Features Hardware The Year in Tech: 2012 Top Tech Stories Page 3 : The Web, Tech Culture, Gaming By TechSpot Staff December 30, 2012 Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Facebook Twitter Reddit RSS Comments The Web, Tech Culture, Gaming Hardware Apple The Web CPU/Graphics Google Tech Culture Software Microsoft Gaming Mobile Patent Wars Security The Web and Internet January Grooveshark sued, Spotify limits free music to 10 hours per month Reddit prepares for anti-SOPA blackout, others may follow Microsoft overtakes Yahoo in U.S. search market ICANN selling custom top-level domains for $185,000 Jerry Yang resigns from all his positions at Yahoo Roundup: PIPA collapses, SOPA hearing to resume in February MegaUpload shut down by US government, four execs arrested MPAA threatens Congress over SOPA, says blackout "abuse of power" Amazon merchant bribed buyers with refunds in exchange for reviews February Facebook finally files long-rumored $5 billion IPO French courts fines Google for offering free mapping services You might be a terrorist if you have two cell phones, use Web proxies Double Fine Kickstarter campaign raises over 700k in one day – make that 1+ million Facebook introduces Timeline for Pages March U.S. says it can seize any .com domain, regardless of where it is registered Acer Iconia Tab A510 unveiled, packs Tegra 3 and ICS Angry Birds Space suma 10 millones de descargas en tres días April Arizona legislation will make cyberbullies, Internet trolls criminals Non-profit ISP start up promises fully encrypted, private Internet Pew: 20% of adults avoid Internet, smartphones closing digital divide Google Drive released, offers 5GB free, 25GB for $2.49/mo May After five days, Facebook ranks as worst IPO flop of the decade June German cable ISP hits 4.7Gbps Internet speeds via existing infrastructure Internet "Bill of Rights" proposed by anti-SOPA lawmakers Comcast refuses IP lookups, calls anti-piracy case a 'shake down' Scientists hit wireless speeds of 2.56Tbps using light vortex beams Google creates neural network, teaches itself to recognize cats July EU Court: digitally-distributed software, games can be resold as used Google veteran Marissa Mayer named Yahoo CEO YouTube offers face blurring in one click YouTube to cut spam by asking you to comment with your real name August Steve Wozniak predicts lots of problems for cloud storage Google expands Knowledge Graph, trials Gmail content in search Microsoft Xbox 720 developer kit sells for $20,100 on eBay Ecuadorian government grants Wikileaks' Julian Assange diplomatic asylum Editorial: Why I Left Facebook After 7 Years, But Was Forced Back In Infographic: The Internet 10 years later How ants have used the Internet's TCP algorithms for ages September Researchers: Your IP is logged within 3 hours of downloading a torrent California residents stocking up at Amazon ahead of sales tax deadline 17-year-old eBay unveils new logo to reflect changing marketplace 10-15% of online reviews will be paid for by companies in 2013 Digital Music Index report reveals the top 10 BitTorrent countries Happy birthday: The emoticon turns 30 years old today Iran blocks Google due to video controversy, readies own Internet W3C: HTML 5.0 to be finalized in 2014, HTML 5.1 coming in 2016 October Best Buy stores to match Amazon's prices through the holidays The Pirate Bay ditches its servers to become raid-proof Survey shows first ever decline in Internet usage, but there's a catch Amazon Web Services outage takes down Reddit, Netflix, Pinterest November Gmail finally overtakes Hotmail as world's top email service Demonoid's tracker flickers to life, website remains dark Syria pulls the plug, Internet traffic comes to a halt December Nielsen Social Media report shows Pinterest grew by leaps and bounds Yahoo updates e-mail client, revises apps for Android, iOS, Windows 8 Google updates image search algorithm, makes it harder to find porn Pristine Apple I computer sold for $630,000 to anonymous buyer Facebook is experimenting with paid messages sent to strangers Congress cuts amendment banning warrantless email snooping Tech Culture January File sharing recognized as an official religion in Sweden Reddit prepares for anti-SOPA blackout, others may follow Wikipedia joins others in 24-hour blackout to protest SOPA Kodak files for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection February You might be a terrorist if you have two cell phones, use Web proxies Double Fine Kickstarter campaign raises over 700k in one day – make that 1+ million March Facebook threatens legal action against password-demanding employers Americans lost $30 billion worth of mobile phones in 2011 New self-repairing plastic 'bleeds' and 'heals' like human skin April EA voted the worst company in America, awarded a Golden Poo Valve's new employee handbook is chock-full of awesome, read it now May Tech Fail! Biggest Flops of The Last 10+ Years Virgin Media censors Pirate Bay in UK, results in 12 million more visitors Religious websites are three times riskier than porn sites for malware Nevada embraces driverless cars, issues autonomous vehicle licenses Genetically-engineered viruses may power devices of the future Kodak maintained an underground nuclear reactor for over 30 years IBM bans Siri from the workplace, cites privacy concerns June IBM supercomputer overtakes Japan's Fujitsu as world's fastest