Crazy Technology Predictions for 2005?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1745953,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,175...,1745953,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I know. I once said I'd never make tech predictions, but what follows are not exactly prognostications. Instead, I'd like to think they're statements of possibilities, those that range from the somewhat plausible to the decidedly fantastic. Read them all with a grain of salt, but when they come true, please remember who told them to you in the first place."</i><br /><br />I don't agree with a lot of his predictions, but I'm curious what <b>your</b> crazy technology predictions are for next year. Here's your chance to be a pundit! It can be about PDAs or technology in general... hit the Discuss link and let us know what you think.

[surur]

Clearly the craziest PDA prediction ever would be the release of slim, modular, upgradable pocketpc's with the release of the OS directly downloadable from Microsoft.

But no, thats dreaming. Something like that is just waaayyy beyond our current technology.

Surur

PS: Where's the sarcasm smilie?

[benyeap]

Hoping PPC to be the first platform to deploy WiMAX!

[Yo Boss]

I hope he is right about multi-megapixel phones. I still struggle to explain to friends and relatives that you can have a 200Gigapixels camera, if the lens is crap, you are going to have a (very detailed) crap picture. :roll:
In photography, optics are everything. And everything else being equal, the bigger the better...

[Menneisyys]

WiMAX? Flexible and/or OLED and/or foldable screens? Breaking the 1GHz barrier?

[NetGeek]

This is the year that "wearable" computers go to the next level and become implants. No more fumbling with styluses and keypads, you merely have to think your commands and they work.


Might have been a bit too much NOG in my egg nog...

Merry Christmas &amp; Happy New Year to all!

[benyeap]

WiMAX? Flexible and/or OLED and/or foldable screens? Breaking the 1GHz barrier?

Frankly I would really like to see a PPC with 18-bit color depth TFD VGA resolution touch screen in early 2005. Btw, the 1GB processor barrier will be achieved in no time (but I doubt it would be in 2005) since Samsung already have plan for the 667 MHz processor. Besides, I really had been wondering when will the PPC got at least 256MB of RAM (for god sake, it is almost 2005 already)?? And having a 1GB ROM in a PPC should NOT be a problem at all since flash memories were dirt cheap nowadays.

[surur]

This is the year that "wearable" computers go to the next level and become implants. No more fumbling with styluses.

You will still need a stylus to soft-reset. And I can imagine the contortions you will have to go though to hard-reset. Just insert the stylus in the bottom hole, and press the "action button " vigerously at the same time :lol: :devilboy: :lol:

Surur

[arnage2]

im thinking:

for ppcs: wimax or wireless G. 800mhz processors. defidently integrated harddrives. upto 32mb of video ram. vga on a sub $350 device. a square screen ppc phone edition. a whole new os (wm2005) that would change ppcs like how the switch from 98 to xp changed pcs. and i see a lack of cameras on non phone edt ppcs.

for palms: this year is do or die for non phone handhelds. palm os has to rely on palmone and tapwave to make some killer handhelds. comparable specs to the highest end ppcs are needed, as well as the first palm os 6 cobalt device.

[HTK]

I predict nothing ground-breaking will be released in the year of 2005.

[crwoo]

memory prices will drop, by the end of the year a 4GB card will be same price as 1GB now

[marcm]

The article mentioned a huge virus spreading through unprotected systems... Hopefully we don't see the first significant Pocket PC virus... I really don't want to have to worry about that. 8O It would be cool if we could get Pocket PCs with 1+GHz and 5+GB hard drives... :drool:

[szamot]

I predict that we will once again get a whole lot of substandard PPC's some with good some with better specs, most of which we will not see in NA. I would like to see a VGA PPC with a phone and at least 128 mb of ram but that is just a wish and as realistic as it may be who knows if it will happen.

[szamot]

memory prices will drop, by the end of the year a 4GB card will be same price as 1GB now

I seriously doubt that, in light of what is happing in Asia right now, if anything PC components are going up, up, and up.

[Fred44]

I predict WiMax will change the way everything works. WiMax access points will be placed on cellular towers for great coverage. There will be many ISP’s that will provide services that include VOIP, Video and data. These ISP’s will use low price points to go up against telephone companies offering DSL and phone service. They will also go after cable companies that provide video and high speed data. In the USA it’s now easy to move any of your phone numbers to any type of phone (cell, voip, lan line). There will be small black boxes that have an antenna for wimax and four RJ-11 jacks that can provide four phone numbers to the house using existing phones and wires. An 80 year old lady would never know the difference. WiMax will offer video on demand that is streamed to a setup box. WiMax will offer standard internet gateways for high speed internet in the house.

