Top ten revolving things.

1. Google

For changing the way we view the world (and TV).
 The $350 billion massive has proven that it is working in both the short and long term to change consumers' lives through hardware. Its clever (and really cheap) dongle, Chrome cast, lets users beam web video to their TV screens, while Google Glass brings the ultimate possibilities of wearable computing--and all those '90s sci-fi action movies--to life. Its $3 billion achievement of smart thermostat maker Nest provided a suspicion that Google might eventually bring homes to life, as well. Read more >>
2. Xiaomi

 For using sharp marketing to become China's biggest smartphone maker in just three years.
 While disbelievers point to the Apple-like cult image CEO Lei Jun portrays (he even wears the Jobs-ques outfit of dark shirts and jeans), Xiaoping also poached Hugo Barra, Google's VP of Android product management, to help the company expand its influence overseas. Its products are as in demand as Apple's, selling out its newest phone, the Red Rice, in less than 90 seconds and piling up more than 7 million preorders, leading to more than $5 billion in revenue in 2013. Read more >>

3. Apple

For reigniting customer passion by transforming its mobile OS and desktop.
 Besides flattening things out with the beautiful iOS 7 and constructing an ultra-powerful tank of a computer in the reshaped Mac Pro, the king of Cupertino also broke its sales records with the iPhone 5s and 5c--more than 9 million flew off shelves during its first weekend--and brought ultra-lightweight design to the standard-setting i Pad Air. But perhaps its greatest achievement in invention wasn't its devices, but rather the device controls: The iPhone 5s's fingerprint sensor adds yet another degree of accessibility (and purchase point) to its most coveted product.

4. Amazon

For turning tech support upside down.
 With its Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon not only created a true i Pad competitor, it potentially revolutionized customer support. The Mayday feature on the Kindle Fire HDX allows device owners to connect to an on-screen representative in less than 15 seconds, further sharpening Amazon's renowned and relentless focus on customers. Read more >>

5. GoPro

For cracking the mainstream by courting action junkies everywhere.
 The action-driven camera company needy its tiny, nearly immortal, Hero cameras onto just about anything and anyone, including an eagle or two. By putting its HD cameras in the hands of athletes, adventurers, and risk-takers, GoPro sales grew to nearly $1 billion in 2013. The company also built out its app, allowing users to seamlessly share their videos with others--just as the marketing-savvy company would like them to--and began a partnership with Microsoft to bring an action-sports channel to the Xbox this spring. Read more >>

6. Leap Motion

For letting users sculpt, sketch, and play with the wave of a hand.
 While we've yet to see truly radical motion-control technology, Leap Motion, which officially launched last summer, is leading the pack in getting us there. With a tiny flash drive–size controller that costs just $80 and tracks a finger's movement within 1/100 of a millimeter, the company has already become an authority on gesture control in the consumer-electronics space, snatching up partners like HP and ASUS to incorporate its tech into their laptops. But Leap Motion's Airspace store--where creative apps like DRUM air (for the wannabe rocker) and Free form (for the hopeful sculptor) abound--is where the real innovation is revealed.

7. Sony

For listening to fans when creating its sleekest, most powerful console yet.
The next-gen console war found its fighters in the PS4 and Xbox One. Amid criticism of its rival being too heavy on the entertainment (and too lean on gaming), Sony released the PlayStation 4 with new sharing and multitasking features--along with a price tag $100 cheaper than the competition. More than 4 million customers chose Sony as the victor. Sony



8. LEGO

For changing the definition of "play."
 These blocks aren't just for kids. Last year, Lego released Mind storms EV3, its smartest line of robotic creatures yet. As a reward for boldly placing tech like Linux and infrared sensors in the hands of both youngsters and adult fan boys, EV3 has become one the company's fastest-selling lines, and thanks to a partnership with the nonprofit FIRST, roughly 350,000 students in 70 countries are now learning robotics from programmable toys like SPIK3R and R3PTAR.

9. IRobot

For reinventing the vacuum (again) and tackling mopping too.
 IRobot upgraded its Roomba and Scooby lines--the vacuum that sponges and brushes the floor. But the company also introduced households to the Brava: a floor-mopping robot that uses recyclable or disposable microfiber clothes to make quick work of dirty floors. Its commitment to invention--and its smart foray into security and military work--helped iRobot's revenue climb by roughly $50 million in 2013 to almost $500 million, while its stock surged 85%. Those are some serious bots. Read more >>
10. Robotic

For rolling out new robotic toys that dart between the digital and the physical.
Sphero the robotic ball is so additively fun, even President Obama has taken it for a spin. But last year, the Boulder, Colorado–based Robotic wowed kids and geeks everywhere again with the Sphero 2.0, an upgraded, smartphone-controlled orb that moves twice as fast and has double the Bluetooth range as the original. The Sphero 2.0, which interacts with almost 30 smartphone apps that treat physical objects and digital obstacles, helped Robotic more than double its revenue in 2013. Not one to be immovable in one form factor, Robotic evolved (again) in January and announced the Sphero 2B: a tubular, two-tiered robot that can tumble across rough terrain and leap from steep inclines.

