The best smartphones and tablets of 2014

Sure, there were lot of mobile flops this year, but that makes these winners even sweeter

It was too easy to find mobile flops this year. As mobile devices mature, it's harder to come up with true innovations, and as a result, many vendors turn to gimmicks and half-baked ideas. That slippery slope leads to flops like the Amazon Fire Phone.

But in the sea of dubious products were islands of excellence that comprise the best mobile products of 2014. Here, I focus on the smartphones and tablets that should be at the top of anyone's list, especially for professionals who need more than a media playback and communications device.

4 positive predictions for security in 2015

Sick of the constant drumbeat of data breaches and destructive exploits? There's no magic bullet, but these four measures may help in the coming year

In today’s crazy world, where hackers can take down entire companies, cancel projects, and ruin movie night for millions, I have to believe we’ve hit some sort of tipping point. I mean, someone who doesn't like your company shouldn’t be allowed to kill it.  

I’m not talking about Sony alone. Hackers have been putting companies out of business for years. In the past it’s been smaller firms, but now damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars -- or in Sony’s case, probably half a billion over the long term -- are commonplace. Remember that few of these attacks required sophisticated hacking techniques; it's generally a matter of poor defenses. Almost any company could be Sony.

The security state has become so bad, it has to get better. In fact, I see four areas of light in the endless fight against malicious hackers and malware: