We’ve already given you our first five tech predictions of what we’re most looking forward to in 2012, including Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Nintendo’s follow-up to the Wii, the Wii U, Asus’s quad-core Prime Tablet, Windows 8 tablets and the iPad 3. Well, now it’s time for part 2, which includes gaming, phones, and TV’s.
6. PlayStation Vita
The Playstation Vita is a beast of a system and is jam-packed with tech and features that firmly brings it into the realm of a device that can satisfy your every mobile need: gaming, entertainment and communication.
The system includes both front and rear-facing cameras, it features head tracking and facial recognition, a gyroscopic sensor and accelerometer, a microphone, a 5-inch OLED touch-screen and a rear-mounted touch-pad.
With a powerful processor and plenty of memory, the PS Vita promises a much more impressive gaming experience compared to its predecessor the PlayStation Portable. Despite its impressive technology, pricing - while at the premium end of the market - is reasonable, with ShopTo.Net putting the RRP at £229.99.
Vita is releasing in Japan this month, so there is a possibility of getting one on import before Santa Claus climbs down your chimney - it is likely to be plagued with shortages as it is the only new gaming device to be released this Christmas.
7. Asus Padfone
The Asus Padfone is either going to be a massive success or a bit of a damp squib, essentially it’s a giant smartphone that can then be slotted into another device to make a fully fledged tablet. When it was announced it raised quite a few eyebrows. But with the new Tegra 3 processor as well as Ice Cream Sandwich – it’s going to try and unify the ground between a phone and tablet.
With a launch planned for Mobile World Congress, we could be about to see the first quad-core phone release, and that’s really going to shake up the competition.
8. Sony PlayStation 3D Display
Sony’s budget 3D TV has been specifically designed to be used with a Playstation 3, for less than £400 you get a 3D display capable of 1080p output and a pair of 3D glasses.
The monitor is on sale in the US, with a European release date expected in early 2012. If it’s successful, it could be the TV that takes 3D to to the mass market.. The set has been designed for those of you who want a device in a bedroom or snug, and don’t want to spend thousands to enjoy the plethora 3D content now available.
Sony's new TV does have one particularly impressive party piece – it will allow users to play games with split screen action but each user will see a full screen instead of half – we’re not sure whether it will only work with the glasses, but the the idea and tech is very clever indeed.
Included in the price will be a pair of 3D active shutter glasses, 6ft HDMI cable and a copy of Resistance 3, for a price of $499. Sony have also pointed out that the new glasses can be purchased for $69.99 and will work on their different 3D TV's.
9. Android 4.0 tablets
You might wonder what Android 4.0 actually brings that Android 3.2 doesn’t offer now, but the answer isn’t as simple as a list of better features. In our Android 4.0 review, we found that the big steps forward is in the little things. It’s much more streamlined, and more easy to use, and that’s vital for making it seem as appealing as the iPad to those who don’t care about hardware specs.
But more than that, we want to see what it inspires in the tablet manufacturers. We see all sorts of different app choices, custom widgets, hardware differences and philosophies from the different companies making Android tablets, and we can’t wait to see what Ice Cream Sandwich brings out of them.
10. iPhone 5
Apparently the last project Steve Jobs personally work on before his untimely death was the iPhone 5 – after the disappointing upgrades we saw in the iPhone 4S – everyone expects the new iPhone 5 will be massively different.
Unlike the iPhone 4S, it’ll be a completely new design from what has gone before, so that means an entirely new casing.
Interestingly, someone who claimed to have seen a larger-screened iPhone 5 prototype said in November 2011 that Steve Jobs canned the new handset and opted for the iPhone 4S because of the larger screen size of the new device. According to Business Insider, it was feared that a new size would create a two-tier iPhone ecosystem.
Based on the roadmap of mobile chip design specialist ARM (of which Apple is a licensee), we’ll see a quad-core processor debut in the iPhone 5 – probably called the Apple A6. We know that we’ll see other quad core handsets debut in 2012, so it’s not too much of a stretch to say that the iPhone 5 will be the same.
Other rumours suggesting the Apple will finally make a handset compatible with 4G and NFC have also been rumoured, quite when we’ll see the iPhone 5 remains unclear, but it’s likely to shown off in the summer 2012.