While a lot has happened this year in the mobile industry, there are a few that have left marks to remember. From Apple’s rumored iPhone 5 to AT&T’s failed $3.9 billion acquisition of T-Mobile, there are a few that consumers will remember as important news developments of 2011. InformationWeek’s technical writer Eric Zeman has done a nice job of sorting out five such key developments that stand out sharply in the midst of hundreds of news events in the mobile world.

First on Zeman’s list was Android (News - Alert) domination. According to this report, Android’s success is unparalleled. Only a few years ago, it was at the rock bottom. Today, it is number one operating system (OS) for smartphones. As per this report, “Google (News - Alert) is still activating new Android devices at the rate of 550,000 per day with no signs of slowing down.” The reach of Android has been extended to other devices, including media players, tablets, watches, and more. Zeman believes dominance of Android will continue in 2012.

Second to make InformationWeek’s news list is AT&T’s bid to acquire Deutsche Telekom’s (News - Alert) T-Mobile USA. However, after reviewing the deal for months, both the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger on the grounds of violating antitrust regulations.  

Early this year at CES 2011 in Las Vegas, some 50 new tablets were introduced. But, by the year-end only a handful survived, wrote Zeman. These include Motorola (News - Alert) Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Apple iPad 2, Research In Motion PlayBook, and the HP TouchPad. Well, it turns out that Apple is again dominating the tablet space with iPads. And iPad2 turns out to be the most popular this year, according to InformationWeek. Samsung's Galaxy Tab takes the second place.

Going down, the fourth important story, according to InformationWeek, was the 4G race. This year the wireless network operators have been racing to build out their 4G mobile broadband networks. For instance, AT&T is deploying HSPA+ and LTE (News - Alert) and Sprint is working to switch from WiMax to LTE, wrote Zeman. Similarly, T-Mobile is expanding its HSPA+ network and Verizon Wireless is on its way to dominating the 4G space with its LTE network, Zeman wrote.

Zeman believes that the performance/cost ratio of each carriers 4G network will play an important role in determining carrier’s growth in 2012.

Lastly, even though iPhone 5 is not out yet, it is the most searched product on the Google search engine this year. In fact, media and analysts alike have anticipated the release of iPhone 5 many months prior to its arrival.