Engadgetdamus bids you greetings. With MMVII in the can, we can only direct our ponderations to what fantastical gadgets and events await in the new year. We beseech you, foretell the year's events and present your predictions. Will Android be an out of the gate success, or a slow starter? Will Microsoft without Bill Gates be worse (or better) off? Will Vonage see Jan. 1, 2009? And will we all have multi-touch DisplayPort monitors by then? Will consumers turn on Apple? Will Palm give up the ghost? Can we finally dump our spinning-disk drives in favor of SSDs? Only your latent Engadgetdamus knows what will transpire in MMVIII -- let him speak.
See also predictions for
2005,
2006, and
2007.
posted Jan 1st 2008 12:35PM
beta - max outsells blu-ray
So then Beta-Max out sells HD-DVD 4-1?
Sony: Focus on bringing new and more games to PS3. Home launches summer with new additions to PSN to make it more competitive with XBL. PS3 gains steam.
Nintendo: Wii continues to sell well, and maybe tapers off around august. Update to DS Light
Microsoft: Fixes XBL =p. Updated SKU of 360 with built in wireless and run cooler and better. XP SP3 and Vista SP1. Vista will gain more acceptance among home users but businesses stay with XP.
Finally...global warming kicks into full gear and the world is screwed!
Apple: 3rd party apps for iPod Touch and iPhone. Updated iPhone 3rd Qt with GPS and 3G. Minor Capacity upgrades on iPods. Touches double in capacity.
Traveling American business owners and self-employed actually start to log their business mileage.. har har
http://www.i4u.com/article13487.html
@hexoDAT64if, if they double the capacity of the touch I'll be happy. I've decided that the replacement of my current ipod will be dependent on whether they can put out a touch that at least matches my current 30GB video before it dies, I'll get one....if not I get a classic.
@Jay. I believe there are a lot of other people in the same boat as you. I don't think people would be as bothered with a 32GB iPod for 399 with all that it can do (hopefully FREE 3rd Party Apps as well)
I also see the format war being in a similar position to what it is now. I think Blu-ray will still be on top, but I don't see HD-DVD going anywhere. I don't see digital distribution taking off as a replacement to Blu-ray/HD-DVD either. I think it might put a dent into renting sales, but I would much rather have a physical copy of a movie and be able to bring it to another TV or being able to loan it to a friend. Others might feel different though
I think the most important thing that will happen in 2008 is the mass-manufacture and installation on a large scale of solar panels.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/10/researchers-create-printed-solar-cells/
Right now it doesn't look like much, but a step in the right direction, and in the hands of some very bright minds, we may see great advances very soon.
touch screen mac ultraportable
Starcraft II launches, turning millions into zombies.
>:D
And a Cowon D3
And continuing decrease in price of flash/sd cards.(16gb now 95, 8gb now ~45 on newegg as of 1/1/08)
amen
I'm excited for that game.
starcraft II launches, south korea goes into a severe recession.
oh yeah, SC2 is gonna be amazing..
.. loading up on activision stock now =P (they bought blizzard for anyone who doesnt know hehe)
uhh, no. vivendi (blizzards owner as well as universal) bought activision.
An update to the PS3... possibly a bigger hard drive, but with the 60 GB backwards compatibility...
Termination (or a price drop) of the Mac Mini.
The iPhone 2 of course.
Halo 3 for PC...
A new line of iPod(s) (towards the end of '08)
HD-DVD + Blu-Ray drives under $200- (if HD-DVD lasts that long).
Some sort of sneak preview or leak of ideas about the next generation of consoles.
I agree completely about dropping the minis.
I don't know why everyone wants to get rid of the Mac mini. Many people use them as HTPCs or when they want a Mac and have peripherals. It might not be incredibly successful, but Apple would be wiping out a considerable portion of their userbase. If anything, they have only not seen success because of their intention on leaving it one generation behind in components and the base model not having a DVD burner.
If they:
- Set price points at $599 for SuperDrive and low-end MacBook specs, $799 for specs equal to low-end iMac.
- Price dropped to $499 and $699.
It would be more successful.
Predictions
Nintendo: Wii sells well. Sales go normal around back-to-school time. SSB: Brawl sells out massively.
