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Written by Duke Carico
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Saturday, 05 January 2008 |
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My Mobile tech Predictions for 2008 I thought it might be fun to speculate about what I think will take place within this calendar year, and then look back a year from now to see how I did. Here is what I think the consumer will see this year. - Microsoft will show us Windows Mobile 6.1, which will be nothing to get excited about! If you like the OS now, you will like it better. If you hate it now, you still will. Meanwhile, I expect HTC to continue to hit us at least once a quarter with new models running WM. And I expect to see a couple of new players introduce smartphones running the Microsoft OS. Also, I expect a few players to introduce mobile units that blur the line even further between Mobile Phone a Personal Media Players, as companies try their best to stand out from the crowd by offering "do all" phones to include media and games along with smartphone communications.
- Most of the buzz this year, will be about iPhone 2. Lots of the buzz will be about features and additions that really should have been introduced in the first iPhone. High Speed internet, more open to 3rd party development, more hype over nothing much. Look for this to start in about two more weeks when Jobs take the stage to tell all the World about his plans for the coming year! Then look for the bombardment of hype similar to last years iPhone announcement.
- Mobile Linux! I expect to see devices running Google's Android by summer, and I expect to hear a Linux announcement or two from Palm, but I doubt we will actually see anything really new from Palm this year! Meanwhile, Access Linux should make it to market with their OS and a couple of hardware manufacturers. And I really believe that 2009 will be the year for the "Linux Phone"
- Palm will not introduce a new Treo running Palm OS this year! Any 'innovation" we will see from that company will probably take place in their new "Centro" line. Maybe a GSM version of that phone probably available in different colors. The Treo brand will see at least one and maybe two new Treos running Window Mobile.
- Blackberry will become even more consumer friendly by incorporating more media apps and maybe even touch screen technolgies to better compete with that segment of the market.
- The Cheap PC. Remember when we used to see those cheap desktops in the stores for about $200 complete? This year, I expect to see the $200 Laptop! Asus introduced the Eee PC. A linux based unit with a 4 gig flash drive for $400. This unit has sold really well since its introduction, and don't think that players such as HP and Dell haven't noticed! I really expect this segment to heat up and Asus to have some real competition by summer, and rock bottom prices for these units by the 2008 Christmas Season. But I also expect Asus to introduce a few more Linux Eee PCs this year and continue to lead this segment of the market. I expect UMPC players such as Sony and HTC to also introduce UMPC's that look more like the Asus Eee than a tablet with a thumb board attached.
So there you have it! My predictions for 2008! Now, lets let the year begin and play out! Look for a follow up in about a year to see how I did!
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