FIRE UP 2012 : 50 Gadgety Treats to Enjoy as they Explode Around You

Consider this your tech to-do list. Gentlemen, start your engines...

1. Buy an Apple HDTV 

Steve Jobs' biography revealed he'd "cracked the code" of how to make telly work within Apple's ecosystem. Which makes the rumours that a 2012 launch for an elegant, Apple-branded HD set entwined with iTunes and Siri voice control seem almost plausible.

2. Upgrade to Windows 8

Don't even think of trying to avoid this mother of upgrades when it hits in April. The touch-friendly operating system will turn up on everything from desktops to tablets. Judging by the excellent advancements of Windows Phone 7, though, it could be a bit special.

3. Use Wi-fi on a Bus

Virgin's set to offer free Wi-Fi on all London buses just in time for the Olympics. Yay! Virgin customers set to get access to 10Mbps, while everyone else will be restricted to a slightly more stately 0.5Mbps. Booo! Well, we guess bandwidth doesn't grow on trees.

4. Customise your Timeline

What's a "Timeline", you cry? Yet another Facebook profile overhaul, that's what. What's most striking, though, is it now uses an enormous blanket image to represent your life, so you best make it a good one. Google search "Facebook cover image template" for a formatted blank image you can use in editing suites. There are already some brilliantly inventive ones out there.

5. Relive a classic

 
Grand Theft Auto III, the game that first brought the world sandbox-style carnage in 3D, is now out on dualcore iOS and Android devices. Oh how far we've come. It's somehow a decade since Rockstar's icon debuted on the PS2 and gives us the novel opportunity of kicking ass with our fingers.

6. Track your Life

If tracking your running's just not enough, why not level up to full-on life monitoring? The Jawbone Up (£80, jawbone.com) is a comfortable, relatively stylish wristband that tracks your physical movement and sleep cycle, while encouraging you with gentle vibrations to leave your desk for regular walking (or, more likely, smoking) breaks. View all your data on the inevitable free-app sidekick.

7. Shoot some people

Activision's record-busting Call of Duty series regularly flits between the Treyarch and Infinity Ward studios, with the former - responsible for Black Ops rather than the Modern Warfare series - making 2012's effort. It's already in the works, and a recent job listing seeking someone to help bring the "hugely successful game to a new console" suggests a Wii U version. That or there really will be a new Xbox this year...

8. Shoot some more people

Had your refill of GTA IIP. Well, there's a new boss in town. As yet all we can really tell you about Grand Theft Auto V is gleaned from its teaser. So we know it's set in Los Angeles surrogate, "Los Santos", and stars a career criminal who wants to retire and live the quiet life. Yeah, good luck with that. Graphics seem, unsurprisingly, to be a step on, while the terrain stretches from urban sprawl to mountain ranges, so missions should be varied. Horseback drive-bys anyone?

9. Go to the British GP

Even if Lewis or Jenson don't end up on the podium flicking Vs behind Sebastian Vettel, Silverstone's not a day to miss. A £97.50 family ticket gets you access to the post-race party, air displays, E-Zones and a trade mall full of grade-A F1tat.

10. Never stop gaming. Ever

The seven-inch touchscreen on the motion-sensitive controller fronting Nintendo's new bag of tricks, the Wii U, means you'll be able to turn big-telly games into portable ones at the drop of a hat. Sod "inventive gaming avenues", Nintendo just solved relationships.

11. Buy an electric car

In a fit of sci-fi pique, Renault has not one, but four new zero-emission electric cars - among the first "proper" battery-powered motors. The Fluence is the spearhead: a four-door saloon with an 84mph top speed, 115-mile range and six-to eight-hour charge time.

