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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's Nexus 4 has been out of stock since shortly after it went on sale last month, and now one company executive is pinning the blame on the phone's supplier.

Addressing a barrage of questions about the Nexus 4 via Google+, the company's managing director for the U.K. and Ireland, Dan Cobley, served up an apology and an explanation.

"Dear all, I know that what you are going through is unacceptable, and we are all working through the nights and weekends to resolve this issue," Cobley wrote. "Supplies from the manufacturer are scarce … Read more

There can be only one. The Samsung Galaxy S3 lopped the heads off of all comers to claim the top spot in CNET's roundup of the best tech products of 2012.

CNET editors placed the contenders in an imaginary fight cage and let them battle it out like so many boxing robots. Only five devices were still standing at the end. The iPhone 5 was left holding the tossed-off bridal bouquet while the Samsung Galaxy S3 hopped into a limo for its honeymoon with the "best tech product of 2012" designation.… Read more

Was it the impressive pixel-dense screen or possibly the fact that someone decided to throw a quad-core processor into such a small package? The little tablet that could, Google's Nexus 7, proved that if you make a powerful, well-designed tablet with a user-friendly operating system, it will sell in droves.

Actually, the iPad proved that first, but the Nexus 7 showed that you don't have to be Apple to pull it off. The $200 price didn't hurt.

For more on this story, see our full Google Nexus 7 review.

Go back to the CNET 100

Apple's fourth-generation iPad takes on Google's Nexus 10 in another battle between two mortal enemies. The full-size tablet market isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so which one is your top pick?

Apple's latest iPad brings exactly the same design, with the new Lightning port and the power of the iTunes and App Store ecosystem. The Google Nexus 10 brings one of the most feature-packed 10-inch tablets on the market, a screen that bests the iPad's Retina Display, and solid support from the Google Play store.

Which tablet are you picking as your Prizefight champion? Cast … Read more

Google's newest flagship smartphone went back on sale this afternoon, but heavy traffic to the Google Play store caused errors for many shoppers attempting to purchase the Nexus 4.

The Nexus 4, which starts at $199 with a two-year contract, went on sale November 13 and sold out within the hour. Google did not say how many units it had made available. The phone can be purchased directly through T-Mobile or without a contract from Google Play starting at $299. The unlocked phone can also run on AT&T's network.

Shoppers who had signed up for notification … Read more

These days, almost every smartphone contains the same bag of tricks, with little to differentiate handsets, apart from the hardware and maybe some software extras.

Sure, one might have a better camera, more external or internal storage, and other specs that help us tell one phone from another. But on the whole, you can access e-mail, text messages, and social networks from them all, share photos and videos, surf the Internet, and install any number of apps.

This kind of uniformity is actually good news, since it means that even midrange smartphones can be just as capable as high-end products, even if they have a smaller screen or shorter battery life, for instance. Of course, there are some smartphones that stand out from the crowd for a certain physical or software feature. In no particular order, here's the current crop of unique handsets that have me looking twice.… Read more

Tablet shipments will eclipse laptops for the first time in North America, driven by price and variety, says NPD DisplaySearch.

Popular $199 models and a wider variety of sizes will propel fourth-quarter tablet shipments to 21.5 million units, "far exceeding" the 14.6 million laptops that are expected to ship in the same period, according to a forecast today by DisplaySearch's Richard Shim.

And starting in 2013 in North America, tablet shipments are expected to exceed notebook shipments on an annual basis for the first time; 80 million tablets versus 63.8 million notebooks, he said. … Read more