Has Apple really got a video iPod ready for release? Will phone users upgrade to 3G handsets next year? Ashley Norris makes five predictions for 2004.
Camera phones to take decent pictures
Up until now the best quality images UK camera phones have taken are VGA standard - good enough for sending as e-mails or MMS (picture) messages, but not really high enough resolution for printing out and saving.
That will change next year with the arrival of one, and maybe even two megapixel camera phones. Sharp/Vodafone is widely expected to get there first when the GX30, the fourth in its series of clamshell phones, arrives in February. Sony Ericsson is however rumoured to have a one-mega pixel model ready to roll, and LG has already committed to launching the GT, its phone with a one-mega pixel camera, in late spring.
In tandem with higher quality snappers expect to see storage cards for archiving the shots become a standard feature on phones.
Personal video players become must-have gadgets
The market for small handheld devices that feature a 3-4inch screens, a large hard drive and video playback software is set to explode in 2004 with many high profile launches.
Sony has already committed to debuting its first model, the Giga Pocket PCVA-HVP20, probably in the spring. Later in the year a range of manufacturers will parade devices that run using Microsoft's Portable Media Center operating system.
The big question though is whether Apple will beat its rivals to the market with a Video iPod. There is speculation that Steve Jobs could unveil a product of this ilk at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco in January, but it is probably more likely to arrive later in the year.
Digital TV recorders replace the VHS VCR
After the iPod the most coveted consumer electronics items this Christmas has been the Sky+ digital satellite/hard disk based video recorder.
Sky is set to take the unit to another level next year with rumours that its next generation box will boast a huge hard drive of 240 Gigabytes (six times the capacity of the current Sky +) that will allow users to record up to four programmes simultaneously.
Sky has already committed to introducing technology that will enable users to program the box remotely via e-mail or text messages. Sky won't have it all its own way though.
Freeview digital TV boxes with hard disk recorders are already starting to arrive. Their main weakness is that they don't feature weeklong onscreen programme guides, although will change in 2004 and will at last make them a real alternative to the Sky + unit.
Wireless gadgets head for the living room
The first wireless gadgets able to transfer video, audio and image files from a PC to a screen in a living room arrived in 2003. Next year the consumer electronics heavyweights will deliver their lounge-friendly wireless product.
Philips has a range of devices including surround sound and hi-fi systems and standalone wireless units, while Sony will deliver the Network Media Receiver, which works with its Vaio range of desktop PCs. Panasonic may also deliver its AVC1, a home server that distributes video and audio signals wirelessly throughout a home. The next generation of Microsoft's Media Centre PCs are also likely to have streaming facilities on board.
Phone networks deliver broadband to go
Later next year will see at least Orange and Vodafone unveil their 3G mobile phone networks. Unlike Three, which has attempted to attract consumers with its video calling and video download features, it is likely that the first 3G offerings from the other networks will be aimed at the corporate market.
Expect to see campaigns along the lines of "broadband to go" as networks offer 3G PC cards that enable laptops to download data at speeds far superior to the current GPRS networks. After the large brick like handsets Three has offered so far, 3G mobile phones will become a great deal sexier next year.
Upcoming 3G models from Sanyo, LG, Motorola and Nokia are much more like existing GPRS phone in terms of design styling, weight and dimensions.
