Science & Technology Predictions for 2012

A science news preview of 2012 "Will we get the final word on the Higgs boson? And what is Nasa's next mission to Mars likely to turn up? The BBC News website science team signs the office crystal ball out of the equipment cupboard to tease out the stories likely to make headlines over the coming year ..." www.bbc.co.uk (site accessed Jan 2012)
Top Physicist Says 'God Particle' Could Be Proved By End Of 2012 "One of the world's leading physicists says that 2012 is likely the year in which his team proves whether or not a theoretical particle instrumental in creating the universe actually exists. Rolf Heuer, the director of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), told reporters, "I would say we can settle the question, the Shakespearean question - 'to be or not to be' -- by the end of next year." ..." rferl.org (site accessed July 2011)
Facebook set to reach 1 billion users by 2012 "Nearly 700 million people are using the social network site Facebook worldwide now, and the number is likely to reach one billion by 2012. According to statistics site Social Bakers, the fastest growth is coming out of Brazil, with Facebook picking up another 1.9 million users in May ..." economictimes.indiatimes.com (site accessed June 2011)
Flash drives for all by 2012 "In news that won't surprise anyone who's heard of Moore's Law, researchers concluded that solid-state Flash storage (SSD) drives will finally break into the mainstream next year. You can buy Flash drives for your laptops right now, but they're still more expensive that their old-tech, moving-parts hard disk counterparts. But not for much longer.
By 2012, the price for solid state drives should have dropped to $1 per gigabyte, pausing there only briefly before plunging lower still. The consequences are nice to think about, but not much of a surprise. Computers will get even smaller and thinner than they are already, consuming less power and running much faster ..." techland.time.com (site accessed May 2011)
Big bang machine to run in 2012 "The world's most powerful particle collider will be kept running through 2012 rather than taking next year off for an overhaul, Europe's CERN particle physics lab announced today. The change in plans means scientists at the Large Hadron Collider will have more time to track down the Higgs boson and other mysteries of the universe before the extended break — and it also means the machine should be shut down just in time for the Maya apocalypse ... " msnbc.msn.com (site accessed Feb 2011)
See also: Large Hadron Collider will shut down in 2012 " ... The Large Hadron Collider is going to skip medium-energy proton collisions, jumping straight to its maximum energy in 2013, after it finishes collecting lower-energy data and has its circuitry upgraded ... After a brief holiday hiatus, the LHC is getting ready to start up again. Its managers have decided to carry out collisions for two years at 3.5 TeV per beam. At the end of 2011, it will shut down for a year for circuitry upgrades, returning in 2013 at its maximum design energy of 7 TeV per beam, or 14 TeV in total ..." newscientist.com (site accessed Feb 2010)See also: LHC will take 2012 off " The LHC will opperate at half power in 2011, then undergo repairs in 2012. Is this really just so they won't have to deal with end of the world types? If I were them, I'd announce the restart date as December 21, 2012 just to mess with people." plus comments. reddit.com (site accessed Feb 2010)
Smartphone sales to pass computers in 2012 "Morgan Stanley Internet analyst said she expects smartphone sales will surpass PC and laptop sales in 2012, with more than 450 million units sold. By 2013, smart phone sales will approach 650 million unit sales ... In her "State of the Internet" report, (Mary) Meeker spoke about growth in the smartphone market and its link to social networking sites, as well as about Internet video and advertising. Watch out for mobile growth in China, she said. Its population of smartphone users is relatively nascent, with 14.5 million 3G users, or two percent of the population. That compares with 37 million in the United States. But that population grew by 941 percent in the third quarter compared with one year ago ..." washingtonpost.com (site accessed Nov 2010)
Analyst estimates 16.5 million iPads sold by 2012 " ... (Gene) Munster is also raising his estimate for iPads for 2010 and 2011. He originally estimated that Apple would sell 6.2 million iPads in 2010 and 8.2 million in 2011, giving Apple 14.4 million iPads by 2012. Munster now says Apple will sell 7.5 million in 2010 and 9 million in 2011 for a total of 16.5 million iPads by 2012." news.cnet.com (site accessed June 2010)
Location 2012: Death Of The Information Silos "It’s January 2012 and you’ve just gotten your new Android 3.0-based phone. You’re going on a road trip so you start up the newly-released Foursquare. Gone are the checkins of 2010. Now you tell it where you’re going. This time we’re headed to Harrah’s at Stateline, Nevada. But this is no Foursquare you’ve ever seen before. They’ve finally integrated Waze, Tungle.me, and Yelpinformation into it. So, let’s discover more of what happens on our trip ... " techcrunch.com (site accessed June 2010)
