December
Virgin Media and BT had been knocking lumps out of each other all year, but as well as offering the faster broadband, Virgin took the upper-hand with the launch of a new TV service in partnership with TiVo. In response BT revealed it was to begin testing a 1Gbps fibre service.
Google finally unveiled its foray into online book-selling with the Google eBookstore, having had to contend with the objections of many copyright-holders who understandably objected to having their books scanned and put online without their agreement. The Internet giant also released the latest version of Androif - 2.3/gingerbread - which added Oyster-like NFC functionality, and a new Googlephone to show it off.
The mobile chip sector showed no sign of slowing down as the year drew to a close, with Imagination Technologies launching a major new graphics core and Texas Instruments revealing more about its long-awaited OMAP 4 family. And NVIDIA's Tegra 2 finally looked set for some success in the New Year.
In retrospect 2010 was a year in which the convergence between the PC, mobile phone and consumer electronics sectors really gathered momentum. You can now do much of the stuff previously associated exclusively with a PC on your phone, and we're on the verge of unleashing the full power of the Internet onto our TVs.
At the vanguard of this revolution are two companies coming at it from different directions: Apple the device-maker and Google the Internet services provider. Add the IT, mobile and CE incumbents into the mix and season liberally with upstarts like Facebook and Twitter and you have an amazingly dynamic and fast-moving technology industry. Cool.
