Mihăiță Bamburic

I frequently make resolutions throughout the year, ranging from being more patient to losing some weight. However, I give technology little to no attention in this respect, which may seem a bit unusual coming from someone who writes about it for a living. But, lately, I have been thinking about making some changes, and what I could do more in regards to tech.

I do have realistic expectations, as I am in no way trying to convince myself that I will actually work on every item from this list, starting January 1. It's a fool's errand as far as I'm concerned. Instead, these are the things I would like to build towards this following year, with the end goal of steadily improving myself throughout 2014.

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Since the beginning of 2013 and until late-December, countless new tech products have tried to outdo their predecessors and the competition, and woo potential buyers, with more features than before (some of them gimmicky, some of them useful), distinct form factors, lower price-tags, wider ranges of color options (like the Lumia series and, later in 2013, the iPhone 5c) and any differentiating factor that can make you say "I'll buy it".

Needless to say, there have been quite a few disappointing new products launched throughout 2013. Going back to CES, we can take a look at some of the best examples of "what were they thinking", starting with a potty that tries to leverage iPad apps to teach your young child how to use one properly. But, at the same time, there are some tech products that were also launched in 2013, and have managed to stand out (in a good way). In this article I will walk you through my favorite ones.

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When Oppo unveiled the CyanogenMod version of its N1 phablet, the Chinese company did not provide any details as to whether the new model would receive Google's stamp of approval and, therefore, official access to the Play store. I was very skeptical that this would happen, seeing as CyanogenMod has never been certified for prime time use.

As some of you may know, in order for a device to officially receive Google Play access, it has to be certified by Google. This is one of the reasons why there are so many Android smartphones and tablets (mostly inexpensive ones) out in the wild that ship without any Google-branded apps and services. As it turns out, the N1 will not be part of the said bunch.

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Christmas comes early this year for Moto G users. Motorola has announced that Android 4.4.2 KitKat is now rolling out for its entry-level smartphone, in less than two months after parent company Google launched the latest version of the popular mobile operating system.

The Android 4.4.2 KitKat update is rolling out to Moto G smartphones that were purchased in the US, from Amazon and Motorola's online shop. It is expected to arrive in other markets, and at mobile operator versions, "soon".

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In a new attempt to level the playing field between Windows Phone 8 and its main rivals, iOS and Android, Microsoft has launched the Xbox Music and Xbox Video apps for its tiled smartphone operating system. The two offerings complement the existing functionality and add more options to purchase and consume content.

Until now, Microsoft provided no option for Windows Phone 8 users to purchase or rent movies from their smartphones. Xbox Video adds these features, alongside content streaming and download. Users have access to both popular movies and TV shows, like Fast & Furious 6 and Family Guy. For the latter category, the app allows them to get a Season Pass, that will automatically add new episodes to the user's collection.

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Citrix has launched GoToMeeting for Windows Phone 8, an app which allows users to create or join online meetings from their smartphone. The popular solution arrives in Store following its release on Windows, OS X, iOS and Android, and is one of the latest high-profile releases on the platform alongside Instagram, Vine and others.

The Windows Phone 8 version of the app allows users to join a meeting or webinar either by entering the Meeting ID or tapping a link included in a calendar appointment or email. GoToMeeting can show "whatever the presenter shares on-screen", including presentations and reports, and supports gestures like pinch to zoom (for content).

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Nokia is one of the latest hardware makers to enter the tablet market, with the Lumia 2520. It's an interesting device, that has a great display, powerful internals, 4G LTE cellular connectivity, decent internal storage, an attractive price and Windows RT 8.1 on board, that you either love or loathe. And you'd think that Nokia would want to lure consumers with these features, to get them to buy its colorful new tablet.

Like Microsoft and its first Windows RT slate, the Surface RT, Nokia went on a different path to promote the Lumia 2520. The Finnish company has released an ad which, from my point of view, does nothing to explain to consumers why they should spend their money on the device. Do not get me wrong, the ad is very interesting but the way it goes about pitching the Lumia 2520 as a good buy is very, very strange.

