Wendy Li

As a tech giant, even though Apple didn't attend the CES 2012, its powerful influence hasn't waned.

On January 5, five years ago, the tech genius Steve Jobs revealed the first iPhone, combining a iPod, a phone and an internet mobile communicator into one device and kicked off an new era for the mobile phone industry.

iPad is the world's most popular tablet but with popularity, comes great responsibility and suffering as time and again, the device has been subjected to several torture tests. The latest test attempts to find out whether an iPad with a protective cover would survive a drop from more than 100,000 feet high in the air and still live another day.

The rumors about Apple's next generation smartphone - dubbed iPhone 5 - are flying thick and fast, and it seems never ending until the actual release date.

Nikon has unveiled its D4 professional DSLR camera which is the ultimate in versatility and functionality on Friday. The camera will also be exhibited at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2012, scheduled to kick off next Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Siri, the voice-controlled intelligent assistant, has succeeded in endearing itself to Apple fans, prompting the iPhone 4S to become the best selling iPhone ever. However, even as the users enjoy interacting with their virtual assistant, Siri is being blamed for being a data hog.

Internet search engine giant Google will reportedly launch its own-brand tablet, prompting Android fans to wonder which kind of device the company plans to make - will the Google tablet compete with the affordable, $199 Amazon Kindle Fire or the high-end, $499 (and above) Apple iPad 2?

Since Apple Inc. launched its highly anticipated tablet iPad on April 3, 2010, users of the world's most popular tablet have downloaded a total of three billion apps, or nearly one-fifth of all apps downloaded from the Apple App Store, according to Allied Business Intelligence Research.

Technology giant Apple has threatened to take legal action against In Icons, a Chinese company which has manufactured a Steve Jobs action figure in the memory of the creative genius, who had established the most valuable technology company in the world.

Roku has unveiled the streaming stick, which is as tiny as a USB flash drive, on Wednesday, with all the functionality of set-top box, including Wi-Fi, processor, and memory. This device will be showcased at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2012 in Las Vegas next week.

The rumors about Apple's next tablet - dubbed iPad 3 - are surfacing endlessly, prompting Apple fans to wonder whether if the technology giant will drop the price of iPad 2, when the new tablet hits the market.

Apple fans in China mainland and other 21 countries are going to be crazy after hearing this - iPhone 4S, Apple's hottest handset so far, will reach their shores on Friday, Jan. 13, ending various speculations about local launch dates, that lasted for several months.

Amazon Kindle Fire sold like hot cakes and reportedly, over 1 million people bought the 7-inch tablet instead of iPad 2 every week during the holiday. Kindle Fire grabbed maybe 1 [million to] 2 million iPad sales, a Morgan Keegan analyst wrote in a research note Tuesday.

A teaser video about Hewlett-Packard Spectre has been leaked and it is circulating around the Internet. If a person clicks the video, he/she might find that HP's newest laptop looking like a thin ultrabook. As a result, many people can't help wondering whether HP ultrabook will launch in the next week's tech trade show - CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2012 - in Las Vegas.

The tech giant Apple will reportedly hold an event that's important but not large-scale in the Big Apple (New York) at the end of January.

The time has come to wish year 2011 adieu and welcome year 2012. Year 2011 had been an eventful year and the tech industry kept itself busy with new product launches.

Even as the world is getting ready to welcome 2012, the rumor mills are keeping themselves busy with trying to to figure out what features and release date of the next generation iPad - and the latest rumor is that the new iPad, dubbed iPad 3, will be thinner thanits predecessor because of IGZO panels.

The wave of rumors about Apple's next generation (and yet to debut) iPad seem endless. The latest rumor is that the new iPad, dubbed iPad 3, An unconfirmed photo from a Korean forum suggests that iPad 3 will boast of a better display panel than the current one.

Siri, the voice-controlled, intelligent, personal assistant that has become the most popular feature of iPhone 4S, is useful and will try to answer all your questions. But don't push it too far or else, it might hurl curses at you, as a 10-year-old British kid found out, to the dismay of his parents.

Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless service carrier, will charge $2 “convenience fee” to its customers, who pay one-time bill online or by telephone, starting from Jan. 15.

The highly anticipated next generation iPad will come sooner than expected - in late January 2012, according to the latest rumor. And, hold your breath, Apple will launch not only one, but two new iPad models, which will target both mid- range and high-end market segments.

Sony Tablet S and Tablet P are about to receive Android 4.0 - Ice Cream Sandwich - updates, the Japanese electronics giant announced on its online community forum.

Rumors about the over-hyped iPhone 5's launch date, redesign and new features have begun swirling again even as year 2011 draws to a close.

During Christmas season, a well-crafted phishing scam has targeted Apple users, fooling them into give their Apple IDs and billing information, Internet security firm Intego (http://blog.intego.com/beware-of-apple-billing-information-phishing-e-mails/) reported in its blog.

Another Siri port, dubbed Spire, reportedly brings Apple's personal, voice assistant to any jailbroken device running iOS 5??

Internet search engine giant Google might launch its very own tablet with Android 4.1 within the next six months, Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said recently in an interview with an Italian media.

There's a bad news for the millions of users of both Samsung Galaxy S and the 7-inch Galaxy Tab - the South Korean tech giant has confirmed that these two devices will not get the Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” upgrade.

Microsoft, one of the biggest supporters and mainstay attraction at CES for years, will cancel its keynote presentation and booth at the show after 2012.

There was a time when wearable computer seemed like a fairy tale, but now it is all set to become a reality in the near future.