Predictions for 2007?

Engadgetdamus bids you greetings; in the wake of 2006, many questions from this time last year still remain unanswered. Which console will come out on top? And how will that weigh in on the next-gen optical war between Blu-ray and HD DVD? When will we just start downloading everything -- from games to TV shows -- so we can be done with all these messy physical formats? Will we finally get the Optimus keyboard? Will Apple get it over with and finally release a wireless widescreen video iPod and/or cellphone? We want as much as anyone to know what 2007 will bode for technology, but only you can channel your inner Engadgetdamus. Indulge yourself and lay down your best predictions for MMVII.

See also: predictions for 2005 and 2006.

[Storm9 @ Jan 1st 2007 2:03PM]

Blueray will win!
I am sure of that.

[Jcasebmw @ Jan 1st 2007 4:14PM]

For sure Blueray is going to pwn HD-DVD.

[Mitchell @ Jan 2nd 2007 1:08AM]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9136575504838642038&hl=en

With an add like this neither HD-DVD or Blu Ray will win. The Wii will top all consoles if they show this add.

[H.L @ Jan 1st 2007 2:12PM]

I hate Sony so I hope HD-DVD will win, especially becasue I'm thinking about buying the Xbox 360 HD-DVD driver for my laptop. Sony sucks ass.

[Pat Kessock @ Jan 1st 2007 2:14PM]

ipod nano in 10gb, regular ipod in 100gb. I'm gonna say wireless usb is gonna get huge. Halo 3 will break all first day and yearly sales records and boost the sales of xbox 360. As much as I hate to believe it, the Wii will lose its novelty in 2007. PS3s finally become readily available and start to climb up the sales charts. HD-DVD wins. Chuck Liddell goes to town on Tito Ortiz.

And last but not least,

Engadget wins an award for best website ever.

[Michael @ Jan 1st 2007 2:16PM]

Optical formats - most people still won't care about either by the end of the year.

Apple Cell phone - They'll release it and it will be big to Apple fan boys but in the grand scheme of all cells phones it won't be a big deal. Not even as popular as the RAZR.

RED will be released.

We'll see the first DVD released at the same time as the movie hits the theater.

[The Infamous @ Jan 1st 2007 4:34PM]

The first DVD released as soon as the movie hit theaters already happened.

[Seth @ Jan 1st 2007 4:42PM]

Already been done. Google "Bubble"

[Austin @ Jan 1st 2007 7:10PM]

Wasn't "Left Behind" released in the theaters at the same time as on DVD. And that was a big budget film sparing no expense in casting Kirk Cameron. Everybody's favorite christian brother of the DJ Tanner.

[Altoid @ Jan 3rd 2007 5:48PM]

Releasing a DVD on the same day as the movie hits theaters is highly unintelligent, as the theatrical release will lose a huge amount of money and the money made at the box office makes up the biggest amount of earnings for the movie. Now a shorter gap between the theatrical release and DVD release sounds much more plausable.

[Me Duh @ Jan 1st 2007 2:16PM]

Bluray will win? They can't even spell blue right.
The only thing these formats have going for them is that even with a nice bittorent it will still take a super long time to download HD movies.

my prediction: some more proper pocket computers. I can't believe how few there've been since the 'uqo'. the 'mio digiwalker' is close.

[JB @ Jan 1st 2007 2:17PM]

1.) Apple iPod Video (6G)
2.) Apple's Market Share in the US will exceed 10%
3.) Vista will come out and noone will want it
4.) Apple will come out with a new smaller mac mini
5.) Dell's market share will continue to fall.
6.) OS X 10.5!!!

[Ben Gold @ Jan 1st 2007 2:34PM]

10.5 is not a prediction

[IOTA @ Jan 1st 2007 6:13PM]

7) apple fanboy will learn that apple has a whole lot more in common with MS than he wished
8)said apple fanboy will create first red ibook with blood from wrists


Pull your head out and look around!

[JB @ Jan 1st 2007 7:13PM]

what is wrong with you? Are you feeling extraordinarily violent today because that is what is seems like.

[Chris @ Jan 2nd 2007 6:16PM]

9.) Apple fanboy will learn that OS X is not as secure as he thought it was. Widespread virus due to mac owners not having anti virus software.

[pthomas @ Jan 2nd 2007 1:01PM]

oh and bye the way apples ipod marketshare and drm rights are going down the tube and I just can't wait to see what they try to do once they lose the capital they've been using for r&d

[Randy Stewart @ Jan 1st 2007 2:20PM]

I predict that the cable and satellite industry will start losing more customers to iTunes, Xbox downloads and other download services. As a result, net neutrality will become a larger issue when Comcast, Time Warner and the rest try to slow downloads to a crawl.

