There might be a myriad variety of gadgets to choose from, but there is now doubt that it is the smartphone that is the most desired. Every year we see a new set of devices that set higher benchmarks. The year 2012 was no different. During the year, most flagship smartphones got even bigger displays than their predecessors.

The Samsung Galaxy SIII moved to a 4.8-inch display from the 4.3-inch display on the Galaxy SII. HTC's flagship Android, the One X, had a 4.7-inch screen. Even the iPhone's display was stretched to 4 inches from the regular 3.5-inch screen. On the other hand, Samsung increased the Note II's display to a staggering 5.5 inches. Even in the low and mid-segment devices, majority of smartphones have a screen size measuring between 3.5 and 4.2 inches.

Along with a bigger display, the HTC One X introduced quad-core processors in smartphones, soon followed by the Samsung Galaxy SIII and LG Optimus 4X HD with offered similar processing power. With quad-cores commanding the top-end, we saw a sudden rise in smartphones powered by dual-core processors. Thanks, to the multiple core chips, a 1GHz single core chipset became standard in low-end smartphones.

This was also a year where we saw a major enhancement in phone cameras. On one hand, we had Nokia's amazing camera phone with a 41 MP sensor that can take images of up to 38MP resolution. On the other hand, the 8MP cameras on Androids phones became good enough to take on that of the iPhone 4S. Many also added the ability to capture still images while shooting videos.

Of late, India has been catching on international launches of most of the flagship smartphones as well. The Samsung Galaxy SIII was launched in India within a week of the international launch. The Samsung Galaxy Note II made its entry within a month of the announcement and the iPhone 5 was launched in the fourth wave. The biggest push for these launches is the wide audience who are willing to splurge money on these phones. Most flagship smartphones received overwhelming response, with hundreds queuing up for the iPhone 5 on the launch day itself.

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