Monday evening Mayer made a lot of those people happy when she announced a new, redesigned flickr. The updated look finally takes advantage of it’s beautiful visual content to bring photos front and center. Prior to this update, users were limited to only 250 photos unless they wanted to pay for a pro account. This pricing structure was a relic from the days of expensive storage solutions. flickr now offers three types of accounts; Free, Ad Free, and Doublr. The free option includes 1 Terabyte of storage limited to 200MB per photo and 1GB per video. The Ad Free option removes all site advertising for an annual fee of $49.99. As the name suggestes the Doublr account includes two Terabytes of storage and is aimed at the professional photographer with a price of $499.99 per. These updates along with recently redesigned iOS and Android applications have finally brought our old friend back.

Of the contenders one of the most noisy has been Waze, the community-based, crowd sourced traffic and navigation app. Waze unites millions of users all updating their maps with real-time information. This difference makes Waze more powerful than just your standard map app. I use Google Maps to get directions to the new location I’ve never visited before. Because it has current, user-provided info on traffic and road conditions, Waze outsmarts daily traffic. Users can even report police speed traps or road hazards such as stalled cars or debris in the road.

I use Waze every day to help map the fastest route to the office. Before I pull out of my driveway, I’ve already found the best route to take and know if I have to worry about being late. I can also share a link with a friend or coworker that allows them to track my trip and seen my ETA. Recently Waze even added the ability to report and thus avoide road closures.

“During Hurricane Sandy, Waze was contacted by FEMA and the White House to tap the community of drivers in New York help each other find open gas stations. The community responded and worked together, illustrating once again the power of the crowd. While Hurricane Sandy was one of many events this year that drastically changed the roadways for local drivers, extreme weather conditions affect roads everywhere, everyday. Events like major accidents, oil spills, floods, and construction zones can impose road changes and force major highways to close for several hours. Until now, there’s been no solution that can keep up with the temporary and often unpredictable nature of these events.”

Waze is definitely starting to get noticed. Earlier this year rumors swirled that Apple had made overtures to purchase Waze in order to bolster it’s lagging Maps application. Ultimately, Apple and Waze couldn’t come to terms, but that hasn’t stopped other suitors. Recently Facebook has offered to purchase Waze for $1 Billion. Purchasing Waze makes a ton of sense for Facebook, it would give Facebook independence from Microsoft’s Bing Maps. Facebook could also look to integrate it’s geolocation based check-ins into Waze maps. Maps offer Facebook a new opportunity to sell to advertisers a type of virtual billboards. This could go a long way to help Facebook monetize mobile, which has been a difficult nut to crack.

Business Insider summed up the upside for Facebook with three simple points:

1. “Facebook is buying Waze because each of the major tech companies want to own a mapping service. Microsoft, Google, and Apple own one. Now, so would Facebook.”
2. “Facebook is buying Waze so Facebook Home doesn’t have to punt people over to Google Maps.”
3. “The simplest and most important reason is that Waze is an awesome, quickly-essential-to-users mobile app, and mobile “real estate” is what Facebook desperately needs.”

“A/B testing — running simultaneous tests of different versions of a website or app on random sections of an audience to see which performs the best — is one of the most important processes that developers can go through. It challenges your assumptions and can have a major impact on your bottom line.

Dan Siroker is an ex-Googler who went on to oversee A/B testing on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign website. Through testing different versions of the homepage, A/B testing led to the campaign raising $57 million more than it would have done if the team had based their design solely on their assumptions of what would be popular.”

1. Apple vs. Samsung

Much of tech news in 2012 was dominated by the ongoing feud between competing mobile device giants Apple and Samsung. The court ruling granted Apple $1.05 billion in damages for patent infringement by Samsung. Highlights from the case included incriminating emails from top-level Samsung execs and a fruitless mafioso-style boss meeting between Tim Cook and Samsung CEO Kwon Oh Hyun. The case grabbed headlines all year long and made Judge Lucy Koh a household name…at least in tech geek houses.

2. Samsung Galaxy Dethrones iPhone

Not all news was bad for Korean tech giant Samsung, as sales of the Samsung Galaxy S III surpassed those of iPhone during the third quarter. While it’s likely to lose that title once final numbers are in from 4th quarter sales, it proves that Samsung represents a legitimate threat to Apple’s smartphone dominance. A smartly targeted Samsung ad campaign also served to put Apple in it’s place. We may see these two stalwarts battling it out over smartphone supremacy for years to come.

3. iPad Mini

iPad in 2012 was all about size as Apple got into the 7 inch tablet market in big way. The iPad mini sports a speedy A5 chip and runs all the same apps as it’s big brother. While it does lack the retina display that other iOS devices are sporting, that hardly seems to be slowing it down as reports are that it outsold the 10 inch version over the holiday season. No matter the size, it would seem that the iPad continues to be a game changer for Apple and the tablet computing market.

