Gadgets in 2014: A year in review
2014 was a great year for Android, filled with lots of twists and turns, new releases, new device technology, new designs, and upgrades. So let’s go back in 2014, and look at some biggest stories of the last year.
January 2014 — Google and Samsung updates
In 2013 Android platform claimed almost 80% share of the worldwide market, according to Strategy Analytics. In 2014, Google is looking at new product categories in order to expand Android’s prospects in its existing strongholds.
As ever CES was the first big event of the year. The launch of some big smartphones, plenty of wearables and Samsung’s new tablets made headlines, which appeared to be a major departure from Google’s Android.
Google and Samsung signed a decade-long cross-license deal and apparently came to some sort of agreement that Samsung would decrease its Android customizations.
The constant rumors about the death of the Nexus line may have formed part of Google and Samsung’s behind the scenes agreement. Google move of offloading Motorola, was apparently a big loss.
The Moto G had been a big hit, but Motorola still wasn’t profitable.
The reason behind Google’s sale of Motorola is still confusing. The Moto G had been a big hit, but Motorola still wasn’t profitable. It felt a little as though Google was giving up just as the partnership was beginning to work, but it may have been under pressure from the other Android OEMs, especially Samsung.
February 2014 — MWC 2014
In Feb at world biggest mobile show, MWC 2014, few new samrtphones were unveiled like the Sony Xperia Z2, theSamsung Galaxy S5, and surprising Nokia Android smartphones. The S5 received a mixed response with some new features like the fingerprint and heart rate sensors, but lots to improve.
We heard a rumor about Google Project Tango which opens up some interesting 3D sensing possibilities. The famous app WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook and Google had offered $10 billion and missed out.
March 2014 — Android Wear
The big news in March was the launch of Android Wear and SDK, empowering developers to expand their apps to smartwatch devices paired with Android smartphones or tablets.
March was a great month for Motorola because of the Moto G that became the biggest selling smartphone in the company’s history.
KitKat began to roll out but according to official distribution figures; near the end of the month it had only hit 2.5% of devices, with 62% still running a version of Jelly Bean.
April 2014 — OnePlus One’s flagship killer
Making big news on the Android platform, newcomer OnePlus finally launched the One starting at an incredibly low price of $299. OnePlus One claimed a spot on many wish lists with highly impressive, progressive specs. Beyond OnePlus two rising Chinese stars Xiaomi and OPPO were launched.
May 2014 — LG G3 final flagship
In May, the LG G3 was officially launched that helped LG Brand to maintain its upward momentum. This phone totally surprised us with a 2K display, nice design and cutting edge specs across the board. It would be a serious contender for Android phone of the year.
The availability of Google Glass in the U.S was very excited with reasonable prices that would never happen. May also saw some destructive patent war winding down with the end of court cases between Apple and Motorola and the jury decided that Samsung would have to pay $120 million to Apple, but Apple would have to pay $160k to Samsung.
June 2014 — iOS 8
The month kicked off with Android’s biggest competitor and it looked pretty good and pressure began building on Google to show off at the annual I/O event at the end of the month.
In June the long awaited Amazon smartphone the Fire Phone was launched.
June also saw Android Wear in action, the possible faultless sync of our smartphones with our cars via Android Auto, and the Google Android TV with voice search and gaming.
July 2014 — Dust settles after I/O
The month began with affirmation about Android L extend battery life news. There was good for Sony that quietly launched the Xperia Z2 stateside and the Senate passed a bill to legalize cellphone unlocking which the House approved. Microsoft, having fully acquired Nokia, announced an end to Nokia X devices on Android. The big rumor of the month was about a Motorola-built Nexus 6 smartphone.
August 2014 — All eyes on the horizon
There were many rumors and leaks in August about the Note 4 release in September. The Nexus rumors continued to swirl. We were surprised to see HTC releasing a Windows Phone version of the gorgeous HTC One M8. The latest Xiaomi flagship, the Mi4, were also launched and made a good first impression.
September 2014 — Smartphones Battle & iPhone 6
September was positively action-packed. There were some major releases like the Sony Xperia Z3 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, an obvious attempt to innovate by the leading Android OEM.
We saw some major releases around IFA 2014.
As expected the Moto 360 went on sale. A few days later in September the new iPhones landed. The iPhone 6 was expected, but the 6 Plus marked a bigger departure for Apple. Samsung’s strategy towards larger phones was blameless and there was a lot of gloating. The 6 Plus bends news came out; the Android OEMs couldn’t resist poking fun at Apple.
The Apple Watch was also launched, and there was the announcement of Apple Pay. Towards the end of the month we heard that Intel, still missing from the smartphone platform, was investing $1.5 billion in China.
October 2014 –Android Lollipop and the new Nexus devices
Some new device hit the market in October including HTC Desire Eye, that failed to generate a major buzz.
The big news for android smartphones came out on October 15 with the official release of Android 5.0 Lollipop. This was the major change to Android in years, with a fresh user interface and lot of improvements designed to bind the Android and Google experience together. At the end of the month Motorola officially became a Lenovo company. Big news was for LG that announced record-breaking sales. The Xiaomi became the third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, and Samsung showed some disappointments.
The Motorola Droid Turbo was unveiled, made up for it with cutting edge specs, a big battery, and a super-fast charger (8 hours from 15 minutes).
November 2014 — Lollipop rolls out & N1 Android tablet
The Nexus devices were the first to get Android 5.0 Lollipop as it began to roll out in November. Motorola, Lenovo were now the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, overtaking Xiaomi. With the smartphone division under Microsoft’s control, Nokia announced the N1 Android tablet. It might be the first step towards some kind of comeback, but it won’t be making any new smartphones in the predictable future.
December 2014
As the end of year Android has extended its market share by getting 84% for the third quarter. It seems that the new iPhones have been a hit, but Apple isn’t competing at the budget end of the market at all. Windows Phone struggles to make any impact in emerging markets.
SUM UP
It’s been a great year for LG, Lenovo, and Xiaomi, but HTC, and Samsung and Sony have not done as well as expected. Rumors surrounding the HTC One M9 grabbing many attention. It will be interesting to see new entries at the MWC in March.
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Originally published at visegadget.com.
