We’ve reached the halfway point of 2012 – high time to look back on how the smartphone space has progressed so far this year. Here, you’ll find the year’s most notable, most interesting smartphone releases – our favorites, as well as the devices that turned our heads or made us scratch our chins.
As has historically been the case, enhancements to mobile operating systems have made just as big of an impact on mobile computing as the arrival of the devices themselves. Ice Cream Sandwich – a release that many (including us) see as the first version of Google’s mobile OS to display serious mojo – now powers all the top-tier phones. And Google has already debuted Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which will start arriving on devices in the coming months.
Microsoft is buzzing: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is showing up in flagships and budget phones alike, and it will see another bump for Microsoft’s mobile OS when Windows Phone 8 arrives in October. Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS 6 is widely expected to rear its head this fall, along with a new iPhone.
Even with much of the action still labeled “coming soon,” 2012 has seen its share of innovative and forward-thinking smartphones. Here are the biggest newsmakers of the year, so far.
Photo: The HTC One X (left) and the HTC Evo 4G LTE, two of the biggest releases this year. Photo by Ariel Zambelich/Wired