12. Choose your tablet weapon

(Amazon Kindle Fire v/s Apple iPad 3)

Quadcore, Retina Display-toting mega-tablet or low-tech, giveaway-priced content consumption unit? In the UK, the iPad 3 may have a headstart, with video rights deals and a release date not yet hammered out for the Fire, but Amazon's cheapo device is sure to eat into Apple's international tablet profits, big style. Amazon Kindle Fire, $199, amazon.com, out now in US, UK release and price TBC

13. Enjoy a sugary OS snack

Jelly Bean, the next iteration of Google Android, should launch in the second quarter of 2012. Ice Cream Sandwich was a giant, tablet-including leap, so expect this one to be more incremental. Hopefully that means quicker, more straightforward upgrades.

 

14. Run, run and run again 

Regular exercise improves your mood and immune system, so you'll ease gaily through winter. The MotoActv sports watch (£250, motorola.com) keeps you on track, helping plan a month's running in advance, before tracking your progress for your stat-viewing pleasure, online or on your Android blower.

15. Be shaken and stirred #1

The National Motor Museum is kicking off the year of 007 with a public exhibition of 50 original James Bond cars, starting January 17. Everything from the classic Aston Martin DB5 to the Brosnan BMWs - it's okay, they won't be invisible - will be in place, in the biggest Bondmobile collection the world has seen.

16. Be shaken and stirred #2

Sky fall, the 23rd Bond, should be in UK cinemas from October 26. The source material is entirely original, with no input from Ian Fleming at all - well, he has been dead for almost 50 years. Daniel Craig's back, with Berenice Marlohe and Naomi Harris providing for his sexual needs before perishing in unpleasant circumstances. American Beauty director Sam Mendes is the man saying "cut".

17. Scan without a scanner

LG's SmartScan mouse (£85, lg.com) is an innovative diamond in the workaday rough, as it lets you scan documents up to A3 size at the touch of a button. How accurate do you have to be? Not very. Just swipe across the page, colouring in like a man possessed, until it's all revealed on screen.

18. Get DAB radio in your car 

Stuart Harris, head of product marketing at Vauxhall, boldly barks: "2012 is probably going to be the year of the digital radio" in production cars. "There's still a bit of lag with some manufacturers," he continued, "including ourselves. Delays surround the electrical architecture in the car and we just need to make some changes to allow a cost-effective move to DAB."

19. Bin the silly shades

Toshiba's "high-quality, glasses-free 3D", is incoming in early 2012. Powered by the company's ground-breaking, if hard-to-pronounce, Cevo engine, it could be a revolutionary step forward, enabling you to watch films of the quality of The Last Airbender, Final Destination 5 and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, sans spectacles.

20. Mount Murray Mound  

Prepare to mutter "Come on Andy" under your breath from June 25 until, hopefully, July 8, to cheer on the po-faced Scot as he tries to conquer the tennis world with his workmanlike brand of racquetry. The BBC plans to broadcast the tournament in 3D again, and a month later, the courts will be in use again for the Olympics. 

21. Change the way you watch TV

Yes, we know. We said YouView would launch in 2011 and it hasn't, but stay with us on this, because when it does land atop your TV, it's going to be big. The platform is a joint deal between the main terrestrial channels, BT and TalkTalk. It's essentially an evolutionary melding of Freeview and on-demand services, with HD content, PVR functionality, no subscriptions and the ability to watch any programme from the last seven days without having to record it. See? Big.

22. Watch Sony storm back

In October Sony bought the "Ericsson" bit out of Sony Ericsson. With full creative and industrial control, will it now unleash the full power of the PlayStation, Cyber-shot and, er, Walkman lines on its phones? It had better...

23. Make your tech multitask

Asus's strategy for the new year appears to be "why be one thing if you can be two?". A fair question. First: the Eee Pad Transformer Prime does the laptop thing just as well as the tablet thing; next: the PadFone sticks an Android handset inside a slate for shared info and battery. Hmm... 

