2011 will be fondly remembered as the "year of technology" with a number of intriguing events taking place in the technology world.
We saw the launch of Google’s social network, downfall of Nokia, launch of Aakash (the world’s cheapest tablet), emergence of Samsung and phenomenal growth of Android as the positives, but we also saw loss of Steve Jobs and Dennis Ritchie, who helped shape the technology era.
To sum it up, here is a look at the events that made a difference to the technology world in the year 2011.
Launch of world’s cheapest tablet device: The stage was set. The world was looking at India when the nation proudly launched Aakash, the world’s cheapest tablet device. Aakash came and conquered the world within no time. It was launched for Indian students, but attracted attention at an international platform and became much bigger than expected.
The world now wants to be a part of Aakash. It was developed by Datawind, a London based IT firm in collaboration with the students of IIT Rajasthan. The device runs on Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS, 366Mhz Atom processor, 256Mb RAM and comes with more than 15k pre-installed apps.
…And came a Facebook competitor, Google+: Google might have failed in the world of social media with Orkut and Buzz, but it has certainly not lost the spirit to make it big in the world of social networking. Google came up with the new Google+ in 2011.
Google+ was initially launched for limited users only, but after a few months it was opened to everyone. Many Google services now also carry a link to user’s Google+ profile, which is usually seen in the black bar at the top.
Google+ gained good amount of popularity soon after its launch and became the most important service for Google. It reached the mark of 25 million users within 2 months of its launch.
Death of Steve Jobs: The loss of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs was not just a loss for the company, but for the entire technology world. We lost a visionary, a man who could think way ahead of his times.
His death was one of the saddest events in 2011. Jobs died on 5 October, 2011. The man is and will always be remembered for the revolution he brought to the world of personal computers. He will be best remembered for his iPod and iPad devices.
Apple-Samsung patent war: Apple and Samsung are the biggest names that make the technology world survive today. This is the reason why the patent war between the two giants became an important event to remember for the passing year.
The battle surfaced on 18 April, 2011, which later extended to more than nine nations across the globe. Apple blamed Samsung of aping the design of its iPhone and iPad devices. European nations including Germany and Netherlands banned the sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Australia also banned the sales of Samsung Galaxy phones, which was later lifted. This could emerge as one of the biggest battles in the technology world.
Microsoft purchased Skype: Microsoft became the proud owner of Skype, which is by far the best VoIP service. The software giant purchased Skype for $US 8.56 billion, which reaches over 124 million per year. With Skype, Microsoft is looking to challenge Google and Apple in the mobile platform arena. The software giant wants to offer a tough fight to Google Voice and Apple’s Facetime.
Launch Of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich: Android 4.0 is the latest entrant in the Android family...possibly the most impressive too. Android 4.0 is fondly called the next step for the mobile operating system. The new Android offers a lot of impressive features that will give smartphone buyers reasons to upgrade to this one.
Android is already dominating half of the world in terms of smartphones. With Ice Cream Sandwich, Google aims to touch new heights. The new features of Android 4.0 have forced the smartphone makers to switch to this one. Samsung's Galaxy Nexus is the first device to come with Ice Cream Sandwich.
The launch of iPhone 4S: iPhone 4S was the last device launched during the lifetime of Steve Jobs. It is the fifth generation of the iPhone and combines Internet communicator, mobile phone and touchscreen with widescreen iPod.
The device runs on iOS5 operating system with A5 dual core processor making it one of the fastest iPhone ever, 8MP camera that allows 1080 HD recording, better data transfer speed and lots more. And of course, how can we forget Siri, the voice assistant that comes exclusively with iPhone 4S. Siri has been in the news ever since it was launched.
iPad 2 was launched: Apple made one of its biggest announcements with iPad 2 in 2011. It was released in 25 nations across the globe. Needless to say, the device is now a rage and serves as a platform for Web content, presentation, games, music, movies, periodicals and audio visual media books. The device is lightweight, runs iOS5 operating system and gives full support to cloud computing.
Nokia lost its crown: This year has been "disastrous" for Nokia. The emergence of Android cost Nokia its market share. After ruling the smartphone market for more than 15 years, Nokia lost its crown and to Samsung. Samsung became the biggest smartphone marker in the world while Nokia slipped to 3rd spot. However, Apple continues to occupy the second position.
Death of Dennis Ritchie: Not many days after the demise of Steve Jobs, technology world saw another loss in 2011 with Dennis Ritchie, the greatest American computer scientist on 12 October, 2011.
Dennis was the creator of the UNIX operating system and was extremely popular amongst students across the globe for his C Programming language. His death did not enjoy as much media attention as Steve Jobs but his work in the field of computers will remain inevitable always.