July The first picture ever uploaded to the web and the story behind it Qualcomm teams up with Renault to trial wireless electric car charging TPB fines to be used to fight more piracy cases, not refund artists August Dell tries to sell extended warranties using questionable tactics Editorial: Why I Left Facebook After 7 Years, But Was Forced Back In Judge refuses to change $675,000 fine in music downloading case How ants have used the Internet's TCP algorithms for ages Majority of Americans believe bad weather affects cloud computing September Opinion: The stalemate against piracy in PC gaming doesn't help anyone QR code is largest on record, Minecraftian feat spans 7 acres of corn World of Warcraft secretly embeds user data in screenshots Google says driverless cars are coming within the next five years NZ Prime Minister apologizes to MegaUpload's Kim DotCom October The CD turns 30: Time is ticking as the compact disc eyes obsolescence PC shipments fall for first time since 2001 Americans could lose the right to resell their own possessions Physicists may prove we exist in a computer simulation Teen electrocuted while salvaging parts from a computer Beautiful photos of Google's data centers will blow your mind Jailbreaking smartphones remains legal. Tablets? Not so much. November Every laptop display should be 2560x1600, dreams Linus Torvalds MasterCard to release credit card with display and keypad in 2013 SEAL Team Six members disciplined for sharing secrets with EA Police raid targets 9-year-old pirate, Winnie the Pooh laptop seized Elon Musk outlines plans to build an 80,000 person colony on Mars Dad creates video-equipped quadrocopter to walk son to the bus stop December Phones to play a key role in Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks show 'Calm Act' regulating TV commercial volume levels now in effect Pristine Apple I computer sold for $630,000 to anonymous buyer WOF: Biggest tech failures of 2012 Weekend Open Forum: Technology predictions for 2013 Sony stops shipping the PlayStation 2 in Japan after nearly 13 years Gaming January Microsoft Flight will be free-to-play, set for spring takeoff Nintendo shows off new Wii U at CES Witcher 2 developer apologizes for pay-or-else scheme Paradox: DRM is a waste of money, only pleases investors February Digital game purchases: do we really "own" them? The PlayStation Vita ships worldwide, reviewed March Mass Effect 3 reviews: Some casual observations SimCity reboot announced at Game Developers Conference Dead or alive? PC gaming generates a record $18.6 billion in 2011 Mass Effect 3 Tested, Benchmarked Angry Birds Space downloaded 10 million times in first three days April Capcom is proud to charge you extra for game content that's on the disc you already paid for Commodore founder, tech pioneer Jack Tramiel dies at 83 Diablo 3 demo accidentally made available, Blizzard shuts down servers Valve confirms Steam and Source engine for Linux May Diablo III server debacle demonstrates the problem with 'always-online' games Diablo III becomes the fastest-selling PC game in history June E3 2012 PC game trailer roundup Max Payne 3 Performance Tested, Benchmarked Next-gen engine from Square Enix shows what future games could look like, tech demo video inside Decade-long game of Civilization II leads to post-apocalyptic nightmare Max Payne 3 multiplayer cheaters forced to play with each other Weekend Open Forum: Best and worst video game sequels? John Carmack isn't excited about next generation gaming consoles July Ouya takes to Kickstarter to fund Android-based gaming console Fortnite will be the first Unreal Engine 4 title, PC-exclusive at launch Infographic: The difference between Torchlight and Torchlight II August Star Wars: The Old Republic going free-to-play in November Valve: L4D2 runs 20% faster on Ubuntu than Windows 7 The best and worst PC gaming franchises as voted by readers Microsoft Xbox 720 developer kit sells for $20,100 on eBay Play Nintendo 64 games in your browser using this new emulator Opinion: The subscription MMO is dead - long live free to play? September Angry Birds spinoff 'Bad Piggies' set to launch this month Opinion: The stalemate against piracy in PC gaming doesn't help anyone Interview with 'Ravaged' indie developer, 2Dawn Games World of Warcraft secretly embeds user data in screenshots Download of the Week: Black Mesa 1.0 Borderlands 2 GPU & CPU Performance Test October Custom UT2004 bots are more human than real-life players Hackers use exploit to massacre entire cities in World of Warcraft EA gives away thousands of free games in promo code blunder November Team Fortress meets Minecraft in upcoming game Ace of Spades Halo 4 Review: Master Chief is Back Call of Duty: Black Ops II generates $500 million in 24 hours Final issue of Xbox World reveals details on Microsoft's Xbox 720 Wii U Review: Nintendo's Latest Is Out the Door December Far Cry 3 Tested, Benchmarked Data shows Windows 8 hasn't stimulated PC gaming as anticipated Valve readies living room PCs to rival next-gen game consoles Steam suspends "The War Z" sales due to gamer outcry Sony stops shipping the PlayStation 2 in Japan after nearly 13 years Hardware Apple The Web CPU/Graphics Google Tech Culture Software Microsoft Gaming Mobile Patent Wars Security If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing. 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