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RIM enjoys ‘mild recovery’ but not full rejuvenation
Content chief Dave Webb tackles the big question on everyone’s mind for 2013 with Research In Motion. While it’s not a dramatic prediction in that Dave doesn’t call for the Waterloo, Ont.-based hardware giant to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of its legacy products, nor does he predict the nail in the coffin for this beleaguered firm. There are six things that must happen for RIM to become relevant again, Dave says. It’s not likely all of them will occur next year.
Read Dave’s prediction: Read Prediction Here
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Apple will rejoin the ranks of regular companies
Jeff Jedras, assistant editor at IT World Canada, thinks that without Steve Jobs, Apple will not be able to maintain its lead over the competition in the mobile market space. “It will be a long-overdue return to Earth for a company that seemed to be coasting on past glories even while Jobs and his reality distortion field were still around. And with each successive lackluster iPhone and iPad refresh, the Jobsian hype reservoir is further depleted,” he writes.
Read Jeff’s predictions: Read Prediction Here
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This is your brain on computers
ITBusiness.ca Editor Brian Jackson has technology on his mind, and thinks brain computer interfaces (BCI) will become commonplace next year. Just like in that episode of Star Trek. He writes: “Toronto-based Interaxon’s Muse headband successfully raised more than $250,000 on Indiegogo. Its headband is subtle enough to wear that you won’t feel like some sort of cyborg uber-nerd, and it comes with an app that will run on smartphones and tablets.”
Read Brian’s predictions: Read Prediction Here
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Mobile malware gets serious
Chronic pain will be felt as a result of the growing mobile malware problem, predicts Staff Writer Brian Bloom. But users will adapt by installing anti-virus software on their mobile devices, just as they have become used to doing on their PCs.
Read Brian’s predictions: Read Prediction Here
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Massive consolidations in the security industry
There’s too many security vendors in the market, says CDN editor Paolo Del Nibletto, and reason to think it’s going to conslidate in 2013. The U.S. governmet’s anti-cyber crime task force intends to work with just four security vendors, and they will definitely be U.S.-based. Look for some some acquisitions of the smaller players by the top guns.
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Meg Whitman will hang on at HP
Dave Webb didn’t stop at RIM when it came to sizing up the likely near-futures (or lack there of) for troubled hardware firms. He considers HP’s ridiculed board, its shaky track record with CEOS as of late, and whether Meg Whitman deserves to keep her job or not. The deciding factor might come around her second anniversary with the company.
Read Daves’ prediction: Read Prediction Here
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Jeff Bezos will finally get a toupee
Editor at Large Shane Schick considers the lighter side of 2013 with his clairvoyant attempts. Amazon’s boss will don a toupee, he writes, and observers will speculate about a new Hair-as-a-Service (HaaS) trend as a result. Also in 2013, Microsoft will fire Steve Ballmer who will be the subject of a TIFF documentary Wreck-It-Steve, and the world will be amazed by the magical, postage stamp-sized iPad nano.
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Make or break year for government’s wireless strategy
Assistant Editor Howard Solomon points to next year’s wireless spectrum auction as a make-or-break moment for the federal government’s stated goal of spurring more competition for Canada’s wireless market. So far the 2008 auction hasn’t resulted in the vibrant competitive landscape some had hoped for, but foreign investment or a consolidation of new entrants could change that next year. he says.
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Crowdfunding platforms take off in Canada
Brian Jackson thinks the U.S. adoption of equity-based crowdfunding and some recent movement forward on that issue in a couple of Canada’s provinces will result in platforms being launched in Canada next year. This will allow startups to raise money from non-accredited investors by bringing on board a large number of backers who wish to put down a small amount of money in return for a small amount of equity. But they’ll need online platforms to facilitate on this conveniently.
Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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Microsoft will sell Surface in other places
So far Microsoft has sold its surface tablet only in its own retail stores, but look for that to change next year, says Jeff Jedras. Although its current plan is to also sell the Windows 8 Pro verison of Surface direct, Microsoft will cringe at the slow sales of the tablet so far and go to resellers and retailers to move their hardware, as they usually have done.
Read Jeff’s Predictions: Read Prediction Here
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