Doomsday shelters make a comeback in time for 2012 " ... Many people believe this date could mark the end of the world as we know it, and even those who aren't completely convinced Armageddon is getting close are starting to consider the available options that exist should the world suffer a natural or man-made disaster. One person supplying at least one option is Robert Vicino, an entrepreneur in Del Mar, Calif., who is behind a project called Vivos -- sort of a cross between a time share and a bomb shelter. Basically, Vicino -- who prefers the term "fractional villa" to time share -- is selling ownership interests in one of 20 underground shelters that cost $10 million apiece and hold about 200 people ..." aolnews.com (site accessed May 2010)
In 2012, this robotic suit will make sure no-one retires "The Power Assist Suit (PAS) has been in production for well on fifteen years now, and will finally see a real world application when the suit lands in 2012, after going into production this year. It'll cost $11,000 .... "If the farmer bends over to grasp a radish, his back will be firmly supported," student Gohei Yamamoto said during a demonstration of the suit. "A brief vocal instruction will instantly straighten the rods along his legs, giving him the power he needs to pull the vegetable without effort." ... dvice.com (site accessed April 2010)
11 Predictions for social media in 2012 "Here are the top 11 predictions for what social media will look like in 2012 ... 1. Privacy expectations will (have to) change ... 2. Complete decentralization of social networks ... 3. Our interaction with search engines will be different ... 4. Rise of the content aggregators ... 5. Social media augmented reality ... 6. Influencer marketing will be redefined ... marketingtimes.com (site accessed April 2010)
20 million iPads sold by 2012 "Early sales of the iPad might have been decent for Apple, but new forecasts have predicted that the future is even brighter for Apple's new device ..." techradar.com (site accessed Apr 2010)
The awakening - quantum mechanics of the human brain and consciousness " ... I am afraid when the Hadron Collider becomes operational in late 2012 or some other event around that time will occur that will cause us all to see an instantaneous quantum phase shift similar to turning the station on a radio ... When our universe quantum phase shifts, our perception of reality will change as all the matter that comprises our reality begins to vibrate at a different frequency than all matter does right now. When this happens, we cease to exist in this reality and appear in a different reality/universe similar to how the radio station changes when you turn the dial. In this new universe, consciousness exists on a higher level. Who knows what this other universe that exists out there now holds for us trapped in the human cage. We will all find out, dead or alive, but it would be nice to see it from a human point of view. endgametime.wordpress.com (site accessed Mar 2010)
Facebook will be the common denominator in social net by 2012 "By 2012, Facebook will become the hub for social network integration and Web socialization. Through Facebook Connect and other similar mechanisms, Facebook will support and take a leading role in developing the distributed, interoperable social Web. As Facebook continues to grow and outnumber other social networks, this interoperability will become critical to the success and survival of other social networks, communication channels and media sites..." resourceshelf.com (quoting Gartner) (site accessed Jan 2010See also: Facebook 2012: My future vision on Facebook " ... if I mash-up all these trends and forecasts I come to the conclusion that Facebook will have about 500 Million active users by 2012. I also think that over 50% of Facebook’s daily visits in 2012 will come from a mobile phone. This might even be 10% to 15% higher if people get used to “snack” frequently from Facebook from their mobile phones ..." igor beuker, viralblog.com (site accessed June 2009)
Will the internet run out of IP addresses in 2012? ... "Vint Cerf, also known as the father of the Internet, warned that we'd run out of IP addresses by 2010. That didn't happen. Now some pundits are predicting 2012 as the new doom-and-gloom date for the World Wide Web.
No one knows for sure when the original pool of IP addresses will be depleted, but one thing is certain: The continued growth of the Internet and the increasing use of machine-to-machine communications makes it likely -- and soon ..." sci-tech-today.com (site accessed Jan 2010)
Top 10 Reasons why the world won't end in 2012 "In the early days of computers, when hard drives weighed as much as a piece of furniture, a popular phrase was "Garbage-in, Garbage-out" (GIGO). It meant that computers would unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output ... I am listing the 10 most popular 2012 end-of-world scenarios and providing a quickie reference guide to use in politely dismissing any friends, relatives, or in-laws whose brains have turned into a pile of GIGO mush after being suckered by the End of Days hype ..." Ray Villard, discovery.com (site accessed Nov 09)
Web-bot project makes prophecy of 2012 apocalpyse " ... Conspiracy theorists on the web have claimed that the bots accurately predicted the September 11 attacks and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, and that they say a cataclysm of some sort will devastate the planet on 21 December, 2012 ..." telegraph.co.uk (site accessed Sep 09)
Smartphones to take 70% of Europe's mobile market by 2012 " ... Analysts at Gartner, the technology research house, estimate that the expensive phones will make up 70pc of the European market by 2012, despite the recession. “There will really be little alternative but to buy a smartphone,” said Carolina Milanesi, Gartner’s research director for mobile phones.
