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Friday Poll: What's the best tech product of 2012?

There can be only one. The Samsung Galaxy S3 lopped the heads off of all comers to claim the top spot in CNET's roundup of the best tech products of 2012.

CNET editors placed the contenders in an imaginary fight cage and let them battle it out like so many boxing robots. Only five devices were still standing at the end. The iPhone 5 was left holding the tossed-off bridal bouquet while the Samsung Galaxy S3 hopped into a limo for its honeymoon with the "best tech product of 2012" designation.… Read more

Developer survey offers top mobile predictions for 2013

It appears that 2013 will be the year that mobile shopping becomes pervasive. According to the just-released "Q4 2012 Developer Survey Report,"  from research firm IDC and Appcelerator, a mobile-platform developer, it's likely that most retail companies will have enabled mobile commerce in 2013. 

The survey, which encompasses the views of nearly 3,000 Appcelerator customers, predicts that 86 percent of shoppers will access a retailer's site on their mobile device while shopping in a retail store, and 71 percent of those surveyed predict the mobile wallet will "permeate" the consumer … Read more

Former top Apple fanboy now rocks all Android devices

We already know Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak uses both iOS and Android devices, but this week we learned that the former evangelist who helped create the original "cult of Mac" has left iOS behind and gone all Android.

It's been decades since Guy Kawasaki preached the gospel of Apple in the '80s, but only about a year since he jumped ship as an iPhone owner for an Android phone with 4G LTE -- the Droid Razr Maxx. Kawasaki was quoted in ReadWrite saying he no longer uses any Apple mobile products:

"I fell in love with Android on the smartphone, and then I got a Nexus 7 and started using Android on the tablet as well... To me the great irony is that Apple's slogan was 'Think Different,' but today if you think different you're looking at Android."… Read more

Microsoft's Surface isn't quite taking over the Web, study shows

Microsoft's Surface tablet isn't quite taking over the Web in terms of traffic, a new study showed.

Chitika, an advertising network that tracks online traffic, decided to compare usage of Surface versus Google's new Nexus line of tablets by sampling tens of millions of tablet impressions from its ad network in the U.S. and Canada from November 12 to 18. What the company found is that Surface is barely making a dent in terms of traffic from tablets.

Only 0.13 percent of North American tablet traffic came from Surface, which hit stores in late October. … Read more

Google Nexus 7

Was it the impressive pixel-dense screen or possibly the fact that someone decided to throw a quad-core processor into such a small package? The little tablet that could, Google's Nexus 7, proved that if you make a powerful, well-designed tablet with a user-friendly operating system, it will sell in droves.

Actually, the iPad proved that first, but the Nexus 7 showed that you don't have to be Apple to pull it off. The $200 price didn't hurt.

For more on this story, see our full Google Nexus 7 review.

Go back to the CNET 100

Quad-core smartphone shootout

Until now, smartphones with quad-core processors used to be just a twinkle in the eye of wistful Android addicts and gadget gurus. Either that or they remained exotic pieces of futuristic hardware reserved for foreigners. Quad-core handsets are now starting to arrive in force. The question is: which device packs the biggest CPU wallop? This chart lays it all out with deeper analysis below.

Phone HTC One X+ LG Nexus 4 LG Optimus G HTC Droid DNA Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Processor 1.7GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon … Read more

Prizefight: Apple iPad 4th generation vs. Google Nexus 10

Apple's fourth-generation iPad takes on Google's Nexus 10 in another battle between two mortal enemies. The full-size tablet market isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so which one is your top pick?

Apple's latest iPad brings exactly the same design, with the new Lightning port and the power of the iTunes and App Store ecosystem. The Google Nexus 10 brings one of the most feature-packed 10-inch tablets on the market, a screen that bests the iPad's Retina Display, and solid support from the Google Play store.

Which tablet are you picking as your Prizefight champion? Cast … Read more

LG: Nexus 4 supplies beset by 'huge demand'

Struggling to get your hands on the elusive Nexus 4 smartphone? LG says that's because it's so popular, citing "huge demand" when CNET UK asked about the phone's gloomy supply situation.

The LG-built Nexus 4 went on sale in mid-November, but sold out in half an hour. It was briefly back in stock last Tuesday, but by the next morning the 8GB version was already out of stock again. I contacted LG with a few inventory-related questions.

When asked whether LG knows why Google is running out of Nexus 4 stock, Andy Coughlin, the head … Read more

What's the perfect device for life in a disrupted world?

VILCABAMBA, Ecuador--Growing up in the 1980s, I remember thinking it was too bad that all the adults had to work all day long in the same place doing the same things every day. And maybe I should be a librarian, because then at least at work I'd be surrounded by books with pictures of cool places.

Turns out that Eric Mack circa 1985 was quite the small-minded and silly boy.

Technology -- and the Internet, in particular -- have since disrupted (and will continue to disrupt) every aspect of our lives. It's the reason that I can sit on top of a hill somewhere in the Ecuadorian Andes and draft this missive about the imperfection of the current selection of technologically advanced devices that I can use to research, write, and submit said missive.

That's right, folks. Today I'll be exploiting the fruits of our remarkable age of instantaneous global information and connectivity for what's become quite the popular 21st century pastime -- marveling at the limitless possibilities of today and then quickly turning around to complain that the abundance of awesomeness that surrounds so many of us 24/7/365 isn't completely perfect just yet.… Read more

Tablets at CES 2013: Packing in those pixels

This year was most assuredly the most successful and interesting year for tablets yet. But, as exciting as it was, 2013 has the potential to be even better.

In the consumer technology space, CES is still the very best harbinger of what's to come, and January's show will be no different. Though there are plenty of juicy rumors flying around, I don't yet know which tablets will debut at 2013's CES, and even if I did, I'd probably feel obligated to kill you if I told you. However, looking closely at recent trends and reports, it's not too difficult to piece together a solid picture of the possibilities.… Read more