Last year was a big one for technology news with Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) botched IPO and its purchase of Instagram the legal battles over patents between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung (PINK:SSNLF) Apple and Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) foray into making hardware and all kinds of records for Twitter to name only a few. While the big companies made headlines smaller private companies had a more quietly successful year. In 2012 a total of 2 277 private technology companies were acquired representing a 20.2% increase from 1 895 purchased in 2011. A recent report from CB Insights details 2012's technology M&A activity revealing ...