Rob’s Bold and Not-As-Bold Predictions for 2012 in Tech


January 2, 2012

Top 10 predictions for 2012.

My forecasting skills are probably more finely tuned to weather patterns and producing daily forecasts.  But as real fan and active participant in the development of some of today’s technology and software designs there does seem to be a changing of the guard heading into 2012 that should make for a very entertaining and exciting year.

Here are some of my bold and not as bold predictions for the year ahead, which I will gladly revisit at year’s end to see what happened and what clearly didn’t.

Remember, these aren’t forward looking statements and certainly nothing worthy of building your retirement portfolio around.  But…I have a funny feeling that this may be what’s on the way in 2012.

SOCIAL MEDIA “NEXT BIG THING” IS…

Pinterest. Its addicting, unique and practically absorbs you into full-time collaboration with other users with its simplistic yet effective interface.  Sharing ‘pins’ has some tremendous SEO and sales/marketing potential as well making this concept a strong one for being a revenue generator as well.

USER INTERFACES IN 3-D

We will wonder how we lived in a time when our desktops lived in a 2D environment.  Right now the only real signs of this sea change are on gaming systems: Wii, XBox Kinect and PS3.  But what happens when this technology is finally very usefully applied to business?  Lift/Pull/Push moves to access files and data will be far more intuitive and reduce ridiculously absurd levels of drop down menus and mouse-clicking common to today’s software.  3D interface design is probably my second favorite best startup business plan for 2012.

BEST STARTUP BUSINESS PLAN: CLOUD SECURITY

Becoming THE security net to protect cloud-based services = wanting to become the fastest growing startup in years.  Its a perfect storm of sorts in the cloud with a killer business plan.  With a cascade of companies adopting cloud-based management/productivity services – protecting the internet pipeline/personal data for these companies has never been more crucial.  In fact at AnaTango, its an issue we treat extremely seriously and design our systems and software infrastructure from the ground up with far higher security standards than our mainstream competitors.

Look for one or two companies to position themselves as the ‘cloud leader’ in guaranteeing bandwidth/pipeline performance will full time counter measures to prevent DNS and other attacks.  Indeed, hacking and anxiety over security may be the primary reason why more companies are resisting to fully adopt cloud computing for all their productivity/management/IT needs.

HACKTIVISM TURNS TO THE DARK SIDE

Hacktivism Turns Dangerous – more sophisticated hacking begins coordinated attacks on power grids and infrastructure systems.  As authorities have greater problems tracking down the sources, this will only embolden those who have the skill sets to perpetrate them.

CLOUD COMPUTING OUTLOOK: M&A ACCELERATION

Cloud builds momentum.  With a recipe of saving money, increasing accessibility, transparency and collaboration the drive for businesses to utilize cloud services will likely continue seeing an exponential leap forward.  However, rapid consolidation in the space seems likely as the big fish begin gobbling up the more talented and feature focused competition.

CLOUD/INTERNET BEGIN FULL ATTACK ON CABLE TV

YouTube’s move into original programming will be expensive but worth it.  Remember when people used to shake their heads when HBO, Showtime, Starz, FX hired top talent to produce movie quality programming?  In the new ‘cloud’ based always-on-demand world, YouTube stands to gain by simultaneously offering more free content vs. Apple’s iTunes and Amazon’s pay for everything model.  But Apple likely wins even with the higher monthly price because…

APPLE’S ATTACK ON CABLE TV

Apple’s TV (iVision?) debuts.  Take one look at your cable box or dish remote and then look at your iPhone w/ Siri.  Which would you rather use to quickly set/record/find programs to watch?  No contest. In fact Comcast would be wise to begin working with Logitech to match Apple to the punch with a voice activated remote control.

The only problem I have with “iVision/Apple iTV” is forcing folks to accept the predetermined monitor size that comes with it.  Here I think people could be missing something…Apple may not actually sell you the “TV” but rather the interface, like their Mac Mini or Apple TV.  It would seem to be far more marketable (and far greater profit/unit) to avoid costly OLED panels and stick simply with making the Apple TV box matched to an iPod Touch voice activated interface.  This would make Apple TV work immediately with ANY TV on the market, allowing the user to choose their favorite large screen TV or keep their existing one.

CONJECTURE: PLAUSIBLE PARTNERSHIPS & ACQUISITIONS

Microsoft buys Nokia and looks to buy ARM as well.  Samsung tries to align with HP and invests in the open platform WebOS.  Amazon considers making a run at RIMM/Blackberry to get into the cellphone/smartphone market only to be outbid by Google who buys RIMM to bolster its folder of smartphone tech in the on-going patent wars. Despite this Apple and the new iPhone 5 dominate until Google-designed Motorola mobile devices begin hitting the market.  Apple also begins a transition to using iOS across its entire product lineup including laptops and desktops, running far more efficient ARM-based chipsets and flash-based RAM drives.

APPLE: THE RISE OF JONATHAN IVE?

With Steve Jobs last big project (TV) finally released – who will lead Apple to its next “big thing?”  There is “another” as Yoda once said in The Empire Strikes Back (while of course no one can be another Steve Jobs) but the “other” I’m referring to is probably the one person at 1 Infinite Loop with that rare gift of indelible design, eloquent and museum quality “art ware” who we haven’t seen much of to date, but I think this time next year that should be about to change.

MUST HAVE GADGET OF 2012

Tie – iPhone5 and Apple iTV/iVision.

…ONE MORE THING

Long form Mayan calendar ends with hundreds of folks in attendance during the Winter Solstice at many of the ruins sites in Mexico.  Then… in an instant comes a revelation!  Nothing has changed.  On to 2013.

AnaTango’s Chief Marketing Officer Rob Mayeda brings nearly 17 years of broadcast news/media experience to AnaTango and is a multiple Emmy-winning meteorologist and multimedia producer.  Rob is a self-described technology ‘geek’ constantly researching and testing new software and hardware designs.  Rob also leads the user-interface design and implementation for AnaTango’s Cloud Business Management Suite under AnaTango Cloud.  He does not break dance, at least not in public.  Contact Rob @ rmayeda@anatango.com

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