“Demand for phones like the iPhone and BlackBerry is soaring, and it will continue to rise despite reduced consumer spending – smartphones are a must have.” telegraph.co.uk (site accessed Aug 2009)See also: iPhone will overtake Nokia in 2012 "Generator Research, a small firm focused on digital media and the Internet, has released a new report predicting that the Apple iPhone’s current growth trajectory will enable it to catch and surpass Nokia for the top spot in the global smartphone market within three years. The report sees iPhone growth accelerating due to a combination of the rapid multiplication of apps and the price drop of $99 for the lowest-priced iPhone ..." blogs.zdnet.com (site accessed Jul 2009)
Blu-Ray will be 50% of the market by 2012 "Blu-ray Disc is not being adopted as fast as once expected, but the format’s relatively steady growth remains a huge driver for the home entertainment business ... Futuresource ... downgraded its original expectation of 95 million software units sold this year to 75 million at least partly due to weak software attachment rates to the PlayStation 3 ..." videobusiness.com (site accessed June 2009)See also: Blu-Ray to overtake DVD in 2012 "While Sony’s Blu-ray Disc technology may have gained a major foothold yet, the next-generation home video format will overtake standard DVD in four years. That’s according to numbers released this week by the Entertainment Merchants Association, which expected that Blu-ray will earn $9.5 billion in 2012, out of $25.6 billion in overall home video revenue..." dealerscope.com (site accessed June 2008)
Drought-tolerant gene by 2012 " BASF Plant Science and Monsanto have jointly announced the discovery of a naturally occurring gene that will be used in drought-tolerant corn. They say producers could see products containing the cspB gene as early as 2012 ..." farmindustrynews.com (site accessed June 2009)
Digital info set to grow 5 times by 2012 " ... the digital universe will double in size every 18 months. In 2012, five times as much digital information is expected to be created compared to that in 2008. Over the next four years, the number of information-generation technologies and interactions are expected to increase dramatically ..." economictimes.indiatimes.com (site accessed May 2009)
Linux to outnumber Windows on netbooks by 2012 " ...ABI Research believes that 2012 will see the tipping-point at which netbooks running Linux-based and mobile operating systems outnumber those running Windows XP ... The catalyst for the change in trend is said to be the introduction of ARM processors in netbooks ...ARM processors are not x86 based and therefore will not run Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. However, ...they are able to run Linux, Windows CE and Windows Mobile ..." netbookchoice.com (site accessed Apr 09)See also: Fewer notebooks and more open-source technology - Gartner Highlights Key Predictions for IT Organisations and Users in 2008 and Beyond ... "By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices ... 80 per cent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology ..." gartner.com (site accessed Feb 08)See also: Linux will be on a third of Smartphones by 2012 "By 2012, Linux will be running on nearly 31 percent of all smart devices, thanks to a growth rate faster than Windows Mobile and Symbian, according to predictions from a research firm ..." pcworld.com (site accessed Sep 2007)See also: Linux to appear on 200 million plus mobiles by 2012 " ... Today, just over eight million handsets are making use of a commercial Linux OS, but this will rocket to more than 127 million during the five-year period of growth, with real-time operating system (RTOS) replacements adding another 76 million handsets to this tally, according to figures from ABI Research ..." ITPro (site accessed Apr 2007)
Mobile-Phone Companies Team Up for Standardized Charger by 2012 "Mobile-phone manufacturers and operators including Nokia Oyj and Vodafone Group Plc will develop a standardized handset charger to save money and energy, the GSM Association said. The target date for release is Jan. 1, 2012, the London- based association said today in a statement. Users will no longer need a separate charger for each brand of phone ..." bloomberg.com (site accessed Feb 2009)
Talking cars to be on the road by 2012 "Cars that talk to each other and respond to danger much faster than humans could be on the road as soon as 2012. A team from the University of South Australia has used Dedicated Short Range Communications technology to develop a system that broadcasts information to other cars using a combination of GPS and WiFi ..." newlaunches.com (site accessed Feb 2009) .
IBM to deliver world's first 20 Petaflop Supercomputer by 2012 "IBM will attempt to break its own record in petaflop/s by 2012, when it has promised to deliver a new supercomputer that will work approximately 20 times faster than its Roadrunner system. The 20 petaflops supercomputer, dubbed “Sequioa,” will be housed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, and will be used primarily in simulations of nuclear weapons ..." efluxmedia.com (site accessed Feb 2009)
Toyota to sell tiny US battery car by 2012 " ... Toyota Motor Corp ...plans to sell a tiny, battery-powered car in the U.S. by 2012 that can be recharged at electrical outlets ...The world’s largest seller of hybrids didn’t say how much the model, a modified version of the iQ minicar sold in Japan, may cost ... Bloomberg.com (site accessed Jan 2009)See also: Renault planning to launch electric vehicle by 2012 "Renault has announced that it is currently working on an all-electric city car and hopes to have it to market by the 2012 Olympics ...The new car will be engineered from the ground up and will be Renault's first electric car since its 1992 Zoom concept car ..." leftlanenews.com (site accessed Apr 08)See also: Hyundai to produce fuel cell electric vehicles by 2012 " ... Hyundai plans to expand a demo fleet of FCEV´s to 500 units by 2010, including mid-to-large size SUV´s, then establish a small production system to begin mass production from 2012 ..." worldwide.hyundai-motor.com (site accessed Mar 08) See also this comment
95% of enterprise workers will use Instant Messaging (IM) as primary interface for real-time communications A recent Gartner report ... predicts ... by 2012, more than 30 percent of large organizations will have deployments of social software suites available to all their employees. The first obvious "victim" will likely be traditional e-mail systems ..." internetnews.com (site accessed Dec 2008)
Biometric technology to take off by 2012 "Companies who manufacture biometric security systems are going to make a fortune by 2012 ... Fingerprint recognition is by far the biggest biometric security product, followed by facial recognition. The next biggest is iris recognition. Asia and the Middle East region is the main focus for many of the fledgeling biometric companies ... itexaminer.com (site accessed Dec 2008)
Internet interrupted: why architectural limitations will fracture the Net by 2012 "In 2007, Nemertes Research conducted the first-ever study to independently model Internet and IP infrastructure ...we concluded that if current trends were to continue, demand would outstrip capacity before 2012. ... This year, we revisit our original study, update the data and our model, and extend the study to look beyond physical bandwidth issues to assess the impact of potential logical constraints. Our conclusion? The situation is worse than originally thought! ..." nemertes.com (site accessed Nov 2008)
