A Year In Fail: The 6 biggest technology flops of 2011

From 3D tech to a sea of copycat iPads, these attempted innovations flopped in 2011

In 2011, technology gifted the masses with the magic of the cloud and 4G as far as the eye can see, but the year wasn't without its disappointments. In fact, this year's tech climate bore witness to some failures of truly epic proportion: From launch letdowns to billion dollar bungles, here are our picks for the biggest technology fails of 2011.

1. Android Tablets
Well over a year after the release of the first iPad, not a single company has managed to make a dent in Apple's strangehold on the tablet market. When it debuted at CES at the beginning of 2011, the Motorola Xoom looked to boast all the trappings of a proper iPad rival: the sleek new Android tablet operating system, plenty of power under the hood...what could go wrong? But a few short months later, the Xoom and other would-be successful slates like the slew of Galaxy Tabs have all blurred together. There is still hardly a single compelling reason to buy a tablet that isn't cut from Apple's cloth — and the debut of the iPad 2 in March was just another nail in the coffin of Android latecomers the market over.


2. Facebook Timelines

Do you have the new Facebook Timeline yet?

Hey, remember the Facebook redesign? The one that was announced to the Facebook-loving populace back in September? We barely do either: The world's most visited social network has been caught up in a court battle over the rights to the name of its core new feature: the Timeline. We don't care what Facebook calls it, but the company certainly let the cat out of the bag way too early on this one. After integrating the Ticker, its controversial real-time scrolling sidebar, our profile pages look as dull as ever. And now that Timelines are finally rolling out, Facebook will face a double backlash: not only will the users who've been looking forward to the photo-centric redesign be put off by the false start, but the rest will be outraged all over again when things shift around in a major way on the social network.

3. iPhone 4S

Sure, the iPhone 4S sold well, but it's no iPhone 5

While it's no flop when it comes to sales figures, the iPhone 4S remains one of 2011's biggest consumer letdowns. Earlier this year, Apple's iPad 2 upped its prececessor's appeal considerably, slimming the original slate down while speeding it up — but it's tough to not be disappointed by the iconic company's most recent handset. Apple's newest iteration of the iPhone is certainly nothing to sneeze at — it's still one of the fastest, best-looking smartphones on the block — but it's no iPhone 5. After spending the better part of the year salivating over a reinvented iPhone with a larger screen, a thinner profile, and other untold Apple-flavored wonders, Apple aficionados were presented with the iPhone 4S — a nominal upgrade over the previous model that touted the now much-parodied Siri app as its main selling point. While Siri is a capable (if at times perhaps too capable) virtual companion, 2011 is still an off-year when it comes to the world's must-have gadget. Patience is a virtue, and all eyes are on 2012's iPhone to up the ante.

4. HP TouchPad

The TouchPad was HP's last ditch effort to save webOS

If any one product has ridden the proverbial rollercoaster this year, it's HP's tablet, the TouchPad. After buying Palm in 2010, HP bet the farm on its new lineup of mobile devices running on Palm's well-loved webOS platform: the capable Pre 3 smartphone, the mini Veer, and the TouchPad — HP's somewhat literal response to the iPad. The company was so confident in its mobile strategy that it even insisted that every new HP computer would come with a version of the mobile software next year — a pretty outrageously aggressive move, considering that HP cranks out more PCs than any other company in the world.
Things were looking bright for webOS, but after a mere month of lackluster sales, HP sent its barely month-old tablet to the guillotine and slashed prices dramatically enough to rouse consumer interest in the failed product. After throwing away $1.2 billion in acquiring webOS, HP ultimately handed the software over to the masses as an open source project — and that's just the latest twist on what might be 2011's most ill-fated gadget.

5. Windows Phone 7
After about a year on the market, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone with Microsoft's new smartphone software in their pocket. A lackluster debut only turned into a yet more disappointing tenure: By the third quarter of 2011, Microsoft commanded a meager 2.7% of the smartphone software ecosystem. The computing giant's considerable resources haven't been enough to provide a compelling alternative to the iPhone or the veritable army of Android devices crowding carrier shelves. While the new mobile OS happily veered off from the path of Microsoft's last mobile software with a vibrant new look and a handful of fresh ideas, Windows Phone 7 continues to be too little, too late.

6. 3D technology
The future might be now, but you'd hardly know it by taking a peek in the average living room. At the outset, 2011 looked like it might be the tipping point for 3D — after blockbuster hits like Tron stirred up popular interest in the third dimension, it only follows that consumers would want to tote that tech home with them, right? Wrong. Blame high prices, headaches, or goofy accessories, but at the end of 2011, interest around 3D television hovers around the same flatline as it did a year ago. And it isn't just television: Nintendo's 3DS handheld gaming console laced even some best-loved classics with an extra layer of (literal) depth, but sales didn't even begin to approach the projected 16 million units the console's idealistic creator intended to move by the year's end.