As 2011 draws to an end, we can’t help but look back at the stories that made headlines across the globe.  This will be a recap on the top MobileANGLE stories of this year.  The thing is, there are a lot of things that rattled the mobile industry this year and it’s quite hard to pick out just a few.  So, to do this piece justice, I’ve categorized these top stories.  But before you roll your eyes at me, this piece won’t be that long… I hope!  Here we go!

Top Mobile Product Releases

Apple

• Launched iPad 2 with iOS 4.3 version, iPhone 4S and Siri

Samsung

• Introduced the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy SII sold over 10 million units since its launch in April; unveiled three products at the 2011 IFA: Galaxy Note, Samsung Wave 3, and Galaxy Tab 7.7; Galaxy Player launched to battle the iPod Touch; launched Galaxy Nexus

Sony

• Unveiled tablets at 2011 IFA

Amazon, B&N

• Launched  the alternative market for Android devices, Amazon Appstore, last March
• Launched the Kindle Fire
• Launched Nook Color 2, Nook Tablet

Microsoft, Nokia

• Nokia – Unveiled the Meego-powered N9
• Microsoft – Released Mango to manufacturers back in July

Motorola

• Released Droid Bionic, Droid RAZR

Google

• Android 3.0 version was accidentally leaked and hinted for a cloud based music app; In May they formally announced the Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich at the Google I/O

Research In Motion

• The BlackBerry maker released their tablet, the PlayBook, back in April and was FIPS certified in July; Launched BBM Music aiming to gain more consumers; released new BlackBerrys BlackBerry Bold 9930, a GSM BlackBerry Bold 9900, an updated BlackBerry Torch for AT&T, and the new BlackBerry Torch 9850 in August; launched OS 7

HP

• Launched the TouchPad to AT&T exclusively, webOS to become open source as the TouchPad gets phasedout

Top Court Battles

• Kodak – The company sued a lot of phone makers for allegedly infringing their patents regarding preview software in camera phones; Kodak won
• Apple – Apple and Samsung keep battling in court with Apple managing to ban sales of some Samsung products in other countries like Germany but Samsung was able to overthrow most of them; HTC lost to Apple for infringing to of their patents but filed an appeal; Yellowgate and Batterygate scandal; lost to Motorola Mobility
• Sony-LG – Entered a cross licensing agreement to end patent dispute
• RIM – Faced with class action law suit due to service outage
• Carrier IQ – Because of the logging controversy, they and partner carriers are facing a class action lawsuit

Top Mobile Battles

• AT&T-T-Mobile – blocked by the FCC, DOJ, and other carrier for a number of reasons
• Google-Motorola – pending until the European Commission is done scrutinizing it
• Apple – iOS 4 was caught logging location data back in April which they addressed with  the 4.3.3 iOS update; sued by South Koreans for location tracking; Siri angered pro-choice group
• Google – Android-based mobile devices flooded with malware-laced apps
• RIM – Their BBM service was used to create havoc in London and threatened by hackers in they cooperated in the investigation; Massive service outage angered consumers
• HP – announced that webOS based devices will cease production
• Carrier IQ – caught secretly logging mobile activity by Trevor Eckhart
• Samsung – Galaxy Nexus has a volume bug, no Flash and no Google Wallet

Top Acquisitions & Partnerships

• Microsoft – Nokia’s Stephen Elop and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer announced their partnership and how their products will be deeply integrated; Managed to have Android OEM partners sign a licensing deal with them and pay royalties for the use of their patents to prevent court cases
• RIM – Acquisition of smartphone security software developer Ubitexx
• Millennial Media – They acquired location-based mobile marketing solutions Condaptive
• HTC- Acquired S3 Graphics and Dashwire Inc.
• Google – Partnered with Mastercard-Citigroup to push through with Near Field Communication payment method; Beefed up their portfolio with talent buys such as The Dealmap
• SAP – Acquired Right Hemisphere, SaaS
• Samsung – Partnered with Microsoft to launch Windows Phone-based devices and Linux Foundation to build a new mobile OS dubbed as Tizen
• Sony – Plans to buyout Ericsson from partnership to venture out in the mobile realm alone

There you go, those are the top stories of 2011.  Join us in 2012 as we continue to report on interesting and pertinent news regarding the mobile world.  Ciao!