13 Technology Predictions For 2011

9. Android will continue to gain on Apple. Thanks to a wide spectrum of inexpensive new handsets and tablets, Android will offer strong competition to iPhone and iPad. Verizon's long-rumored iPhone will provide a boost to iPhone sales if it happens, but it will be short-lived since any true Apple fan willing to move already has. The Android-Apple dynamic duo will deplete BlackBerry share, scare HP into giving up a serious WebOS relaunch, and ensure that Windows Phone 7 has a hard time growing. Microsoft won't give up in 2011, though; they'll keep on plugging like they have with Zune and not pull the plug quickly like they did with Kin.

10. The moribund Google Checkout product will resurrect itself as a mobile app. Google's new Nexus S phone is one of the first to include a Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology that allows the phone to be used as a "digital wallet" to make payments. By the end of the year just about every smartphone will have NFC, and Google will be positioning itself as the conduit for making those payments. NFC-based payments could experience incredible growth rates, especially if the economy continues to improve this year. Oh, and be extra careful not to lose your phone in 2011.

11. Augmented reality will target businesses. The first practical augmented reality apps such as Word Lens do awesome things like translate signs in-place and in real time, but they have been oriented towards consumers. In 2011, we'll see some business-to-business applications, maybe in the form of paper presentations that spring to life when you shoot them with your cell phone's camera. Perhaps it's a bit of a gimmick, but the novelty factor will ensure that you get people's attention.

12. Your company will start to use IPv6, and it may be painful. Despite a lot of IPv6 groundwork being laid by the industry over the past ten years, IPv6 is still a tough sell for many organizations. But it's no false alarm that the world is running out of IPv4 addresses, so a serious transition must start to happen this year. This will open up multiple worm cans of security, performance, application, and network management issues. Network administrators will be earning their pay in 2011 for sure.

13. A really major newspaper will stop publishing on paper, and go digital-only. Perhaps this is too apocalyptic, but the next 12 months will tell. The newspaper industry has been shrinking faster than Biggest Loser contestants. Everyone sees it coming, but nobody wants to face the problem. This year, a big newspaper in the class of Washington Post or New York Times will decide to cut their losses and give up on paper. Perhaps they'll keep a Sunday edition around longer, who knows.

SEE ALSO:

Top 10 Google Predictions For 2011

7 Ways To Save Microsoft In 2011

Top 5 Reasons Windows Phone 7 Will/Won't Succeed