24. Detonate an atomic music cloud

(Google Music v/s iTunes Match v/s Spotify)

2012 is the year of the cloud, and these ever-so-slightly different music models will slug it out for the duration. Google Music lets you upload all your tunes to listen to anywhere for no cost, while the delayed iTunes Match is set to shun the pain of uploading by duplicating your library at a cost. Meanwhile, tried and tested Spotify side-steps ownership and lets you lease its big pile of music in the sky for a fee. This war is going to get noisy... Beats by Dr Dre Pro, £350, beatsbydrdre.com, out now

25. Stay charged up

Three top options for a bit of extra device juice in any situation: PowerGen Mobile Juice Pack Ultra (£21, amazon. co.uk); Energizer XP2000 (£20, carphonewarehouse.com); and Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation (£70, apple.com/uk)

26. Face-unlock your phone

Android Ice Cream Sandwich pioneered face-recognition tech, but how long before it's on every handset in town? We'll be honest - it's not that quick and it's kind of silly, but it is a good feeling showing your pub family you're no longer a slave to the "swipe to unlock" gods.

27. Watch out for a big MacBook change

The MacBook Pro is continually being tweaked with processors, but its future as an old-style laptop now looks uncertain. Analysts suggest it'll lose its DVD drive this year and slim down, becoming more like a bigger, more high-powered Air. Hurrah for progress.

28. Buy shares in Facebook

It seems likely that the Zuck's social baby will float on the New York stock exchange this year and a valuation of £100 billion is being bandied about. Our advice: if you can buy shares at the get-go, do so, then sell straight away. If you can't, leave well alone.

29. Watch CES 2012 unfold 

The annual Gadget Expo De Enormouso kicks off in Las Vegas just days after this very magazine hit the shelves. So as you read this, we're in the desert, cameras ready, with a suitcase full of mind-altering substances in the boot. You can read/view/watch videos about all this year's hottest tech. Expect tablets and smart TVs galore. Again.

30. Use a phone as powerful as your computer

As dualcore smartphones become the norm, it's time to look forward. Samsung is looking to the future, with leaked specs for the Galaxy S III pointing to a 2GHz quadcore CPU with 1.5GB of RAM. HTC, meanwhile, is set to launch its Edge handset soon, with an Nvidia AP30 Tegra 3 CPU, comprised of four 1.5GHz cores. And if the iPhone 5 emerges, blinking, into the light in 2012, how many cores will it have? Watch this space...

 
31. Get serious and upgrade your online security

It's a dangerous time to be alive, particularly if you live out much of your existence online. Kaspersky's security software can help alleviate some of your 21st century e-paranoia, with packages that cover multiple machines as well as dedicated solutions for your mobile bits and bobs. McAfee also offers the kind of peace of mind that normally comes only with an overdose of Prozac. We recommend Kaspersky Pure 2012 (£50, kaspersky.co.uk) or McAfee All Access 2012, (from £70, mcafee.com/uk).

32. Don't buy a TV till autumn

The IFA consumer tech show in Berlin each September plays host to a mouthwatering meat platter of tech launches. The focus is normally on TVs, which means you might want to think thrice before splashing out on that mega 3D display until it's happened

33. Watch The Dark Knight Rises at the IMAX 

If you didn't see Chris Nolan's second Bat outing in 70mm IMAX mega-vision, you missed out on building-sized action sequences and thunderous surround sound. The threequel will be at IMAX cinemas from July 20. Make sure you go to the toilet before taking your seat.

34. Photograph the Olympics

Need something fast to capture Usain Bolt? As well as being the world's smallest and lightest system camera, the Panasonic GF3 (£549, panasonic.co.uk) has the world's fastest autofocus at just 0.1 seconds. In the nosebleed seats? It works with Panasonic's full range of zoom lenses.

