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.

Apple iPhone 4S: At about four times the US retail price where customers buy mandatory data-service plans, the Apple iPhone 4S still finds buyers among affluent young professionals in India. The final gadget unveiled during Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' lifetime, the new iPhone comes with a faster processor, a better light-sensitive camera, and voice-activated assistant 'Siri'.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 750 : Also known as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the Tab 750 is seen by Apple as a real threat to the iPad. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 inch is an upgraded version of the 7-inch introduced in October. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 runs on Google's newest Android version and Nvidia's dual core processor Tegra 2. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a bigger and brighter screen and weighs less than the iPad 2. However, it has access to only about half the applications Apple users do at more than 200,000 applications compared with over 425,000 applications from the Apple App store. 

Apple iPad 2: The iPad 2 dominated the tablet market fighting stiff competition from Samsung and other Android based devices. The iPad 2 is 33 per cent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than its predecessor, while it maintains the same 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen. The dramatically faster iPad 2 boasts a dual-core A5 "system on a chip" processor under the hood, which is good for twice the CPU power and nine times the graphics performance of the original while maintaining the same 10-hour battery life. 

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: While there are several smartphone manufacturers that use Google's Android operating system, the Nexus line is considered the cream of the crop. The combination of Google's software and Samsung's hardware makes the Galaxy Nexus one of the best candidates to compete with Apple's latest iPhone. With the latest version of Android under the hood, Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy Nexus is packed with new and improved features like a massive 4.65-inch touchscreen and the Android Beam, which lets you share such content as a Web page, map or video between two Android phones by bringing the backs of the phones close together. 

Kindle Fire: Billed as the common man's tablet, Amazon's Kindle Fire has taken on technology giants Apple and Samsung in the tablet war as the largest Internet retailer revealed that it is selling more than one million Kindle devices a week. What Amazon did best was not to rush an iPad clone in the market but to play on iPad's weakness. What makes the Kindle fire standout is its 7" screen size, affordable price, unlimited cloud storage, nonstop steaming and Amazon's wealth of resources right at its fingertips. 

Aakash tablet: Dubbed the world's cheapest tablet computer, Aakash is powered by Android 2.3 and has a resistive touchscreen, Cortex A8-700 MHz processor and graphics accelerator HD video processor, 256 MB of RAM and 2 GB of internal memory. Other specifications are a one standard USB port, 3.5 mm audio jack, a 7 inch display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, resistive touchscreen, GPRS and WiFi support.

Samsung Galaxy Note: Phone? Tablet? It's a Galaxy note says the tagline of the newest member of its Galaxy lineup of smartphones and tablets. The Galaxy Note is nominally a smartphone, albeit with a massive 5.3 inch HD Super AMOLED display. The Note worked on the weakness of the Dell Streak 5 and came out with a winning device, that has a 1.4GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of built in storage. It also comes with a stylus pen, which allows users to operate the touchscreen with increased precision and convenience. 

MacBook Air 13": The new MacBook Air is not quite as light as a feather, but it' s pretty darn close. Apple's MacBook Air began the anorexic laptop trend but the MacBook Air 13" take it to another level. The 13-inch MacBook Air has the latest Intel CPU and outperforms its predecessor in key ways. The notebook is also more versatile and can now be used for more mainstream function unlike the MacBook Air 11".

Nokia Lumia 800: The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Nokia-made device to run Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system. It's also the first handset to be released in Nokia's new Lumia range. It sports a colorful polycarbonate body with subtle curves and features an expansive 3.7" curved ClearBack glass display. Inside there is a 1.4GHz processor, an 8MP camera with Auto Focus and LED flash, and 720p video recording at 30fps.