Technology trends for 2011

By Pramod DE SILVA

E-reader

Technology always marches on. What is 'hot' today could be a 'goner' tomorrow. We are inundated with new inventions and new 'takes' on old gadgets. Some of these are must-own, while there are many we can live without. Each product improves over time and also decreases in price. Last year saw many new products and trends from 3D TV to the iPad. Here's a list of the hottest new trends in the consumer technology world. This is by no means exhaustive, but only a selection of what's in store for all gadget lovers out there. By the way, the list is in no particular order.

Apple iPad and other tablets

The year more or less belonged to Apple as the iPad took the world by storm. Tablets have been there for a while, but it took Apple to raise it to a new level. A glorious 10 inch multi-touch screen is practically all you get, but that is enough real estate for some serious and fun stuff.

The iPad virtually runs on so-called 'Apps' (programs) from the Apple App store (available in Sri Lanka as well) and you can do practically anything on an iPad from games to watching videos to composing email. Physical keyboard lovers will hate the virtual touch screen keyboard, but the iPad is primarily a media consumption device, not necessarily a media creation device.

Apple has moved as many as eight million units in under one year and an improved version is likely this year. Well, what's missing in the iPad - camera(s), USB and SD Card functionality, Flash compatibility - and you may actually get some of these in the improved version, though Flash is still unlikely.

The nearest competitor to Apple's iPad is the newly launched Samsung Galaxy Tab, which sports a seven inch screen. It has already sold over one million units, including hundreds here in Sri Lanka. Unlike the iPad, it can do voice/video calling and Flash. It also has an SD card slot. Also unlike Apple's iOS operating system, the Galaxy Tab is powered by Google's Android. More about that later. This year, these two tablets will be assailed by a host of offerings from other vendors from HTC to Blackberry.

The rise and rise of Android

A 3D Blu-Ray disc

Android, the operating system was invented by Google for its own Nexus smartphone. Although that phone was not very successful, Google licensed the technology to a host of third party manufacturers from LG to Samsung to Sony Ericsson. And now it is overtaking Blackberry in the smartphone market. Android is also a hot favourite for tablets, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab which uses Android 2.2. Android is also in for a makeover - its 2.3 Gingerbread is almost ready for world domination.

Android is poised to overtake Apple's iOS, mainly because of the sheer volume of the products using Android. It is also an open source system, as opposed to Apple's closed door approach. In fact, 103 Android Apps are downloaded every second around the world, with 200,000 on offer, just a little less than on Apple's App store. More and more devices will be powered by Android this year.

E-readers

Last year was easily the year of the e-book and e-reader. The catalyst was the explosion in the e-book market and more importantly, the launch of Amazon's Kindle 3. The all-new Kindle, launched in August, has a high-contrast black and white E-Ink screen ideal for reading even under bright sunlight. It can store more than 3,500 books and can even read them out to you if you are too lazy to read.

Better still, the higher priced model comes with a free-for-life 3G connection for downloading books, browsing Amazon's bookstore or even the Web. A book can be downloaded in less than 60 seconds. The battery lasts weeks without Wi-Fi/3G on. No wonder that Amazon may have sold more than eight million new Kindles. Oh, did I mention that Amazon has apps for reading books on the iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, PC, Mac and Android devices? Sweet. The Kindle's nearest competitor, the Barnes and Noble, Nook, which has a lower colour screen for browsing the bookstore, is also doing well. Some authors have now sold more e-books than their physical counterparts and this trend is likely to continue through 2011. The more trees we can save, the better.

Blu-Ray

Augmented Reality

Blu-Ray, the successor to DVD is finally on track to go mainstream this year.

Although introduced way back in 2006, the Sony backed format was fighting for supremacy with Toshiba's HD-DVD. Once Toshiba caved in, the stunning high definition disc format began to take off. We are talking 1080 line picture (six times the resolution of DVD), 7.1 channel surround sound, multiple commentaries and supplements, pop-up menus and the lot. Economies of scale mean that player prices have fallen way below US$ 100. Disc prices too are falling.