Global food irradiation market to exceed $2.3 billion by 2012 " ... World food irradiation technology is projected to garner revenues to the tune of US$2.3 billion by 2012, as stated by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. United States remains the single largest market for food irradiation, accounting for an estimated 32% of global demand in 2008. Though approved for selected products in Europe, irradiation technology has not portrayed expected growth. Asia and Latin America are expected to exhibit potential opportunities in future ..." prweb.com (site accessed Oct 08)
5-hour fuel-cell notebook battery by 2012 " .... we still live in a world where the only viable portable fuel cell system is available exclusively to the US Army (unless you can make due with one lowly watt). Panasonic says we have another four years to wait, planning for a 2012 releasing of device powerful enough to run a notebook yet small enough to fit inside a battery compartment ... engadget.com (site accessed Oct 08)
No geomagnetic reversal in 2012 " ... Using the Mayan Prophecy as an excuse to create new and explosive ways in which our planet may be destroyed, 2012 doomsayers use the geomagnetic shift theory as if it is set in stone. Simply because scientists have said that it might happen within the next millennium appears to be proof enough that it will happen in four years time. Alas, although this theory has some scientific backing, there is no way that anyone can predict when geomagnetic reversal might happen to the nearest day or to the nearest million years…" universetoday.com (site accessed Oct 08)
See also: Long term movement of the North Magnetic Pole "The change in velocity of the North Magnetic Pole since the early 1970s has been remarkable – 9 km/yr to 41 km/yr. This is clearly seen in the accompanying plot which shows the average rate of motion between observations as a function of time. The acceleration has also increased from 0.22 km/yr2 to 2.21 km/yr2 ..." gsc.nrcan.gc.ca
See also: Magnetic field reversals gsc.nrcan.gc.ca (site accessed Aug 2007)
Ghanaian scientist predicts end of the world in 2012 " ... Mr. Joris Wattenberg .... explained that as the earth goes round the sun on its orbit to produce day and night, but on that day the earth would no longer spin, which would bring an end to the world. He said all mountains would be flattened and non living and living creatures like human beings would not be spared. “Most human beings would be dead,” he stressed. Asked what would happen after the earthquakes, Wattenberg noted, “The earth simply reverses its spin.” news.myjoyonline.com (site accessed Sep 08)
Internet to double its reach by 2012 " ... "The Anywhere revolution is gathering in steam," Emily Green, president and chief executive of Yankee Group, said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. She noted that it took 10 years for the Internet to reach one billion people. The Internet will double its reach by 2012, she said ... Green compared the widespread popularity of broadband to the different applications of electricity. Electricity went from powering lights to other devices such as coffee makers and razors. The same broad application will happen with broadband, which Green said has even more potential. "In terms of the cultural and social impact, it will dwarf the last couple of revolutions we've seen," she said ... " money.cnn.com (site accessed Sep 08)
WiMAX to cover 1 billion users by 2012 " ... a good proportion of these will be in developing countries ..." theregister.co.uk (site accessed Aug 2008)See also: 133 million WiMAX users by 2012 ""WiMAX is here now and is the catalyst in the global marketplace to grow demand for mobile broadband Internet access," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "This new subscriber and user forecast is a solid proof point of the future growth of the thriving mobile Internet ecosystem and presents reasonable predictions of the positive progress our industry is working to achieve." wimaxforum.org (site accessed April 2008)See also: Mobile WiMAX will connect 8% of the world’s 1.1 billion mobile broadband subscribers by 2012 "accounting for nearly 88 million users worldwide, according to Mobile Broadband Wireless: Path toward 4G. This new report from Parks Associates forecasts 52% of these subscribers will be from Asian countries while North and South America will account for another 28%. hometoys.com (site accessed June 2007)See also: Mobile Broadband users to pass 1bn by 2012 with HSPA accounting for over 70% juniperresearch.com (site accessed Aug 2007)
Lines between human/machine will begin to blur by 2012 "... Justin Rattner , CTO and a senior fellow at Intel, told Computerworld that perhaps as early as 2012 we'll see the lines between human and machine intelligence begin to blur. Nanoscale chips or machines will move through our bodies, fixing deteriorating organs or unclogging arteries. Sensors will float around our internal systems monitoring blood sugar levels and heart rates, and alerting doctors to potential health problems. Virtual worlds will become increasingly realistic, while robots will develop enough intelligence and human-like characteristics that they'll become companions , not merely vacuum cleaners and toys ..." pcworld.com (site accessed July 2008)
Web Bot - What is it? Can it predict stuff? " ...What about 2012 .... and the Web Bots? As I said, I’m not seeing how a computer can figure out what’s going to happen in 2012 simply by visiting websites published by real people. The more data Web Bots get pointing towards 2012 just means more and more people are publishing stuff about 2012 and the end of the world. Remember, the only thing they can crawl is the internet and what you find on the internet was created by real persons, not God. They will surely get a strong correlation between 2012 and the end of the world; there’s ton of websites talking about it ..." dailycommonsense.com (site accessed Jul 2008)
Energy costs for data centers forecast to leap 13-fold by 2012 " Data centers - huge buildings that house the gear that drives the Web - face a "slow-moving crisis" from the massive costs of electricity needed to run and cool them. Today's typical data center is 1,000 times as large and uses 1,000 times more kilowatt-hours than a typical data center in 1972, said Subodh Bapat, vice president of energy efficiency for Sun Microsystems. And it's only going to escalate. He cited research showing the cost of powering data centers worldwide could grow from $18.5 billion in 2005 to $250 billion by 2012 ... origin.mercurynews.com (site accessed June 2008)
Quarter of the planet to be online by 2012 "Researchers are predicting that one quarter of the world's population will be connected to the internet within the next four years. According to the report by Jupiter Research, the total number of people online will climb to 1.8 billion by 2012, encompassing roughly 25 percent of the planet. The company sees the highest growth rates in areas such as China, Russia, India and Brazil. Overall, the number of users online is predicted to grow by 44 percent in the time period between 2007 and 2012. itnews.com.au (site accessed June 2008)
Inflight broadband service revenue to grow to $936 million by 2012 "The in-flight broadband services market is expected to grow to $936 million in 2012, according to recent research by MultiMedia Intelligence (MMI). MMI’s research report anticipates that given a projected 2H 2008 launch of revenue service—initial trials, with full launches ensuing—the in-flight broadband market will debut and generate $6.6 million worldwide in passenger revenues in 2008 ..."
