The world tech companies will operate in will be pretty awful, but no one knows just how bad things will get: The global nature of the recession – and the dollars, euros and yuan governments are pumping into their local markets – simply is without precedent.

And it isn’t like Internet or even computing companies have a lot of experience with these sort of things: Economists argue that the world hasn’t seen a financial crisis this severe since the Great Depression, and back then, the only “tech” companies were making tabulating machines or selling phone lines.

Of course, every company that hopes to survive the current meltdown has to make some forecasts about the future.

We’ve asked various tech veterans to tell us what to expect in 2009. Not surprisingly, almost everyone believes big-ticket luxury items will suffer, especially in the consumer electronics space. The exception will be so-called “smartphones,” those high-end wireless devices such as Apple’s (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone and RIM’s (RIMM) line of Blackberry products.

Many consumers in 2009 will upgrade from plain-old cell phones to gadgets that do e-mail and offer Web access, and they’ll increasingly buy special services or software especially designed for the mobile Web (think of the cool games and applications available on the iPhone App Store).

Beyond smartphones, the big sellers in tech will be products and services that help companies and consumers save money or work more efficiently. “Short term,” said Shane Robison, chief strategy and technology officer of Hewlett-Packard. “Everybody is focused on how do I get the most bang for my buck.”

With businesses and consumers adopting more cheapskate ways, here are four tech trends to count on in the new year.

Spiraling netbooks

The computer industry now ships more portable computers such as laptops than desktops, and an increasingly important part of the mix will be mini-notebook computers, known as netbooks. Industry sources say computer makers will sell more than 11 million netbooks worldwide in 2008, up from just around a million in 2007, and netbook sales could easily double in the new year.

The appeal of these stripped-down portables (no DVD drive, a lot less processing power) clearly is their equally stripped-down price. Market leaders ASUS and Acer, both based in Taiwan, offer sub-$300 netbooks, and U.S. manufacturers Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) and HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) have netbook offerings of their own.

The affordability of netbooks makes them an ideal solution in emerging markets, but analysts think the minis will also appeal to cost-conscious consumers in the United States.

Netbooks “are something to watch in a downturn,” said Phil Asmundson, national managing partner of Deloitte’s technology, media and telecom practice. “A lot of functionality of a computer goes unused, and netbooks are a good alternative.”

Hey, you, get onto my cloud

Evangelists such as Salesforce.com (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff have been predicting for years a revolution in so-called cloud services and computing, in which software and other applications are delivered to end-users over networks, or “the cloud.” This may be the year Benioff and the cloud crowd are proven right.

Corporate cloud computing is getting a big boost from consumers who already get a fair number of services via the Net. Photo-sharing sites are great examples of cloud services, as is just about any service that lets consumers store data or information anywhere but their computer or mobile phone. “In the consumer space it isn’t hype,” said HP’s Robison. “It’s actually quite far along.”

Remember how consumers’ adoption of Wi-Fi forced companies to figure out ways to let workers connect to their corporate networks wirelessly? Workers who use lots of cloud services in their personal lives, too, are going to start wondering why software and other applications have to be tied to a specific device, or housed on a database at the company.

The terrible economy will also help. Software-as-a-service companies have long promoted themselves as more capital-efficient alternatives to installed software solutions. Instead of financing a big software purchase and installation, companies can “pay as they go” under the cloud services model.

“The capital crunch of 2009 will put a spotlight on the advantages of cloud computing: less risk, no capital expenditure, predictable operating expenses and fast results,” predicted Salesforce’s Benioff. “I believe that will translate into greater adoption for both cloud computing applications and platforms.”

Virtualization becomes reality

Like cloud computing, “virtualization” helps companies reduce the cost of operating machines such as servers. The technology basically allows a single piece of hardware to run systems or applications that previously had run on multiple machines – essentially allowing companies to squeeze more out of existing hardware and even defer new purchases.

Virtualization has only been around in earnest for about three years, says Dell senior vice president Paul Bell, but he thinks corporate customers are starting to embrace it. (Dell is in the process of virtualizing 9,000 of its own corporate servers, an undertaking that Bell estimates is one of the 10 largest virtualization projects going right now.)

Virtualization also benefits from corporations’ efforts to be more environmentally friendly. Neither companies nor environmentalists are thrilled with the energy consumed by server farms, those sometimes sprawling data centers that house thousands of humming computers. By reducing the need to additional servers, corporations save money and gain some “green” cred, too.

Girls (and guys) just wanna have fun

Yes, the economy is terrible and money is tight, but consumers will spend in 2009 on a few fun games and gadgets, says Kumu Puri, a senior executive with Accenture’s electronics and high-tech practice. New gaming systems such as Nintendo’s Wii have invigorated the console space, but Puri thinks handheld gaming systems like Nintendo’s DS will also do well in the new year.

And no matter how bad things get out there, American consumers are unlikely to part with their broadband connections, an Accenture study found. Indeed, they are more likely to get rid of cable television channels (once considered practically a utility) or their mobile phones than their high-speed Internet connections. “It is absolutely recession-proof,” she said.

source : cnn.com

Google Inc. is shifting its Web browser out of test mode just 100 days after its debut, an unusually quick transition for a company known for keeping the “beta” tag on some products for years.

Thursday’s removal of the test label from Google’s browser, called Chrome, underscores its importance to the Internet search leader.

Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) is trying to lure Web surfers away from the leading browsers, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Fortune 500)’s Internet Explorer and the Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox.

In the process, Google hopes Chrome makes it easier to gather insights about users’ preferences and extends the popularity of its online applications, which are supposed to run more smoothly and quickly in Chrome.

Since its Sept. 2 introduction, Chrome has attracted more than 10 million active users around the world, according to a Google blog posting that announced the browser’s upgrade.

Chrome still has a long way to catch up to Internet Explorer, which has about 70% of the market, depending on the differing estimates from various market researchers. Firefox held about 20%, while Apple Inc.’s Safari was third with less than 10%. Chrome has less than 1%.

Google said it decided to take Chrome out of beta because of improvements to the browser’s stability and security. Among other things, Chrome now does a better job of playing video and audio than it was first introduced, loads pages even more quickly and offers more controls over bookmarks and privacy, according to Google.

The updates will automatically be made for people already using Chrome.

Other more popular Google products haven’t shed the beta tag as quickly. The Mountain View-based company’s news section stayed in beta for more than three years after its 2002 debut and its free e-mail service remains in beta more than 41/2 years after it hit the market.

Sources : CNNMoney

Lexus GX 460

The report against the common Lexus GX 460 consists of been published in Consumer Reports magazine. The engineers of the magazine who tested the car found it to be skid prone and subsequently marked it unsafe for driving. Toyota is busy fixing the recalled vehicles that enclose brake and accelerator like hassles. The new condition is something they would alike to set up because soon as likely. In the previous three months, about 50 models of the Lexus GX 460 include been sold in the USA. On the other hand, no instances of accidents owing to skidding contain been reported so far.

Toyota carries been trying to assure the clients just about the protection level by saying that the issue would be tested and corrected if the common Lexus GX 460 is found to be risky. In Canada, the owners of the usual will be given a temporary vehicle by Toyota. The Lexus brand of Toyota is loved by the SUV fans and luxury car addicts.

Sumber: blog.taragana.com

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