2011: Year of the Restless Sun

After five years of surprising quiet, the sun roared to life in 2011. Our star erupted with numerous strong flares and waves of charged particles. Many researchers predict the surge will culminate in a peak in the sun's 11-year activity cycle in 2013.

Eruptive prominence blasting away from sun

This year also marked several key advances in scientists' understanding of the dynamics driving our favorite star. Having been relatively quiet since 2005, the sun spouted off a number of powerful flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) this year. CMEs are made up of massive clouds of plasma that are sent streaking through space in any direction at several million mph. When these clouds are aimed at Earth, they can spawn geomagnetic storms that wreak havoc with GPS signals, radio communications and power grids.

"We are getting more CMEs and starting to get some more-energetic CME/flare combinations," Terry Kucera, deputy project scientist with NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft, told SPACE.com via email.

Ten best gadgets of 2011

Samsung Galaxy S II: One of the biggest competitor to Apple's iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S II has sold more than 10 million units since its launch. Among the Galaxy S II's features are a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and a Super AMOLED Plus screens, which are stunningly bright and make for an extremely sharp, colorful display. The Samsung Galaxy S II is photo-ready with a built-in 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, with a 2 megapixel cam up front for video chat. All three devices can record video in 1080p HD.

Time-Saving Touchscreen Secrets

Touchscreens can be quick and convenient, but frustrating if you're entering large amounts of text.
If you're one of the 22 million lucky people who got a new iPad for the holidays — or one of the 200 million people who already own an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad — here are my top tips for how to get the most out of your Apple touchscreen device in the least amount of time.

Baby Powder
If it's particularly humid, or you suffer from clammy hands, that moisture on your fingers makes for jumpy touch control. Sprinkle a little baby powder on your fingers, and you will suddenly have pinpoint accuracy and command of the cursor. Corn starch will also do the trick.

657 mobile devices launched in India in 2011

The 881 million mobile subscribers in India, in 2011, had numerous mobile devices to choose from with models varying from the cheapest tablet of the world, Aakash, for Rs 2,500, to the latest sensation iPhone 4S which is available for around Rs 50,000.

This year saw the launch of a whopping 657 mobile devices, which include mobile phones and tablets, by Indian as well as MNC handset players in the country.

Operation system
This year saw growing demand for high-end handsets that use a mobile operating system, but Java emerged a clear winner. Of 657 handsets launched this year, 525 were based on Java with a lot of innovative offerings like web browsing, pre-loaded apps, powerful cameras, touchscreen and support for maps.

After Java, it's Android that emerged as the second-most successful operating system. In total, 100 mobile devices including smartphones and tablets were launched this year running different versions of Android operating system.

Nokia's operating systems - S40, Anna and Symbian - bagged the third slot. This year, we saw Nokia launching 13 devices based on these operating systems. The fourth spot was jointly shared by iOS and BlackBerry with seven devices each launched by Apple and RIM respectively.