I predict Tivo like device will continue to grow in the house. Over time it will be easier to time shift and record video to digital storage. Once the video is on the HD it will be easy to use on a PC, PDA or any other set top box.

[crwoo]

memory prices will drop, by the end of the year a 4GB card will be same price as 1GB now

I seriously doubt that, in light of what is happing in Asia right now, if anything PC components are going up, up, and up.

Begining of last year a 512MB card was $200, now a 2Gb is $130

[gorkon280]

I predict podcasting will become mainstream when Apple releases Tiger and a new version of iTunes for Mac OS X and Windows and it will integrate the pod catching software in iTunes. Steve Jobs will also be the first of the old guard that will have his own semi monthly podcast.

[RobMtl007]

Greetings Everyone:

I think the rest of you are right 2005 should be the year for breaking the 1Ghz barrier.

But lets drop the stylus and the D pad, and lets include Voice Recognition abilities.
I mean when you speak into the microphone of your PDA and say "Open Internet", it opens the internet browser.
When you want to write an email just simply speak into the mic and word will recognize your voice and write the words.

Now, put that in your next years sock stuffing gifts.

Come on everyone lets start a demand for this it could be possible.
Happy New Year
Regards Robert

[gibson042]

Frankly I would really like to see a PPC with 18-bit color depth TFD VGA resolution touch screen in early 2005.
I'm not familiar with the TLA (:devilboy:) "TFD". Is it Thin Film Display, TransFlective Display, Totally Fantastic Digitizer, or what? I know what 18-bit color is, though, and I'd like it too.

[Janak Parekh]

I seriously doubt that, in light of what is happing in Asia right now, if anything PC components are going up, up, and up.
Apparently not (http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/12/28/HNasianitlargelyundamaged_1.html?source=rss&amp;url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/12/28/HNasianitlargelyundamaged_1.html).

--janak

[Pat Logsdon]

I'd like to see a Harrier (XDA III) device with VGA and WiFi. Shouldn't be too hard. I'll also guess that with the recent cell company mergers, we'll see dropping prices for wireless data. Bring on the bloodbath! :twisted:

[farnold]

I'm really surprised that someone who has nothing to say like Lance Ulanoff get even paid for it 8O He even fails to be funny

[Phoenix]

How about an MPx that will actually work, with all the additions/corrections that the original should have had in the first place.

:)

[SteveHoward999]

... lets include Voice Recognition abilities.
I mean when you speak into the microphone of your PDA and say "Open Internet", it opens the internet browser.
When you want to write an email just simply speak into the mic and word will recognize your voice and write the words.


Voice recognition has been available for PPC for 18 months. For PC it has been around for at least 7 years. I test it out every now and then, to see how it has progressed and as far as I can see it is still nothing more than an annoying gimmic unless you HAVE to use it due to physical limitations or something specific about your work. Once we have voice recognition that works as well as the Sc-Fi writers have predicted for years, then **maybe** I will be convinced it is worthwhile, but right now I have no desire to spend time teaching my computer to understand what I am saying while I sit in a hermetically sealed and silent room away from my work colleagues so I cannot hear them shouting at their computers as that they are frantically trying to get to understand them ... :-S.

[gibson042]

My crazy prediction should be obvious from my sig... a Pocket PC Phone Edition with integrated multi-band GSM, WiFi, Bluetooth 1.2, and a VGA resolution screen. My guess is that the first one out will be produced by HTC, and will share the form factor of the Blue Angel (including slide-out keyboard). It will have both camera and cameraless versions, depending upon the carrier and model number (which will include "MDA IV" and at least a dozen others :drinking::silly:), and either a 416 or 520 MHz PXA27x processor. Within one to three months after its announcement, one to three other companies will announce products with similar features.

[Darius Wey]

I predict the release of WM2005.

It's a rather crazy prediction, I know. You can hit me later. :twak:

&lt;Insert sarcasm tone throughout> ;)

[spinosum]

I predict (or rather just dream...) there will be a pocket pc using the latest Samsung 667Mhz chipset, 128Mb RAM, 128Mb ROM, battery life of at least 7-8 hours of continuous use, WiFi and bluetooth, VGA screen... AND most importantly, all these features being packed into a ppc the size of the 1945 series!!!! :)

[shawnc]

Clearly the craziest PDA prediction ever would be the release of slim, modular, upgradable pocketpc's with the release of the OS directly downloadable from Microsoft.

But no, thats dreaming. Something like that is just waaayyy beyond our current technology.

THIN DEVICES!?! That's just crazy talk. I just don't get why something that is so obvious has been overlooked by all PPC manufacturer's. Let's just keep making those devices thicker and bigger. We'll kill the PDA market yet :roll: .

[Fred44]

THIN DEVICES!?! That's just crazy talk. I just don't get why something that is so obvious has been overlooked by all PPC manufacturer's. Let's just keep making those devices thicker and bigger. We'll kill the PDA market yet :roll: .
I agree 100%. We need smaller and smaller PDA’s. The only way to get a PDA the size of the 4150 or smaller is to drop the CF slot. A 4” VGA screen will fit in the 4150 form factor. If you put a HP 4700, ASUS 720, or a LOOX 720 next to a HP 4150 they are all huge.

[Steve Jordan]

I predict this year that a lab will finally create a single processor designed only to recognize voice commands, translate them into electronic commands, and issue those commands to other devices. This new device will wirelessly tie-in to home computers, cellphones and handheld computers to allow users to issue commands to their appliances in standard english.

By 2006, these devices will be built into homes, placed in every room at the light switch location. Homeowners will be able to operate lights, communicate with those in other rooms, and give orders to their computer in whatever room to switch on appliances, identify people at the door, answer phones, check door and window locks, and monitor comfort settings.

Eventually this device will be completely portable, and carried in a pocket, on a necklace, or in an earring. People will simply speak out loud, and their needs will be taken care of by this device.

(I plan to enjoy it in my vacation home on Ganymede. It should make it easier to keep up with the latest news from Vulcan, not to mention the solar sail races during the Saturnian Equinox.)

[Steve Jordan]

Okay, forgive me for posting after myself, but I've got a better one, inspired by the "What did you get for Christmas?" thread:


On the negative side, I now have to figure out to power all of this stuff without burning the house down.

In 2005, homebuilders reintroduce the "baseboard plug," a power strip that runs the length of every wall in the house, along the baseboard. Complete with overload circuitry and shock fuses (to protect children and pets, a liability which removed the device from favor decades ago), the baseboard plug allows appliance owners to plug their devices in anywhere in the house, eliminating the clot and tangle of 15 appliances grouped together and powered through 1 outlet and a power core.

By 2008, appliance plugs are being redesigned to retract the metal prongs into the plug head... they need only be placed near an outlet, and a transformer-like electric transfer system provides power. Shock hazards, overloads, and home fires from electrical issues virtually disappear in homes so equipped.

[Pat Logsdon]

On the same topic, I'd love to see some kind of neat device to replace the ubiquitous power strip...something like this, (http://mocoloco.com/archives/000744.php#more) perhaps?

[Steve Jordan]

Well, it is a cosmetic improvement over the power core... it looks better, and it allows for any size plug to be plugged in (it doesn't prevent two transformer-sized plugs next to each other). I wouldn't mind having that under my desk, instead of the nest of plugs at my feet.

It does still concentrate all that power at one outlet, though. I think we should be looking into breaking up that single-outlet power drain, to cut back on the risk of overloads and fire caused by all that concentrated power draw. Either that, or designing appliances that use a lot less power.

[frankenbike]

No predictions for PPC technology, but I predict this will be the year that Moller finally gets their flying "car" off the ground (and without tether lines).

[frankenbike]

Well, it is a cosmetic improvement over the power core... it looks better, and it allows for any size plug to be plugged in (it doesn't prevent two transformer-sized plugs next to each other). I wouldn't mind having that under my desk, instead of the nest of plugs at my feet.

It does still concentrate all that power at one outlet, though. I think we should be looking into breaking up that single-outlet power drain, to cut back on the risk of overloads and fire caused by all that concentrated power draw. Either that, or designing appliances that use a lot less power.

You already have appliances that use a lot less power. In the days when I was a kid, you couldn't have a TV and stereo system plugged in, and then plug a vacuum cleaner into the same plug without blowing a fuse. In those days, TVs and Stereos still had tubes/valves. These days I've got a dozen devices feeding out of one circuit and the whole thing doesn't break 800 watts, not even on a power surge.

If you want something that cosmetically hides the power strips now, you can get a large plastic container with a lid (like Tupperware) cut a slot for the wires to go through, stick a power strip in there and plug all the wires in. You can spraypaint the plastic container any color you want ;)

As for the nest of plugs under your feet, easy solution to that if you don't want to do the above. You can get power strips that allow you to screw them to the underside of your desktop. It moves the nest of plugs off the ground and out of site.