6 Technology Trends to watch for in 2012

technology trends to look for in 2012With the launch of a new year it is always fun to think about what new technologies will emerge in the next 12 months. We think you need to watch out for the following;

  1. Smart phones will continue getting smarter, and will start to replace many other devices, such as the quick snap cameras, short duration video cameras, and voice dictation machines. Apps on these devices will mean you will be able to not only look at facebook and twitter, but the banks will add their own apps allowing you to sort out your banking, buy shares etc. all from your phone. Android and iPhone are dominating this space, but expect Microsoft to put a lot of energy behind their Windows Phone.
  2. TV’s are getting smarter. The iPad and iPhone have proven the appstore model, and where better to purchase movies and videos but on your existing TV. Samsung have already released their app store and you can expect other TV manufacturers to follow suit.
  3. More internet connected devices in your home. As well as your TV being smarter you can expect washing machines, fridge freezers, and many other home devices to become smarter too. This will allow you to start a wash even when you aren’t at home, and look at the content of your fridge when actually at the store. We also think that there will be a growth in fitness and outdoor devices which will connect to the internet so you can share your activity with the social networks.
  4. Tablets will become much more common. Amazon have dropped the price to make them affordable for all, and although the iPad is still the benchmark in terms of absoluter performance, the Kindle Fire will be extremely popular as much of the performance doesn’t matter when you are simply wanting to browse the internet and watch video
  5. Software becoming web based. Business software will move to the cloud. Packages which are installed locally will suffer a little as businesses want the flexibility to allow home workers and management to access software from different locations and on different devices.
  6. Websites becoming multi device friendly. As there are more devices released and these devices all allow connection the internet, it is inevitable that websites will need to be able to be used from many different devices with different screen sizes and input methods. Building different apps for all the devices will become impractical to all but the largest companies, so html5 will become the norm, showing different pages dependent on the browser detected.

So, that’s our forecast for the year ahead. What do you think?

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