Movies such as Avatar have helped the format in no small measure. The DVD-Blu Ray price difference for new releases is becoming marginal. The industry plans to produce 400 million blu-ray pre-recorded discs this year. If you experience blu-ray, there's no going back to DVD. And blu-ray is entering the third dimension as well - read on.

3D TV

Television and cinema has been flat - two dimensional all this time, except for some B-movies which you watched with coloured glasses.

Last year's technology breakthrough was the introduction of 3 Dimensional (3D) TV, which adds the illusion of depth to the previously flat picture. These TVs still need glasses, but they are highly advanced active-shutter versions which communicate with the telly. Samsung, Panasonic, Sony and LG are in the lead in the 3D TV business. These sets are now widely available in Sri Lanka, at a somewhat hefty price tag, but early adopters have to pay a price, literally. Currently, there are two ways of getting 3D content - broadcast television and 3D Blu- Ray. Only a few channels broadcast in 3D at present, but there is a growing number of 3D blu-ray titles which can be played on a 3D Blu-Ray player connected to a 3D TV. That is the easier route to go 3D.

Of course, we can expect more 3D stations and 3D blu-rays this year.

Manufacturers may also find it more convenient and economical to make only 3-D blu-ray players, which can play 2D blu-rays and DVDs as well. There will also be a proliferation of 3D cameras and camcorders as well. Also watch out for glasses-free 3D TV - Toshiba already has a prototype and Nintendo will roll out a glasses-free gaming system this year.

Smartphones

3D TV

We do not know who coined this term, but more people will opt for phones that allow you to do more things this year. And they are getting more affordable as carriers subsidise handsets. Smartphones are almost portable computers powered by powerful processors.

The best example of a smartphone is the Apple iPhone, now in its fourth generation, though again, Samsung has caught up with its Android Galaxy S with nine million units sold. Microsoft, not to be outdone, has its Windows 7 mobile operating system. HTC, LG, Nokia, Blackberry, Palm, Motorola and Sony Ericsson are all in the smartphone fray. The next big thing is Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 4G smartphones, which will go one step beyond 3G. Several phone makers already have offerings in this sector.

The other trends to watch out for in smartphones are dual core processors, 3D displays (some pundits believe 3D holographic video calling will be possible by 2015), Dual SIM capability (already wildly popular in normal phones in the developing world), high-def still and 1080P video and more pico projectors.

Near Field Communications (NFC) and mobile payments

I included this in a separate category instead of including it in the smartphone category because of its enormous potential. In short, this could make wallets - and physical credit cards - largely useless or obsolete in the next decade.

A collection of the biggest wireless carriers, handset makers and software developers are putting their weight behind this technology, called near-field communication. That standard will allow your mobile to make payments at a cash register, scan computer chips embedded in ads and posters for discounts and product info, and eventually incorporate driver's licences and other forms of ID. For example, a retailer could embed a paper-thin NFC chip in the price tags on its shelves.

An Apple iPad

When you wave your NFC-enabled phone over the tag for, say, a given product, it will direct the Web browser on your phone to a site with more info about that product. You then go to the cash register with the product, just swipe your phone, which also contains all your credit card info, over the NFC-enabled register, which debits your bank account, all in seconds.

Samsung has already released a phone with a NFC reader and others are poised to follow suit.

Augmented Reality

In short, this technology allows you to point a camera-equipped device at some object and get more information on it instantly. And it will get bigger this year. For example, some smartphone applications allow you to point the phone camera at the night sky and get all information on the stars visible in that band. More applications will be developed this year for augmented reality.

These are just a few trends to watch out for this year and I have not touched on technologies such as cloud computing, which will make significant gains this year. It promises to be an exciting year for tech geeks, so keep your eyes firmly peeled on the next big things.