This year’s tech predictions for 2009 are here! And what a list of likely things to happen in the next 12 months it will be. There is no telling what will be happening this year, but hopefully most of them will come true, like last year’s.

This is thetechangel.com’s best tech predictions for 2009. 

What does thetechangel's crystal ball say for 2009?

And if you have some predictions of your own, why not comment and share with us.

1. Apple will produce a Netbook

Most likely this will be announced at the MacExpo exhibition in January. As Apple has done exceedingly well in the laptops and mobiles markets, it is a natural evolution for them to take on.

Netbooks are getting increasingly popular with mobile workers, as they offer simple mobile Net access, as well as the basics you would need to get work done whilst on the move.

I would also expect that if Apple did produce a NetBook that there will be no longer a tie in (for US users) with AT&T for mobile broadband.

2. Economic environment pushes more users to start using VOIP, both at home, on the mobile and in the office

At the time of writing this (December 2008), current world economic climates suggest that things aren’t going to be great for everyone’s pockets, and that both businesses and home users will be tightening-up on their budgets.

This leads me to suspect that far more people with start using VOIP solutions (phone calls over the Internet, rather than the conventional phone system. e.g. Skype, Google Talk, etc). Businesses big or small will quickly realise that if they truly utilise their broadband connection, and use Skype [for example] to call customers, the Mrs. and others, that they will make a small saving on their phone bills.

As data over the Internet is getting far cheaper that using a normal phone network, a phone call to or from the office is going to be a viable option. More to this, applications that allow users to install VOIP software on their mobile phone may choose to cut their mobile bills too.

3. iPhone Version 3 OR major upgrades?

I would not be so quick to suggest that the iPhone v3 is going to arrive in the first half of 2009, if at all this year. But, it is on the cards [possibly] for the second half if at all.

It is however very likely that major revisions will be made to the existing 3G iPhone software. Including long awaited features such as copy and paste and photo messaging (MMS).

Further to this, in the first half of 2009, it is also very likely that major increases to storage capacity will be made, and the upgrade in the resolution of the camera, but not exactly a whole new model.

Lastly, as already mentioned above, Apple will stop forcing mobile phone networks to make the iPhone exclusive to their network. Times and changed and plenty of hacks are out there to get around this, clearly the people have spoken for long enough on this issue.

4. Google Chrome for Mobiles

Google in 2008 released it’s own desktop browser, as well as it’s own mobile phone operating system. The Chrome browser in January 2008 will have taken just over 1% market share of all browsers (it’s actually quick a large number of users).

With the battle for mobile dominance really heating-up over the past year or so, it would be a likely option that Chrome will be developed by Google for not only the Android phone, but the iPhone, Windows based mobiles and Symbian phones (mainly Nokia phones).

5. Bandwidth Wars

Most broadband users will know that their broadband package has a monthly data cap on it or sometimes what ISPs affectionately call a ‘fair use policy’.

With the arrival of mainstream popular online media, such as the BBC iPlayer and 4OD, ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have been tearing their hair out at the sudden surge of data used on their networks and the expense to them.

It is very likely that with the increase in speeds due this year (21CN (upto 24 Mbps for home users)) that ISPs are going to have to relax their caps to users, or have schedules for heavy duty downloaders to work to.

Towards the mid / end of the year, ISPs will start marketing larger caps to users and families due to the increase in demand of data heavy services.

6. Cloud computing and online storage – it’s going to get big, really BIG!

Whilst anyone is yet to define the exact meaning of cloud computing, in a nut shell it allows users to access technology-enabled services from the Internet (“in the cloud”) without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. Basically access to remote storage and other services.

Online storage is fast becoming a popular tool for not only saving and backing-up users data, but sharing it as well.

For example, say a user backs-up their files to disk and sticks the disk in a safe place at home – fine you may think. But when the house burns down and not only have they lost their data from their PC, but the disk too. If they had backed-up their data to a private secure service off site, then not only could they easily retrieve the files, but still have a saved back-up of things to come.

Summarily, users can also access their various devices quickly and easily remotely as if they were right in front of it, as well as automatically sync data between them. Or share individual files and folders either publicly or privately between other users, who in turn can edit files and the changes are sync automatically between all devices.

Tags: Apple, broadband users, Environment, Internet, internet service providers, Phone, Predictions, Sky, The Cloud, Upgrade