Tech Predictions for 2012

So, a lot of folks have been posting on the Internet regarding what they expect to see happen in technology this year. Following in that trend, a few predictions of my own: 

Apple Predictions 

• In October, Apple will release an iPhone 4G, perhaps with new styling, using LTE for highspeed networking. The new iPhone will not have a significantly larger display than the current model.
• Coincident with the iPhone 4G, Apple will release iOS 6.0, which will use a new mapping service owned and operated by Apple to provide turn-by-turn GPS directions.
• In the Spring, Apple will unveil a new line of MacBooks Air with 11”, 13” and 15” screens, updated Intel processors, and solid state storage drives ranging from 128 GB to 512 GB.
• Also in the Spring, Apple will unveil a new line of MacBooks Pro featuring 15” and 17” screens.
• Apple will update the Apple TV settop box to support 1080p video. Users will be able to purchase and play Apple TV games using an iPod or iPhone as a controller.
• In the Spring, Apple will unveil the iPad 3, featuring a Retina Display and a quad-core Apple A6 SOC processor.
• Apple will release an updated software suite, iWork ’12, which will include updated, sandboxed versions of Keynote, Pages and Numbers with direct integration with iCloud document storage.

Google Predictions

• Google will continue to integrate Google+ into everything they release, including much deeper links between the service and the Android operating system.
• Motorola will become the flagship Android phone provider as Google stops outsourcing production of its Nexus models to Samsung.
• Google will begin to diverge the Android UI from the iOS UI in an attempt to escape Apple’s growing wave of lawsuits against the copycat operating system.
• Despite user annoyance at the Google+ integration, and legal saber-rattling by governments, Google will not lose significant market share in search.
• Google Chrome will pass Mozilla Firefox to become the second most commonly used browser worldwide.

Microsoft Predictions

• Windows 8 will not ship this year.
• Windows Phone 7 will continue to recieve great reviews but find few buyers. The Nokia Lumia 900 will be one of the best phones released this year, but will struggle.
• Internet Explorer will dip into the low to mid 40s in market share.
• Steve Ballmer will begin the process of annointing an heir apparent, in anticipation of a departure in 2013 or 2014.
• Microsoft Office 365 will grow into a large financial success.
• Microsoft will release Office for iPad, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. 

Other Tech Predictions

• Facebook will surpass the one billion member mark.
• RIM will begin a public effort to sell itself off as the BlackBerry line continues to fade. Few credible suitors will emerge.
• Amazon will release a revised Kindle Fire in early Fall, addressing the major issues present in the current device.
• E-Book sales will continue to grow dramatically, and traditional publishers will find themselves increasingly disintermediated as authors begin publishing directly to the Kindle, Nook and iBooks stores. 
• Barnes & Noble will spin its Nook family off into a separate company, and will also begin reducing the size of its physical stores.
• Nintendo’s Wii U will be the first eighth-generation console to be released. It will not share the same sort of success as its predecessor.