Recap: Happy New Year everyone! Before we put behind us the hundreds of stories that made up the year in tech, let's take a quick look back at the most popular stories on TechSpot during the past 12 months. I really hope you enjoyed our daily dispatch of technology news and analysis as much as we've enjoyed bringing it to you. Here's to an even more exciting 2020!

Our yearly recap has been split in a few different sections. The top 10 most popular news stories, the most read longform features and reviews we published in 2019, the most commented news and top 5 most viewed 'The Best' buying guides are all below...

Top 10 News Stories of 2019

Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales has launched an alternative to Facebook and Twitter

The platform wants to keep the users from becoming the product

Hardly anyone would say that social media is good for you, yet billions use it in one form or another (often concurrently) every single day. These platforms make billions of dollars by addicting users and getting them to click ads. One Wikipedia co-founder wants to change that with a new social media site that is supported by the users rather than big advertisers.

Microsoft successfully archives Warner Bros. 'Superman' movie on a piece of glass

Project Silica aims to provide a cheaper, higher quality alternative for preserving digital content in the long-term

Data storage and archiving technologies are areas of particular interest for companies like Warner Bros., where a significant chunk of the world's entertainment media is produced and archived. To help with preserving this film and television content, Warner Bros. and Microsoft collaborated to give a first proof of concept test for Project Silica, a Microsoft Research project that uses laser optics and AI to store data in quartz glass.

Slides reveal Intel's entire 10th-gen series: Up to 5.3 GHz and 10 cores

Flagship Core i9-10900K is incoming

Intel is offering an appealing upgrade with their tenth generation of mainstream processors. Every CPU now has hyperthreading, and every CPU is getting a 100-200 MHz speed bump over its predecessor. The flagship i9-10900K is also getting two extra cores and a new boost mode that can push speeds up to 5.3 GHz.

The worst passwords of 2019 are as bad as you expect

'123456' is number one, again

It's that time of year again when we look back at the year's worst passwords and realize why so many internet users get hacked. For the sixth year in a row, the top spot is taken by the inspirational '123456' while '123456789' is at number two.

Consumer Reports says Samsung's Galaxy Buds beat Apple's AirPods Pro in sound quality test

And they're $120 cheaper

Samsung or Apple? It's a question that consumers have argued over for years---and it's not just about their phones. The companies make other competing products, including wireless earphones. And according to Consumer Reports, the Korean company's offering is better.

Disney uses Epic's Unreal Engine to render real-time sets in The Mandalorian

"If you looked at it casually, you thought you were looking at a live-action set"

The Mandalorian, a Disney+ exclusive, is the first-ever live-action Star Wars television series in the history of the franchise. It is also the first production of the property that uses Epic's Unreal Engine.

Tesla increases Supercharging prices to the point that gas might be cheaper (Update: Tesla takes a step back)

A global price hike means it can cost more than $35 to charge your Tesla

Buyers of electric vehicles need to consider that inflated charging prices could make road trips in a Tesla more expensive than driving a traditional gas vehicle. Despite claims of great savings, Tesla's rising Supercharging station prices are killing the alleged savings.

The complete list of alternatives to all Google products

Parallel universe for the super security conscious

With growing concerns over online privacy and securing personal data, more people than ever are considering alternatives to Google products. After all, Google's business model essentially revolves around data collection and advertisements, both of which infringe on your privacy.

Zen 3 is rumored to be flaunting monumental IPC gains in early testing

Zen 3 could be a bigger upgrade than Zen 2

AMD declared war on Intel with the launch of Ryzen, forcing both companies to rapidly bring their respective strengths of core count and frequency as close to their immediate limits as possible. With Intel seemingly unable to squeeze past 5 GHz without developing a new node, and AMD waiting for software to catch up before adding more cores, the present battleground is in IPC (instructions per clock). And Zen 3 is reported to be doing admirably thus far, with improvements approaching 20%.

China creates app to tell you if you are near someone in debt and encourages you to report them

The app will allow the public shaming of "deadbeat debtors"

The Chinese Government has developed a mobile app that tells users if they are near someone who is in debt. The app, called a "map of deadbeat debtors," flashes when the user is within 500 meters of a debtor and displays that person's exact location.

Top 10 TechSpot Features of 2019

Top 5 Buying Guides

Most Commented Stories