9 Most Popular Gadget Queries In 2012

What you should know: 
Yahoo! has ranked its annual Top 10 searches, only two other news events captured the top spot: the BP oil spill in 2010, and Michael Jackson's death in 2009. This year the half-billion people who visit Yahoo! every month typed the word 'elections' more than any other," wrote Yahoo in a blog post on Sunday.
The company also revealed the terms that mobile users were most curious about.

#1 iPhone 5

#2 iPad 3

#3 iPad Mini

#4 Samsung Galaxy S3

#5 Kindle Fire

#6 iPhone 4

#7 Nook

# 8 iPod Touch

# 9 Samsung  Galaxy Tab

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The Sony's new F5/55 4K

What you should know: 
After a few of years of denial that 4K was even necessary and thousands of RED camera sales, broadcast giants Sony began to get their act together and move toward 4K image capture. The stunning F5 and F55 cameras are the culmination of those efforts and more interestingly, an indication of a complete, and necessary, change of attitude at Sony.

What it offers: 
The F5 and F55 are identical 5 lb. (2.3 kg) rectangular bricks – to distinguish them the F55’s lens mount is silver rather than black – but their technical capabilities are different. The base camera bodies feature 4K (4,096 x 2,160 pixel) super 35 mm sized sensors with 14 stops of exposure latitude that can shoot 2K and HD to two internal SxS Flash memory card slots using various MPEG2 and MPEG4 compression codecs. The F55 can also store compressed 4K to the internal cards. Both cameras can shoot 4K uncompressed RAW (film-style digital negative) to the latching modular AXS-R5 recorder that uses new AXS solid state drive cards.

The advantage: 
The big workflow enhancer is that both HD and 4K images can be captured simultaneously, allowing for the rough editing of material using the HD proxies while the 4K RAW files are archived, color-corrected etc. This is a very attractive feature for producers and directors on busy sets.
Additionally the F55 possesses an electronic frame shutter (often called a "global shutter") that completely removes the wobbly effect that can be seen when fast panning a camera with a progressive CMOS sensor chip. The F55 can output 4K through its connectors and can shoot HD up to 180 frames per second for slow-mo effects. The F55 also utilizes a more "filmic" color filter array over its sensor than the cheaper F5.

The unfavorable: 
The cameras won’t be available until February 2013, many features will require (free) firmware updates throughout the year and prices are not yet announced, though are estimated at US$35,000 and $20,000 for the F55 and F5 respectively.

The price:
estimated at US$35,000 and $20,000 for the F55 and F5 respectively.

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The Tivoli Audio PAL BT

What you should know: 
The PAL was always impressive because it played louder and offered more detailed sound than its 6.25 x 3.69 x 3.88 (HWD) dimensions would indicate. As Steve Guttenberg wrote in hisoriginal review of the PAL in 2003, "The PAL's rich sound belies its modest dimensions. With FM radio, audio quality was excellent, and reception was consistently clean. For kicks, we hooked up our iPod and marveled at the PAL's crisp MP3 sonics."
Tivoli Audio's PAL radio has been out for several years and while it's pretty pricey, it remains one of our favorite portable speakers. ("PAL" was allegedly an acronym for "Portable Audio Laboratory.")

What it offers: 
It's great that Tivoli added Bluetooth streaming to its great little PAL radio, but its $300 price tag is excessive.
The advantage: 
The Tivoli PAL BT retains the wonderful retro design, compact form factor, strong battery life, and excellent AM/FM radio of its predecessors, while adding Bluetooth compatibility. It offers surprisingly big sound for its size.
The unfavorable: 
The Bluetooth performance (and overall sound quality) is decent but not good enough for a $300 speaker -- yes, it's overpriced.
The price:
$299.99
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The Best iPhone Apps

What you should know: 
Years ago, the iPhone didn't support third-party apps. Today, it's a fully-fledged computer that fits in your pocket.
Let's take a look at the best iPhone apps of 2012.

Sparrow has an attractive interface, and a feature set designed to please volume e mailers.
There is, however, one big problem with Sparrow. It lacks push notifications. Google's purchase of Sparrow also means that future support for the iOS app will likely be minimal.
Even with those huge caveats, though, Sparrow is the iPhone's first third-party email client worth having.
App Store: Sparrow (US$2.99)

iPhoto is nothing like its desktop counterpart. This version is a gesture-based editing suite designed specifically for touch screens. Its controls take some getting used to, but it's easily one of the best apps for enhancing pics on the go.

App Store: iPhoto ($4.99)

Chrome browser for iOS. Its interface and syncing get top marks, but it can't boast any performance improvements over Safari. Through no fault of Google's, it's powered by the same engine (iOS WebKit) as Apple's default browser.

App Store: Chrome (free)

Google Drive offers cloud storage and simple document editing on the go. Users get 5 GB of free storage, and you can pay $25/year to increase that to 25 GB.