4. Facebook IPO

The biggest IPO in the tech world since Google’s offering in 2004 had it’s share of problems. From a NASDAQ computer malfunction during the first hours of trading to an initial price that was set too high, the web giant stumbled out of the gate like a newborn pup not yet used to it’s limbs. With their stock opening at $38 per share the current price for shares of Facebook sits at $25.49. So far, Mark Zuckerberg and team seem to have weathered the storm, but there is no doubt that 2012 and the IPO was a rocky road for the social network.

5. Apple Maps = Epic Fail

Samsung wasn’t the only tech giant facing off with the cult of Cupertino. Google and Apple have fought bitterly since the launch of the Android platform and the latest causality in this war was the partnership between the two companies on the iOS Maps application. With the release of iOS 6, Apple removed Google Maps integration and tried to piece together an adequate replacement. The universal opinion has been that they failed miserably in this endeavor. Maps was an embarrassing blemish on an otherwise successful year for Apple.

6. Windows 8 (Metro Interface)

Microsoft made some news in 2012 with the release of it’s new operating system, Windows 8. This update marks a radical departure from the traditional interface that has remained mostly the same since Windows 95 launched 17 years ago. The new Metro interface is a significant leap forward for Microsoft in regards to touchscreen design, but it’s leaving many users feeling confused and searching for their Start menu.

7. Executive Restructuring

2012 was a year of change for many of the tech industry’s top-level executives. Microsoft said goodbye to Steve Sinofsky, President of the Windows Division, in what many believe was not a 100% mutual parting of ways. Scott Forstall is leaving Apple in the wake of the Maps debacle. But for my money, Yahoo! had the most turbulent year. In January they announced Scott Thompson as the new CEO only to oust him 5 months later when it was discovered he embellished his academic records on his resume. The following month Marissa Mayer was brought in to right the ship. The former Google executive has already made her presence felt by hiring Ken Goldman and Henrique De Castro as CFO and COO respectively and releasing major updates to Yahoo! Mail and the Flickr mobile application. I look for big things to come from Yahoo! under Mayer’s watch.

8. iPhone 5

While Maps was a big disappointment for Apple fanboys, the newest iPhone seems to still be a hit. Even though the iPhone took a hit to the Galaxy in the third quarter most analyst have it back on top after the release of the newest incarnation and a strong holiday season. iPhone 5 gave Apple’s signature device a much needed makeover and silenced many critics that were craving a larger display. While it faces stiffer competition than ever, the iPhone is still in the driver’s seat when it comes to smartphone as shown by it’s recent 2 million unit sales weekend in China.

9. Microsoft Surface

Windows 8 may have garnered some positive reviews; the Microsoft Surface, however, is a much different story. Microsoft’s first foray into tablet hardware design was meant to exhibit how great a Windows tablet could be. Unfortunately the Surface RT did anything but as critics panned it. Warner Crocker from Gotta Be Mobile described it as “frustratingly confusing” and that was one of the more gracious reviews.

10. Megaupload/Kim Dotcom Fallout

In January of 2012 the US Department of Justice declared war on Kim Dotcom and internet piracy. It shut down the file hosting site Megaupload.com and froze more than $39 million worth of assets belonging to the file sharing site. Dotcom, now out on bail, still awaits the decision of a New Zealand court as to his extradition status.In the meantime he has insisted that he is innocent of any wrongdoing and vows to reestablish his filesharing site in the near future. For his trouble, Dotcom received a cover story in Wired Magazine. No matter the outcome,the case is sure to have lasting ramifications on the future of piracy and copyright infringement in an increasingly small world.

Each week I collect a list of some of my favorite project management articles. These include insights from a few of my favorite blogs on topics from PMP certification to agile methodology. Project management is a field that thrives on collaboration. Whether you are managing projects for software development, web design or any other digital implementation there is something here for you. Check back often for even more tips and tricks to keeping your projects on time and on budget.

A Gorilla Primer: What the Heck is Agile?

Joel Bancroft-Connors addresses the “gorilla in the room” who he has lovingly named Hogarth. Most people look at Agile as a methodology, when in reality it is a loose set of principles. Also, many assume that Scrum is the only method for achieving Agile. In this article, Bancroft-Connors touches on several other Agile practices.

An Update on Google Docs as a Requirements Tool

Ted Hardy undertook an experiment using Google Docs online suite as his main tool for all project documentation and collaboration. in this article he shares the good along with the bad and also provides some insights to other teams thinking of doing the same thing.

Problem Solving and Decision Making Processes

Allison Wood writes an interesting article on making decisions. It seems like a simple task, yet I see more projects stalled by the team’s inability to overcome a problem. In most cases these problems could have been overcome by a project manager evaluating a solution and making the executive decision to implement it.

Use Military Ideas to Get Buy-in From Your Project Team

What does the military have in common with project management? More than you might think. In this article, Lynda Bourne discusses how principles of leadership from our armed forces can translate into successful engagement with your project team.

