Ultrabooks, smart TVs, Windows 8 and Cloud storage will be the tech trends of 2012.
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The next year in tech is likely be more one of evolution than revolution, with the mass adoption of devices like tablet computers, e-book readers and cloud storage services taking the gadgets of the past 18 months mainstream.
RISE OF THE ULTRABOOKS
The popularity of Apple’s iPad and its rivals running Google’s Android has left laptops looking decidedly fat and unattractive. Cue the arrival of the “ultrabook”, a new category developed by Intel designed to maintain the relevance of the laptop in the age of the tablet. The first ultrabooks are already on the market from the likes of Toshiba, Acer and Dell and they are notable for their slim profile, lack of a hard drive and excellent battery life.
Ultrabooks are selling for around the $2000 mark – more than middle-of-the-road laptops and low-end netbooks. But the portability they provide will appeal to those who recoil at the thought of tapping out an email using a touch screen. Expect aggressive deals on ultrabooks next year as the vendors vie to own this new category.
THE SMART TV WARS
Big changes are in store for TV next year. Sky and TVNZ recently announced Igloo, a cut-price Sky subscription and set-top-box combo that will also allow you to select from a library of 1000 movies and download them over your internet connection. Others are looking to cut out the middleman and stream content directly to your TV using your broadband connection.
But the battle for the lounge is only really getting under way, and it will be dominated in 2012 by two players that have clashed in the market for smart phones and tablets: Apple and Google. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed shortly before his death that he had been working on a TV that will do away with complicated remotes and confusing programming guides. It’s expected to arrive late in 2012.
Google has already delivered Google TV, which combines internet browsing, a search function and regular TV viewing. Its first incarnation wasn’t well-received, but Google is working on version 2.
THE WINDOWS FACTOR
Microsoft will deliver Windows 8 next year, ushering in what it hopes will be another era of computing dominated by the Windows operating system. Windows 8 will undoubtedly make its mark – Microsoft is too powerful for it to fall flat, and its touch-screen compatibility will help Microsoft catch up with nimble rivals Apple and Google.
But will Windows 8 be too little, too late? The post-PC era is upon us with the advent of the tablet, and so far Microsoft is largely absent from this space. The software giant that has dominated the industry for so long has its work cut out to stay relevant to consumers beyond 2012.
MAX OUT YOUR DATA CAP
There’ll be one certainty next year – you’ll download and upload more data than you did this year. This will have implications for your broadband plan. What’s driving the increase is the growing popularity of cloud-based storage services such as Dropbox and Apple’s recently launched iCloud, which lets you store your files on a computer server and access them on any device.
New Zealand still has relatively restrictive data caps, but the growing demands of accessing the cloud and regularly backing up content means we are chewing through data at a higher rate. Add to that the rise of video-streaming services such as TVNZ on Demand and growing use of internet telephony services like Skype and Google Talk, and the average household’s monthly cap of 20-40GB starts to look stingy.
We are still a long way from “all you can eat” data plans becoming standard – our infrastructure is still unable to handle them and international capacity remains a bottleneck until a new undersea cable is laid. But internet service providers realise the appetite for data is insatiable; hence the arrival of unmetered download weekends when you can go mad and use as much data as you want – and not be charged extra. Expect to see more download marathons in 2012.
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