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From smartphones and tablets to a $7,000 desktop, we've cracked open a lot of tech this year. And as is the tradition at the end of each year, it's time to take a look at a few of our favorites. During this special episode of Cracking Open, I'm counting down my top five teardowns of 2012.

5. Nokia Lumia 900

First on our list is the Nokia Lumia 900. Released in the spring, this Windows Phone device was Nokia's attempt to recapture some of the American smartphone market.

Unfortunately, as we discovered during our teardown, the phone's hardware just wasn't up to par with the competition. I went so far as to call it mediocre. So why did I include our 900 teardown on this list? Because it's probably this year's best example of why knowing what's inside a device is an important factor in deciding whether to buy one.… Read more

Planning to buy a 7-inch tablet? A new report from the folks at FixYa reveals some of the top issues with today's crop of small-size tablets.

Apple's iPad Mini New to the 7-inch tablet arena, the iPad Mini didn't trigger much in the way of specific problems reported by its users. Rather, people were more unhappy about what the device doesn't offer.

The Mini's 4:3 aspect ratio was cited by users as less than ideal for watching movies, which are typically better served by a screen with a 16:9 ratio. The small tablet … Read more

Google is once again offering a glimpse into ancient history with online images of rare scrolls dating back more than 2,000 years.

Courtesy of Google, in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority, the new Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library is now home to detailed digitized photographs of thousands of biblical and non-biblical manuscripts. These ancient scrolls were discovered in remote caves near the Dead Sea between 1947 and 1956.

Among them, the scroll of the Ten Commandments may be one of the most fascinating. Dating back to sometime between 30 B.C. and 1 B.C., the … Read more

Apple iOS users can now do even more with Google+ on their mobile devices.

Released yesterday, version 4.1 of Google+ for iOS lets you browse, search for, and join communities. You can find communities devoted to your own interests, read posts from fellow members, and post your own comments.

You can now subscribe to any circle from your iPhone or iPad and receive notifications of updates and other items. Those of you who stage Google+ events can now indicate how many guests you've invited.

The "Find People" feature has been improved so you can more easily … Read more

With just a handful of days left in 2012 -- and a fighting chance we will avoid the Mayan apocalypse -- it's time to start forecasting what awaits us in 2013. Google had a big 2012, rolling out scores of new products while making countless adjustments to its old ones. In 2013, it will continue to face competition on all sides -- and here are five things to keep an eye on as the New Year ramps up.

1. What's next for Nexus? This year Google introduced its Nexus tablets to generally strong reviews, along with a Nexus 4 … Read more

Known throughout much of its life as a premiere software company, Google in 2012 made a big push into hardware. The company expanded its lineup of Nexus-branded devices to include new smartphones and tablets, built (and then shelved) its first media-streaming device, brought out new Chromebooks, and introduced its first effort in wearable computing. And that's to say nothing of that other hardware -- the kind that drives itself.

Here's a quick look back at the year's biggest Google news.

1. A big move into hardware. Seemingly every month, there was a new piece of hardware that … Read more

Days after Google launched its Google Maps iOS app, rumors are circulating that Apple is making another play to beef up its own mobile mapping service.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the tech giant is said to have been talking to social network Foursquare about integrating user data into Apple's maps app. Apparently, Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue has been meeting with Foursquare representatives over the past few weeks about how the service uses data to find locations and business listings.

Apple debuted its new mapping service and booted Google Maps from its mobile devices in September … Read more

"Applications, rather than the browser, are now the predominant windows to the world's information."

That's a claim in a recent Microsoft Online Services Division job post. But it's also the thinking of some inside the Microsoft Bing search team.

As I have blogged previously, Microsoft's AppEx (Application Experiences) team of a couple of hundred developers is the unit that built a handful of applications that have shipped as part of Windows 8 and Windows RT.

But how and why did it fall to the Bing team to create these programs?

"A lot of … Read more

It's no secret a lot of people have been downloading Google Maps for iOS since it came out last week, and today Google released the full numbers.

In its first two days on the App Store, the software was downloaded more than 10 million times, Jeff Huber, Google's senior vice president of Commerce & Local, wrote in a post on Google+ this morning.

"We're excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone around the world," Huber said. "Congratulations to the Maps Team on the recognition for the passion and hard work they … Read more