What's in store for the living room
Freeview HD boxes
Broadcasts for Freeview HD have already begun, and with compatible set-top receivers scheduled to debut early in 2010, you could be tuning in to high-def TV in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
As the first TV service to use the DVB-T2 broadcasting standard, you'll need to splash out on compatible hardware - either in the form of a Freeview HD-certified receiver, or a TV with a built-in DVB-T2 tuner, both of which are expected to become readily available in the coming months.
Why should it matter to you? Well, Freeview HD will join Freesat as the UK's second free-to-air HD service, and it's likely to be a catalyst in the uptake of HD services. With the World Cup looming, we wouldn't bet against Freeview HD's install base leaping ahead of the competition before the end of the year.
Consumers can look forward to free-to-air broadcasts encoded in MPEG-4, with video at resolutions of up to 1080i and audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. Want to know when it'll reach your area? Take a look at the roll-out schedule by clicking here.
Netbooks / Smartbooks
2009 was a massive year for netbooks, but don't expect them to go away anytime soon. With Intel's second-generation Atom platform already with us, consumers can expect another onslaught of ultra-low-power, ultra-small and cheap portable PCs.
What's new in 2010 is that there's a chance Intel's Atom won't continue to dominate the low-cost computing landscape. This year, the ubiquitous netbook faces a new threat from smartbooks - a low cost device that hopes to fit in somewhere between a smartphone and a notebook.
Promising an always-on, connected experience and all-day battery life, smartbooks are likely to be offered with mobile data plans and aim to provide consumers with a constant web experience. Expected to be powered by processors from UK-based firm ARM, smartbooks won't support the x86 instruction set and consequently won't run common applications such as Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. In order to thrive in a Wintel-dominated market, smartbooks will need an impressive software companion - and Google's Chrome operating system could be it.
Expect to see a bevy of netbooks and smartbooks launched at CES later this week.
3DTVs
If you've seen Avatar at the theatre, director James Cameron may have convinced you that 3D is indeed the way forward. We're still not certain, but with the industry throwing plenty of weight behind the technology, we're going to be seeing and hearing a lot more about three-dimensional viewing in 2010.
Analysts are predicting a rapid increase in the uptake of the 3D TVs expected to flood the market in 2010, with London-based analysis firm Screen Digest estimating that 13.6m 3D TVs will be installed in Europe by 2013.
But what exactly will you do with your all-new 3D-capable TV? Well, broadcaster BSkyB is expecting to launch Europe's first 3D channel in 2010, complete with a line up of movies, sport and entertainment all broadcast in 3D and high-definition.
2010 will also be the year in which 3D movies are released on the Blu-ray disc format. And let's not forget the possibility of 3D gaming - a technology that continues to be on the verge of breaking into the mainstream.
OLED TVs
Not convinced by the prospect of 3DTV? Fear not, as there's another upcoming tech that may be of interest. It's called organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, and it's touted as the successor to the LCD/Plasma displays you're already accustomed to.
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED), is as the name suggests a light-emitting diode made of organic compounds. Unlike traditional LEDs, the OLED variety feature layers of organic, light-emitting material placed between an anode and a cathode. When an electric current is passed through, the recombining of electrons and electron holes cause the organic layer to emit a brilliant white light. That, of course, is a gross simplification of a technology that involves the precise manipulation of electrons, but it gives readers a basic idea.
All sounds impressive, but what does it actually mean? Well, due to the fact that OLEDs require no backlight, an OLED TV is more energy efficient and likely to be incredibly thin - with early models measuring just 3mm thick.
More importantly, the brilliant light produced by the organic material ensures OLED displays are able to provide incredible contrast ratios, vivid colours, improved brightness, a much faster response time, a near-limitless viewing angle and an overall sharper image.
It's a technology that's high on the list of sought-after gadgetry, but in 2009 it has remained expensive to manufacture and large-screen displays have yet to enter mass production. We've seen small OLED displays appear on mobile phones and portable media players such as the Nokia N85 and Microsoft Zune HD, but 2010 could be the year in which we see large OLED TVs making their way into our living rooms.
Project Natal
2009 was the year in which motion-sensing controllers occupied the gaming headlines from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. Following the huge success of Nintendo's Wii console, both Microsoft and Sony announced upcoming motion-sensing devices that are expected to make their debut on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, respectively, in 2010.
Although both have shown promise, it's Microsoft's device - codenamed Project Natal - that has captured the imagination of the press and gamers alike. Unlike Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360 peripheral doesn't require the user to hold any sort of tracking device. Instead, Project Natal - a device measuring roughly 25cm in length - sits below or above a user's TV and emits an array of beams that hit objects in its path and bounce back to the device. The data is then processed by Natal's proprietary software, enabling the attached Xbox 360 console to map a seemingly-accurate image of everything in its field of view.
Natal is said to be able to map the full bodies of multiple players, with project director Kudo Tsunoda suggesting that it could track a users individual fingers depending on distance from the device.
The theory is that a user will be able to walk in front of their console, be instantly recognised via facial recognition, and be able to control the system and its games by moving parts of their body in a 3D space mapped by Natal.
Sounds impressive, and it'll be available later this year.
In summary, the decade is set to kick off with a wide range of promising products and technologies. Which of the above are you looking forward to most, or is there something else on your must-have list? Let us know in the HEXUS.community forums.