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Nowadays, cloud services like Pandora and Spotify allow us to listen to our favorite tunes no matter where we are, without having to actually own a single song. But what happens to our music collections, which we have built up over the years? Some of us have thousands of tracks, stored locally on devices like PCs. Should we just abandon our beloved content and embrace alternative ways of enjoying it?

Luckily, answering this question does not involve making a compromise. Cloud service Style Jukebox aims for the middle road, by providing a convenient solution that allows users to upload the music they own to the cloud and play it on PCs, smartphones and tablets. It is designed to work both with and without an Internet connection (the content can also be downloaded for offline playback), which makes it a good fit for those who use devices which are not always connected to the cloud. As Style Jukebox's motto says, "Your music, anywhere, on all your devices".

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Call me old-fashioned, but I dislike people who actively use their phone when they are hanging out with friends and family. It is both disrespectful and a clear sign that they do not want to be there, as far as I am concerned. Smartphones only make this problem worse, as addictive apps and games keep the user hooked even longer.

But if you see someone clinging to their iPhone 5s during the holidays Apple suggests that you should not be quick to judge, and perhaps label such behavior as anti-social, because those people are doing it for the sake of making everyone else happy. In other words, they are "Misunderstood". Or, at least this is one of the messages that Apple's new ad tries to convey.

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While using the initial OS X 10.9 Mavericks release on my 2013 Apple MacBook Air I noticed major issues with Gmail accounts in the built-in Mail app. Emails were not syncing properly, resulting in a malfunction of the archiving feature and other similar problems. Apple issued an update shortly after launching its new Mac operating system, that aimed to cure the Gmail woes.

Today, Apple released another update for Mavericks, which brings OS X to version 10.9.1 and, among other changes, incorporates improved support for Google's consumer email service in the Mail app and fixes for custom Gmail settings.

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South Korean maker LG has announced a new Android phablet, called Gx, which is part of the company's G premium lineup. The device will go toe to toe against the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, sporting similar hardware specifications and dimensions.

The Gx comes with a 5.5-inch IPS display, with a now flagship-standard resolution of 1080 by 1920. LG has opted for a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, instead of the more powerful Snapdragon 800 which is found in devices like the G2 and Galaxy Note 3, with 2 GB of RAM. The handset is powered by a 3,140 mAh battery.

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YouTube has announced that the live streaming feature will be rolled out to all channels, after previously making it available only for a select number of users. It will be offered gradually, over the next couple of weeks, and will be complemented by the option to launch a Google+ Hangout on Air straight from the YouTube Live events dashboard.

"Over the last year, we've seen creators across music, gaming, sports, news and more categories use the power of live video to create amazing experiences for their audiences, and build new fans", says YouTube. "Now, all YouTube channels that verify their account and are in good standing will be able to live stream live video to the world".

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Finnish mobile maker Nokia has released a new app called Motion Monitor which allows Lumia 1520 users to track their physical activity, similar to some wristbands. The offering is currently undergoing beta testing and is available exclusively for the company's new Windows Phone 8 flagship.

For those wondering why Motion Monitor is not available for other Lumia smartphones, Nokia says this is because only its new flagships comes with the "specific" hardware which allows the app to offer this functionality. A reasonable assumption would be that the Lumia 1520 is the sole beneficiary of Motion Monitor because of its Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, which is not available in any other Nokia smartphones at the moment.

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Google has released new factory images based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat, for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. This comes a couple of days after the search giant rolled out the latest update for its mobile operating system.

The Android 4.4.2 factory images allow users of said Nexus devices to install, and upgrade to, the latest KitKat version without waiting for the OTA update to arrive. They also come in handy for installing individual bits, like the radio, kernel or recovery, alongside third-party distributions.

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On Monday, a number of Yahoo Mail users started experiencing issues when accessing the service. The company said, yesterday, a hardware problem in one of its mail data centers is the culprit and, as a result, it assigned "dozens of people", who are allegedly "working around the clock", to get Yahoo Mail back on track.

If you are wondering why it took Yahoo so long to acknowledge the problem then you are not alone. The company initially said at 11 AM PST on Wednesday that the full functionality of its email service will be restored "by 3 PM PT", on the same day. Half an hour after the first, and only, deadline Yahoo was still working "hard" to fix the problem.

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