Ed Rudel, Tech Specialist
1.Mobile devices will continue their march towards dominance. Mobile web access will overtake the PC. Mobile Security will need to be ramped up and the continued expansion of Internet served / time based usage applications, Like Office 360, and private corporate app stores become mainstream.
2.Flexible or curved touch screens flood the market. These could be cell phones, tablets or coffee makers.
3.The 4gb cpu clocking barrier will be passed on consumer based Intel CPUs – These will require transistors based on the 14nm manufacturing process (carbon atoms are .34nm wide). Chips on the market in 2010-2012 use 22nm manufacturing.
4.Some of our favorite online video streaming sites and providers will be gobbled up by some big corporations and start charging fees similar to cable and satellite tv subscriptions. History has shown that when a technology reaches a point where even grandma can use what use to be geeks only territory then someone comes along to cash in. So much for cutting the cord.
5.IOS will be hit by a major virus – Apple will take too long to patch the security vulnerability and hundreds of apple users will cry foul.
6.Microsoft gamble on Windows 8 and the MUI desktop with live tiles (Metro Interface) saves the company, most consumers approve of (or at least get by) the interface on tablets, Laptops, and Mobile phones. This will not be another Windows Me experience but a turning point in the Windows interface. Users just don’t want to worry about files and folders, they want stuff that works. As Foster says – “The Applification of Windows”.