Sony: PS3 gains a little popularity with price drop; PS2 still sells. AIOs, Mylo, UMPCs, some laptops get dropped because of high price, low sales, and lack of practicality.
Microsoft: 360 sales are steady. XP no longer available. Vista Service Pack 1 does nothing amazing. People forced to buy Vista; don't care.
Apple: Penryn all around. Mac mini revamped. Minor iPod capacity bumps including Shuffle price drop to $49 in September. 3G iPhone along with international releases. AppleTV revamped/dropped. iTunes 8 with movie rentals/HD downloads. iPhone/Macs gain market share.
Wireless: T-Mobile gets 3G. 802.11n gains acceptance. WiMax fails. 3G rolls out.
Trends: All-in-ones rolled out by nearly every computer manufacturer. Capacitive touch is used more. More EEEPC-like computers. Demise of UMPCs and sub-notebooks priced over $999.
Misc: Price cuts by Dell on the XPS One to $999. Gateway One way overpriced; gets component bumps.
hd-dvd is already under 200, bluray noob fanboy
"Wireless: T-Mobile gets 3G. 802.11n gains acceptance. WiMax fails. 3G rolls out."
What is this, the dark ages? We've had good 3G coverage since early 2006.
Here's to 3.5G all over the UK in 2008
The funny part is that I literally work 10' away from the table where we sell our mac hardware and I didnt even know the mac mini was still available. I don't think I've ever heard anyone ask for one. On a side not we just got a new Pico-ITX box that comes with everything except the laptop ram to get up and running for $299. Oh, and it fits in a drive bay so you can install it in the front of your case plus has DVI-out. Why I need one I don't know, but thats not stopping me from desperately wanting for it. My prediction is solar. Cheap, ubiquitous, heavily tax subsidized solar power on a local scale. Oh, and were already seeing a global warming backlash by non-hysterical scientists who look at long term climate trends not this microscopic take on the global warming timescale we've been fed like cows for the past decade. The truth is that Al Gore can't predict the weather 10 days out let alone 50 years out. So the Man gives us a real take on global warming this year, but then he also gives us cheap forever renewable solar power due to increased subsidies and plunging manufacturing costs. The man he always wins, damn him!
PMP's become voice activated, same technology as those kitchey car aommercials, and it will work as long as you can get your more annoying friends to stop yelling annoying band anmes at you while listening.
Check this out...
"Mac Nano
Steve mentions the iPod Nano, calling it the best-selling music device in history. He then reminds us that the “Nano” used to be “Mini” and brings up the existence of the Mac Mini. Steve then unveils the “Mac Nano,” a redesigned Mac Mini that is approximately half the height of its predecessor and in an anodized aluminum shell to match recent design changes in the Apple lineup.
The Mac Nano will come in two flavors, 2.0 GHz and 2.2 GHz (using current Santa Rosa chips), each of which comes standard with a 32 GB solid-state drive. Build-to-order options will include a 64 GB solid-state drive, as well as the option to instead use a conventional hard drive, with sizes up to 160 GB, all 5400 rpm.
On sale: TODAY. Shipping: FEBRUARY."
found it @ http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=407435
People stop listening to Nickelback en masse, radio plays decent music for once, and the world is completely peaceful...
Alright, if the radio stops playing Nickelback I'll be happy.
Agreed
Oh man, I feel you brother. Can't stand that shite. How the hell d'the radio wind up like this...
is it just me or do ALL of their songs sound EXACTLY the same?
There ARE good bands out there. But the people that pick the songs at Infinity / Clear Channel / etc. tell you what you're going to like: more nickleback.
So thats why I say in-car mp3 becomes as ubiquitous as air-bags.
Also, Android will be released. Phones based on the OS will cover a wide range from freebie with subscription to $500 touch screens. VoIP becomes one of the first android hacks and the second (as a tie in) is a program to search for unsecured networks to use.
Android released
Phones become self-aware
massive robot uprising
we welcome our open handset overlords
and halo 3 hits PC and no one buys it
I'd rather listen to my own baby's death rattle than Nickback.
Yes, they do sound the same... clickity click click
http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm
After Apple enters the clothing industry, everyone will rush to stores to purchase the iThong.
