Annual Review & Christmas Post
Tom on December 24, 2008
2008 has been a whirlwind of a year at TB Tech, and while it may not be officially over, there is now just a week until we usher in the new year. It has been a year of plenty, and year of lacking – both qualities at the same time, as it were.
As time has gone on, TB Tech has become a popular and credible Australian source; we are certainly a niche blog, serving both tech enthusiasts, multimedia lovers and designers, but we have found our position in the blogosphere very fitting.
Sit back, and enjoy the year in review, along with our signature – big, beautiful pictures.
So what have we achieved?
Photo by CNET Networks
While the global economic situation worsened behind our backs, we opened the year with a bang at Macworld and CES 2008 – in just two weeks, we saw the MacBook Air burst onto the scene – proving that an optical drive actually wasn’t necessary; IBM ThinkPads that had red lids; multi-room audio become affordable with the Logitech Squeezebox Duet; rentals on iTunes and Motorola’s attempts to stay credible in the face of the iPhone.
Towards February, we bought you pictures of the HTC Nike (Touch Dual) for Australia, becoming one of the first ‘Aussie’ blogs to provide a comprehensive review.
In March, the highlight was that of our coverage of the grey BlackBerry Pearl 8120, an exclusive for the Optus network in Australia.
Later in the month, we previewed Sony’s updated Vaio SZ line.
April brought the new gaming handset from Nokia, the N81, winning the award for “glossiest handset of 2008”…
… as well as the new line of Apple Aluminium Keyboards.
In May we brought you updates live from CeBIT Australia; the unveiling of the world’s largest plasma (150”) from Panasonic; a new range of Toughbook notebooks, able to continue operating even when in the face of a torrent of water; and the latest from Wacom.
Later that month, we brought to you the HP dv2000 Artist Edition notebook – packed with features any designer would love. Its distinctive looks draw attention in our statistics page still.
Mid-June, we published exclusive photographs of the exterior scaffolding of the 341 George Street Apple Store – being among the first websites to do so.
Later that month – after lining for an hour in the rain – we bought pictures of the brand new store – the first in the southern hemisphere.
June and July brought the comprehensive photo and review coverage of the Dell XPS M1530 – credited as the first serious competitor to the reigning 15” champion, the MacBook Pro. While in terms of all-round competence, the M1530 could not beat the ‘Pro, in performance it could. This review has been our most popular of the year.
In July, we covered the HP Pavilion dv3021, a brand new premium 13” model. The black-and-silver machine pumped more power than the competition and oozed looks.
August saw us cover a pre-sale model of the BlackBerry Bold 9000 – our biggest exclusive of the year – before the ‘big guns’ (CNET Australia etc.) got a chance. Our fast-tracked photos and review of the Bold brought long-awaited hands-on coverage to the world.
In September we covered the launch of the fourth-generation iPod nano, second-generation iPod touch and revised iPod classic at the Flagship Apple Store in Sydney. Our exclusive photographs were subsequently used in a spread on iLounge, raising our profile as a particularly special site.
October saw the photospread of the Nokia 6210 Navigator, the new consumer-GPS handset from Nokia.
In November we brought more exclusives of CrossOver 7, the new product from CodeWeavers, running stable Office 2007 on the Mac desktop – without virtualisation software.
December has been a time of intense collaboration with our designer, Will Dawson, of Veneer Graphics. We have been working on a special project, which will be unveiled January One, 2009. Keep watching!
I wish all of our readers a merry Christmas or holiday season (or both!). Thank you, personally, for your readership and patronage over the past year, and I look forward to your continued support into a prosperous – and sure to be successful – 2009.
Yay Us!
Comment by Will Dawson on December 24, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Great job guys,
keep up the good work!
Comment by James Dawson on December 24, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Great website! Really informative and interesting. Looks fantastic too.
Comment by Helen Baker on December 24, 2008 at 11:01 pm