2007 will be the year of ditching cable http://www.ditchingcable.com.

Randy

[Storm9 @ Jan 1st 2007 2:24PM]

I think people hate sony only becuase they cant afford it.
Most of the people that buy Ps3's right now are affulent folks who want the very best.
They do not want a white toy like box (360), with a power brick and add on HD-DVD player, and 360's LOUD ASS DVD DRIVE in their AV room.
I'm sorry but it pisses me off when I watch a DVD on my 360 it is so freaking loud!
The Ps3 is SUPER QUIET! even during heavy BD-R playback in 1080p!

They could buy a blueray player for $1,000, but they didn't become rich by wasting money.
They are smart so they spend $600 on a PS3 that can play Blu Ray and Video Games.

You Sony haters can hate all you want.
2007 will be the end of Sony bashing.

Also keep in mind that Ps3's problem rate is VERY VERY LOW!
Do you remember all the 360 Red light ring of deaths @ launch?

[luketc @ Jan 1st 2007 2:34PM]

6g ipod at macworld

please, steve, please

I simply cannot wait any longer

[Pat Kessock @ Jan 1st 2007 3:40PM]

looks like we have a fanboy in the house

[John Doe @ Jan 1st 2007 4:48PM]

No 2007 may be the end of Sony's hardware woes. Only time will tell if once their hardware is firing on all thrusters, and hopefully a major price drop occurs in mid to late '07, that they can get their software issues ironed out. Like it or not fanbois, Sony has VERY few 2nd party, and console specific games coming to the PS3 that really are making people talk.

As for the notion that people hate the PS3 because that can't afford it? What a load of bullshit. I could afford it but I have better things to spend my money on then a half grand game console that hardly has ANY games that are worth while right now, still has twitchy hardware, and who's major selling point with its price is a optical format that may or may not end up being the ind "standard". Personally I would rather buy a game console and then pick up a REAL HD player later when a clear winner emerges. I spent half a grand on a DVD player when it first came out. Whatever format emerges as the winner I'm sure as hell not skimping with some half assed player stuck in a game console. I'll take a dedicated HD unit thank you very much.

[tcc3 @ Jan 1st 2007 5:12PM]

They have a low problem rate on all 4 of them huh?

[I, Robot @ Jan 6th 2007 6:41PM]

@Storm9

Yes... We can't afforded Sony... that it. You’re so smart.

[benj @ Jan 1st 2007 2:31PM]

As I'm only qualified to make apple related predictions here I go...

Apple will release a phone.
Apple will make new displays, with isight
Microsoft will fall on hard times
Apple will release either a PDA or a tablet
True video ipod will come

ok that's all I've got

[DM @ Jan 2nd 2007 5:48AM]

consider yourself a qualified apple fanboy.

[kev @ Jan 1st 2007 2:35PM]

Nothing new. The business world will continue their grip on engineering and progress will be still mainly be for commercial benefit and a competitve edge.

[kev @ Jan 1st 2007 2:36PM]

will still mainly be, rather

[kev @ Jan 1st 2007 2:36PM]

Oh, and the new Video iPod will still be as crippled as the first 5 (and a half).

[Colin @ Jan 1st 2007 2:40PM]

I think you guys are way too optimistic in regards to the destruction of the cable and satellite industries. I think it's going to take years, if ever, before people move to downloaded content. Especially at first, people that aren't tech-savvy are going to have no idea how to work anything. Cable has one thing - it's easy. Look at the amount of customers who had complaints with their HDTVs. Unless some simple framework is put up (perhaps the iTV, but I don't count on that going wide scale), I don't expect it anytime soon.

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jan 1st 2007 6:32PM]

(i) Apple needs to come out with their own brand of HD TV's with iTV built inside the tv's enclosure.
(ii) The TV needs to have a hard drive inside too, and a BD+DVD side-load optical drive for playing disks without the need for a DVD player.
(iii) Then they need to offer an iTunes TV Show Subscription service, with some live content thrown into the package for news etc.
(iv) iTV Ready Apple TV needs to be able to connect direct to internet without the need to turn computer on.

Finally consumers would have the option of chucking several devices and several remotes, and replacing them with on TV that does it all in style.

Then and only then would iPTV truly get a chance to truly take off.. in style!

[Colin @ Jan 1st 2007 2:41PM]

Linux/Ubuntu will become one of the most widely used OS' (close to MacOSX)
HD-DVD will win the format war (if it hasn't already).

