Tech innovations for 2012

January 2012 By Gary M. Kaye Special to PRIME I'm packing my bags and heading to Las Vegas for this year's Consumer Electronics Show, where thousands of exhibitors will try to convince me they've got the next big thing. Some of them may even be right. Here are some of the developments I expect to see in 2012. There are so many sources of video these days, from your cable box to Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and more that it's been real challenge for television makers to come up with devices to make it easy to find and integrate all these sources. Expect a big push into Smart TV's this year. Sony and others will incorporate the second generation of Google TV. And we may see the Apple TV come to market, the final project by Steve Jobs. There are credible reports that Sharp Electronics is already making the device. Last year's CES was all about the tablet. And yes, over the past year more than a hundred have made their way into the marketplace. Look for even more refinements to these devices. In particular look for manufacturers, perhaps Lenovo for one, to try to resolve the issue of whether these are work machines or entertainment devices by doing both. You will start to see tablets with Microsoft's new Windows 8 Operating System, and also tablets that will run both Android and Windows. Over the past two months, we've started to see a number of computer makers introduce Intel's UltraBook design lightweight computers, most of which look like MacBook Air clones, only they run Windows. With the big push coming for Windows 8 expect to see more of these sleek designs. And just as I expect to see tablet devices that are Windows /Android hybrids, I anticipate the same trend in lightweight computers, since many people like the ease of smartphone Apps but also want keyboards and aren't happy with the keyboard as an attachment. When Kodak first set out to popularize digital cameras in the mid 1990's, it basically took the optical systems designed for film cameras, then replaced the film with a sensor that recorded the image onto a medium such as a memory card or CD. It didn't take long for the idea to catch on and digital photography exploded. The approach pretty much stayed the same: capture the image only substitute a sensor for film. But late in 2011 a company called Lytro introduced a camera that could well revolutionize digital photography. You no longer need to worry about whether the foreground or background is in focus. The Lytro captures everything your eye sees, the entire field of light. Then you take it home and you can infinitely manipulate the image. I believe the big boys will begin licensing the technology as quickly as they can and try to integrate their existing (and now potentially obsolete) optical systems. In the meantime, companies like Samsung, Nikon and Sony have already started to realize that the DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera is obsolete. The DSLR uses a mirror and a prism to reflect light from the lens into the viewfinder so you can see what the camera sees. But in the age of digital, that's not necessarily what you're going to capture. So now these makers are taking their high end camera lines with interchangeable lenses and shrinking them down by getting rid of the mirrors and prisms. Both Nikon and Samsung have models with electronic viewfinders (EVF) so you can see what you're shooting without worrying if the big LCD screen on the back of the camera will be washed out in bright sunlight. The popularity of the Siri voice assistant in Apple's iPhone 4S is just the beginning. Look for a voice interface to become a bigger part of our lives. In particular, I predict that over the next two years it will become either a standard feature or an easily available option in most automobiles, allowing you to control car functions along with everything from GPS navigation to your smartphone and in-car entertainment system. I've been hearing about the potential of the networked home for more than 20 years. But as home wireless networking becomes more popular and the impetus to save energy increases, we can expect more devices that will allow us to introduce intelligence into home systems. One of the first of these smart devices is Nest. It is a smart thermostat that programs itself based on the way you use it. And it comes with a smartphone App so you can change the settings remotely. I expect to see more devices in this space, and an increase in smartphone based apps that will let you monitor your home's security, infrastructure, and energy usage. Those are my guesses for the tech year ahead. I invite you to keep score at home. Gary M. Kaye is an award-winning journalist who has covered technology topics for more than 30 years. He writes and does radio pieces for AARP and is senior writer for Tech Toys Magazine. In addition, he runs a consulting business helping hi-tech companies with strategic communications. For more information, please visit www.compellingtelling.com.