2007 looks set to deliver two hotter than hot tech trends/realities.
First up will be the battle for video over the Internet and our very own living rooms. Help!
Expect Microsoft and Apple to dominate. Microsoft using video games and the
XBox as their Trojan horse while the company formally known as Apple Computers will ride the popularity of
iTunes to inject Apple TV's into the back of countless TV's.
Video over the Internet will continue to be dominated by Google (YouTube), MySpace, AOL and Yahoo (who may be forced to merge or get swallowed by Microsoft). iTunes will be the only destination to make any money. DVD sales will go the way of CD sales - down the toilet!
The second most sizzling sector of 2007 will be mobile -
finally!
Not because cellphone users will approach 3 billion or because more than 1 billion handsets will be sold. Neither will it be thanks to the gradual and painful roll out of 3G et al speedier networks. It will not be thanks to mobile Internet killer (Bill) applications or mobile TV.
It will be thanks to two impending and growing threats to the inflexible and stagnant mobile phone companies - Wi-Fi and
Apple's iPhone. The one-two from a competing network's unending proliferation and power plus a computer company's real deal product will jolt the rest of the industry into untold innovations and partnerships.
The mobile phone operators will finally open their networks to the real Internet and stop hogging their highways. As a result consumers will no longer get ripped off or disappointed. The mobile Internet will become a reality and mobile network providers will realize that if the only let go they will make money out of this game. If not - bye, bye revenue growth.
All in all 2007 looks quite exciting. Particularly if you're Apple, Google, News Corp or Disney. The rest will scramble. Some successfully and some not. Enjoy the ride.
