Most-awaited gadgets and tech of 2011

I still remember the celebrations we had at the fall of this millennium. Today we have already rolled on to the beginning of a new decade. Welcome 2011... we embrace the year with every prospect of living... nature, emotions and technology.

Speaking of technology, it reminds us that the year ahead promises to shower us with new gizmos, software and technologies. If the year 2010 was ruled by Apple Inc's iPad, iPhone 4 and a whole new bunch of upgraded iPod collection, will the organisation continue to churn out more such products?

Or will it be the year ruled by Samsung and Facebook? Or an unknown competitor would take over the trend?

Come... join us... as we take peek into the year ahead in terms of technology and gadgets.

Get ready for another sensational thing this year.

The forthcoming Linux-based operating system designed by Google is targeted exclusively to work with web applications and is based on the open source Chromium OS project. Much anticipated and awaited, the user interface of Chrome OS resembles that of the Chrome web browser.

Because Google Chrome OS is aimed at users who spend most of their computer time on the Internet, the only application on the device will be a browser incorporating media player.

Keep an eye on the space as we come up with reviews and more once Google Chrome OS is available by 2011.

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Okay, now motion sensor games have been an in-thing since long.

And 2011 is gonna be an even bigger thing as far as this form of games are concerned. If Nintendo's 'The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Ubisoft's 'Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time' are going to hit the gaming-freaks in early 2011, we are sure the year would have more in store with loads of variations in motion sensor games.

From low-end touchscreen phones like Nokia 5233 and Micromax G4 Gamolution to dedicated software for motion sensor games, everyone is gearing up for the next biggest thing in 2011.

Speeding at lightening motion, the most happening mobile operating system Android has reached the pinnacle of success.

Hitting off well with the likes of Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo and the most recent Gingerbread, Android is all set to take off with Honeycomb in early 2011. And no second thoughts on the fact that it will soon be the drone once it is launched.

The version 3.5 of Android will support tablet PC and other mobile devices and will definitely have some additional features that are yet to be revealed.

And to follow soon is the next version of Android after Honeycomb, the yummy Ice Cream version 4.0. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

Though we are yet to know the features and supportability of Ice Cream 4.0, we keep our eyes and ears open for any updates whenever and wherever it pops up!

Almost a year gone by since the sexy thing iPad took away all the attention in the gizmo town.

The extremely good-looking trendsetter from Apple's home has been a showstopper to the true sense of the word. While the excitement and craze of iPad is yet to die out, the next-gen tablet of Apple is buzzing.

Nothing is finalised yet, but rumours are high about the screen size, screen resolution, a front facing camera to allow FaceTime, Retina Display, GSM and CDMA support, a faster processor with more memory and a sleeker size.

A little birdie tells us that iPad 2 would hit the stores (in US) by spring 2011. Thinking it's too early for iPad 2? Remember the words -- competition and marketing!

Gear up for a whole new user experience with Nokia.

The world ruled by smartphones will soon have a new member as senior VP, design & user experience at Nokia, Marko Ahtisaari plans so.

If iOS, Windows and Android is ruling the market, Nokia is all set to introduce a new smartphone with Linux-based open source mobile operating system project MeeGo in 2011.

Stretching the prospects till at least a decade or so, Nokia hopes to cause ripples with the highly anticipated MeeGo device. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Tablet of 2011': That's what the media has been calling Adam.

The tablet PC is all set to be free in 2011 and the official video, released on December 18 by Notion Ink's CEO Rohan Shravan, has every reason to prove that it is worth to be called so. The video shows a very responsive and user-friendly UI, smooth and swift 10-inch WSVGA Transflective LCD screen (finger print resistant) and an extremely good look.

Features like pen drive slot, 3.2MP swivel camera, a very fast processor and various other usages. Treat it as e-book reader, send mails and check maps and navigation. There is more to say and show... but better wait for Adam to hit the stores in the near future.

After the antenna fiasco of Apple iPhone 4, one can bet that the next version of the mesmerising iPhone would be a stunner for sure.