Internet to end in 2012? YouTube video claiming that the internet as we know it will change and possibly end by 2012, if not before, as a system of charging is being mooted. Note that this video is entitled "The End of Sex and Porn", but that is just to get your attention - the message is a serious one. youtube.com/AtheneWins (site accessed June 08)See also: Secret plan to kill Internet by 2012 leaked? "Some question if report that pay-per-view system to be introduced is a hoax, but wider march to regulate the web is documented ..." digitalizedrevolution.wordpress.com (site accessed June 2008)
PS3 to outsell 360 by 2:1 by 2012 " ... Idc Analyst Billly Pidgeon Projected Sales Numbers For The Three Next-Gen Consoles, Through 2012. Pidgeon Suggested That By 2012, The Ps3 Will Lead The Pack, With More Than 107 Million Units Sold Worldwide, While The Wii Will Be Just Behind, At Nearly 107 Million Units... To Some, The Big Shock In Pidgeon’s Report Is That The Xbox 360 Will Have Fallen Far Behind By 2012, With Just Over 40 Million Units Sold ..." consoleupdates.com (site accessed May 08)See also: 100m Wii's sold by 2012 " ... Sakuri at Nomura has no doubts about the long-term popularity of the console. He believes that by 2012 Nintendo could have sold 100m Wii's around the world. "Around 80 per cent of Wii consoles are in family living rooms. The company has managed to embed the system in people's lifestyles."" telegraph.co.uk (site accessed Jan 08)
See also: More PS3s will sell than Xbox and Wii Strategy Analytics forecasts that the PS3 will sell 121.8 million units by 2012, compared with XBox at 59.7 million units and the Nintendo Wii at 23.3 million units. GameDailyBIZ (site accessed Nov 2006)
See also: 35million Wiis in America by 2012 nintendojo.com (site accessed May 2007)
50 million projectors built into phones by 2012 " ... Companies from all over the world have announced plans to enter the miniature display market. With so many different parties willing to make such an investment in the idea of mobile projection, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that the mobile industry will soon see many new devices that enable handsets to externally project images ..." cellular-news.com (site accessed Mar 08)
900 HDTV channels by 2012 " ....Viewers around the world can expect their HDTV broadcast opportunities to grow by about 150 channels a year between 2006 and 2012, says a study from Northern Sky Research (NSR) ..." rapidtvnews.com (site accessed Feb 08)
Social media users to exceed one billion by 2012 "Social Media Applications -- such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr -- will attract over one billion broadband users within five years, according to market research from Strategy Analytics. The study recommends that media companies view social media both as a tremendous opportunity and a competitive threat ..." software.tetraki.com (site accessed Dec 07)See also: Social networking to level off by 2012 "Membership growth in social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook in all regions is expected to peak in 2009 and level off by 2012 ..." pcworld.com (site accessed Oct 07)
Vehicle and people tracking revenues to reach 3.3 billion euros in Western Europe by 2012 " ... wireless connected vehicle tracking solutions will be regularly tracking over 15 million vehicles in Western Europe by 2012 ...The tracking of people through their mobile phones is also set to increase as concerns over personal security outweigh reservations over privacy and as the controlled use of personal location information becomes more accepted. The tracking of staff, particularly vulnerable workers, will be a strong initial driver in the business sector, but personal security applications in the private sector, such as child tracking are also gaining acceptance ..." juniperresearch.com (site accessed Dec 2007)
25% of Entertainment by 2012 Will be Created and Consumed Within Peer Communities " ... 'The trends we are seeing show us that people will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, mash it up and pass it on within their peer groups - a form of collaborative social media,' said Mark Selby, Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia ... Selby continues, "We think it will work something like this; someone shares video footage they shot on their mobile device from a night out with a friend, that friend takes that footage and adds an MP3 file - the soundtrack of the evening - then passes it to another friend. That friend edits the footage by adding some photographs and passes it on to another friend and so on. The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment." money.cnn.com (site accessed Dec 2007)
Nearly 24 million subscribers to use 3G LTE technology for mobile broadband services by 2012 "Juniper Research predicts that subscriber numbers for 3G LTE (Long Term Evolution) will approach 24 million by 2012, just two years after the early versions of the technology are expected to be deployed. The report discusses how LTE is expected to be the long term successor in mobile broadband as it offers a migration path from existing 3G/HSPA technologies already in place ..." juniperresearch.com (site accessed Nov 2007)
Mobile VoIP users to hit 250 million by 2012 "Rapid growth is expected in the sphere of mobile VoIP due to the potential for consumers to save on their bills, according to a new study. Research conducted tech advisory firm Disruptive Analysis suggested that mobile internet technologies such as 3G will be regularly used to carry voice calls within the next five years. In fact, it was predicted that VoIP over 3G will pick up some 250 million users by 2012, despite very few people currently making use of these services ..." telappliant.com (site accessed Nov 2007)
Invisible tank ready for service by 2012 "New technology that can make tanks invisible has been unveiled by Britain's Ministry of Defence. In secret trials last week, the army said it had made a vehicle completely disappear and predicted an invisible tank would be ready for service by 2012. The new technology uses cameras and projectors to beam images of the surrounding landscape onto a tank ..." Dailymail.co.uk (site accessed Nov 2007)
