Wow, that was some year. A scintillating presidential election, a exciting London Summer Olympics, literally shocking developments in the electric car business, the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, an astounding end to the Dark Knight trilogy and beginning of The Hobbit. It was a weird year in tech, too, especially compared to the yawn-worthy 2011, which will be remembered more for the death of Steve Jobs than any particular technology or gadget. With the improved economy, consumers were obviously willing to invest in new gear this year, and clearly unwilling to buy anything that even hinted at anything old. And that dissatisfaction with the old extended into several prominent boardrooms. So here's a review of what happened in the coming year (and good luck untangling that twisted tense syntax).

You no doubt have seen stories in both the tech and the mainstream media about how Amazon is going to somehow correct the problems with its Kindle Fire tablet/e-reader. At the risk of Amazon proving me wrong about Fire a second time (more on the first time in a bit), I suggest that Fire, in its current form, can't be fixed. For instance, Amazon can't send out external volume control buttons to every Fire buyer. They can't move the bottom sleep switch so you don't keep hitting it accidentally while just balancing it in your hand. But to me, these are niggling issues. What Amazon won't be able to fix is the heightened expectations it raised in the months prior to anyone actually getting their hands on a Fire — especially in its supposed "revolutionary" Silk mobile Web browser, which turns out to be as revolutionary as a silk hankie.

Are you one of those geeks who has everything and is impossible to shop for? Then don't wait for your well-meaning loved ones to gift you some silly tie or pair of socks. Take the initiative and send out a list of desired gadgets — like this one. Tacky, maybe, but these dozen items are the always-tough-to-find (and perfect for these economic times) cool gizmos for less than $50.

Having 40 watts of power pumping out of an outdoor speaker means plenty of volume: limit the chance you'll hear yourself think and increase the chance your uninvited neighbors will call the cops — all at the same time! This speaker also knows a neat trick beyond that, too