UPDATED 15:59 EDT / DECEMBER 31 2012

NEWS

Tech Products to Watch in 2013

There sure are a lot of “best of” lists out there this time of the year and they are going to vary wildly. SiliconAngle is all about the evolution of technology and emerging technology, so we’re taking a look ahead at some tech devices we are most anticipating in 2013. So here are my top five products on the horizon that we can predict will be making big news in the year ahead, good or bad..

  1. Xbox 720 – There is a lot of speculation on just what the new Xbox will be. We have been doing quite a bit of research and coverage on this topic in the last year. Every possible feature is being speculated on from lesser topics like what it will be named (Xbox?, Xbox 720?, Xbox Loop?) to more significant aspects like whether there is proof it will have a significant cloud based gaming element tied to Azure or other similar service. One thing we can surely expect is that deeper integration of the revolutionary Kinect interface can be expected. There are also expectations that the price point of the new Xbox will be cheaper than the current Xbox. With Microsoft leading the console wars, it appears that 2013 will continue the successful console’s winning ways with the expectation of another monster product building off its considerable head start. It is also possible that the arrival of this console will precipitate the release of a new Sony Playstation in 2013.
  2. Apple TV – Apple TV, iTV, iOStv – whatever it is eventually called it is again a product with a wealth of speculation, rumors, and theories that come along with it. This could be the year we finally see this much anticipated product. The speculation has really set in since Steve Jobs mentioned a smart television product in his posthumous biography. For clues we have a spate of recent leaks and anonymously sourced information to sift through, but the best clue comes from Jobs himself:
    “It would be seamlessly synched with all your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine.”
    His successor Tim Cook has alluded to such a product, describing the field as “an intense area of interest” in a recent interview. With the mass attention of an investor base to satisfy, Apple is likely very serious about launching yet another successful consumer technology product and that product by all indications will be a high-design large form factor smart television.
  3. Microsoft Surface Pro – I’ve been on this Surface Pro train for a while now so I’ll keep it brief. The enterprise will be looking at this high-end business design tablet to answer their mobility questions and potentially help bring about high productivity mobility solutions that business can efficiently embrace. Yes it means Windows 8 adoption, and this will benefit Microsoft across the board.
  4. Blackberry 10 – Yes, the Blackberry 10. The new OS and all its features are expected to be revealed in January. This is something of an albatross for troubled RIM. They missed the release of this product in 2012, lost contracts and market share, but most importantly have lost the confidence of investors, partners, and clients alike. There is a lot baked into the plotted success of this product and it appears to be RIM’s last stand. We could easily be talking about either the re-emergence of RIM this time next year, or be doing a postmortem on what happened before it was sold off. Fascinating stories here.
  5. Amazon SmartPhone – Rumor-based again, but this one seems pretty obvious. We could be looking at an early summer filled with news of Amazon’s high power, versatile, and media-friendly smartphones. Amazon does it cheap and integrates everywhere from a consumer base, from music, to videos, to the retail of actual non-digital products – it is an easy bet of carrying that formula over from their wildly successful Kindle operation into the world of smartphones that could add up to a massive win and a cash machine for Amazon.

Those are my top products, I’m curious to read other’s thoughts.  Best wishes in 2013..


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