6. Mobile Flash
In the same way that "Full HD" is now used to advertise just about every flat screen TV, before long there will be no such thing as an "ordinary" mobile phone. They're all smartphones now, according to mobile chip designer ARM, which claims that even the most rudimentary handset will have the power of a netbook before long.
What will we do with all that processing grunt? Run full-fat Flash video and applications, for starters. Adobe is in the process of bringing its fully fledged Flash Player 10.1 to Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices, with Symbian, Android and BlackBerry OS pencilled in for early 2010. Apple remains the stubborn refusenik, although Adobe has found a way to graft Flash apps onto the iPhone without Apple's official consent, suggesting that it's only a matter of time before the two are forced to sign an entente cordiale.
The arrival of the fully featured Flash player will, says Adobe, bring "uncompromised web browsing of expressive applications, content and high-definition video" to mobile handsets. It will also permit desktop-like web applications to run on mobiles, with support for multitouch and gesture recognition built into the software, so that mobile users aren't handicapped by desktop-style interfaces.
It's enough to make you weep for the days when SMS was considered cutting-edge, isn't it?
7. Intel Larrabee
Larrabee is one of Intel's most ambitious projects: a graphics system that uses complex CPU-type cores instead of the simple stream processors found on conventional graphics cards. It's been at least two years in development, but the first Larrabee products are expected to launch during 2010.
What makes Larrabee special? Intel claims its sophisticated processors - based on the same x86 architecture as the company's CPUs - can perform complex mathematical operations much more efficiently than existing graphics systems. At its 2009 Developer Forum, Intel demonstrated Larrabee's capabilities by showing pre-production hardware rendering a moving ray-traced scene, including reflections on rippling water, in real-time. "To do something like this on a conventional GPU would be really quite painful," declared senior research scientist Bill Mark.
As yet there's no official technical specification for Larrabee, no launch date and certainly no word on pricing, so it's difficult to predict its impact on the industry. It's also possible that, at least at first, its gaming performance will lag behind traditional graphics cards from ATI and Nvidia.
But there's no doubt that, as developers get to grips with the revolutionary potential of Larrabee, Intel's baby could push back the boundaries of what's possible in computer graphics.
As we went to press, it was announced that Larrabee had been scrapped, but keep an eye out for the tech being used in other Intel projects.
8. Projectors in everything
Last year, we predicted that pico projectors were going to be big news. We'll admit to being a little wide of the mark there; carrying a separate projector around at all times, just in case you want to use it, didn't stick. We're standing by the prediction, though. Last month showed that projectors are still a hot technology, albeit in a slightly different form.
Instead of lugging a separate unit around, Nikon managed to cram a whole projector into a standard digital camera, the result being the Coolpix S1000pj (see page 66). Although it adds to the cost of the camera, the miniaturisation is so effective that its size is only a smidgen over a standard digital compact.
And that's the key. While there isn't always going to be a convenient white wall and it won't always be dark enough to be effective, on the occasions that the environment suits, having the ability to project an image is brilliant. You won't want to carry a separate projector around all the time, but it's great to have one built into devices, ready to use.
Our prediction: by this time next year, projectors could well be a regular tick-list feature in both digital cameras and mobile phones.
9. Solid-state systems drive
Last year, we confidently predicted solid-state drives (SSDs) would be everywhere by now, which goes to prove two things: first, that hard disks are, well, hardier than we thought; and second, our local baker will once again have to stock up on humble pie.
Why have SSDs failed to take off? One word: price. Corsair's 256GB 2.5in Solid-State Drive costs $900 at the time of going to press. A 1TB Western Digital Scorpio 2.5in drive, on the other hand, cost a shade over $250. Four times the storage for a third of the price? The decision (like the idiot who predicted SSD domination) is a no-brainer.
However, one area where SSDs are making progress is as system drives. Many of the high-end PCs that roll into our Labs these days have Windows stored on a fast-booting, low-capacity SSD, while regular storage is catered for with a sizeable HDD.
This is a trend we expect to see become commonplace over the coming year, as manufacturers attempt to shave seconds off boot times and take advantage of Windows 7's improved support for SSDs.
10. 3D games and TV
Nvidia has already launched its 3D Vision home entertainment kit, introducing many PC users to the active shutter technology that works more comfortably than existing polarised display kits from firms such as Zalman. But in 2010, the leap in take-up could be even greater. Whether it's driven by Hollywood - see James Cameron's Christmas blockbuster movie Avatar, for example - or, as many believe more likely, by live sporting events, 3D is soon to make the move from the cinema into our living rooms.
Not only can gamers already take advantage of 3D, but it's also here for watching movies, as the Acer 3D laptop on page 39 demonstrates. Panasonic has produced a modified Blu-ray player that can play full 1080p footage in 3D, using the same active shutter glasses that Nvidia uses. All the major TV manufacturers are producing big-screen 3D TV sets in anticipation, and the public is increasingly exposed to 3D by a steady stream of (mostly family) movies. It didn't take long for the early adopting minority to grow into the mainstream when HD technology first arrived; the only question remains, is it too soon after that overhaul for 3D TV to snowball at the same rate?
Next page for 11-15
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