Dear HTC, please find enclosed your 2012 report card.

The best phone ever made. EVAR.

HTC.

HTC!

Where do I start? Perhaps I shall start by saying I love you. Seriously, I love you. Sadly, these days I am starting to love you in the way that I love cassette tapes; for what you once were to me, not what you represent now.

If that sounds painful HTC, please remember, the truth only hurts if it ought to.

Perhaps that was a little acerbic for a beginning? Allow me take one step back, and lay down some context.

Dear Samsung, please find enclosed your 2012 report card.

So, Samsung, how did you do?

This is the first part of a series of editorials (or at least I hope the other editors will chip in to make this a series?) where we're going to look at how each manufacturer has done this year, and make some suggestions for what their path forward should look like in 2013. The intention of these isn't to make a fanboys dream list of stupidly powerful hardware specs, but to make a reasoned set of recommendations for how we feel they can improve in 2013.

To kick things off we're going to start with Samsung. In terms of what Samsung did right this year you could be brief and say nearly everything, but since when did we ever keep things brief here at AndroidNZ?

Top apps for your new Android device - Part Two

A familiar view of the Play Store

So you've recently obtained a new Android device. Hopefully you've read Part One of our top apps for your new Android device. Once you've had a read, perhaps you would be interested in Part Two which covers the following categories:

• Social Media & Networking
• Cloud Storage
• Photography
• Navigation and Location Sharing
• Customisation

If you're keen, continue reading after the break.