 Hello and happy holidays. I'm Kristen Folletti and thanks for joining us at Newsdesk on Silicon Angle TV. As 2012 comes to a close, we're spending some time reflecting on the stories this year that have had a significant impact in the tech world. Join us today to provide a review on the top mobile and consumer trends of 2012, along with predictions for the year ahead is Silicon Angle Newsdesk editor, Kristen Nicole. Welcome back, Kristen, and thanks again for joining us. Absolutely. One of the major announcements in the tablet market this year was the introduction of Microsoft's Surface. What are your reactions to the Surface's slow adoption and what are your thoughts on the Surface's impact on the BYOD trend? I think that there's been a lot of expectations for the Surface, specifically to the BYOD trend. We spoke earlier about Mark Hopkin's theory about how this combination of Windows 8 and tablets that support it could kill BYOD because it can provide businesses a device that they can purchase on behalf of their employees and control the experience a little bit more in installing that security that they have kind of lost, not lost a grip on, but had faced some challenges with the iPad entering the workplace. Microsoft Surface is, of course, an answer to that. It's just a matter of how long it's going to take to become a fully integrated option. One thing that is concerning about Windows 8 is it's a new operating system. There's a learning curve. It's going to take a while for businesses to completely replace all of their existing Windows devices or whatever other devices they may be looking to replace with a Windows 8 tablet or a hybrid, whatever the case may be, and then also it's going to take some time for people to get comfortable with it. So even though it's Windows and a lot of us are familiar with Windows interfaces, it's still new. And especially when you talk about the tablet experience, there's some things that are inherently better about a mobile device and a tablet. Windows can, Microsoft, rather, I think they need to work a little bit on how they can take advantage of the fact that this is a mobile experience. One thing that is good for them, they've included this new Metro UI. It's a little bit fresher, a little bit more modern, but then you also have the traditional Windows interface that we've grown to knowing love from the desktop experience. So a lot of potential, I think. What are your predictions for Microsoft's market impact in 2013? One of the great things that they're doing is looking at the hardware and the software side of the market and trying to combine that as best they can. So they've come out with their own device. The Surface is their first real entry into the mobile hardware market and even though they've made other hardware in the past, you think Xbox, there's also a range of peripherals that they've manufactured over the years, but for the mobile market tablet, this is their first go at it, and they also are ensuring that their software is accessible on as many devices as possible. That includes partners like HP and Dell that also includes rival platforms like Apple and Android. So I think that on the mobile side, their strategy, it sounds like a good strategy to me. Then they've also broadened this beyond just the mobile market and even beyond the enterprise. So they're rolling in all of their consumer offerings, looking to take over the home entertainment space even more so than they already have with their gaming console and bringing it all together into a unified experience. So whoever can own that complete user experience, the whole consumer package, Apple's trying to do this with they have iTunes and iCloud and they also have their own devices, the iPad and the iPhone. Google's doing this now as well so they've rolled out with Android and they've also come out with their own tablet and smartphone and home entertainment device. There's a lot of huge land grab right now and everyone's kind of making a play for it. Going back to Google, their first hardware device, the Nexus 7, had a successful launch and was followed by Google's smartphone, the Nexus 4. How has Google done in establishing themselves in the consumer electronics space thus far and what are your predictions for their future in this area? They've done pretty well so far at least from market demand. I don't think they've released any exact numbers on how many devices they sold but at least they have the bragging rights of selling out their inaugural devices very quickly. So the Nexus 7 sold out pretty quick. The Nexus 4 I think it sold out even faster within 24 hours across two countries. So there's demand for these devices. They've included some perks like offering unlock devices, worked with some partners like Samsung to create devices that are in a comfortable price range for a very broad consumer base. This has been a good strategy for them so far and as they're entering the hardware space they're going to really find more opportunity in that regard. And the thing about Google, they don't necessarily have to rely on their hardware efforts as much. They're still they're still very strong on digital content, software content and offering up their Android platform to other partners. Moving forward my predictions specifically to Android's operating system I think we're going to see it become available for even more connected devices in the future. So that will really give Google yet another opportunity to create these points of interaction with their consumers and tie that data back into some of the things they're doing with personalized data services and recommendations, things of that nature. Nokia made some interesting mobile plays this year in an attempt to re-enter the mobile market with their here mapping app and the launch of the Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone. What do you think about Nokia's stance in mobile and how did they do in 2012 overall? It's debatable how they did from the consumer perspective. You don't see too many people with the the new Nokia devices on the global scale. It seems they've done pretty well in the Google zeitgeist that came out early in December, mid-December. They were on they made the list of top 10 for consumer gadgets. So there's been a great deal of interest in what Nokia is doing. They remain a significant force on a worldwide scale and they've teamed up with Microsoft to try and regain some of their dominance in the mobile marketplace. They still have some really great devices, great cameras on their smartphones and it's clear that they do put a lot of effort into the devices that they make. It's just a matter of how quickly can they catch up with some of the other offerings from