That'll go nicely with my iBlade :)
haha
im wearing a shirt right now that says iBlade
but it has a little rollerblader
[enigmatic music]
I see... I see, more and more multi-touch screen computers and input devices. It will be the beginning of the end of mechanical mice and keyboards. HA HA HA ha ha ! [strange laugh]
[end enigmatic music]
Duke Nukem Forever is launched?
Wishful thinking... but since George Broussard said a full trailer "is coming", we might at least get that!
With popularity comes bad stuff, now Apple will start getting tons of Virus, people will start bitching about it, fanboys will get frustrated and suicide.
I like the idea of 'suicide' as a stand-alone verb.
Lol I thought that too.
I like an hero better.
An hero: become one.
Agreed - Apple needs to prepare for that change to come by updating their marketing messages to keep from offending new buyers when they find that their "virus-proof" Mac OS X starts getting into the same issues PC users have been dealing with for decades. Call it "virus ready" or something when the data centers go up to handle all the virus outbreak announcements and provide patches immediately (more than a day risks loosing a big reason people are considering Macs - though anything I can do to ditch klunky, error-prone Norton and McAfee, I'm on board for! Unfortunately I suppose we'll be stuck working with them again on the new platform unless Mac will handle everything internally?
The population en Masse will ditch paying people for pre-assembled computers and will start building them themselves. Saving money of course.
Apple will release OSX for PC hardware, Which means Microsoft will release a Bootcamp like program.
You're dumb.
1. You can already run OS X on any processor that supports SSE2. (Although it violates your license.)
2. Why would MS do that? Why would they even need to?
Wishful thinking
Few people could even replace a hard drive or graphics card themselves.
The population in general is not going to start building their own PCs this year, though Dell and the like are huge rip-offs.
I see the Mac starting to get ever so closer to rivalling Dell and HP.
The RIAA crumbles, and creativity reigns supreme!
Microsoft might wake up and launch a usable Windows Mobile platform. You know, like a phone where my wife can actually place a call without asking me to dial it for her.
your wife must be dumb!!!
question.
why did you get your wife a windows mobile phone if she obviously can't handle it..
easy, so the wife will get tired of it and give it back to you to use....which was the plan all along
sounds like she needs to get back in the kitchen.
So you married a woman so idiotic, she can't dial a phone number and then press a green button?
I don't think this is failing of Microsoft.
I can tell you guys aren't married.
SSDs will lower in price slightly but will still be too expensive.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD drives will lower in price but still be expensive.
People will post many stupid things about apple here.
I bet 32 GB SSDs hit $200 by the end of the year. The larger capacities will remain far above that mark.
Slingmedia finally releases the sling catcher
Canon will update the aging 5D
Apple will update notebooks and power desktop systems along with an update for the mac mini/appleTV
3g iphone
playstation3 home and video download service makes it at least to public beta
More injection molded plastic things to stick your wii-mote into
OS/X on PC I would buy. I just can't stand to pay a premium for hardware just because it has a fracking fruit on it.
Amen.
If the fruit was real it looks like it could be tasty...
Oh how I long for the day I scrap Vista, and Triboot XP MCE, Leopard, and Ubuntu on my AMD based, HP laptop.
build a dell spec-ed out the same, it costs just as much
*crosses fingers for hovercars and teleporters*
the real questions is, if we had teleporters why would we need hovercars?
because we COULD.
What if they had teleporting hover cars?
Micro projectors in cell phones, personal VR headgear revolutionize the portable display industry. Google releases it's first mobile operating system. Laser HDTV's have the best pictures. The beginnings of the virtual rights movement. Gates upgrades the table PC. Jobs releases picoPod with an even smaller display...
Personal VR headgear, yes! ......But please, no apostrophe in "its" in this phrase: "Google releases it's..."
