Winners:
Apple
Now that Apple has surpassed Microsoft in market value, where does it go next? How VGP-BPS22 about a sequel to the hottest-selling tablet ever, a version of the iPhone for Verizon Wireless, and a new app store made just for Macs? Apple shows VGP-BPS22A no signs of slowing down, and developers continue to pick iOS over other platforms when it comes to apps that make money. Meanwhile, Apple has become the number three PC maker in the U.S. (in terms of market share), and its Mac OS VGP-BPS9/S X Lion OS—due this summer—could vault it to an even higher position.

Google
With 300,000 Android phones activated daily, Google took the wireless world VGP-BPS13 by storm in 2010, with every carrier under the sun selling multiple Android devices. This OS is so popular that the Android Market reportedly just VGP-BPS13A/B blew past the 200,000 app mark. Now Android is making its way to tablets with a version of the software (called Honeycomb) that’s optimized for slates, and everyone from Acer and Motorola to Samsung and Lenovo will be using it to power their VGP-BPS9 devices. I’m not convinced Google’s Chrome OS for netbooks will survive, but the company deserves credit for promoting apps that can run in VGP-BPS9/B the browser.

Verizon Wireless
The carrier promised to launch the nation’s fastest VGP-BPS9A/B 4G network by the end of the year, and Verizon Wireless did just that, blanketing 38 markets and more than 60 commercial airports in lightning-fast LTE coverage. So far the network is so blazing-fast that it blows away not only the Sprint and T-Mobile VGP-BPS10 but my home and office Internet connections. Of course, Verizon Wireless is only getting started, and we expect to see a wave of 4G LTE phones, tablets, vgp-bps8 and other devices to hit the market soon. It just needs to work on adjusting pricing plans to account for the expected increase in data usage and find a vgp-bps13b/q way to make roaming between 3G and 4G seamless.

Adobe
I knew we had touched a nerve when our online editorial director’s column on Flash’s sluggish performance on mobile vgp-bps13a/q devices was retweeted more than 1,300 times. The title? “Mobile Flash Fail: Weak Android Player Proves Jobs Right.” In April, Apple’s CEO railed vgp-bps13/b against the technology in an open letter for being unreliable, a battery hog, and touch-unfriendly. Our conclusions were pretty similar, and we came vgp-bps13/q across several flash videos that were not only jerky but locked up the whole page we were trying to navigate. While it’s nice that mobile Flash attempts to deliver the full web experience, I turn the feature off on Android phones to speed up performance and save VGP-BPS2A battery life. Maybe dual-core CPUs in phones will help.

Dell
It’s not a good sign when the very man charged with spearheading your mobile VGP-BPS2C strategy is shown the door. That’s what happening to Ron Garriques, who Dell hired away from Motorola to jumpstart its smart phone and tablet VGP-BPS2 businesses. Unfortunately, the too-big-for-a-phone/too-small-for-a-tablet Dell Streak fell flat, and the underwhelming Aero Android disappeared from Android’s lineup without anyone noticing. T-Mobile won’t even sell Dell’s Windows Phone 7 device, the Venue Pro, which has VGP-BPS2B also suffered from shipment delays. On the notebook front, we loved the sound of the XPS 15, but were disappointed by the slow touch software PA3534U-1BRS on the Inspiron Duo netbook-tablet. The company’s new tagline for 2011 is “You Can Tell It’s Dell.” Let’s hope not.

Losers
Microsoft
The good news is that Windows Phone 7 is pa3535u-1brs launched, and I believe it has most of the ingredients Microsoft needs for it to be a success. The bad news is that it’s still missing a lot of features that any smart phone OS should have in 2010, including cut and paste and multitasking with third-party apps vgp-bps21a (software updates are coming). Microsoft’s biggest issue is tablets, a category Apple ran away with while the software giant was busy pushing out its tragically vgp-bps21/s misguided Kin phones. Steve Ballmer & Co. could turn things around with a slew of new slates from partners, but not without a serious touch interface vgp-bps21b overhaul. With new tablets on the way powered by iOS, Android, and webOS, Microsoft can’t afford to have another lost year.