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36. Partake in a portable gaming power struggle

(PlayStation Vita vs Nintendo 3DS vs Smartphones)

Sony's new quadcore console is the most powerful hand-held in history, with Uncharted: Golden Abyss as exciting a launch title as we can remember. But can it provide the kind of unstoppable flow of killer titles that the 3DS has lacked? And will anyone really care as ubiquitous smartphones increasingly have the processing power and cheap titles to sate most mainstream gaming thirsts? Game on... PlayStation Vita, £230 Wi-Fi only or £280 3G, uk.playstation.com, out February 22

37. Join a mobile melee
(Samsung Galaxy S III vs Apple iPhone 5)

As this year's Army vs Team Apple fisticuffs, and plentiful European lawsuits, proved, this is a rivalry that will run and run. With the i Phone 5 rather hopefully tipped to appear as early as March, and the latest Samsung flagship also rumoured to appear in the first half of Space Year 2012, expect high specs, boosted graphical power, more cloud usage and bigger screens. Also expect endless tiresome online debate from rival users about whose mobile telephony dong has the greater girth and potency. Samsung Galaxy SI I, £430, samsung.com/uk, out now

38. See the web transform

Adobe's given up with Flash for mobile now, and has joined everyone else in sticking a finger in the HTML5 pie. The standard makes it easier to produce stunningly animated web content, with more flexibility and cross-platform compatibility than before. As a result, 2012 should be the year that the web gets a whole lot prettier - and starts to work properly on iDevices.

39. Video call from your telly

No more feeling sordid Skyping from the spare room for you. Biscotti's TV phone ($199, biscotti.com) is a complete, out-of-the-box video-calling solution, turning your HD TV into a Google Voice-based chat-o-matic machine. There's no monthly sub and it's simple enough to be mum-proof.

40. Make an app

Got a genius idea for an app but no idea how to get it made? Head to Theymakeapps.com for a list of freelance app builders, categorised by platform, as well as budgets from under $5k to $25k+

41. Discover more stuff

Sign up for a free account with Feedly.com, which is on tablets as well as the Chrome web app store. It's a beautifully designed web aggregator that you customise by adding feeds from specific websites or categories such as "Apple", "Android" or "Pollyanna Woodward in a circus".

42. Buy something from Apple without queuing 

The revised and free Apple Store app for iOS lets you buy accessories without having to speak to another human being. Just pay for the item on your phone and they'll email you the receipt, then post the goodies.

43. Stream from the king 

Well-established in the US, the Netflix film-streaming service is finally set to land on these shores. Bad news for DVD and Blu-ray sales, not to mention Sky and Lovef ilm's grip on the market, Netflix customers will get exclusive access to big titles such as The Hobbit and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

44. Take good 3D photos

Panasonic's DMC-3D1 (£430, panasonic.co.uk) is the most compact full-HD 3D camera to date. It proffers nine-megapixel 2D stills and eight-meg 3D ones, using two 25mm, wide-angle lenses. Yum.

45. Use a Mozilla Phone

The Firefox web browser maker is to try and do for mobiles what Google's Chrome didn't do for laptops. The B2G OS it's currently testing will run entirely on the web with HTML5 apps. Expect a launch in the second half of 2012.

46. Become Master Chef once again

Halo 4 - actually the eighth title in the Halo franchise - sees Master Chief return to "confront his own destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe" (again). Expect hectic online multiplayer action and portentous dialogue.

47. Cook the best steak you've ever had

Sous-vide cooking is the cooking style dujour, heralded by chef Heston Blumenthal and others as the greatest revolution in food preparation for a century. Stick your fillets in bags, dunk them in boiling water and they'll come out so unbelievably tender you'll think your teeth have sharpened. You may well need a Sous Vide SVS-10LS Supreme (£349, johnlewis.com) to help out.

48. Be famous for 15 seconds

Currently in beta testing, YouToo.com is a social TV network that encourages you to record a 15-second "fame spot" to be broadcast in the ad breaks. Just the ticket if you're an unhinged show-off.

49. Protect your tech

Don't sign for the phone store's in-house insurance: it's likely to be over-priced. Get your kit insured with Protectyourbubble.com. Worldwide iPhone 4S insurance starts at £5.99 a month, with loss cover for an extra pound.

50. Prepare for the apocalypse

Spend time with your loved ones. Laugh, drink, eat; enjoy the fruits of the Earth. For the world will come crashing to an untimely halt on December 21, according to the Mayans. Happy teching!