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Websites, products, technology, people, media, games, memes, slang and timeline events, all with sources.
Big in Latin America and Portugal
hi5 was one of the world's largest social networks in the mid-2000s, especially in Latin America, Portugal, Romania and Thailand. In 2010 it was pivoting toward social games and virtual gifts as...
Pixel rooms and furni
Habbo Hotel, the Finnish virtual hotel of isometric pixel rooms, was where teenagers hung out and traded "furni" in 2010. Its Shockwave client, guest rooms and games were a cultural touchstone across...
friend / unfriend: To add or remove someone on Facebook; "unfriend" was the New Oxford American Dictionary's 2009 word of the year. Example: "she unfriended me after the wall post"
app: A smartphone application; the American Dialect Society's 2010 word of the year. "There's an app for that." Example: "is there an app for that?"
The European streaming service Americans could not get
In 2010 Spotify was available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France, Spain and the Netherlands, often by invitation, with a free ad-supported tier and a premium plan. Americans read about it...
Skype's founders try music streaming in America
Rdio, from Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, launched in the US and Canada in August 2010 as a subscription streaming service with a social feed of what friends were playing. It beat...
refudiate: Sarah Palin's accidental blend of refute and repudiate, tweeted in July 2010 and named New Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year. Example: "Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate"
You are the controller
Kinect launched on 4 November 2010 in North America as a $149 camera bar that tracked your whole body and voice for the Xbox 360. Microsoft sold eight million units in 60 days, hackers wrote...
DSL or cable, a few megabits, and a router with WEP
About two-thirds of American adults had home broadband in 2010, according to Pew, mostly DSL or cable at speeds of a few megabits per second; the FCC's National Broadband Plan set a target of 4 Mbps...
Rockstar's western, the game of the year for many
Red Dead Redemption, released on 18 May 2010, put Rockstar's open-world design in the dying American West. It won many game-of-the-year awards, its Undead Nightmare expansion in October became a cult...
Buddy lists and away messages, fading fast
AIM had defined instant messaging in America for a decade, with its running-man icon, buddy lists, door-opening sounds and passive-aggressive away messages. By 2010 it was losing users to Facebook...
The first 4G phone in America, on Sprint's WiMAX
Released on 4 June 2010, the HTC Evo 4G was the first US phone sold as 4G, using Sprint's WiMAX network, which existed in only a few dozen cities. Its 4.3-inch screen was enormous for the time, it...
"There's an app for that": 300,000 apps and counting
Apple's App Store passed 300,000 apps in late 2010 and had served billions of downloads since opening in 2008; the American Dialect Society named "app" its word of the year. Top sellers included...
Trillions of SMS messages, unlimited plans, and T9 thumbs
Text messaging peaked in the early 2010s: Americans sent well over a trillion texts a year, teenagers sent thousands a month, and unlimited texting was the must-have plan feature. On feature phones...
The series finale the internet argued about for weeks
Lost ended on 23 May 2010 with a two-and-a-half-hour finale watched by about 13.5 million Americans and dissected on forums, Twitter and recap blogs for weeks. The show's six seasons had been the...
AMC's zombie drama arrives on Halloween 2010
The Walking Dead premiered on AMC on 31 October 2010 to 5.3 million viewers, a cable record for a series premiere, and went on to become the most-watched drama on American television. It arrived...
The big-screen DS, months before the 3DS was revealed
The DSi XL launched in North America and Europe in March 2010 with larger screens and a wider stylus, aimed at older players of Brain Age and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. Nintendo revealed the...
Johto remade, with a Pokéwalker pedometer in the box
The DS remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver reached North America and Europe in March 2010, bundled with the Pokéwalker pedometer. They sold more than 12 million copies and were the Pokémon games of...
The American Dialect Society voted "app" its word of the year for 2010, beating "nom" and "junk"; the New Oxford American Dictionary had chosen "refudiate".
Verified Supported Editorial Labels show how well each record is documented; open any result for its sources.
After the 12 January earthquake in Haiti, texting HAITI to 90999 gave $10 to the American Red Cross; the campaign raised more than $30 million and showed how mobile phones and...
About 13.5 million Americans watched The End, and the internet argued about it for weeks on forums, Twitter and recap blogs.
Microsoft's controller-free camera for the Xbox 360 sold eight million units in 60 days and was hacked into open-source drivers within a week.
