It’s hard to believe all that came out of the tech world in the year 2011.
From drastic changes in social media trends to unexpected company
acquisitions — both startups and major corporations — it goes without
saying that it has been a banner year for technology as a whole.
We asked the staff at Mashable to peer into their own crystal balls
and tell us what their digital predictions were for 2012. Some are
obvious transitions, but others might be a little surprising.
Do you agree with our predictions?
Product and Software
CD and DVD based software and game sales will continue to decline.
Apple has already started its push to eliminate the optical disc — with
its Mac App Store and the online-only availability of OS X Lion.
Microsoft is also going to push digital app distribution via the Windows
App Store component of Windows 8. Likewise, game companies will
continue to push more games via download offerings, including Steam,
Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, eschewing traditional discs. – Christina Warren
Apple will release a triumvirate of products including a super slim
edge-to-edge screen iPad 3, the long awaited iPhone 5 and an Apple TV.
The last may also be called the iMac 50-inch. Amazon will introduce
a completely redesigned Kindle Fire. The software will be somewhat
different, but the hardware will be a rethinking of the 7-inch tablet.
Microsoft Windows 8 will arrive by the end of the year, but with a
number of different versions. Metro will be for tablets only and Windows
8 Home and Business will be for laptops and desktops. – Lance Ulanoff
Voice Recognition
I think voice recognition is going to be a big trend in 2012. The
iPhone 4S’ Siri has brought the technology to a mainstream audience, and
other manufacturers will be keen to capitalize on the buzz. It won’t
just be phones that will offer the tech, we’ll see a variety of consumer
electronics incorporating voice control elements — probably with mixed
success! - Amy-Mae Elliott
Mobile
Smart phones will start to see quad core processors along with higher
resolution displays, and more smart phones will start to see NFC chips.
Mobile payments will start to become recognizable, and more people will
understand what it is.- Keith Kaplan
The Oscars will be streamed — in their entirety — online and on mobile. – Lance Ulanoff
Frictionless Sharing
“I saw the future early in 2011 when my colleague Sarah Kessler wrote
about three startups betting on the idea that people would want to auto-share their browsing histories
to social networks. Most people my age and older find this idea a bit
startling — we like to control what and with whom we share online.
But in reading about these companies way back in February, it
occurred to me that this might be the root of a new generational divide.
I see my teenage cousins on Facebook liking thousands of
pages indiscriminately and sharing daily minutiae by the truckload. Some
are living what seems like 100% of their lives out loud and online. The
idea of automatically streaming your reading, listening and location
habits will definitely appeal to them, and never appeal to me. Just as
my parents will never “get” Twitter and Reddit, I will never “get”
clickstreaming.
Lo and behold, late 2011 brought these concepts directly to the mainstream: Facebook. The Washington Post’s Social Reader automatically shares the stories you read. “Frictionless sharing” like this will surely propagate widely in 2012 and beyond.” – Matt Silverman
Television
The coming year will also see much more focus on redefining the TV
experience as Apple releases a TV set, which will seamlessly integrate
the Internet. Despite the absence of Steve Jobs, the release will garner
substantial hype and will be an immediate hit, prompting an upgrade
cycle. - Todd Wasserman
Smart TVs and TV apps, for example Hulu or Netflix, will start to become more popular. – Keith Kaplan
This will be the first year most people become aware of what OLED
HDTVs are, and will want one, especially after they’ve seen OLED’s sharp
picture, super-flat screen and beautiful color saturation. However, it
will be several years before OLED HDTVs in large sizes (over 55″) become
affordable. – Charlie White
Gaming
Motion gaming is sort of the ire of all hardcore gamers but in 2012
game companies will continue to push the limits of their gesture-based
peripherals. Sales of the Kinect and PS3 Move may not be as
stratospherically high as the Nintendo Wii once was but we’re just
starting to scratch the surface of what these things can do. The
companies are throwing their hats into motion gaming and 2012 will be
the year it sinks or swims (until, of course, the WiiU comes out).
That, and there will be a new emphasis on motion-capping and
life-like animation. The current crop of consoles can already get pretty
close to photo-realism but animating those graphics has proved the
toughest challenge. Games like L.A. Noire have shown what motion-capture
can do in a video game setting. Be ready for more.
Of course, mobile/social gaming and gamification will continue their
steady plot to conquer the gaming world but expect big moves in motion
gaming and motion-capture. – Zachary Sniderman
Social Media
Social media powerhouses like Facebook and Twitter will grow less in
user acquisition and more in user engagement by implementing new
features to keep users on the site longer. Pinboard site Pinterest will
be a huge player in the space as it continues to organically grow its
large, yet niche audience. As Google+ continues to add more features,
better integrate with other Google products and become more
business-friendly, it will be a contender for best social network.
Mobile design will become a focus for social sites (if it hasn’t
already) as average users become more inclined to not only consume
content but also engage on tablets and smartphones. – Meghan Peters
Facebook and Twitter will continue their rapid growth, especially
outside of the U.S. Inside the U.S., Google+ will break 100 million
users and look significantly different than it does right now. – Lance Ulanoff
Business Acquisitions
In 2012, Amazon will secure its place as the digital hub in a good
portion of U.S. households by buying Netflix. This will not only add a
lot more content to Amazon’s streaming choices and make buying Prime a
no-brainer, but will also become a valuable branding tool as Amazon
drops the Netflix name and that company’s red envelopes are replaced by
Amazon’s yellow and white. - Todd Wasserman
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings will step down, and someone will acquire
Netflix. RIM will also announce a significant leadership change. It may
also get acquired before the end of 2013. – Lance Ulanoff
http://mashable.com/2012/01/05/mashables-digital-predictions-for-2012/ by
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