Global Ethernet market will exceed £15bn in 2012 "Ethernet, the networking technology that analysts predicted would die in the 1990s, will be a £15bn market by 2012, according to analysts at Ovum Research. The current 20% annual growth of the technology is driven by expanding telecoms carrier Ethernet offerings, says Ian Redpath, senior analyst and co-author of Ovum's latest forecast analysis ..." ComputerWeekly.com (site accessed Nov 2007)

2012: A Day in the life of John Webber "John Webber is a young, ambitious professional. He has a very intense life with interests spanning work, social and political aspects, many friends spread all over the world and a girlfriend. He is accustomed to using new technologies and web 3.0 services: he sees them as a way to simplify his life and enable the broad, rich set of personal and digital interactions that he requires on daily basis in his life. John works for a multinational enterprise. He uses his mobile appliances (laptop, office PC, smartphone, etc.) in an interchangeable way, to interact with colleagues, send/receive multimedia e-mails and edit reports and critical information for his company...." Marco Casassa Mont, www2.hp.com/blogs (site accessed Oct 2007)

Sex with robots by 2012 "... In 2006, Henrik Christensen, founder of the European Robotics Research Network, predicted that people will be having sex with robots within five years ..." msnbc.msn.com (site accessed Oct 07)
Commercially Available Cellulosic Fuel by 2012 "... Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Energy, John Mizroch:"We‘re doing something very important for the country. We‘re trying to create an industry that doesn‘t exist yet. That is, cellulosic energy biorefineries ... Mizroch outlined his goal to bring commercially available cellulosic ethanol to the market by 2012 ..." hoosieragtoday.com (site accessed Oct 07)
South Korea to develop a jumbo "flying ship" by 2012 "South Korea said today it planned to develop a "flying ship" capable of carrying 100 tons of cargo at a cruising speed of up to 300 kilometres per hour ... The craft will be 77 metres (254 feet) long and 65 metres wide, and is designed to benefit from the powerful natural lift achieved by objects travelling at high speed close to the water surface ..." economictimes.indiatimes.com (site accessed Sept 2007)
Mobile TV Worth $6.6 Billion From 120 Million Viewers By 2012 "There will be nearly 120 million people watching mobile broadcast TV in more than 40 countries by 2012, which will generate $6.6 billion in revenue according to Juniper Research. That’s a significant jump from the 12 million viewers the analysts expect for this year ... " moconews.net (site accessed Sep 2007)
Mobile social media booming by 2012 " ... Globally, end-user generated revenues from social networking, dating and personal content delivery services will increase from $572m in 2007 to more than $5.7bn in 2012, with social networking accounting for 50% of the total by the end of the forecast period ..." juniperresearch.com (site accessed Aug 2007)
My computer in 2012 " ... In 2012, my computer is the size of a credit card. I'll take it with me wherever I go and turn it on either using a scan of my eye or my thumb. It comes with no monitor and no keyboard, but once turned on, it will project a display on a surface, and I can tap and move around objects like an iPhone. I will mostly interact with it via voice, ...." Si Chen, opensourcestrategies.blogspot.com (site accessed Jul 2007)
Google to tell us what we want by 2012 " ...The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as 'What shall I do tomorrow?' And 'What job shall I take?' " latimes.com (site accessed July 2007)
Big jump in touch-screen technology by 2012 " ... Revenue for the eight leading touch-screen technologies overall is expected to rise from $2.4 billion this year to $4.4 billion by 2012, primarily due to increased use in mobile phones, personal digital assistants and game consoles ... " wirelessweek.com (site accessed June 2007)
Online ad spending to double by 2012 "According to a report by JupiterResearch, projections of online ad spending are predicted to nearly double by the year 2012. Total U.S. ad spending is anticipated to grow from $19.9 billion in 2007 to $35.4 billion in 2012. The explosive growth of social networks will provide a valuable space for online advertising by creating an abundant availability of inventory..." adotas.com (site accessed June 2007)
Online gaming to beat $13 billion by 2012 "A new report by analyst firm DFC Intelligence has claimed that the total worldwide market for both online gaming subscriptions and the trade of virtual in-game items will surpass $13 billion by the year 2012..." mcvuk.com (site accessed June 2007)
Global mobile broadcast TV subscribers to exceed 150 million in 2012 "A new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, predicts the number of mobile broadcast TV subscribers to grow from a mere 4.4 million today to an estimated 155.6 million by the end of 2012 ..." domain-b.com (site accessed June 2007)
What TV will look like in 2012 " ... Will the networks always cater to advertisers first? We could go to a pay-per-view paradigm -- I might pay a couple of bucks to download commercial-free episodes of shows I really liked, and I bet plenty of other folks would too ... " film.com (site accessed May 2007)
The Game Industry in 2012 "In an entertaining, insightful and sometimes tongue-in-cheek presentation, GoPets founder and CEO Erik Bethke has looked forward five years. Here are his 20 predictions. They might not all come to pass, but you’ll do well to be prepared…" next-gen.biz (site accessed May 2007)
No landlines by the end of 2012 Landline use is already declining, and with WiFi enabled cellphone services being rolled out, landlines look set to be a thing of the past. Fractals of Change (site accessed May 2007)