My Top 10 Predictions
1) Apple will continue to boom in sales by releasing the new 3G 16GB iPhone and Ultraportable
2) HD TVs will become increasingly cheap as the 2009 Standard-to-HD switch rolls up
3) The Bluray and HD-DVD battle will continue all 2008, until hard drive capacities grow so that digital downloads become the standard
4) NBC's digital download site will fail, but Amazon's Unbox will succeed
5) Apple will introduce yet another catchy ad campaign and will drop the current one "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac"
6) Almost all new cell phones will have large touch screen interfaces
7) Motorola will pick themselves back up
8) Tablet PC's will not succeed as the new laptops
9) All iPods will have the interface of the iPod touch, no more click wheels
10) Netflix will allow users to watch movies instantly on both a PC and a Mac
Zune becomes huge... Becomes #2 choice for most people. Then, will eventually outsell Ipod (maybe not outsell in '08)
zune will never outsell ipod
That's what they said about Xbox vs. Playstation... Look at it now!
Only because Sony screwed up. Apple has yet to do that.
Oh, so Apple has never screwed up??? They're already screwing up with the current ipod line. They ruined the look of the Nano, they made everyone buy new A/V cables, and they're just going to keep doing these types of things. Just wait.
I suppose I should have been more specific in my response so that indignant nerds didn't get huffy. I should have wrote that they haven't screwed up n the market place. They haven't screwed up to the point where consumers are turned off in large numbers. An example would be if they were to release an iPod that is significantly more expensive, more complex, and prone to failure.
Maybe the Zune will ship outside of North America!
Yeah, just wait until apple does something like that. They probably won't release a $600 ipod yet... Oh wait, the iphone, right?? Well, yeah, a lot of people have already gotten pissed about that because of the price drop. Just wait for the rest of their mistakes to happen, you'll see how different the marketplace will be.
Also, to bert- Yeah, hopefully they start shipping to Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle east, those are the places it will sell more.
I'm not exactly sure WHY people think the Zune could outsell the iPod this year, but to to state matter-of-factly that "Apple wont screw up" and "Zune will never outsell the iPod", now that just reeks of fanboyism.
I never said the Zune would outsell the Ipod this year, I said it would probably become #2, and then it will eventually outsell ipod, just not this year.
I for one am not completely convinced (by any degree) that the Zune will outsell, or even be a beg enough competitor with the iPod. Not because Apple won't screw up (look at all the iPhone firmware hype, bricking, possibly selling 3rd party apps, etc.), but because media is not Microsofts realm.
Microsoft is a development OS/company. It's great for programmers, and just plain geeks who like to mess with settings, hacks, etc.
Apple is a pop-culture (if you will) company. They know what is new and big, they listen (most of the time) to their consumers, and they are a media company. Look at Garage Band (not Final Cut, but hey I am enough of an audio editor, that I would love to have a mac just for GB), iPhoto, iMovie and iWeb. As I said above, not proffessinoal programs, but definitely pro-sumer. Essentially, Apple knows media and it's consumer base which is build on everything mentioned above.
Microsoft's foundation is made of developers, programmers, geeks and power-users alike. Not media.
Mr. Vanker, you say that Microsoft doesn't do media?? Really, what about the Xbox?? Did you happen to know that Halo 3, a game developed by bungie studios along with Microsoft, who owned bungie studios at the time, was the #1 sold item in the media industry in the history of the world??? It generated the most sales of any type of media ever!!
And you say Microsoft doesn't do media... HA!
1. Multi-Touch or Ultra-Portable computer from Apple.
2. Next-Gen iPhone.
3. Updates to PS3, Wii, and 360.
4. New iPods before 2009.
5. New/Price Drop/Discontinued Mac Mini
6. Microsoft will be better without Gates.
7. Everybody who hasn't already will switch to HD-TV.
8. Pepsi Stuff's relaunch will be amazing, with better prizes.
9. Apple will overtake Microsoft.
10. Nintendo will redo the DS soon, when it's sales drops.
Even though I'm not an Apple fanatic I believe that the iPhone and itouch will evolve into better products and conquer their respective markets. MS and Google(android) will have to come out with some serious sh1t if they will want to compete. I'm still hoping to see a kick ass Zune 3 by the end of the year.
WiMax and HSUPA in the states
Or your wife might wake up and be able to use Windows Mobile? Lol, I'm just kidding, but one of my exs never had a problem :\
Why did that go to the bottom of the page?
Because sometimes when you hit reply it refreshes the WHOLE page, goes to the comment form, and *doesn't* reply.
