I don't do New Year's resolutions as I've generally broken them by 2nd January. However, it is always interesting to take a look into the Crystal Meth Ball and see what I believe is going to happen in the worlds of technology and business (and then I'll look back in a year and see what rubbish I wrote).
Trust
Money will remain tight for many consumers and businesses but that doesn't mean there is no money to spend. Those with purchasing power will be careful in spending their cash and will look to spend it with companies who have a reputation of quality and customer service.
Localism
More small companies will try to source suppliers in their own region as they see that building relationships with those companies generates leads for each other and helps boost the local economy.
Getting Finance
It will be difficult for business to gain finance for new ideas and businesses will need to be creative and in many cases eschew traditional financing models and look for other sources such as crowd funding.
The Mobile Web
The growth in the use of mobile devices is huge and continuing. There will be a move to app-like mobile websites that will work on a range of devices rather than vendor-specific apps. By the end of 2103 there will have been an increase in the number of websites designed specifically for mobile devices with alternative designs for bigger screens as an extra, rather than designing for PC/laptop with a mobile design as an extra.
As more people get 4G, greater use of multimedia content for mobile web becomes possible and animators and videographers will see their output much more widely used on mobile websites.
Mobile Payments
I expect the growth of mobile payment options via smartphones using near field communication to continue but not to overtake other payment methods. I also expect there to be a few security setbacks in the year as hackers move into this growing field.
Mobile Malware
As mobile use for a wide range of services that are not from the traditional telephony package grows we will see mobile viruses and other malware increase. A trend that could have a negative impact on the mobile payments market.
E-commerce Growth
Buying on-line continues to grow and not just for the big players like Amazon. Sales in the UK over the Xmas period had a much bigger growth on-line than in the high street and as we all lead busy lives this trend will continue. The result will be more companies needing to sell on-line to compete and a growth in website integration with other, more general, on-line marketplaces.
Smartphone Wars
Not a prediction of who will become dominant but a continuation of the battle for supremacy in this market place. I do predict that Apple's market share will fall a little and RIM/Blackberry will continue with its decline. The launch of flexible screen phones will see these become more common and become standard when the price drops.
Touch-screen Interfaces
Touch-screens will become more prevalent on laptops and PCs with the growth in the number of people using Windows 8 as the operating system.
Social Media
The use of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for business will continue as will careful use of other social media such as Pinterest. Google+ will grow in the UK and become a major player in the social media market. Businesses who do not get involved in this "trivial fad" (as a business owner friend of mine calls it) will get left even further behind their competition. Businesses will become more creative and entertaining in their use of social media and we'll see more animation and video used.
3-D Printing
The price is dropping and making it viable for a small business or enthusiastic amateur to purchase a machine. Xmas next year will be full of 3-D printed decorations and nick-nacks as a result.
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