2012 is soon bidding us adieu and 2013 is on its way to welcome us. So, what can tech-savvy users expect in 2013? With so many new trends emerging every day and considering gigantic leaps in technological innovations over the last decade or so, one can safely say it will be a year to look forward to, for more reasons than one.
Here is a list of a few predictions, which seem a certain possibility in the coming year.
New-gen TV
According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Apple will launch an innovative television in November, to be marketed for $1,500-2,000. "We expect the beauty of the design to be a feature, but the most important feature will be the ability to use the TV as the main interface for the living room across multiple devices. We believe the TV will include Siri and FaceTime. The biggest item unlikely to come with the TV will be unbundled channels," the analyst has written in a note to clients.
Chinese to the fore
A Gartner prediction states that by 2013, mobile phones would overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide and by end of 2014, three of the top five mobile handset vendors would be Chinese.
"Chinese vendors have the opportunity to leverage their strong position in the domestic Chinese market for entry-level smartphones and expand to other regions, because this is not just an emerging-market phenomenon," Dave Evans, chief futurist, Cisco IBSG Innovations Practice said.
Apple vs Samsung: Next change
When it comes to innovation in technology, can fierce competitors Apple and Samsung be far behind? It is speculated that at the Mobile World Congress, 2013, scheduled early next year, both would showcase their new smartphones - the Galaxy S IV and iPhone 5S.
"We can expect a number of new technology features in the new iPhone or iPhone 5S and this may include NFC, iWallet and Apple's new technology patents related to applications," said Tarun Pathak, analyst, Cyber Media Research.
Building equity on social media
About globalization of professional content on social media, Kun Gao, CEO and co-founder of Crunchyroll, a global video network for Japanese and Asian media, has stated on GigaOm that the act of taking premium content across borders to reach new audiences had proven to be a boon.
In-memory to be in
Many in the technology domain reckon that in-memory computing would become mainstream, speeding up many processes. For instance, SAP Labs has already come up with a highly innovative solution, called HANA, which can do 'astronomic' calculations in a matter of few microseconds.
Turn a new eLeaf
Books, in the literal sense, would get more and more outdated, as eBooks are all set to take over the reins.
"One key reason is that tablets have become the #1 eBook reader and we will sell close to 230 million tablets in 2013. The ease of purchasing and keeping libraries up to date on all of your digital devices is the big draw," Tim Bajarin, president, Creative Strategies, stated in an article.
Tablet boom
Tablets have already caught the attention of technology geeks, but as their sizes get more compact, it just adds more value to the user.
Gartner has predicted that mobile app store downloads would surpass 81.4 bn worldwide in 2013. Considering that it stands at a moderate 45.6 bon in 2012, it is going to be a big leap, especially with free downloads set to account for 90% of the market.
Drive free
After the driverless car project by search giant Google, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the technology that involves several high-end cameras and an autopilot kind of a device.
So much so, the US state of Nevada even passed a law on June 29 last year permitting the operation of driverless cars in Nevada and California.
Rise of hacktivism
Online hacktivist group, Anonymous, has demonstrated time and again its potential in issuing threats to various governments, especially regarding curbs on internet freedom and related issues.
It is already gaining momentum across the globe, as it is almost impossible to track down the hactivists involved in any cyber attacks. So, in all likelihood, 2013 will see more such groups and with that, more activities online.
Story first published on CIOL