First, let's break down the trends into 2 categories: hardware and services. Software is not being included because at this stage of the game, most of the new capabilities are being delivered as a service, not as an "old fashioned" app that will be local to your device of choice.
Hardware
Tablets: will continue to evolve in 2014. Samsung and other manufacturers now have tablets that rival Apple's iPad, which was once king of the tablet world. For example, the new Galaxy S3 tablet offers a more intuitive keypad verses the iPad's, which is sometimes clumsy when switching between letters and numbers. Most tablets today are cross platform compatible with email services and support the popular Microsoft Exchange service, which many today use as a service from service providers such as Richmond Computer, or Office365.
Desktop PCs: will continue to become scarce in households, but will rule the roost in the office. Windows 7 remains the preferred platform in the business place, but that could change as the cost of touch screen enabled systems comes down. Until then, efficient and cost effective will remain the dominant factor in choosing technology in most workplaces.
Services
Cloud based technology will continue to grow. We all use it now with email accounts, and many already use it for data storage, such as DropBox or Apple's iCloud. A few of our customers migrated to cloud based data storage and shed in-house servers in 2013. We expect that trend to continue as the replacement cycle for servers hits more customers in 2014.
Cloud based can be extended to activities as well. For example, distance learning via online courses continues to gain popularity at colleges. The cloud is becoming an experience through events such as online meetups where many users can interact at a single session. This replaces the once terse text based chatroom which was popular in the 1990s when pioneered by America Online.
Wearable Technology: Expect to see more of this as time marches on. In fact, a company has already developed a prototype edible technology comprised of a pill that is ingested and gives off a signal used for an individual to authenticate themselves to devices they touch: cell phones, doors, and even cars. This neatly solves the problem of having to remember complex passwords. Smart watches is another device attempting to permeate themselves into the marketplace.
Mobile Networks will continue to grow. As the amount of data we process continues to grow, so will the need to have bigger and faster networks.
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