Each week I collect a list of some of my favorite project management articles. These include insights from a few of my favorite blogs on topics from PMP certification to agile methodology. Project management is a field that thrives on collaboration. Whether you are managing projects for software development, web design or any other digital implementation there is something here for you. Check back often for even more tips and tricks to keeping your projects on time and on budget.

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When Agile Isn’t the Best Thing for the Client

Terry Bunio wrote this outstanding article for PM Hut describing why the difference between Agile and Waterfall methodology doesn’t need to be as black and white as you might think.

Check In, Don’t Check Up

Mike Cohn is a leader in the field of Agile development and in this article he describes how to follow-up with your team without seeming a nag.

Tips and Tools to Manage Your Project More Effectively

Jennifer Whitt talks about some of the essential steps to running more efficient, organized projects.

Excel as a Project Team

Dmitri Ivanenko, PMP describes some of the traits that successful project teams have in common.

Daily Scrum: Not Just for ScrumMasters

Another jewel from Mike Cohn. Scrum meetings can often devolve into a daily “status meeting.” Here are some helpful tips for a project manager to keeping them on track.

Dethroning the iPad from its place atop the tablet world will be no small feat. As our own Jill Krumsick documented early this year, Apple has a staggering lead in tablet market share. While competitors Samsung, RIM and Motorola have leveraged their experience and brought considerable marketing budgets to bear, they still find themselves falling far short. Nobody has even made a noticeable dent in iPad dominance.

Source: ChangeWave Research

Many people believe that where so many others have failed, Amazon will succeed. It could be said that Amazon’s current Kindle is already iPad’s stiffest competitor, even though it’s not technically an apples-to-apples comparison (pun intended). While Amazon tends to be tight-lipped regarding exact sales figures, many reported numbers as high as 8 million units during 2010. Compare that to just fewer than 15 million units for Apple, and it sure looks like a solid number two in the market to me. Really, Amazon doesn’t need to depose iPad. There is plenty of room with consumers for both products. The tablet pie will only continue to grow as more users decide to go mobile and leave their old PCs behind. Competition always makes products better, and Amazon and Apple will continue to push each other to innovate.

So what about some specs on this mystery product? According to sources, the upcoming tablet release will feature a 7-inch color touchscreen with a 10-inch version planned for 2012. The tablet does support multitouch gestures similar to an iPad. It is rumored to have a mini-USB port. Alas, no camera for all you shutterbugs out there. However, the real news is that while the device is based on a flavor of Android, Amazon has forked the open-source operating system and created its own version. The interface is branded Amazon and looks little or nothing like the Android interface of other tablets. This would make sense for Amazon, which wants to enter the market on an established platform. Android already has a thriving developer community and a catalog of apps for download. But the Amazon team wants to have more control over their environment, and that is exactly what forking Android does for them. All future releases of the Kindle tablet will be based on this new source code, and if Amazon decides to incorporate later releases of Google’s software, it will be on their terms and behind the scenes.

There are several reasons why this venture into tablet computing makes sense for Amazon. First of all, the Kindle has been a huge success as Amazon’s initial hardware offering. While content remains their primary business, they have found a way to make the hardware profitable as well. Sales for the device continue to top Amazon’s electronics category. Also, Amazon has learned a great deal from the Kindle about streamlining production costs. The entry-level price point for a Kindle has continued to become more attractive, dropping to $114, which is very reasonable for the average consumer. It would stand to reason that the e-commerce giant could expect similar sales from a Kindle-branded tablet device. Rumors abound regarding the expected consumer cost for the upcoming device, but some have it as low as $250. At half the cost of the iPad, it is attractive enough for serious buyers to take a long, hard look before making a decision on any tablet purchase.

Cost is not the true advantage for the Amazon tablet. After all, Samsung and other competitors have already entered the market with prices below Apple. The edge that puts Amazon above the rest is the existing content delivery infrastructure. The success of all Apple iOS products has been largely dependent on the integration of iTunes and the App Store. No other manufacturer has such a massive content network in place to support their hardware…until now. Amazon already has relationships in place with publishers of all media types. They have a massive user base already shopping over their network. And they now have a fully integrated Amazon App Store. Amazon is poised like nobody else to compete directly with Apple at every level.

Related articles:

• Is Amazon’s Knife Sharp Enough to Carve into the Tablet Market?
• Amazon App Store for Android Reportedly Live Outside U.S.
• Amazon App Store Opens to Australia, Canada, Europe, More
• New Amazon Kindle Tablet: A Threat to the iPad?
• Amazon Site Redesign Is Final Puzzle Piece for Kindle Tablet
• Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Won’t Be for Geeks
• How “Open” Will Kindle Tablet Be?
• Amazon to Launch 7? Android Tablet for $250 in November
• Kindle Tablet Thoughts and Wondering What It Means for Kindle 4