2013: year in review
The champagne corks have been popped and Auld Lang Syne has been sung; yes, it is 2014. We thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the highlights from 2013.
Galaxy S4
New year, new Galaxy. In the same year that it became the biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world, Samsung announced that it was releasing the latest in the Galaxy range of smartphones. The S4 was the most powerful phone on the market at the time of its release.
Samsung explored 5G technology
Mobile phone giant Samsung made a further leap into the future by announcing that it had already begun to develop 5G technology – in the same year that its predecessor 4G was rolled out publicly. Possibilities were voiced that 5G could potentially deal with instant streaming of extremely high def. and – potentially – even 3D games and films.
Apple unveiled iOS7
Apple’s latest releases always gain a big reception and the latest version of its iOS, which was released in June, did exactly this. The new version created a cleaner look designed to help to elevate the user’s content, and was praised by many people.
Samsung became top dog
The position of power changed in June, with South Korean electronics monster Samsung officially becoming the most profitable mobile phone company in the world. Apple’s share of the market dropped to 14%, which was its lowest share in three years. Samsung accounted for 27.7% of all sales.
Apple launched its latest smartphones
The previously all-conquering Apple released its latest smartphone venture in September. It launched two new versions of the iPhone 5 – the 5s and the 5c – with the latter in particular being focused on those with slightly lower budgets. Both handsets seemed to be popular with users.
Apple updated the iPad
Apple also used this year to provide a further update to the all-conquering iPad tablet devices, and the iPad Air was announced in October. The focus was largely on size, with the new design some 20% thinner than the previous model and only weighing around 470g. The new iPad runs iOS 7 and contains a more powerful processor. It also took advantage of the 9.7-inch Retina display for its visuals.
Google Nexus 5
Search engine Google also made a foray into the smartphone market in 2013, announcing the release of the Nexus 5 – a phone it boasted as being the slimmest and fastest Nexus yet. Using a 2.3GHz Snapdragon processor and a five-inch HD display, the Nexus 5 was definitely a visually impressive handset. It came complete with a range of additional features.
EE launched the fastest ever 4G
The new 4G network had already proved popular with many people. In November EE – the company that got the ball rolling – was able to announce that it would use London’s Tech City as a launch-pad for releasing the latest – and fastest – 4G network, with the aim being a commercial release in 2014.