7 Technology Trends that Should Happen in 2012
The Year 2011 saw Apple bloom despite the loss of its one-of-a-kind seed, seemingly finding the equilibrium point between art and functionality in its line of i-Products, from the iPhone to the iPad. The latter seized a stranglehold on the Tablet market, with other companies scrambling to get their piece of the i-Pie (okay; that’s enough) - from Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, to the Android and Samsung Galaxy Tabs. Clearly, Tablets have the staying power of laptops, and we can look forward to continued improvements in successive generations.
If we could truly predict what would happen in 2012 with the big players, then we’d probably work for one of them; so instead, we’ll take a shot at tongue-in-cheek predictions of not necessarily what will happen in 2012, but what should happen. Especially since there are no consequences whatsoever for being wrong. Enjoy!
1. Amazon’s Kindle will dip below $50 (which is just $10 more than the current price of a Kindle leather cover). With Amazon’s entry into the Tablet Wars with the Kindle Fire, marketing will have to move away from a “mere” reader, considering that the Samsung Galaxy Tab, Apple IPad, and Asus Transformer could probably beam Scotty Up with just a few more tweaks.
2. First; for the “will happen”: social media will continue to grow and insert itself into even more aspects of daily life. With the growing rise in computer Tablet functionality and ubiquity, it only makes sense that Social Media giants will start partnering with or perhaps making their own! Look for the Tumblr Tab near the end of the year 2012, with the Facebook Fone (oops; got carried away – Phone) hot on her heels. You’ll be able to bring up your list of friends and press “Like” to dial, and “Dislike” to hang up. Yet another platform will Stumble Upon their own brand, although they’re more likely to sign a deal to be included as a primary app on a pre-existing Tablet.
3. In the concluding months of 2011, Google announced that it had finally re-upped with Mozilla Firefox, becoming the primary search engine on the burgeoning browser, satiating many users tired of the fickle Compatibility Toolbar option. A new player should take note of this and introduce a social media-oriented browser, incorporating Twitter, Facebook, Digg etc as primary features, instead of as “merely” apps/buttons. It should have a real-time scrollbar of your Facebook Friends’ recent Likes with one-click access to the relevant stories. This will just be a natural extension of Meebo bars and floating social media widgets.
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