Smartphones have changed a lot this year. In January, a 5.5-inch "phablet" seemed absurd. Today, millions of people own one.
And that's just one example of how our phones have changed. We rounded up the most important new smartphone releases of 2012 to give you a quick look at how far we've come.
How we picked the phones: We're not just judging these devices on how good or bad they were. We also took into account how they pushed innovation forward with new form factors, useful features, and the like. We judged the phones based on the time they were released, so some may seem outdated. But that doesn't make them any less important.
Nokia's Lumia 900 renewed interest in Windows Phones
The Nokia Lumia 900, which launched in April, wasn't the killer phone Nokia promised, but it did get people excited about Microsoft's mobile operating system called Windows Phone. Even though it hasn't taken off with the public and app developers, Windows Phone is a great operating system and the Lumia 900 helped highlight that.
The Galaxy Note was the first successful phone/tablet hybrid
We still don't think giant phone/tablet hybrids like Samsung's Galaxy Note make a good choice for most people. But there are a few million people in the world who disagree. The Galaxy Note, and the recently-released Galaxy Note II, are great devices if you don't mind lugging around a massive phone.
Click here for our full review of the Galaxy Note II >
Samsung's Galaxy S III set the standard for Android phones
Backed by a clever Apple-bashing marketing campaign, Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III quickly became one of the most popular Android phone models in the world, with tens of millions of units sold.
Click here for our full review of the Galaxy S III >
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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