call it) from Micromax was talk of the town when it first launched around 3 months back. The first version A100 was came with 1 GhZ processor and it flew off the shelves as soon as it landed, due to the price factor.

Smartphones with similar specifications and features from other brands were selling for more than double the price. Micromax quickly upgraded the phone to Dual core and IPS screen and kept the price same. It still remains one of the most popular of Indian smartphones!

7. Microsoft Surface

This device by Microsoft is their first and runs on Windows RT, which is designed to only work on tablets, and leaves you with no choice to use anything other than what’s available in the Microsoft store.

The device lets you multi task with apps by swiping & snapping which is cool. Another popular feature here is that of LiveTile which helps in keeping track of a lot of little things altogether. The performance is fine with no real issues & has numerous ports for connectivity. The attractive feature of the product is its various keyboard covers, but interesting apps are still absent.

Windows surface was one of the most anticipated gadgets of 2012, but its high price and lack of apps did not set cash registers ringing.

8. Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia hoped to revive its health in terms of popularity & sales with this phone that was the first to be based on Microsoft’s Windows 8. It got lot of attention for Nokia City Lens feature which enables you to extract information about the surroundings just by pointing the camera at the street.

However, it being on the wrong side of sturdy, in the times of sleek phones is a deterrent. Still, if that can be ignored, it is not that bad a product from the Finland based firm. And, yes..the colors on these Lumia phones are just awesome!

9. PlayStation Vita

After hugely popular PSP (PlayStation Portable) in 2004, Sony’s latest generation PlayStation Vita is definitely one of the best handheld gaming units around. Based on a four-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor and a four-core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit, it is really powerful. And with the awesome GPU that it has, the graphic quality is beyond applause for a device of that size.

Though, the PSP vita has nearly every feature a handheld gaming device should have, its steep price disappointed many gamers across the world.

10. Samsung Galaxy SIII and Note II

Samsung followed up their Galaxy S series with Galaxy S III and launched monstrous 5.5 inch screen Galaxy Note II, both of which were some of the most talked smartphones of 2012. Both these phones are probably the best iPhone contenders thus far, and despite hard times after the patent issues, it brought in smiles for Samsung. Samsung SIII sold around 20 million days in initial 100 days of its availability while Samsung Note II sold around 5 million units in 2 months within launch.

Price lower than iPhone 5, both these smartphones feature top-of-the-line specifications and offer nearly every feature a user may want from a Smartphone!