2011 has been a bumper year for technology; Apple continued their domination of the tablet and smartphone markets; Sony pushed 3D technology with their Playstation 3; Microsoft continued their controller-free gaming revolution with Kinect; Nintendo showed us a glimpse of the future with glasses-free 3D and Android became the world’s most popular smartphone platform. But, what can we expect in 2012? Well it’s already shaping up to be another bumper year. Here’s what we can’t to get wait to get our hands on in 2012.
1. Amazon Kindle Fire
Amazon's Kindle Fire is already out in the US, but we’re unlikely to see it in the UK until the first quarter 2012. For the price you'll get a tablet that's incredibly easy to use and won't cost a fortune. With a price tag of only $199 and with the inclusion of Amazon's Prime subscription the online retailer really has come up with a compelling alternative that can compete with Apple's iPad and any other Android tablets available.
If you took away Amazon's Prime program the Fire would be a run-of-the-mill tablet that wouldn't be worth your time or attention. But what Amazon has done is similar to what Apple has done: made content king. The way Prime makes you feel you're getting a lot more for you money is a stroke of genius. The on-demand, all-you-can-eat, model works like a dream and will be the unique selling point when comparing tablets purchases. Content-wise its the best Android tablet around and if they can replicate the same content deals in the Europe – then Amazon's Fire could easily overshadow the Kindle and even give Apple a run for its money. It's affordable, intuitive and simple to use; everything a tablet should be. If you're looking for a tablet that offers million of possibilities with hundred of thousands of apps then this is not that tablet for you, but if you looking for tablet where traditional digital media content is king then this is the tablet for you.
2. Wii U
The Nintendo Wii was one of the biggest success stories of the last 3 year’s for Nintendo, it revolutionise gaming leading Sony and Microsoft to follow suit with their own movement controls, well, the Wii has suffered from a baron release schedule in 2011 and at E3, Nintendo, announced the successor the Wii U.
The Wii’s successor looks to right a lot of wrongs of its predecessor so we can expect HD capability, 1080p output, 3D support and a completely new type of controller. The Wii U’s main party-piece is a small tablet controller with the usual set of gaming controls as well as fully-fledged touch screen.
Nintendo-quality games, awesome HD graphics, support from lots of third-party games developers, and a handy way to play in any room in your house? Count us in.
3. Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime
The new quad-core tablet, a successor to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer released in early summer, will be the fastest tablet available, coming with 1200×800 display, Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 1 GB Ram, an 8 megapixel rear facing camera, capable of 1080p video capture, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and a microSD slot.
The Transformer Prime will come with the current 3.2 version of Android Honeycomb, but Google is promising that the upgrade to 4.0 Ice Cream will be coming to the Prime first.
The device is more expensive than its predecessor, starting at $499 for a 32Gb and $599 for a 64Gb version. The main party piece of the Transformer range is the attachable keyboard, which will cost $149 and comes in two colours: amethyst grey and champagne gold.
Part of the reason why the original Eee Pad was so successful was the price, it remains to be seen whether the quad-core sequel will be as successful considering the $100 price hike over the original.
Although it's strong on hardware, the $100 increase in price will make it a more difficult to sell given that the entry-level (16GB) iPad is also priced at $499.
Details on UK price and release date hasn't been confirmed at the time of writing, but it's expected to land in North America on December 16 and Europe soon after.
4. Windows 8 tablets
There are still a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to Windows 8 tablets, but the information is starting to come out, and there’s no doubt Microsoft is prepared to make a real go of this tablet malarkey.
Windows 8 will use a Metro interface that’s much like Windows Phone 7 for when it’s used on touch devices, with separate Metro apps. It will support ARM processors, such as Tegra 3, as well, which means manufacturers have options for the hardware they include.
Whether the addition of a new touch interface on top of the traditional Windows look will entice developers and customers is hard to say, but it seems to have the manufacturers on board, and we’ll be able to see more when the public beta arrives early next year. If Microsoft pulls it off, it may suddenly become a big mobile player again.
5. Apple’s 2012 tablet
According to reports from Business Insider Apple will release its third generation iPad tablet in February next year. Richard Gardner, an analyst from Citi, believes that the Cupertino tech company will release the iPad 3 with a Retina display and twice the processing power earlier that expected to head off the competition.
Gardner said: "There do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining that would prevent the iPad 3"²s launch." He also predicted that the company's final iPad sales for the current quarter would be 12 to 13 million units.
Many Macolytes were hoping that Apple would include a Retina display in the iPad 2, but it failed to materilise, leading many to postulate that the iPad 3 would be the true sequel to the iPad 1 and would include a Retina display.
The third generation iPad is expected to have a screen resolution of 2048×1546, compared to the iPad 2's 1024×768 and to accommodate the new screen tech it's expected to be thicker than the current ultra-thin iPad 2.
It's thought that Apple will look to get a early march on its main rival Samsung, who are expected to follow-up to the Galaxy 10.1, with a Galazxy 11.6, which is said to have a 2560×1600 screen resolution and the new quad-core Tegra processor and would be announced in the spring at Mobile World Congress.
Apple is top-dog in the tablet market, with Asus, Motorola, Samsung amongst others all playing catchup with their Android offerings. And now that Amazon has recently enter the race the tablet market is one of the most competitive around.
Apple's plan could be trying to head off the competition from similarly priced Android tablets, if it did release the iPad 3 sooner than expected it would have the effect of reducing prices for older versions of the iPad, which would encourage consumers attracted to the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet to instead climb aboard the iOS platform at a discount.