Apple and Google's OEM partners. So it's going to be iffy for them moving forward. They've had some other issues they've had to sell some of their their property in Finland. They've also had to let go of a lot of their workforce. It's an opportunity for them to restructure. Working with Microsoft has been an opportunity for them to restructure their partner channel and figure out the best strategy moving forward. Something we've discussed regularly on our program is the idea of the post-PC era. Mobile chip advancements are becoming extremely important as companies like HP and Dell look to save their PC businesses with hybrid tablets and tablet targeted for the enterprise. What new strategies do companies need to adopt to stay afloat in 2013 and how has the post-PC era impacted BYOD trends? It's significantly impacted BYOD. HP and Dell, they've seen some of their primary markets have gone, seen a really big decline in the past 12 months and even a little bit longer than that. So you've seen HP and Dell completely reshift their thinking, their strategy. They've anticipated this to a certain extent. They've spent a lot of money on acquisitions and product development kind of getting ready for the post-PC era. They've targeted the enterprise with storage solutions and software services consulting. This is an end-to-end solution that's really built out their portfolios and hoping to take their businesses to the next level. Now you look at a company like Dell, they're still really bullish on their PC. So they are looking to things like hybrid tablets to really become the best of both worlds and represent that transition that we're making into the post-PC era. So even though we're not having PC purchases and behavior like we used to, there's still a lot of things that we need PC functionality for. So the post-PC era, at least from HP and Dell's perspective, is hopefully going to be something where we have full PC functionality in a more mobile experience. It's an evolution of the PC. And I think that's a good thing. There's lots of things that you can do. When the iPad first came out, I was hoping I could ditch my laptop and just use the tablet. But there's software that you can't put on your tablet that you may need for work purposes. And there's several things that as much as the tablet can do well, there's just as many things that it can't do at all. So really combining these the best of both worlds, it's going to be a great strategy for companies like HP and Dell. And it could completely reshift their position in the consumer market. In terms of the post-PC era, who's winning in the global market right now? I have to say that Lenovo has been a really, really staking their flag in the land here. They've taken over, they've unceded HP and Dell as far as PC sales go. So while Dell is saying they're bullish on PCs, they've still seen a decline in that market while Lenovo is still just kind of forging ahead. And Lenovo's also taken a very diversified strategy in incorporating smartphones into that mix. They've got really strong positioning in some of the Asian markets like China and they're just for the smartphones in particular. And they're really looking to push this on a global scale. Kristen, the Samsung Apple legal battles over patents were a hot topic we covered with you this year. What kind of impact have these ongoing legal battles had on the tech world? And what do they mean for the future of innovation? Innovation is the key word here. So Apple is really pushing that they're the innovators and to the point where it's gone to court. The presiding judge for many other cases in the United States, Lucy Ko, she has really expressed her frustration with these ongoing legal battles. She wants them to make peace, figure it out, find a way to work together. You're in the same industry. You're actually partners with each other. You've got to find a balance here. So this is really going to ultimately set some precedence as to how the patent system works out legally. It's also setting some precedence on what we consider innovative. There's competitions, always a good thing when it comes to the free market and consumers, they vote with their wallets. What do they end up buying? Samsung had a great year in 2013. They came out, they're their flagship Galaxy S devices in its third generation now. Some stats and some instances they've been able to overtake the iPhone. So it's really going to be, this is kind of setting the stage for how a lot of these legal battles will proceed in the future, how companies are going to be able to work together, particularly in consumer electronics. Prior to the launch of Windows 8, the blogosphere was buzzing with negative reviews and criticism surrounding Microsoft's latest platform. Now that Windows 8 is in consumer hands, what are people saying and what do you think about Microsoft's strategy and what will be in store for them in 2013? Hopefully we'll see some usability improvements in 2013. I've gotten a chance to play around a little bit with some of the Windows 8 devices and it's like I mentioned earlier, it's a new experience. They actually come with little manuals that give you a cheat sheet of how to do things like share media and as far as their interface goes, there's I think their dual offering strategy between Metro UI and the traditional, I think that's probably smart. It really appeases to the consumer that's grown up with Windows and their strategy for cross-platform access is also going to be extremely important. I think it's good for them. They're not really trying to force the consumer or the business to have Windows software and Windows devices and with these rivaling platforms right now, Google, Apple, Microsoft, there's some others on a global scale. There's several others, other platforms that we're going to have to to consider here. I think that similar to what we saw with social networks like Facebook and Myspace and YouTube and Twitter and Google Plus, the days of the wall gardens is over and we're really going to see this mentality break down in the mobile space as well. So software is going to kind of reign here. Devices will become less and less important. Like which device do you have will become more a matter of consumer preference and software is going to be software and services even at the consumer level will become increasingly important in 2013 and beyond. Well, Kristen, thank you so much. Once again, I'm going to stop you for time purposes and I'd love to pick up on this discussion tomorrow. Sounds good. But thank you so much for your time. So for part three of our holiday News Desk segment with SiliconANGLE News Desk editor Kristen Nicole, tune in tomorrow to News Desk on SiliconANGLE TV.