We are talking about iPhone 5, which is rumoured to be here in 2011. We heard stories that Apple has been planning to make iPhone for Verizon consumption. The new iPhone is expected to have a different form factor from the existing one. An early 2011 release is rumoured and nothing is confirmed yet.

Till an official declaration comes our way, let's take a pinch of salt and rejoice.

If we ask you to name a browser randomly, chances are high that you would name Internet Explorer.

The browser of Windows OS has been a trendsetter since long and so is the OS itself. And it's time now for Office to shake hands with Mac and hence the declaration of Office for Mac 2011.

Well, the official launch date has been on 26th October 2010 and the year 2011 will be ruled by Office for Mac 2011 as far as Mac version of Outlook is concerned. Although the odd choice of labeling of 2011 would suggest that it is a bit more progressive than the time to be released Office 2010 for PC, it is in fact very similar.

LG is very much into competition.

If Nokia and Samsung are mobile phone market rulers along with the kings like Apple and Windows, LG is not left very far behind.

The future seems to be brighter than ever, and LG Star is just an example. The dual-core beast from the east is a thing to take away the entire attention and trust us... it is worth it.

The Tegra-2 based smartphone is a sleek and sexy device with an 8MP snapper with 1080p full HD video recording and an HDMI port. With a handsome 4-inch display, the 800 by 480-pixel resolution is eye-popping.

Powered with Android Froyo/Gingerbread, the phone is all set to go live at CES 2011.

That's what you are gonna call the Tablet PC of BlackBerry!

Initially rumoured 'Cobalt', this BlackPad is expected to be smaller and much sleeker than iPad and would have full BlackBerry OS compatibility and functionality.

Drone is that RIM's tablet would have an 8.9-inch display.

Every other feature is still to get uncovered and we are still to know more on this. However, we are pretty sure that the market ruled by Tablet PCs will definitely have a tough challenger name BlackPad in the near future. Stay tuned...

Sony plans to enter the 3D arena with its upcoming 3D laptop.

That means this year you can play 3D games on your Sony Vaio or watch 3D movies too at 1080p resolution. Last September, Sony showed off prototypes of a forthcoming Vaio laptop at the IFA electronics show, models that come with a '3D' button and active-shutter glasses to separate what the right and left eyes see.

The laptop uses frame-sequential' technology that rapidly cycles the full screen between left-eye and right-eye views, with blank screens in between each to reduce the 'crosstalk' that can reduce 3D image quality.

That means the laptop displays video at 240 frames per second to keep up with a 3D rate of 60 frames per second.

Facebook challenger? Orkut renewed? Google Buzz revamped? Or a new thing altogether?

A leaked screen shot of Google +1 implies that it is a toolbar that exists along the top of Google pages. There's a Share button (much like Facebook's 'Like'?), a place for a Google account icon, and a Google username. Next to it is a numerical count and an options menu next to it.

There is this much talked about 'Loop' area in the left side toolbar links. Well, for those who are yet to know... Loops is Google's version for 'groups'. Another reason to forget Orkut coming up?

History was made... and guess what? It's time it repeats itself.

We are talking about Samsung's own darling Bada, the mobile operating system to cover both high-end smartphones as well as lower-end feature phones.

If you are among those mesmerised users of Samsung Galaxy or Samsung Wave phones with Bada platform, stay tuned for Bada 2.0 in mid-2011!

With new features like NFC support, new SDK, multi-tasking, improved UX and UI framework, social networking integration, security enhancements, operator billing, ad gateway and many more, Bada 2.0 is much anticipated and eagerly awaited this year.

Thought we are at the peak of laptop technology right now?

Think again... we have a long way to go! Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD as it is better known as, is all set to come up with 'Fusion'... the future next-gen microprocessor design.

It combines general processor execution as well as 3D geometry processing and other functions of modern GPUs into a single package. The technology is expected to debut by June 2011.

Fusion is the successor of the AMD K10 micro-architecture, which is AMD's latest micro-architecture. The demo has been demonstrated on June 1, 2010 at the Computex trade show. We keep our fingers crossed for the ripples Fusion may cause very soon.