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H1 2014 in review: 7 surprises from the past 6 months

posted by Nick T. / Jul 02, 2014, 12:03 PM

H1 2014 in review: 7 surprises from the past 6 months

And so we continue our review of the year's first half with a post dedicated to the surprises that we witnessed over the past six months. Because really, who doesn't like surprises?

One of them came out of a smartphone camera comparison that we did earlier – one that featured a couple of underdogs made in the Far East. Yet unexpectedly, the two stood their ground really well against some serious high-ends.

The Flappy Birds craze is also on our list of surprises for 2014. It is fascinating how such a simple game can keep millions attached to their smartphones. Its rise of fame was totally unexpected, and its subsequent removal from the iOS and Android app stores was no less of a surprise.

Another event that wasn't quite expected was that of Google selling Motorola only a couple of years after acquiring it. Although it wasn't shocking given that Moto couldn't generate much money while being part of Google. Anyway, Motorola is now under Lenovo's wing.

Flick through the slideshow below to read more about 7 of the year's biggest surprises so far. Is there anything that we've missed? Let us know down in the comments!

H1 2014: 7 of the biggest surprises from the past 6 months

The Oppo Find 7a and Huawei Ascend P7 dominate a camera comparison

The Flappy Bird craze

Motorola sold to Lenovo

View more + 3 images

Sony Xperia M2 and its outstanding battery life

Finally, AMOLED screens with accurate colors

H1 2014: 7 of the biggest surprises from the past 6 months

In February of 2014, we witnessed the announcement of the Nokia X, X+, and XL smartphones – three low-cost smartphones powered by... an Android-based operating system. Their launch, while not entirely out of the blue, was a surprising move given Nokia's position as a top Windows Phone smartphone manufacturer owned by Microsoft itself. And the latter might not be planning on killing the series as we now have the Nokia X2 – a successor to the 4-month-old Nokia X bringing slight hardware and software improvements.

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5 Comments

1. Neo_Huang

Posts: 1067; Member since: Dec 06, 2013

Not really that surprising...

posted on Jul 02, 2014, 1:18 PM 0

2. ArtSim98

Posts: 3535; Member since: Dec 21, 2012

Past few years have been pretty slow. Not necessarily in smartphones, but on other industries as well. I hope we'll see some awesome stuff in the near future.