[Colin @ Jan 1st 2007 2:42PM]

P.S. I'm not the same person :P (I'm the last one)

[mike @ Jan 1st 2007 2:42PM]

-Nintendo Wii surpasses the 360 in total sales, winning new gen consoles war.
-HDTV prices will drop rapidly; widespread adoption (much more so than now)
-Blu-ray/HD DVD players come out combining both
-Vista will not be adopted quickly once released
-Google stock will top $700 and buy AOL(lol)
-Gas prices next Jan. will be an avg. $3.25 (i know it has nothing to do with gadgets but watever)

[spoilsport @ Jan 1st 2007 3:12PM]

Once again: there will be no Apple phone.

[Mrfreezie @ Jan 1st 2007 3:15PM]

* PSPtwo will be announced, maybe released. Internal storage, most likely flash.

*New iPod, doesn't improve on video at all.

*HD-DVD will win. Blu-ray dubbed as another one of Sony's proprietary formats.

*Wii doesn't fail, but loses some steam. Xbox 360 will continue it's slow, but steady, climb up the console latter. PS3 continues to fail, loses more titles and fanbase.

*Windows Vista will have the slowest adoption rate of all previous windows operating systems, Mac will start to become the OS of choice. Linux also will be there, but not taking over. Due to the public's view as it being too advanced for them to work.

*AT&T will screw over it's customers some how.

*An ISP will be caught not honoring net neutrality.

[3rdsun @ Jan 1st 2007 3:21PM]

my prediction is tomorrow will be Jan 2.

ipod will fall from grace cuz stupid Apple fanboys will finally get tired of Steve bullshitting them.

Robots will break free from man's servitude and make us pay dearly, muh ha ha ha.

[Eric @ Jan 1st 2007 3:28PM]

No one will care about HD-DVD or Bluray unless someone comes out with a standalone player for less than $250.

[Just Light It @ Jan 1st 2007 3:30PM]

Vista will slowly take over living rooms (media center) and portable devices (sideshow) across the world. (When "average joe" people try it or hear about it)
Nintendo will shoot back to the top of the gaming industry. (Faster than anyone expects)
Apple will release a streaming media device for living rooms that is limited to itunes users. (Which is a large amount of people, but will start to fade out this year due to many issues)
Apple will release a new ipod video with a wider screen like the zune and it might download tracks wirelessly from the store, unlike Zune at the moment. (A subscription plan may be in the works for itunes because they don't want to get beat at what they're good at. It may require you to buy new hardware.)
eCoupled Intelligent Wireless Power technology will be a hit at CES 07 and hopefully our near future portable devices will use this new tech. (I'll be at CES for the first time this year!)
Happy New Year geeks!

[mcepat @ Jan 2nd 2007 12:52PM]

@Pat Kessock

"looks like we have a fanboy in the house"

Ya Pat you are right, we have a lot of Apple Fanboys in the house

[0ndsk4 @ Jan 1st 2007 3:41PM]

1. Blu-Ray passes HD-DVD, as people realizes every major movie company is behind them since...
2. Universal starts releasing movies for both HD formats in march, after their HD-DVD only agreement runs out this january.
3. Nintoendo Wii reaches 20 million shipped consoles by this time next year, making it the best selling console of the next gen console wars.
4. The PS3 proves to be too expensive as production numbers ramps up, clearly beaten by Halo 3's boost of X360 sales. Sales start to climb by christmas next year, though, after a price cut next fall and HD-DVDs decline.
5. The Apple iPhone makes it's debut, and sells just as good as the new 6G ipod, without making a serious impact in phone market shares.
6. 2007 is not the year of Vista. Sales are lagging, and OEM corporate sales are the only revenue. Consumer sales starts to pick up by next winter.

[bl0nde @ Jan 1st 2007 3:52PM]

Wishes rather than predictions:
OLED screens become viable for PMPs and larger screen sizes
The Optimus keyboard we all want
A video iPod with at least 4" widescreen supporting DivX/XviD (a guy can dream, right?)
An Apple made phone that combines 10gb flash memory with 3 megapixel or better camera, 3G, syncing with OS X apps in a svelte form factor
The PS3 to be released in Europe at £300 rather than £425, developers start gaining control over the Cell and it lives in harmony with the Xbox 360 and Wii
Battery technology that can give us 10hrs+ on a single charge (what ever happened to that Toshiba
3 minute recharging battery from a couple of years ago??)

