Stories To Look Out For In 2013

The story of 2012 has very much been about technology. From the smart phone war to the news online, its all been heating up as these established and new companies start to introduce some ground breaking changes that have either had mixed or one-way input from users. We’ve reported on just about every one of them, and we want you to know exactly what’s in store 2013 in case you forgot.

Valve Could Snatch The Living Room Away From Microsoft and Sony

This story is probably the most important heading into 2013. The war on TV has best been covered by The Verge, and its been one of the most intriguing conversations ever. We are living in a world where only our TV’s are out of sync. We’ve realised the cable companies are extracting an astronomical amount of money year-in-year-out, all so we can watch four channels out of nine hundred or so. Valve in particular, is taking on tech giants like Sony, Microsoft, Apple and the cable companies themselves. We won’t know who’s won for a couple of years, but you can be sure that this will be a long and sought after war that ultimately leads to a better TV experience.

Why Its Best To Develop Your Game Now, Not Wait For The Next Generation of Consoles

2013 is said to be the year we finally see the next generation of consoles. They are rumoured to match PC’s in terms of power and performance, which enable developers to create universes instead of just a story driven game. Rockstar Games certainly gave us an insight into this during the GTA V hype interviews, when they talked about the final hurrah of this generation of consoles getting games that fully exercise their limits. This is because the knowledge is there after all these years of development, and why games from 2009 aren’t as good as games from today. As a result, game developers are able to make massive universes for games, ones that have a vibrancy and character that showcase the story elements and the scale all in one. We’re in for some great titles in 2013.

Skydiving, Bike Jumping, Absailing? Google’s Epic Introduction For Project Glass

Google Glass is the future. Make no mistake, this is probably one of 2012′s most innovative pieces of technology there is. Google introduced this by showing just one thing this device can do but as it turns out, this device can do more in the light of help and acting as a utility. Google will no doubt show off some refinements to the product in 2013, but I expect them to be largely incremental. Developers who went to Google I/O earlier this year were able to order the Google Glass ‘Explorer Edition’ for a price of $1500, which will ship sometime in January 2013. I’m looking forward to seeing what developers can do with this unique product.

RIM Delays Blackberry 10 Till 2013, Are They Too Late To The Game?

RIM have had a turbulent past couple of years to say the least. They have failed to produce the right cards in a game they once ruled, and after the very competitive 2012 concerning Apple, Microsoft and Google, RIM are about to enter an established market with their own solution. Will it be enough? We’ve been questioning that all along.

Twitter Makes Changes To Its API for 3rd Party Clients In a Bid To Direct Users To In-House Products

The Twitter API changes have been one of the most discussed topics this year in tech news. Its fundamentally changing how Twitter works, how we use this service that allows us to let our voices be heard amongst the noise. Its overwhelming to see the amount of feedback and informed discussions going on across the forums and Twitter itself, and I think this story has got to be one of the most intriguing for 2013. Can Twitter win over the users whilst still gaining some source of revenue from its content? Or will other social networks beat them at their own game? 

The Rise of App.net

Speaking of other social networks, App.net is the one to watch for me. This creation came from Dalton Caldwell, a developer from San Francisco who blogged about Twitter’s missed opportunity when it comes to making money off of its content. The paid social network has covered all the crucial areas thus far, giving developers a reasonable cut of any money earned off of paid apps, even taking on Facebook with its brand new Messaging API its just brought out. I wouldn’t underestimate the power of this one.

Apple To Produce Some Mac’s In The US From 2013

The news of Apple bringing Mac production back to the US was quite a surprise. The company plans to invest $100 million into the production of some of their Mac lineup [currently Mac Mini] heading through 2013 in partnership with Foxconn. If you are interested in the industry and want a pretty significant story to follow, I’d say this is the one.

 

 

What Lead To Apple’s Major Executive Shakeup That Could Change The Face of Their Leading Products

Jony Ive now head of Industrial Design and Human Interfaces. I don’t think you could ask for anything better. Will this be the end of skemourphasism at Apple? We seem to think so. Google have reassured us with the design of their applications, that skemourphasism isn’t the answer to utilising the work surface. Its time to have another revolution in the application design space. For too long we’ve had apps that have relatively the same UI to them. Its Apple’s time to set the example with their in-house built apps that they ship with the product.

Square Launches Gift Card System Thats Compatible With Passbook

Passbook and NFC are two big features that smart phone companies talked about this year. Passbook in particular, is becoming a favourite amongst businesses like Square and Starbucks – two very high profile companies. I can see the benefit in both methods, they address convenience issues that have been prevalent in a lot of business for a long time now, and I think 2013 may be the year businesses invest into such methods of paying providing Apple refines the system to reassure them.

Windows Blue: Microsofts Low Cost Alternative OS That Gets Updated Yearly

This was an interesting story for me. Microsoft are taking a leaf out of Apple’s book and releasing yearly OS updates in something they are calling “Windows Blue.” Its a low cost incentive that could see the end to the outdated method of discretely bringing out service packs throughout the year. But the most interesting element of this story is Microsoft’s unification of its platform. If Windows Blue works, we could see every Windows-run smart phone, tablet and computer run Windows 8 instead of a variant like Windows Phone 8 or Windows RT.

 

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