By the time you read this, we will already be in a new year, but before last year ended, we decided to look back on the biggest mobile tech stores of the past twelve months in the week's episode of PhoneDog Live. There were so many big stories; some of them I remembered, some of them I had forgotten about, and some I didn't even realize were happening. Of course, we all remember the failed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, the patent battles between Apple and Android device manufacturers, and sad moments like the death of Steve Jobs, but I almost didn't realize how big last year was for Android, tablets, and the growth of 4G until I looked back at the numbers.
During the show, we talked about the ten biggest stories including my top five smartphones of the year. There were positive stories and trends and there were some negative stories as well. 2011 was not a good year for Nokia, webOS, and RIM who each had its share of drama and decline in the market. Data throttling became the norm in 2011, with Sprint being the lone ranger of the four major wireless carriers who has not yet resorted to soft data caps. We discussed the few acquisitions that dominated the news, the impact that social networking had on our lives, the growth of 4G, and much more. Overall, 2011 was a good year in the mobile technology space. Hopefully, 2012 can be just as eventful and exciting.
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