Predictions rather than wishes:
OLED screens are stuck at 1.5-2" for tiny flash players
The crappy Optimus wannabe is released for an exorbitant price. No one buys it. People lose interest.
A "true" video iPod is released. It has a 3-3.5" touch screen, and has the limited codec support of the current iPod. Apple restrict the resolution of videos that aren't from iTMS (like Sony do on PSP)
An Apple phone is released that syncs moderately well with OSX, sports 4gb of flash memory for music, 2megapixel cam and does nothing spectacular of note. Fanboys lap it up (me included)
PS3 released in UK in May for £450. Microsoft/Nintendo fanboys murder it. I buy a Wii when I can get my hands on one and forget about the PS3 till it becomes a PSthree and costs

[g3n3tiX @ Jan 1st 2007 3:53PM]

People will make predictions...which will prove to be true.... NOT !

[ben @ Jan 1st 2007 4:11PM]

LCD will be the new CRT, at least for TVs under 30".

[Galley @ Jan 1st 2007 4:13PM]

By the end of 2007 Apple will have a HUGE increase in market share; much larger than anyone had predicted.

[Master Jedi Dan @ Jan 1st 2007 5:48PM]

I know where you're coming from with the Apple marketshare, but if we're really for Apple we don't want their marketshare to get too large, because then hackers will decide to stop making viruses for Windows and will concentrate on Mac OS X. Mac OS X is not invulnerable to viruses as many people think, it's simply because they have a small marketshare. Granted, Mac OS X is a more secure operating system than Windows, but it's not invincible. Go Apple!!

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jan 1st 2007 6:48PM]

@ Master Jedi Dan,

You're think like one of those musicians who wants to be a success, but doesn't want to be famous.

If you want OS X, i.e. Apple's OS to be a true success you've got to take the good with the bad. Apple's OS becoming mainstream wouldn't be a bad thing for Mac uses, it would be a GREAT thing for us! Get over yourself.

[brett.chandler @ Jan 1st 2007 4:17PM]

Next-gen flat panel LCDs with LED illumination will put yet another nail in the coffin of plasma displays.

Hi-def DVD format war will fizzle into nothingness when the current combatants relent and licence dual-format drives.

PS3's will likely suffer some kind of massive recall, but nobody will really care.

Most end-users will shrug in bemusement at Vista, but IT pros will drool over new admin and deployment features.

One of the WM "Plays For Sure" subscription services will go under. With my luck, it will be Napster (I've subscribed ever since it went live in Canada). The Zune, however, will surprise almost everyone in the tech community by actually gaining some market traction in its second generation.

[Kyle @ Jan 1st 2007 4:20PM]

remember this is all one mans opinion:

1)Vista will be released, but people will be very slow to make the switch, slower than previous windows OS

2)Apple ipod and other apple products sales will continue to rise (sadly), but then plateau towards the end of the year

3)blu-ray will over come the hd-dvd, but that isnt saying much, by far the dvd will still outsale the combined sales of blu-ray and hd dvd 2-1

4) Xbox 360 sales will continue to sell, as they do now, until a good amount of Wiis and ps3 become ready to the average consumer, and when that time comes wii will be the most popular consule, close behind the ps3 and xbox 360

5)linux sales will boost due to people who dont like apple or vista

[James @ Jan 1st 2007 4:21PM]

*** PREDICTIONS FOR THE NEXT 5 YEARS ***

2007

1) Mid 2007 360 drops $50-$100 off price
2) Wii drops $50 off price
3) Q4 PS3 drops $50 off price and has free bundled games to try to compete
4) Q4 360 v2 comes out with built in HD-DVD player for pre 2007 price, cooler design, built in power brick
5) Dual format players begin to emerge.
6) Apple releases iPhone with limited success.

2008

1) Q4 PS3 drops $100-$200 off price making it $300-$400
2) Microsoft releases first full version 360 game as downloadable through Live.
3) Dual format players prevalent, online HD movie distribution starting to take over.
4) Netflix and blockbuster start online distribution.
5) Apple releases media player.
6) Someone finally releases DRM free music service, iTunes quickly follows as their market dissappears in a matter of weeks.

2009

1) Price drops all around for 360, Wii, PS3, maybe game bundling for some.
2) Netflix moves to almost exlusive online distribution.
3) 80% homes have broadband, 30% with fiber

2010/2011

1) Microsoft releases XBOX 3 with Vista MCE built in which can play XBOX, 360, and all Vista games.
2) All XBOX 3 games are now released fully online at the same time as disc release.
3) All XBOX 3 games can run on any computer with Vista Hardware spec X or better.

2011/2012

Sony releases the PS4 with an open Linux OS and makes it a totally open platform to develop for, you still have to pay Sony a license of course, and have the game certified.