The Year in Tech: 2012 Top Tech Stories

January

Chile requires all cell phones to be unlocked as of this week

Broadcom introduces first gigabit-speed 802.11ac chips

Intel joins smartphone race, announces two new handsets with Lenovo and Motorola

HP's webOS to be fully open-sourced by September

Former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein leaves HP effective immediately

February

Windows Phone 8 'Apollo' based on the desktop OS' kernel, brings NFC, native Skype, more

March

Google reboots Android Market with Google Play, consolidates content

Apple introduces 'The new iPad', available starting March 16

Nokia CEO says multi-core smartphones are “just a waste of battery”

April

HTC One X Review: Quad-Core Power, Looks to Spare

Infographic: The death of RIM

RIM isn't unveiling new BlackBerry 10 hardware at BlackBerry World

June

iOS 6 brings new Map app, Siri updates, FaceTime over 3G, more

Foxconn CEO: iPhone 5 will put Samsung Galaxy S3 to shame

July

Google Nexus 7 Review: The Best $199 Tablet You Can Buy

Google Nexus 7 tablet costs $152 to build, teardown reveals

Rumor: Facebook and HTC to release smartphone by mid-2013

August

Acer: Surface tablet will hurt the industry, we may look for new partners

Gartner: Smartphone adoption up 43%, buyers waiting for new iPhone

September

Galaxy S3 overtakes iPhone 4S as the best selling phone in the US

Amazon unveils backlit Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire HD tablets

Apple iPhone 5 is official: 4-inch screen, LTE, ships this month

iPhone 5 vs. Galaxy S3 vs. Lumia 920: spec by spec rundown

Intel finishes Android 4.1 Jelly Bean port for x86 phones

Revamped Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD in-stock, $159 and $199

Apple iPhone 5 Review: Thinner, Lighter, Faster

Tim Cook apologizes for Apple Maps, points users to third-party apps

October

New iPod Touch available in stores, pre-orders begin shipping

Surface with Windows RT debuts to mixed reviews, most complain about the lack of quality apps

Jailbreaking smartphones remains legal. Tablets? Not so much.

Google announces trio of Nexus devices, Android 4.2 with Miracast and multiple account support

November

Survey names Verizon the best US carrier, AT&T the worst

Surface Pro pricing revealed: $899 for 64GB and $999 for 128GB

December

Google Maps app for iOS downloaded 10M times in the first two days

Survey: 25% of computer users debating on going tablet-only

T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T all expand 4G-LTE coverage

iPhone surpasses 50 percent US market share for the first time