The 50 biggest tech stories of 2010

If the year is winding down, and real tech news is slowing to a trickle, you know it's time to reflect on the past 12 months in tech. Again this year we crunched Techmeme's historical data, cancelling out the influences of our editors, essentially ranking stories by links and citations, to produce the following quasi-"objective" list of the year's biggest tech stories. Feel free to enhance your New Years Eve party chatter with whatever talking points you can glean from them. Sample observations follow:

• An incredible scoop about a highly anticipated product is a ticket to the #1 position, as Gizmodo found with their early look at the iPhone 4
• iPhone's lead in media coverage greatly exceeds its technical and profitability edge (er, arguably)
• Google's major announcements continue to be bonanzas for the tech media
• While the Facebook juggernaut blew past half a billion users this year, their individual announcements rarely produced Google-scale excitement among the broader tech press
• Buzzy companies like Foursquare have a lot more to prove before coverage extends beyond the startup-oriented blogs

We've been grateful to have you as a reader this year, and hope to earn your continued attention every day of 2011. Happy New Year!

1.	Gizmodo:	This Is Apple's Next iPhone
2.	Steve Jobs / Apple:	Thoughts on Flash
3.	David Drummond / The Official Google Blog:	A new approach to China
4.	Andy Rubin / The Official Google Blog:	Nexus One changes in availability
5.	Consumer Reports Electronics Blog:	Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4
6.	David Drummond / The Official Google Blog:	A new approach to China: an update
7.	Urs Holzle / The Official Google Blog:	Update on Google Wave
8.	Apple:	Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4
9.	Wall Street Journal:	Apple Readies Verizon iPhone
10.	Gizmodo:	Police Seize Jason Chen's Computers
11.	Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:	The PlayStation Phone
12.	Evan Williams / Twitter Blog:	#newtwitterceo
13.	Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:	The next Apple TV revealed: cloud storage and iPhone OS on tap …
14.	The Official Google Blog:	Think big with a gig: Our experimental fiber network
15.	Tim Armstrong / TechCrunch:	Tim Armstrong: We Got TechCrunch!
16.	Joel Seligstein / Facebook Blog:	See the Messages that Matter
17.	Ryan Tate / Gawker:	Apple's Worst Security Breach: 114,000 iPad Owners Exposed
18.	Amy Thomson / Bloomberg:	Verizon Wireless Said to Start Offering IPhone in January
19.	Nielsen Wire:	U.S. Smartphone Battle Heats Up: Which is the “Most Desired” Operating System?
20.	AppleInsider:	Apple's iPhone 4.0 software to deliver multitasking support
21.	Wall Street Journal:	Two New IPhones Coming; One May Be Aimed at Verizon
22.	Google Public Policy Blog:	A joint policy proposal for an open Internet
23.	Steve Dowling / Apple:	Apple Sues HTC for Patent Infringement
24.	Andy Rubin / The Official Google Blog:	Introducing Nexus S with Gingerbread
25.	Nick Bilton / Bits:	What Did Microsoft and Adobe Chiefs Talk About?
26.	Apple:	Apple's iOS 4.2 Available Today for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch
27.	Apple:	Statement by Apple on App Store Review Guidelines
28.	Walter S. Mossberg / Personal Technology:	Apple iPad Review: Laptop Killer? Pretty Close
29.	Kara Swisher / BoomTown:	Exclusive: Apple to Buy Quattro Wireless for $275 Million
30.	Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:	Apple's Magic Trackpad revealed?
31.	DigiTimes:	Foxconn to ship iPad 2 by the end of February 2011
32.	Ev / Twitter Blog:	Twitter for iPhone
33.	Bloomberg:	Palm Said to Put Itself Up for Sale; Bids May Come This Week
34.	Lee Mathews / Download Squad:	Google launching a Chrome OS tablet on Verizon, goes on sale November 26
35.	New York Times:	Google TV Faces Delays Amid Poor Reviews
36.	Bloomberg:	Apple Engineer Told Jobs IPhone Antenna Might Cut Calls
37.	CNET News:	Lost iPhone prototype spurs police probe
38.	Abraham Murray / The Official Google Blog:	Discover more than 3 million Google eBooks from your choice …
39.	Natalie Harrison / Apple:	iPad Available in US on April 3
40.	Opera Press Room:	Opera Mini for iPhone sneak peek
41.	Wall Street Journal:	Sony Readies Gadgets to Rival Apple
42.	Joshua Topolsky / Engadget:	Exclusive: Upcoming Apple TV loses 1080p playback, gains apps …
43.	Financial Times:	Google ditches Windows on security concerns
44.	Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Blog:	500 Million Stories  —  As of this morning, 500 million people …
45.	Biz / Twitter Blog:	@anywhere
46.	Kara Swisher / BoomTown:	Exclusive: Facebook and Skype Readying Deep Integration Partnership
47.	Google Voice Blog:	Google Voice for everyone
48.	Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:	Facebook's Gmail Killer, Project Titan, Is Coming On Monday
49.	Wall Street Journal:	Facebook in Privacy Breach
50.	Canalys:	Apple takes the lead in the US smart phone market with a 26% share