16. IPTV / Video on Demand
IPTV is a technology that has massive potential to change the game when it comes to home entertainment.
While Australians have been spending the last few years getting their heads around digital TV and devices like the TiVo and IQ2, the next phase of home entertainment looks set to kick-in in 2010 - and it involves going beyond TV, to the hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of movies and TV available via the Internet.
As anyone who's ever ventured down the BitTorrent path can attest, downloading TV shows is far from a new phenomenon. But for the most part, it's meant watching those downloads hunched over a computer monitor, not to mention breaching copyright laws.
That's set to change with the arrival of set top boxes in 2010 that bring legitimate Internet movie services to your big screen TV. While TiVo and IQ2 have transformed the TV experience with the ability to record and rewind digital TV, something's been missing: connections to movies and TV via the Internet.
Until recently, the only device like this with access to a serious library of shows was Apple TV. But that's changing. TiVo owners now have access to the CASPA video on demand service, initially offering around 1,000 hours of entertainment. Not only can you watch the shows on-demand, but unlike pay TV there aren't any monthly fees, though not all the content is free, and you'll be wanting to make sure you're with an ISP who doesn't charge you for downloads to the TiVo.
Adding to the excitement in 2010 will be Telstra's T-Box, which is giving BigPond customers access to Telstra's Internet channels (initially only in Melbourne), with no download charges. Xbox LIVE subscribers now also have access to streaming movies at 1080p with prices starting at $4 per movie rental, though the initial list is tiny in comparison to sites like iTunes.
If you're about to change ISPs, choose carefully. Some well-known ISPs are unmetering the data for some of these services, but you need to make sure you've matched the ISP with the service you want.
The other big issue will be download speeds - the Xbox service is said to require at least 4Mbps for full high-definition. Finger's crossed for the National Broadband Network then.
17. Wireless power
If the early signs are any indication, gadgets manufacturers are going to be jumping all over wireless power in 2010. There are already aftermarket wireless charging devices available overseas for the iPhone and Blackberry, and in Australia there's already a big-name wirelessly charged device on the market - Dell's Latitude Z laptop.
So how does the technology work? Induction coils in the charger - typically a device that sits on your desk and looks vaguely like a mouse-pad - and induction coils in the laptop or phone, are employed to transfer power.
The big catch right now is that few products are designed with wireless charging in mind. To charge - say, your iPhone - you'll need to use an after-market case or dock and a charger like the Powermat or Wildcharge (sold overseas). Place your phone in the case and then sit the phone on the charging mat whenever you want to charge it.
While the overall concept has exciting potential, we've a few concerns about the initial products. For one, they're not truly wireless, in the sense that you can't leave your phone or laptop anywhere on the desk and have it charged. The device needs to be sitting on, and touching, the charger. Also, it can take longer to charge your devices this way, and there's the added expense of the charging accessories.
Still, for some devices it's clear that induction charging make sense. One example is the new Energizer Wii Remote Induction Station Charger - a flat pad costing $49 at the time of writing that plugs into your power point and charges your Nintendo Wii controllers whenever you place them on the magnetic surface. Unlike other types of chargers, there's no exposed metal elements that must make contact.
And when it comes to phones, big names like RIM (Blackberry), Nokia and Energizer are teaming up to develop a new wireless charging standard called Qi.
18. DSLR movies
Three years ago the idea of shooting a film on a DSLR camera might have been laughable. Not any more. Documentaries, short films and TV advertisements shot on prosumer grade equipment are already beginning to appear, and in 2010 the trend only looks like getting bigger - Wes Anderson has said his film Fantastic Mr Fox (which reportedly opens in Australian cinemas in early January) was made by taking hundreds of thousands of frames with digital cameras (not the movie type). Admittedly, it's stop-motion, but it's yet another example of how DSLRs are opening up creative prospects for movie-makers.
For a peek at what's possible, head to www.pcauthority.com.au/?160377, where we've collected five examples of short films and TV advertisements shot with Canon's 5D Mark II. The results range from dream-like imagery to the raw footage of the war-zone documentary Battle for Hearts and Minds.
All this should be extremely exciting for budding filmmakers, especially those on a budget. Not only will the new generation of HD video-capable DSLRs give you high-quality footage on a budget, but they offer new ways to experiment with lenses in a way that's limited on a consumer-level video camera.
Two cameras that should push the envelope even further in 2010 are the Canon EOS 7D, and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. The EOS 7D, which launched here last year, is generating attention as a cheaper alternative to the 5D Mark II, and as such may prove useful to student filmmakers on a budget. At the other end of the scale, Canon is touting the EOS 1-D Mark IV as the world's first professional-grade camera with full (1080p) high definition video recording. With an expandable ISO rating up to an astonishing 102,400, this should change the game for DSLR movie making.
19. Hybrid cars
for the last few years - either too expensive or too impractical. Not to mention the fact that early versions like the GM EV 1 incorporated the sort of design quirkiness that wasn't exactly everyone's cup of tea. But in the last 12 months it's become clear that hybrid vehicles are about to go from curiosity to the mainstream.
This year will see a watershed moment for the technology when the first Australian-built hybrid, the Toyota Hybrid Camry, goes onto the local car market. The car has a 2.4 litre four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor generator, plus a hybrid battery that stores electrical energy. Like other hybrids, the car can switch off the petrol engine while stopped at lights or at low speeds, switching to electric power to save fuel. It's claimed that the car could take petrol usage from around 9 litres per 100km to 6 litres.
And that's just the start. Not only will Toyota follow-up with other hybrids, but Holden is reportedly planning a hybrid version of an Australian icon - the Commodore.
Fuel economy isn't the only thing that's raising eyebrows about the new generation of hybrid cars. The Toyota's third generation Prius, launched last year, has innovations like steering wheel mounted touch controls for radio, air conditioning and to check energy consumption. A Head Up Display (HUD) shows speed and navigation information on the windscreen (on the i-Tech model), and a button on your keychain lets you activate the air conditioning system before you get into the car (without the engine running).
The only sticking point now is the price. You'll still pay a premium for a hybrid vehicle, with a new Toyota Prius setting you back more than $30,000 at the time of writing. Still, these cars are getting harder to ignore.
20. Better Wi-Fi
Until recently, if you told us you were building a home network for gaming or streaming HD movies, we'd recommend you think seriously about Gigabit Ethernet. While more homes are Wi-Fi enabled than ever before, the technology just hadn't convinced us to rip out the cabling and go completely wireless.
Home wireless networks will be given a boost with the evolution of 802.11n networking equipment in 2010. With the standard finally given the official go-ahead, you can expect to see 802.11n become the technology de rigueur for connected homes this year. But that's just the beginning.
While 802.11n already offers significant transfer speeds and range improvements, there is already the tantalising prospect of routers capable of three streams of data, rather than two. Combined with other improvements, this could see speeds of up to 600Mbps. Several manufacturers are reportedly developing devices with three streams.
The prospect of better throughput at greater ranges will be big news for anyone wanting to stream HD video, especially considering real-world transfer speeds are markedly less than the paper spec. In previous tests we found early 802.11n equipment managed was noticeably quicker than 802.11g - around 26Mb/s at 47 metres, compared with 20Mb/s over 30 metres.
Equipment manufacturers seem confident that wireless is ready for home media networking. We're seeing more network media players in the market with wireless, and now there's also an 802.11n adapter for the Xbox.
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