It looks like Christmas is looming up already (aren’t we still in November?) so is it time to already be thinking about what the New Year will bring?

Looking back at our technology predictions for 2008 I wonder how we did, let’s have a quick sum up.

• The Year of the Zune – What’s a Zune?
• Budget ‘Back to Basics’ Laptops – Score this one up
• Home Robots – Another miss
• Mini Projectors – Early signs but nothing in the mass market
• Super/Ultra High Def Video – I haven’t even moved to High Def yet

So, an incredibly amazing score of 1 out of 5 – that’s tech for you! Let’s see if we can’t at least get two in 2009. No doubt things are going to be tough next year, given the particularly difficult economic crisis we find ourselves in. Will this prompt new tech or will manufacturers hold back on new developments and attempt to maximise value out of existing tech?

There are likely to be some definite tech developments for 2009 that would be easy to include on a list like this, for example Virtualisation, Unified Communications and Social Networking increases so I am aiming for something a little different. Here are my top 5 technology predictions for 2009:

Cloud Computing

Early signs are here and all the big players are looking at it seriously. But what will finally define cloud computing? Is it an online operating system or simply a set of services like Google Apps? Either way, software as we know it is changing and one day the notion of buying a packaged product will be as strange as buying large black round things that play music when you put needles on them.

Why buy a computer with a pre-installed operating system when you can boot the always up to date (who needs patches?) operating system of your choice straight off the Internet – you do have Internet access don’t you?

Mini Projectors

Ok, so this was on last year’s list but I reckon we are only a year out. Pico projectors are really nifty things and once available will be as commonplace as accelerometers. Pico projectors are small (very small), low power devices that can project images to a typical size of around A4/A3. Who wants to stare at a small screen with tiny writing when you can use an available wall?

Temperature Sensors

Whilst talking about accelerometers, sensors are in and have taken the world by storm. What next? Temperature sensors of course, allowing all manner of new tech from colour changing phones to mood enhancing music choices. Being able to obtain the temperature of the environment around us, as well as our own individual temperature, could offer a whole new generation of gaming, navigation and ESA (Emotional State Awareness) technology.

Near Field Technology

Swiping or inserting cards into devices to get information or perform transactions is a little strange isn’t it? Wireless communications have already shown we can communicate without actually touching something so why do we still have to do this with our credit cards? Near field technology offers communications over a very (very) short range. Imagine being able to pay for something simply by waving your card, or obtaining information simply by placing your phone near a poster or billboard. Near field technology is the way to go and next year should see it happen.

As with last year, here are my top 5 alternative predictions for 2009:

• A vast amount of public data will be found – hurray – it wasn’t lost after all
• The first virtual bouncing baby will be born – though it likes byte-ing people
• A new talent show will launch – “Britain’s got a new Prime Minister”
• New energy source developed as tech gains ability to run on air
• Spam reaches tipping point causing the world to turn its back on email
• Oh, and Monk and his I.T. Junk will become a global phenomenon

What are your predictions for 2009?

This list was brought to you by Jason Slater Technology Blog

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