Top Ten Tech Innovations of 2012

By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson

Google Unveiled The Result of Project Glass - High-Tech Augmented Reality Specs - in April. National Features

1. Google Glasses

Created under the moniker Project Glass, Google's wearable technology was finally seen in the real world in April on the face of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The space-age spectacles replace one lens with a 1.3cm heads-up display offering information otherwise seen on a smartphone screen. Google Glasses can, for example, let users message friends, read maps and look up pub trivia answers. Google Glass Explorer Edition will be available to app developers early next year for $US1500.

2. Miniature Tablets

Small tablets became big business this year, starting with a little something from Google and finishing with a handbag-friendly number from Apple. While 7-inch tablets had been seen before, Google made the small tribe bigger with its Nexus 7, largely due to its power and price (a quad-core tablet for $249 was hard to beat). Apple followed with a gadget it once said would never happen - the iPad Mini - offering a slick metal form, 7.9-inch screen and a 4G option.

3. Lytro Camera

It's the camera that lets photographers change a photo's focus after it's been captured and it arrived in Australia this year. The Lytro camera, created by Australian Ren Ng, makes sophisticated technology easy to use, as it contains a series of tiny lenses that capture light from all angles. For photographers, this means they can click on different areas of Lytro photos to change their focus. A new update has also delivered Perspective Shift that lets photographers move the image to the left or right.

4. Phones Go Large

Big phones are now big business. The tech trend started last year but went mainstream in 2012. From the HTC One X, with its 4.7-inch display, to Motorola's new 4.7-inch RAZR HD, smartphones edged closer to tablet size. Even Apple joined the trend, upping the iPhone's screen to 4 inches, and Nokia produced its first 4.5-inch screen on the Lumia 920. Samsung retained its crown as size leader, however, with the Galaxy Note II boasting a 5.5-inch screen.

5. 4G Spreads

Not only did many more smartphones and mobile modems start supporting 4G this year, but Telstra and Optus delivered Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks to more areas. Telstra's 4G coverage now extends more than 5km outside Australian CBDs and will reach 66 per cent of the population by mid-2013. Optus responded by delivering 4G access in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Newcastle and pockets of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Vodafone promises 4G next year.

6. Macs See Retina

Laptops chips, drives and lids get the most upgrades, but Apple this year focused on the screen. Unveiled in June, the 15-inch MacBook Pro became the first Apple Mac to receive a Retina screen, so-named because users are unable to see individual pixels up close. The screen features more than five million pixels, giving it a resolution sharper than a TV. The technology has since been passed on to the smaller 13-inch MacBook Pro.

7. Music streaming Services

Music no longer has to be stockpiled. From 2012, it can just as easily be streamed. Subscription music service Rdio kicked off the trend with a quiet launch in January, though it was joined by Rara just days later, and by big-name service Spotify in May. Telstra's MOG, Sony's Music Unlimited, Nokia Music and Microsoft's Xbox Music are also dancing to the same tune now, all for a monthly subscription fee.

8. Connected Cameras

Cameras finally dropped their pretensions and joined the internet revolution this year. Some fully embraced the trend, including Samsung's Galaxy Camera that offers the latest Google Android software and, for the first time, a built-in 3G connection for instant sharing. Similarly, the Nikon Coolpix S800c features a wi-fi connection and Android apps. Other cameras simply offered an optional wi-fi connection, including the Canon 5D Mk III, while internet-ready memory cards upgraded the rest.

9. Instagram Boom

The future will be documented in vintage photographs, thanks to Instagram. This photo app, launched in 2010, boomed in more ways than one. It launched on the Google Android system, announced it had attracted 30 million users and was bought by Facebook in a $1 billion deal in April. Rather than turning users off, the announcement only boosted its popularity. More than 100 million photographs had been cut into squares, filtered and shared by July and that figure jumped to 150 million by August.

10. Oled Television Screens

Unveiled in January and seen at tradeshows ever since, organic light-emitting diode televisions represent a giant leap in TV technology. The OLED screens offer significantly brighter pictures, higher contrast, smaller screen borders and significantly thinner forms. Samsung's 55-inch screen was just 4mm thin, while LG's was just 9mm. Neither TV arrived in large numbers before the end of the year, however, making this one to watch in more ways than one.

Source: Heraldsun