13 of the tech industry’s biggest news stories of 2013

This has been an exciting 12 months. From BlackBerry to Google and Microsoft, almost all big names in the tech industry has had their share of controversy this past year. Below is a list of the tech industry’s biggest news of 2013.

BlackBerry almost being bought out, Thorsten Heins steps down
After the smartphone giant’s sales weren’t looking too swell, it seemed for a while that BlackBerry was going to be acquired by Fairfax Financial Holdings for a proposed US$4.7-billion. The deal fell through eventually but BlackBerry still surprised us all and Thorsten Heins ended up stepping down as CEO and board member.

The tale of BlackBerry’s hurdles manifested after the poor sales of the BB 10 series of smartphones. The company then rolled out BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) application available on competing operating systems Android and iOS with surprising success.

iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, iPad Aid, iPad mini retina, etc.
The Cupertino giant launched its latest products including the plastic (a first for Apple) iPhone 5C, the iPhone 5S that carries a fingerprint scanner, the iPad Air which is 7.5mm thin and weighs 45g and then the iPad mini retina which has the legendary retina display packed into a 7.9” display. Apple broke a new record selling a combined 9 million iPhone 5S and 5C smartphones over the handsets’ first full weekend.

Furthermore, Apple released new Mac products such as an updated Macbook Air (2013), Macbook Pro (2013) and the cylinder-shaped Mac Pro. Lastly, Apple revamped its mobile operating system, iOS 7, with cleaner features together with the latest Mac OS X 10.9.

Yahoo! buying Tumblr
After many rumours, Yahoo! eventually announced its acquisition of blogging platform Tumblr for US$1.1-billion cash. This is part of Yahoo!’s greater scheme to revamp itself.

This is part of Yahoo!’s long history of buy-outs of which is has this year reveled in. This acquisition binge has come a long way and is part of its survival mechanism. The company has now acquired a massive total of 80 internet companies.

Elon Musk’s hyperloops
In mid-August, tech billionaire and Tony Stark enthusiast Elon Musk detailed the plans to build the so-called transportation of the future. This sci-fi concept known as a Hyperloop, aims to take people from San Francisco to LA in only 30 minutes.

The project is expected to cost around US$6-billion for the passenger-only rides. People will be hosted by aluminium pods and shot through tubes to their ultimate destinations at speeds of up to 1300 kilometres per hour. It’s much more complicated as that but it sounds amazing and got the media on its toe for a while.

Jeff Bezos buying The Washington Post
On 6 August, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos made it public that he’s buying the Washington Post — one of the US press giants that has been struggling making ends meet.

Why someone might do this is still a mystery, and mystery leaves much room for imagination. Many people speculated that the reasons could be anything from integrating ecommerce and advertising with content.

Edward Snowden running amok
The whole story came a long way but peaked this year when Edward Snowden leaked sensitive documents uncovering the notorious NSA mass surveillance programme in the US and abroad.

In June this year, media started basking in the controversy that became the Edward Snowden manhunt as American authorities and allies were looking for him. From Hong Kong to Russia and Venezuela, rumours flew almost as much as Snowden did.

Sony releasing the Playstation 4
Sony released its next-gen console on 15 November in the US — seven years after it launched the PS3.

The gaming console broke the record for having sold more than 1-million within 24 hours of its launch in America and sold a massive 2.1-million when it was launched in Europe two weeks later.

Microsoft releasing Xbox One released
Soon after the release of Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft launched the Xbox One gaming console on 20 November. It’s been described as being more of an all-round entertainment hub for your living room.

Praised mostly for its so-called next-gen features such as the voice and gesture integration of the Kinect camera device, the Xbox One is something entirely new and forward-thinking.

Twitter launching IPO
The popular 140 character realtime micro blog, Twitter, took itself public when it crept onto the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the TWTR symbol. Twitter’s price was 74% higher than expected and shares sold for US$45.10 each at a total valuation of US$31-billion. Though not much has changed of the user’s experience, we can expect to see a greater but gradual focus on methods of monetization in the future.

This came almost a year after Facebook Inc. decided to go public. The popular social media giant struggled keeping investors happy after the first year of trading, hopefully Twitter can learn from its mistakes.

Bitcoin bubble, boom?
The digital currency for hackers, anarchists and hipsters set new records as it smashed its own record in June when its value peaked. Whether it’s for the better of worse, this sudden explosion caused for much excitement across the globe and people has taken to the web in all forms to share their expertise on the matter.

Prices in the virtual currency have surged over the year, in April hitting US$100 after trading below US$35 in early March and US$15 in January. Recently the digital currency has surged to a currency value of US$1300.

Google Glass going beta, getting detailed
Google’s new toy and potential disruptor of all things tech, the wearable computer named Glass was released to developers in February this year. Developers and Google Glass testers are known as Explorers or in some parts of the world “Glassholes”.

While currently in beta, the device is available to a select few for US$1,500 and has undergone a bunch of software updates and tweaks ever since its release. While the product doesn’t carry an official release date, it’s expected to make its way to people’s faces in early 2014.

Steve Ballmer stepping down as Microsoft CEO
Yes, out of the blue, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced he’ll be stepping down as head of one of the world’s most influential tech companies in 2014.

The Redmond-based company has continued to be a profitable company under Ballmer’s tenure and its entry into the console market via the Xbox and the acquisition of Skype will stand out as highlights. While the introduction of the Surface tablet range as a competition to Apple’s popular iPad hasn’t exactly lived up to par.

Microsoft set to buy Nokia
Early September, word got out that Microsoft wanted to buy Nokia’s hardware division for more than US$7-billion. It so happened that the acquisition is set to be finalized early 2014 but that it’s already happening.

Microsoft has agreed to a 10 year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current mobile phones products. Steve Ballmer noted, “Nokia brings proven capability and talent in critical areas such as hardware design and engineering, supply chain and manufacturing management, and hardware sales, marketing and distribution.” The deal is expected to finalize early 2014.