Apple US computer market shares pushes past 10%. 10 to 13 million iPhones sold. Shares reach all-time high of $270. Apple iPhone eclipses BlackBerry smartphone market share although the iPhone isn't even a smartphone. So much demand for MacBook Thin, Apple can hardly keep them in stock.
Apple FTW.
Fanboi much?
Of course. Although I say above 300 a share.
wow. just wow. it might be easier for you to type if you remove steve job's d*ck from your mouth
More than a fanboi. I'm a long-term Apple investor. I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is rather than just spout drivel about other so-called superior products when I have no risk involved. Whether my predictions are called fanboi-ism or wishful thinking, I happen to have a large investment at stake and I think Apple can fulfill these predictions.
2008: A Special Odyssey...
-Apple will incorporate more PDA-esque features into its iPhones, the likes of Google Maps, and Bluetooth built-in and decide to "give it a rest this year."
-Blackberry and its host creature, RIM will intro a Sony P990-like phone with touch screen goodness in a Pearl-like form factor and finally become a legitimate-like innovator of things, much like Palm has decreed.
-Car makers will include amenities like RSS feeds, holographic Satellite TV streaming, and audible e-mail capabilities in concept form.
-Dell will go on a seek-and-destroy mission of all computer manufacturers currently under the BestBuy ringtop and complete its baby step towards becoming fashion-conscious.
-Engadget's computer system will post this comment, and by Winter Solstice will take over its human creators in a grand robot coup involving Robotic FX-munhcing mutant Roombas and tickle-me-Elmos sporting Wii-4 lithium-based explosives.
-Fingerprint readers will be commonplace as privacy advocates succumb to the temptation of conglomerate dictatorship.
-Google will eat Earth.
-Hi-def technoblabbery, the likes of HDMI, HDCP, etc. will be all the rage as every Billy and Peggy Sue scramble to be more tech-savvy and in tune to their inner Blu-Ray.
-Letters I through Y will continue to make improvements on conceptual and newly-intro'd technologies at record speeds, and immediately available at every Wal-Mart in the Milky Way Galaxy.
-A new company, known only as the letter Z, will emerge victorious in the sedated race of e-reading.
-A new
Aren't you supposed to change the "SEVEN" to "EIGHT" in the image?
Within the next two years, Microsoft will release a Windows core that will be the basis of every product: Windows, Server, XBox, Zune, Smartphones, Surface, etc.
Microsoft will announce an updated XBox lineup with XBox Arcade, XBox Premium, and XBox Ultimate. The Arcade version will be a low-cost (sub-$200, target $149) entry level machine with game-playing capabilities only. The Premium version will be a $399 version with all the features of the Arcade plus hard drive storage for DVR and IPTV capabilities, as well as the abilty to load Games-for-Windows-approved games. The Ultimate edition will be XBox software that you can load onto your own computer and turn your own rig into an Xbox machine. The Ultimate edition will only support specific CPUs and GPUs, and will not install onto a machine unless those requirements are met. The XBox Ultimate will be available for purchase only from Microsoft.
Zune will become a more powerful force in the DAP market. A Zune-software add-on will turn the next generation of Windows Mobile into a Zune player provided the hardware supports it. That means a vendor can create their own DAP or SmartPhone and load the Zune software on it. iPhone competition anyone?
Remember Windows Mobile? The next version is version 7. It's no coincidence that it is the same as Windows. Expect a synchronized release cycle from here on out.
Windows Server is too business-focused for the consumer-oriented Engadget audience, so I'll leave those predictions out of here.
Microsoft Surface will become a novelty item that will not take off in the home market in its current form. However, the technology and public use (hotels, conferences, kiosks) will make consumers more aware of touch-enabled technology for the home (as the iPhone as done for cell phones), and as a result, computer usage will expand further and reach that elusive segment of the population: the people afraid of technology because it's too complicated.
All of this is my own imagination running wild. I have no inside sources, and everything is simply my own version of what I'd like to see Microsoft do in the near future...
It's ok, nobody read it anyway
He's got some good ideas in there
I think he has some good ideas. But, I didn't read.
maybe he does have some good ideas, but just as the engadgeteers of old (2005, 2006) wished for widespread wimax and an end to the format war, we too can wish and wish while our whims will not be granted by the likes of the super-conglomerates, aka "omniscient" ones.
fanboi much?