Google's recent update, which adds spreadsheet editing, only reinforces Drive as one of the best apps of 2012.
App Store: Google Drive (free)

iTranslate Voice lets two people who speak different languages have a conversation. Tap the English button, speak, and listen as your words are spoken in the target language. When your friend taps the other button and speaks, their words are spoken in your language. While results can be hit and miss at times, its support for over 30 languages makes it a handy tool for travelers. However, it does require a constant internet connection.
App Store: iTranslate Voice ($0.99)

Burner gives you a disposable phone number for calling and texting. It's great for Craigslist transactions, online dating, and all sorts of shady activities (or so I hear).
The only downsides are that each new number is a bit pricey, and you only get limited blocks of minutes and messages. You can also achieve the same ends for free by creating multiple Google Voice accounts.
App Store: Burner ($1.99)

Drafts is a virtual scratchpad. When you open the app, it's immediately ready for input. When you're finished typing, a couple of taps will copy the text to the clipboard or export it to a variety of popular apps.
App Store: Drafts ($1.99)

Summly is built on a simple idea: you only need quick summaries of the news. It only gives you a couple of short paragraphs for each story. If you want more than the barebones version, you can double-tap on the feed to read the full article.
App Store: Summly (free)

Solar is a simple and beautiful weather app. The color gradient tells you the temperature and weather. Swipe up for the next few hours, swipe down for the next three days, and swipe to the left to change locations.
The only drawback is that the developers still haven't updated Solar for the 4-inch screens of the iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5G.
App Store: Solar ($1.99)

Dark Sky. The app answers three questions: "what's the temperature?", "is it raining?", and "is it going to rain?" Unless you're a weather geek, that may be all you need to know.
For those seeking more detail, a tap or a swipe will show you the radar and the next day's forecast.
App Store: Dark Sky ($3.99)

The free Pocket and Readability apps save lists of web articles, and present them in a clean, clutter-free layout.
App Store: Pocket (free), Readability (free)

Clear is the most polarizing app of the year. Depending on who you ask, the gesture-based to-do list is either a breakthrough, or too clever for its own good. Love it or hate it, Clear is worth checking out.
App Store: Clear ($1.99)

Bastion is one of the most stylish and imaginative video games in years. Originally released for Xbox Live, the iOS port has stunning graphics, a memorable soundtrack, and surprisingly deep RPG elements. The star of the show, though, is the gravelly-voiced narrator who reacts to your every move.
App Store: Bastion ($4.99)

Max Payne was one of the top games of the last decade. Eleven years after its initial release, it's one of the top games on the iPhone. The mobile port has enhanced visuals and some of the best virtual controls in the App Store.
App Store: Max Payne Mobile ($2.99)

The Zeiss Cinemizer OLED

What you should know: 
The Cinemizer is the Sony HMZ-T1 Lite. It's more than three times lighter -- 120 grams versus 420 for the Sony -- and therefore more portable. Design-wise, it's a lot less like a helmet (Sony) and more like a pair of glasses -- albeit it a freaky all-white pair of glasses. Like the ones the Doc wears when he comes Back from the Future.
The headset includes a battery rated at 6 hours when playing back from an iPod and 2.5 hours when using the HDMI port. The battery test found that the rating was a little conservative with the iPod though, running out after 6 hours and 43 minutes -- almost enough for two Lord of the Rings: Extended Editions!
While the Cinemizer can take an input of up to 1080p, the native resolution is a much smaller 870×500 pixels (compare that to Sony's 1280x720). The headset has a pair of OLED screens inside that simulate an image of 40 inches at a distance of 6.5 feet.
The headpiece has a set of adjustable clips that hold the glasses on behind your ears.

What it offers: 
While it looks like it came from the future, the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED headset offers performance from the Dark Ages.
The advantage: 
The Zeiss Cinemizer OLED is a lightweight and portable 3D headset with very good battery life. The headset is stylish looking and appears well-made. The headset supports iPhone
The unfavorable: 
Image quality is poor, plagued by blue and red crosstalk and minimal shadow detail, draining images of impact. The 40-inch simulated image is way to small. The earbuds sound terrible and the headphone jack only works with the iPhone attachment.

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The 2013 Nissan 370Z

What you should know: 
The Z's 3.7-liter V-6 is essentially untouched, outputting the same 332 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. That power still flows through a six-speed manual transmission before heading to the rear axle. (A seven-speed automatic gearbox is available.) The Z still sports the same classic sports car proportions. Even the 18 city and 26 mpg EPA-estimated fuel economy is unchanged over the last four years.
For your money, you get a set of "Euro-tuned" sport shocks that firm up the Z's ride and reduce roll when cornering, Nissan sport brakes with red-painted calipers that shave off the MPHs at a staggering rate, and 19-inch Rays forged aluminum-alloy wheels with staggered and sticky tires. A viscous limited-slip differential helps with getting power to the road and a front chin deflector and rear spoiler augment the aerodynamics at speed. The Sport Package also adds the SynchroRev Match function to the manual gearbox -- a feature that you'll either love and praise or hate and curse depending on your driving style and mood at the moment.

What it offers: 
The 2013 Nissan 370Z makes many comfort compromises in the name of performance. If that's what you're after, skip the pricey Touring trim level and grab a base model with the Sport package.
The advantage: 
The 2013 Nissan 370Z is a fantastic performer with great power and handling. The Sport Package further sharpens that edge, enhancing the Z's handling.
The unfavorable: 
The Z's ride can be brutally rough over road imperfections. Cabin tech options that should be standard are bundled into expensive packages and trim-level upgrades.

The price:
$33,120.00

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