It's year end and during such times, it's almost mandatory to do two types of stories. One is the year in review, looking back at the top stories. The other is a look at the year ahead.

Since this is a tech column, I'll start by highlighting some of the most important tech issues of the past year. Then, next week I'll look at what to expect in 2011.

Social Media

This is without a doubt the year social media exploded. You know social media is mainstream when Hollywood makes a movie about it (‘The Social Network') and it becomes a big hit.

mkini facebook Facebook now has over 500 million users and in Malaysia alone there's an estimated nine million users. Malaysian are also said to be the most active Facebook users and have amongst the highest average number of friends (233 per user).

Twitter has also displaced blogs as the most happening place for political discourse. All the leading politicians seem to be tweeting away in parliament, at official functions and at on the ground events.

Smart Phones

There was a time when owning a smart phone meant you were a high-level businessman. Remember the days when the Nokia Communicator (also popularly known as "the brick") was something only chief executives could afford? Those were the days. Now, you have even fresh graduates using iPhones, Blackberries and Android phones. They've become that mainstream.

iPad

Tablet computers were around long before Apple came out with its own but no one took them seriously until the iPad hit the market. The iPad was so in-demand that Malaysians found ways and means to get their hands on one long before they became officially available here. Many bought theirs from Singapore.

NONE I got mine through a contact in Australia. The success of the iPad has spawned many "iPad killers" or perhaps I should say "iPad wannabes". Time will tell whether the other tablets will be a hit but this year belonged to the iPad.

Netbooks

If AirAsia made it possible for everyone to fly, netbooks made it possible for everyone to own a computer. Ok, so they are not exactly One Laptop Per Child   kind of prices but you can get basic netbooks for around RM1,000 which truly makes it affordable for the masses.

These are not high-powered computers by any means but you can access the Internet and do some basic computing. Apple has recently launched its answer to the netbook in the form of its MacBook Air which is relatively pricier at slightly over RM3,000 for the base model, but still quite cheap for an Apple computer.

Apps

The success of the iPhone and iPad has spawned a new industry in mobile apps. These are small computer programs that you can download and install onto your iPhone or iPad to give them more functionality.

Mobile apps are not new but they never took off in the past, I suspect because it was simply too hard to get these apps onto the phone. By creating a holistic eco-system for the apps to be created, distributed, paid for and installed, Apple has made this industry viable.

DSLR videos

The notion of using a DSLR camera to shoot video seemed so odd to me when I first heard about it. But when my video production friends begin to start using it I realised this was not some quirky fad but something of a game changer.

The concept first emerged in 2008 with Nikon's D90 camera. However, it was Canon which really took DSLR video to another level with the release of its 5D Mark II camera. I recently went to England to direct a judo video shoot and sure enough, the videographer was using a Canon camera.

Unifi

High speed broadband seemed like a distant dream that's never attainable but my dreams came true this year when I found out that Unifi was available in my neighbourhood. I quickly signed up and opted for the highest speed option, 20mbps.

It costs RM250 per month, which is a bit on the high side but it's worth paying that price to get fast broadband. As someone who uses the Internet round the clock and who consumes a lot of multimedia content online, having high speed broadband is like manna from heaven.

3D

Sparked by the success of 'Avatar' in 3D, every major movie studio started coming out with movies in 3D.

avatar movie There was rumor than even the next installment of the James Bond franchise (now put on hold) was going to be in 3D.

The 3D mania has even trickled to the TV space with all the major brands coming out with 3D TVs. I suspect only hardcore early adopters would get these.

It's still too early to tell though whether they will be around in the long run.

OON YEOH's new social media book ' Like Me, Follow Me ' is published by MPH. You can connect with him via Facebook and Twitter .