WHO IS ONE?

• The Yotaphone's electric paper screen goes full-touch, still crazy
• The shows must go on: why we need a buoyant MWC
• Samsung Gear Fit leaves the gym and enters the world

This year's gathering of the phone nerds has just taken place in Barcelona, with Mobile World Congress 2014 seeing stacks of new mobiles revealed by the likes of HTC, Sony, LG and Samsung, all jostling for the prize of securing your 2014 phone contract upgrade.

Key trends this year were the arrival of 4K video capture on several mobiles and a continued emphasis on larger displays that'll push trouser pocket capacity harder than ever in 2014, plus there was the enormous shock of seeing Microsoft-owned Nokia release a whole range of budget smartphones running on rival Google's Android OS. YotaPhone 2

While there was lots of new tech to see and poke, the event didn't quite expose all of 2014's phone plans, though. Apple wasn't there and Nokia didn't bring any new Windows Phone models, so what we saw was mostly the Android consortium battling to come up with something that stood out from the crowd. 

• YotaPhone 2

 

Not likely to arrive before very late in 2014, the next-gen YotaPhone was at MWC 2014 in the form of a concept device. And what an exciting concept it is too, expanding on the genius idea of sticking a low power epaper display on the back of the phone by making this B&W display now a full touchscreen.

This means many key phone functions can be carried out via the vastly more efficient epaper screen, meaning battery life ought to be immense when using this always-on screen alone for your notifications. Internally, the ubiquitous Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 runs the show, with the "main" colour screen a 5-inch unit outputting at 1080 resolution – and the epaper screen managing a decent 960 x 540.

•  LG G Pro 2

LG's well-teased 5.9-inch whopper was one of the hits of MWC 2014, with the alphabet device and its knock-knock screen unlocking tricks, post-shot refocusing and clever display scaling for one-handed use showing that LG's really getting on the ball with its software features. LG G Pro 2 The hardware's about as impressive as it gets too, with the G Pro 2 running on a 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 3GB of RAM, plus its 13megapixel camera has 4K video capture and a 120fps slow-motion recording option for… whatever that might be for.

• Sony Xperia Z2

Sony's big new flagship for 2014 is the Xperia Z2, which somehow squeezes even more oomph into a chassis just 8.2mm thick. It's slightly bigger than last year's impressive Z1 slab too, with the Z2 offering a 5.2-inch display that operates at the "full HD" resolution of 1920 x 1080.  Sony Xperia Z2

Interestingly, Sony's using the Z2 to encourage punters to upgrade their home TVs, with the phone's 20.7megapixel camera able to capture 4K video at the ludicrously high 3840 x 2160 resolution. That ability comes thanks to the upgraded internals, with the Z2 powered by Qualcomm's brand new Snapdragon 801 series chipset clocked at 2.3GHz and paired here with 3GB of RAM. A 3,200mAh battery ought to keep it running for a good couple of days, too. We hope.

Huawei Ascend G6

As far as Huawei is concerned, the big selling point of the Ascend G6 is its five-megapixel wide-angle front-facing camera, meaning that, if you like looking at your own face, you can do so in better clarity than on rival hardware. The rear camera's an eight-megapixel unit manufactured by Sony, so proper pics of things other than your gurning face ought to come out nice too

The G6 is bordering on the 'budget' spec for 2014 elsewhere, though, combining a quad-core 1.2GHz chipset with 1GB of RAM and a low-is resolution display of 540 x 960. On just a 4.5-inch IPS screen that resolution shouldn't be too much of a deal-breaker, with Huawei compensating with a low RRP of around €249 (£205). Not bad for a slim 4G phone.

  Huawei Ascend G6

• Samsung Galaxy S5

Android's best-selling series returns for 2014, with Samsung offering a strangely muted and not entirely thrilling update to the Galaxy S range. The Galaxy S5 is a little more angular than the curved Galaxy S4, with Samsung still sticking with the physical Home button and once again eschewing a move to software buttons. While it's not hugely thrilling to look at, the insides of the S5 are more than capable, with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 801 processor running the show and backed by 2GB of RAM.

The Galaxy S range has had great cameras since the Galaxy SII blew everyone away with its colour reproduction and speed, and Samsung's continuing to lead here with a 16-megapixel sensor in the Galaxy S5. Plus, as we're seeing many other phone makers introduce, the S5's camera lets you adjust shot focus after you've taken a photo, if you fancy entering the required mode. And it's waterproof now, too.

 Samsung Galaxy S5