Gmail storage to reach 3560 MB by 2012 Webpronews.com (site accessed Mar 2007)
Wi-Fi phones will disappear from the market by 2012 "... according to a report from Juniper Research. The company predicts that the world-wide market for voice-over-Wi-Fi handsets will grow to almost US$70 billion by 2012, but that only two percent of this will be WLAN-only handsets. The vast bulk will be dual-mode handsets, able to operate as both WLAN and cellular phones. "The handset market is moving to a stage where no one wants to carry two or three devices in their pocket, so the ability to have a single device for all calls is a compelling proposition," said Basharat Hamid Ashai, the report's author..." pcworld.com (site accessed Mar 2007)
The world of work in 2012 "... In 2012, the most important part of your cell phone plan will be the price per transferred megabyte, not call minutes. You'll leave your house without a timetable printout, a clear idea of what gift you want to buy for your girlfriend, or even where the shop you want to visit is. You'll read all your email on your cell phone first, and only use a computer when the response needs to be more than a couple of lines ... " Gabor's Blog (site accessed Feb 2007)
Broadband to reach almost half a billion subscribers worldwide by 2012 " ... The latest update to ABI Research's online Broadband Subscribers Database forecasts that the total number of DSL and cable broadband users in the world will grow by an average of 9% annually over the next five years to reach 480 million subscribers by 2012 ... " abiresearch.com (site accessed Feb 2007)
Residential VoIP users to hit 267m by 2012 "Global residential VoIP services will attract 267 million subscribers in 2012, a huge jump from the 38 million users registered last year, new research has predicted...." itnnews.com.au (site accessed Feb 2007)
The wireless world in 2012: An Olympic Dream "You begin the day on your 4G cellphone/PDA by confirming the schedule of events, then activating your electronic tickets so you can use the express line at the security gate. While you've been "on hold" on your phone, waiting for confirmation, you've been on your PC checking the weather (a sunny day, of course) and looking for the least-congested route to Wembley Stadium...." CommsDesign.com (site accessed Jan 2007)
5 Reasons Mac will overtake Windows in the Home by 2012: 1) Overall market share on the rise; 2) iPod V Zune; 3) Windows Vista; 4) Usability; 5) Power of the Bloggers. Converting.com (site accessed Jan 2007)

Organic Electronics Market to reach $19.7 billion by 2012 "....The commercialization of organic electronics is also leading to research into new kinds of materials. For example, solution-processable small molecule materials promise larger and lower cost OLED displays and hybrid organic/inorganic materials will help expand the photovoltaic markets with lower cost solar panels and effective solar chargers for mobile electronics. And, as organic electronics materials begin to be manufactured in commercial quantities, NanoMarkets expects prices to fall dramatically which, in turn, will make it easier for organic electronics to penetrate new markets.." Nanomarkets.net (site accessed December 2006)
iPod will release a new model by 2012 capable of holding a whole year's worth of video contact "Google's Vice President of European Operations, Nikesh Arora, recently spoke at the FT World Communications Conference and told attendees that iPod will have almost unlimited storage potential for music and video in the near future...." webpronews.com (site accessed Dec 2006)
A shockwave of technology change by 2012 "...the convergence of the World Wide Web and the telephone network will create a new animal he calls "the great Internetwork" that will extend far beyond desktop PCs and telephones to reach cars and other mobile platforms .... "Everyone will want to connect to database, like a wildebeest wandering through the Serengeti, where everyone wants to feed on it..." John Gantz, chief research officer of IDC, quoted by CIO India (site accessed Dec 2006)
2012 Advanced User TV Experience "I am in digital-electronics-gadget nirvana. My home sports a fully wireless broadband Internet environment, where content moves freely among the home serve, several multiple high definition screens, the office PC and the mobile devices that I continually upgrade...." Donna Bogatin, zdnet.com (site accessed Dec 2006)
Global vehicle production to reach 78m by 2012 "Automotive research firm CSM Worldwide has looked into its crystal ball and forecast that worldwide vehicle production including cars and trucks will jump to 78 million units for 2012 from the 2005 level of 62 million. The biggest region for growth is China, whose output is expected to increase 106.3% by 2012 with total production close to 10 million cars." Motorauthority.com (site accessed Nov 2006)
See also: Chrysler aims to double international sales by 2012 bbj.hu (site accessed Jan 2007)
"Passive TV viewing is alive and well, niche audiences grow and there’s an enormous opportunity for high-quality personalised and participatory content" - 2012 prediction for TV by Fremantle CEO Tony Cohen. Jemima Kiss, paidContent.org (site accessed November 2006)
High definition DVDs will take until 2012 to comprise more than half of the overall DVD market "The eleventh edition of Kagan's market research report The State of Home Video forecasts, unsurprisingly, that the VHS video format is in its very last days and that while standard-definition DVD discs rule the market in 2006, their share will diminish as high-definition formats like Blu-ray and HD DVD (or a possible hybrid of the two) gain traction and consumer adoption. What might be surprising is how much time (or, depending on your point of view, how little time) Kagan forecasts that high-definition disc formats will only comprise more than 50 percent of the DVD retail sector in the year 2012."
