2013 has brought us plenty in the way of technology. Some good, some bad and some in between, but mostly it has been a great year for fans of everything technology based. It’s been the year of the tablet, the year of wearable tech and the year we were first introduced to a material that allows us to submerse our most prized gadgets and still use them perfectly.
Best what specifically have we all been talking about in the technology industry this year? Here are a few gadgets, gismo and apps that have quenched our thirst for innovation in what has been a vintage year.
Best Tablet:
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As I mentioned before, 2013 was the year that many of the biggest manufacturers went head to head in a bid to reach the top of the tablet tree in time for Christmas. And whilst there were some excellent new additions to the market in the form of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z and the Kindle Fire HDX, the clear winner has to be the new IPad Air.
Released in November, the latest offering from Apple really is the king of the tablets. Its speed, design and power put it firmly above all the rest, not to mention the fact that the Appstore is still the best application market out there.
Best Laptop:
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Most people will have been impressed by the new 13 inch Apple MacBook Air, but I have to say that if you are looking for an everyday laptop that isn’t going to blow the budget then you should look no further than the Dell Inspiron 14z. The performance is great and the battery life is a lot better than most other options available, and all for prices starting at just £459.
Best Smartphone:
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Smartphones can now do so many things thanks to advanced engineering. 2013 has brought us waterproof phones, screens made of gorilla glass and the potential for flexible and compact devices in the near future. But when talking about smartphones in 2013 you can’t fail to mention the revival from Nokia.
The Finnish manufacturer has been quiet in recent years but the Lumia 920 and 1020 have brought them back with a bang. As Windows continues to strive to be as big as IOS and Android when it comes to operating systems, the Lumia 1020 has been one of their flagship devices. It’s also the first smartphone to be a true camera phone and not just a phone with a camera.
Best Gadget:
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It doesn’t get much more gadget-y than something straight out of a James Bond film and so tech fans all over the world revelled in the fact that 2013 finally brought us the Smartwatch. Both Samsung and Sony have released versions, with Google and Apple possibly set to do so in 2014, but the best of the bunch has to be the original offering from Pebble.
This Kickstarter-funded project is easily the most popular and easiest to get on with. It is also easy to update when new software becomes available, as it surely will in the New Year.
Best App:
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Deciding the best app has to be the most difficult decision of this tech round up. There are so many out there, all of which provide different functions for different people and which are frankly incomparable. However, special mention must go to a few of the most downloaded and most widely used apps of the year.
In the gaming world there was the addictive Minion Rush which capitalised on the release of the second Despicable Me movie and Clumsy Ninja which has received plenty of downloads from the IPhone Appstore. The best social app of the year must go to 21st century dating application, Tinder and I personally like Waze when talking about GPS navigation apps. And lastly, business people everywhere were thanking Mailbox for helping them tame their overflowing inboxes.
I’m sure you will agree that there really has been a lot to celebrate in the industry in 2013. Manufacturers, tech PR companies such as this and fans like you and I will surely be hoping for another brilliant year in 2014.
By Chris Mayhew
Chris Mayhew has enjoyed what 2013 has had to offer in the form of technology and is looking forward to a great 2014. He would recommend Éclat Marketing to any technology company that wants to raise the awareness of their brand.