Looking ahead - technology in 2008

SMARTER mobile phones, smaller memory sticks, flashing T-shirts and barcodes on every corner: a look into the world of technology in 2008.
Leaner chips for smaller PCs, smarter phones
When Apple released the iPhone, they proved you can develop a mobile phone with an easy to use interface in a sleek, sexy package.
But one of the most exciting features of the iPhone is that it functions like a computer - a true smartphone.
This has been made possible by the development of smarter, smaller, less power hungry computer chips, and the field is set for even better models.
Intel's Silverthorne 45nm processor, scheduled for release in the first half of 2008, delivers computer performance comparable to a desktop or laptop computer, on a 74mm x 143mm sized motherboard.
The Silverthorne processor uses 10 times less power than today's low power processors and can work alongside WiFi, 3G and WiMAX.
Expect many more smart phones, including the Australian version of the iPhone, and an avalanche of paperback-sized laptops to hit the market in 2008.
More bytes for your data
As computer processors get smaller, so does the physical size of computer memory, but there is a limit.
As the components become more cramped, they create more heat and cause weird quantum effects to occur.
Fortunately researchers at the Centre for Applied Nanoionics have made a breakthrough.
By using trace amounts of copper, mixed with Msilicon, they believe they can develop flash memory sticks that will hold terabytes, or thousands of gigabytes.
While it may be sometime later this decade before we see terabyte-sized memory in the stores, an alternative that is sure to appear in 2008 is remote storage.
Remote data storage frees up space on a hard drive and acts as a back-up in case the computer is stolen or destroyed.
Several companies such as Apple's .Mac and Symantec's Norton 360 already offer remote data storage, but with Google looking at offering a similar product, expect to see this area grow rapidly.
The end of the plain old telephone
For the past few years Voice over IP (VoIP) has been little more than a cheap way to make phone calls. However, the introduction of Naked DSL (broadband with a conventional phone service) to Australia, and the rapid growth of wireless internet, will see many VoIP providers offer these services as more people migrate across from the traditional plain old telephone service (POTS).
Services that should appear in the near future include voicemail delivered to your email inbox, fax converted and emailed as pdf documents, and the ability to direct multiple phone numbers to the one handset.
Radio goes digital
Expect to hear a bit about digital radio ahead of its official start date of January 1, 2009.
Digital radio will allow radio stations to broadcast multiple channels, along with images and data, such as radar images during the weather, or pictures of artists during a song.
Despite it being available in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Australian broadcasters have elected to wait until the release of DAB+ (digital audio broadcast), which provides better audio quality.
A number of manufacturers have indicated they will have DAB+ products ready for sale during 2008, including a plug-in which would allow listeners to tune into digital radio through an iPod.
The book is dead...
Reading text on a screen always seems harder than reading it on paper, which probably explains why electronic books haven't taken off.
But this hasn't stopped online book store Amazon having a go with its electronic book named Kindle.
The Kindle uses a unique electronic ink technology to produce a screen display that mimics the appearance of print on paper.
The screen is not backlit, to extend battery life, and the text can be easily read under most lighting conditions, indoors and out.
Users can download books through Amazon's WhisperNet, which operates via a mobile phone network, which are charged to an Amazon account.
Kindle can be configured to automatically download newspapers and magazine, and can play MP3 files and Audible spoken word books.
At this stage there is no word on when it will be released in Australia.
Source: news.com.au