Digitaltrends.com (site accessed October 2006)
Third of cars to get Bluetooth coms by 2012 Electronics Weekly.com (site accessed July 2006)
Starting up in 2012 "08.52 Welcome to the Microsoft Horizon Operating System. Today is July 10th 2012. The temperature outside is 105 degrees Fahrenheit, the windspeed is 40 knots gusting to 80 knots, the air pollution level is extreme and the UV level is dangerous. The Homeland Security Threat Level is red ..." Mark Gibbs, Network World (site accessed July 2006)
US Uranium industry to produce 20 million pounds by 2012 StockInterview.com (site accessed July 2006)
Touchscreen phones could reach 40% of handsets by 2012 "...Strategy Analytics predicts that the touch screen user interface in mobile phones will start to see significant growth by the end of 2007, assuming that the right conditions are present. By 2012, 40% of all phones may incorporate touch screen technology .... (the report) concludes that the mobile phone market is almost ripe for an explosion in touch sensitive user interfaces and, when it comes, it will be capacitive technology that dominates." NE Asia Online (site accessed July 2006)
Internet Protocol (IP) surveillance market to reach $6.48 billion by 2012 "End-users' need for remote accessibility of real-time data will push the world Internet Protocol (IP) surveillance markets from $435.8 million in 2005 to $6.48 billion in 2012, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan's report, 'World Internet Protocol Surveillance Markets.'
'IP surveillance system facilitates remote accessibility of real time data, which is the greatest differentiating factor with respect to conventional systems,' says Frost & Sullivan research analyst Sathya Durga. 'Through this feature any video data which may be live or recorded can be accessed from any location in the world through network systems.'" Industry Week (site accessed July 2006)
India To Have 13 Million Wireless Broadband Subscribers By 2012 “There is huge potential for broadband wireless Internet and voice-over-IP services in India because there are still more than 600,000 villages with no basic communications services..” ContentSutra (site accessed July 2006)
Corporate IT managers have about five years to prepare for a shock wave of technology change "By 2011 or 2012, the trends will become more severe, forcing companies to adapt or disappear...the convergence of the World Wide Web and the telephone network will create a new animal ..."the great Internetwork" that will extend far beyond desktop PCs and telephones to reach cars and other mobile platforms. That will change business forever as it multiplies the number of "customer touch points," counted as Internet commerce transactions." ITWorld.com (site accessed June 2006)
NHS Computer system to link general practitioners (GPs) in England to nearly 300 hospitals by 2012 "It involves an online booking system, a centralised medical records system for 50m patients, e-prescriptions and fast computer network links between NHS organisations ....senior academics question whether the National Programme for IT has been properly designed and rigorously reviewed to meet the needs of 24-hour health care." BBC News (site accessed June 2006)
Key technology predictions 2003-2012 Wireless networks; networked chips; microelectromechanical systems; alternate power sources; pen and paper will join the digital world - predictions by Gartner. Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends (site accessed May 2006)
Subscribers to Mobile WiMAX services will skyrocket over the next several years, growing from 1.7 million in 2007 to 21.3 million in 2012, according to a new study by Juniper Research. The growth will follow the initial release of certified WiMAX equipment planned for early 2007. EETimes.UK (site accessed May 2006) Article no longer accessible
See also: 67 million WiMAX subscribers by 2012. newswireless.net (site accessed Feb 2006).
Worldwide homecare systems expected to reach $1.2 billion by 2012 "The homecare market is changing. New services needed in the home include intravenous (IV) therapy, pain control, and basic needs services delivery. Delivery of new services depends on systems integration." Genetic Engineering News (site accessed May 2006)
The Web will be out of IPv4 addresses by 2012 "By 2012 about 17 billion devices will connect to the Internet, estimates Research firm IDC Corp. Frost & Sullivan's principal analyst for carrier infrastructure Sam Masud agrees. '2012, that's when we estimate the world will be out of IPv4 addresses,' he said. 'Between 15 and 20 years isn't exaggerating.' InformatioWeek.com (site accessed May 2006)

Toyota aims to produce one million hybrid vehicles by 2012 "Toyota plans to introduce energy-efficient hybrid technology across its entire lineup and target global sales of one million hybrid vehicles by 2012" The Economic Times (site accessed April 2006)
Article no longer accessible
Cellular News One Billion High Speed Data Users By 2012
"In a new report published this week, mobile industry body The UMTS Forum forecasts that there will be almost one billion active users of High Speed
Packet Access (HSPA) networks by 2012. The new study also anticipates that HSPA will significantly stimulate data ARPUs, generating US$66 billion in
annual revenues for mobile operators by 2012. In addition, the report forecasts
that total 3G mobile data revenues will increase from US$20 billion in 2006 to
over US$140 billion annually in 2012." (site accessed Feb 2006)

Telecompaper Mobile phones will be able to achieve 100 Mbps communication by 2012. The fastest handsets now achieve 3Mbps (site accessed Feb 2006)

Transgenically Produced Biopharmaceuticals Could Soar to $12 Billion by 2012
"With the possibility of the world’s first transgenic plant-produced biopharmaceutical being approved for use this year, worldwide attention is focusing on the futuristic breakthroughs that could dramatically alter the biopharm manufacturing landscape and drive sales past the $12 billion mark by 2012, according to a new study from market research firm Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, a leading provider of industry-specific market research reports." PR Leap (site accessed Feb 2006)