RIM
The BlackBerry Torch was supposed to be the phone that would help RIM fend off the iPhone and the Android vgp-bps21 onslaught. And despite lukewarm reviews, it actually has sold quite well—thanks to a price drop from $199 to $99. Ultimately, though, RIM’s “fresh vgp-bps21a/b but familiar” approach resulted in the third best smart phone on AT&T’s network when it launched (behind the iPhone 4 and Samsung Captivate), Thinkpad T410 Battery and developers simply haven’t warmed to the BlackBerry platform as much as iOS and Android. In November alone, research showed that 80 percent of smart phone sales at Verizon Wireless were Android. RIM’s very webOS-like BlackBerry Tablet OS Lenovo 3000 v100 battery will continue to generate buzz heading up to the PlayBook launch, but the company will need to find a way to leverage this more Lenovo 3000 v200 battery robust platform for phones, before Google gobbles up even more share.

AT&T
Dropped calls. Web pages that take forever to load. Lenovo 3000 n100 battery More dropped calls. Anyone who uses an iPhone knows how painful AT&T’s network can be, especially in such areas as New York and San Francisco. Just recently, I had to turn 3G off while driving in New Jersey so I could latch onto a Lenovo 3000 n200 battery signal and make a simple Maps search. The carrier has thrown a lot of money at this problem, but it just hasn’t made that much of a difference. And now Lenovo 3000 c200 battery AT&T will most certainly lose its prized exclusive to Verizon Wireless. With not a single phone in its lineup offering 4G speeds Lenovo 3000 y410 battery and its LTE deployment way behind that of Verizon Wireless, AT&T will need to put up or shut up in 2011, or risk losing millions of customers.

At 15.6 x 10.6 x 1.6 inches and 6.4 pounds, the N53JF is heavier than competing notebooks such as the Dell XPS 15 (6.1 pounds) Lenovo r51e battery and Lenovo IdeaPad Y560d (6.2 pounds), but comes off as sleek because of its design. Just don't plan on traveling Lenovo r50e battery with this laptop.

Heat
After playing a Hulu clip at full screen for 15 Lenovo x300 battery minutes we measured temperatures on the N53JF's touchpad (83 degrees), keyboard between the G&H keys (86 degrees), and the middle of the underside (88 degrees). All of these temperatures are comfortably below the category Lenovo x200 battery average.

A well-rounded entertainment notebook needs to deliver plenty of eye candy Lenovo thinkpad r61 battery and back it up with stellar sound. And that's exactly what the ASUS N53JF-XE1 does. This 15.6-inch laptop ($1,094 as configured) pairs a Lenovo thinkpad t400 battery full HD display with booming Bang & Olufsen speakers. What about performance? The N53JF has you covered there, too, with a Core i5 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 425M graphics. We have a couple of complaints, but Lenovo thinkpad t500 battery overall this machine kicks ass and looks good doing it.

Design
The ASUS N53JF is one of the few notebooks that utilizes a very limited palette Lenovo thinkpad t61 battery (did you know there were this many shades of gray?) yet manages to look stylish. The fine lines of the brushed metal lid lead gracefully to Lenovo thinkpad t60 battery the slick little curve at the hinge, which adds a bit of a wave to the deck. The palm rest is also made of metal, which gives the laptop a sturdy feel.

The multimedia DNA in the N53JF becomes apparent the minute you see the huge speaker bar dominating the deck. Lenovo thinkpad t60p battery A strip of chrome above the keyboard houses buttons for multimedia, power, and more.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The N53JF features a new "wave" keyboard with large keys, along Lenovo thinkpad r60 battery with a numberpad on the right. The latter's small size is fine for crunching numbers but might turn off gamers. While typing, the key feel was IBM thinkpad r60e battery bouncy but slightly mushy, and we noticed some flex.

We compared N53JF with the Dell XPS 15, which delivered the best notebook audio quality of all the notebooks Lenovo thinkpad x60 battery we tested this year. When playing tracks with driving bass, such as "Pick U Up" by Adam Lambert or "Beautiful Dangerous" by Slash and IBM thinkpad X60S battery Fergie, the XPS 15 was the clear winner. However, with tracks that soar upwards or rely heavily on acoustics, such as "Dryad's Promise" IBM thinkpad t40 battery by Tricky Pixie or "Legions (War)" by Zoe Keating, the N53JF fared better. Overall, the XPS 15 has the best sound system, but the N53JF is a close second.

Ports and Webcam
Never one to skimp on ports, ASUS packs in a few designed with the media maven in mind. The HDMI 1.4 port is IBM thinkpad t42 battery ready for the next generation of HD connectivity. And the USB 3.0 port next to it ensures you'll be able to take advantage of super speedy IBM thinkpad t43 battery external drives and other enhanced peripherals down the line. You'll also find a USB/eSATA port, plus two more USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, good battery VGA, a 5-in-1 memory card slot, headphone, mic, and a Blu-ray drive.

The 2-megapixel webcam above the display is just okay. The images it produced weren't the sharpest, but while chatting on Skype fujitsu notebook akku our friend noted that the camera continually adjusted for different lighting as we moved around and didn't see toshiba notebook akku much blur.

The 3.25 x 2.1-inch touchpad is a dell notebook akku nice size (it could be bigger, given how much space there is on the deck), and has just the right amount of matte texture on the surface for smooth navigation. The single mouse bar beneath is not only a finger smudge magnet, but also acer battery marginally stiff.

The N53JF sports a 15.6-inch, full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) glossy apple battery display that provides a gorgeous canvas for Blu-ray movies and other 1080p content. When watching a Blu-ray of Iron Man we noted bright, popping colors ibm battery and smooth action sequences. We noted no pixelation or artifacts when transferring from light to dark scenes, and we appreciated the wide viewing angles. Glossy screens mean reflections, though, and ours proved somewhat distracting when hp battery watching flicks.

The real star of the multimedia experience are the huge Bang & Olfson sony battery speakers. They're backed by ASUS' SonicMaster technology, which allows users to customize audio output both on the speakers and when listening via asus battery headphones. The result is rich audio with a wide range that's well above the average notebook.

It was the year of the iPad and Antennagate, the year of Android’s continued rise and Palm’s getting fujitsu battery snatched up by HP, and the year 4G finally meant something. As 2010 comes to a close, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on those companies toshiba battery that pushed the envelope and enjoyed great success–as well as those that lost ground to the competition. This is my list of the mobile tech winners and losers, dell battery which includes some repeats from last year, as well as some new entrants. Congrats (and condolences)…

Samsung
Nearly 10 million Galaxy S phones sold tells you that Samsung did something very right with its new high-end acer laptop battery Android phone line. Available for all of the major carriers, these devices boast Samsung’s own 1-GHz processor and an eye-popping Super AMOLED apple laptop battery display that puts most other handsets to shame. In fact, I consider the Epic 4G for Sprint (part of the Galaxy S family) to be the phone of the year. ibm laptop battey Before the Galaxy Tab launched, I said that it would be the first iPad alternative to make Apple sweat, and–much to Steve Jobs’ chagrin–this 7-inch slate wasn’t DOA. The company passed a million units sold in early December, and you sony laptop battery know a sequel is on the way.

Nvidia
Nvidia was busy in 2010 racking up a huge number of design wins for its Tegra 2 saus laptop battery chip, which will bring lots of multimedia oomph to a new generation of Android tablets. And don’t forget phones. LG looks to be the first of fujitsu laptop battery many partners to deliver a Tegra-powered Android handset with dual-core muscle. On the notebook front, Nvidia says that PC makers will launch more than 200 products in the first half of 2011 that will pair Nvidia GeForce graphics cards with Intel’s sony laptop battery Sandy Bridge processors, even though Intel is integrating graphics and the CPU on a single chip. And only Nvidia’s Optimus technology lets you switch back saus laptop battery and forth between integrated and discrete mode automatically.