As is a well founded tradition on this website, we review the predictions that were and make some new ones for the coming year.

As ever, let’s start with the specifics:

• The iPhone 7s / 8 will be announced on the 6th of September and will be available in stores on the 15th or the 22nd.
• The Apple world wide developers conference will be the week of 5th or the 12th of June and will include iOS 11, the next macOS, tvOS and watchOS.
• We we will have a new size in the iPad line up and the readjustment in the line up that was expected in 2016 will turn up this year.

For more specifics from Apple, I won’t want to delve too deeply at this stage, but I have a feeling that we will see there be a new design for the Apple Watch and the the iPhone specifically. Also, I think this year may well mark the end of the Mac Pro line. We’ll see an updated internal hardware model released, but that will be the end of the line for the powerhouse and the iMac taking it’s place.

As for the rest of the technology world, what can we look forward to?

Well, Microsoft may actually get round to making Hololens a reality for the commercial market but what is more likely that their technology gets used by other companies to create their own versions and they will be cheaper and more wide spread.

Samsung will hope for a better year with the release of their new S8 generation of handsets. Ones that this time they will have check their batteries to ensure they don’t, ya know, explode and cause a massive re-call.

Sony and Microsoft will continue to take shots at each other with game releases, but 2017 with be Microsoft’s year to impress with their PlayStation 4 Pro equivalent. Could we also see hololens / VR support for that console? I think it’s a safe bet.

In other gaming news, Half Life 3 will not be released.

As ever though, I look for a trend something that will be the prevailing wind of change through the year. For the most part I think this will be a big year for the start-up, especially in the ‘fin-tech’ (Financial Technologies) market. Apps / companies like Monzo and MoneyBox will be the the kind of driver that the big banks will need to face up to.

The other big shift will be in cars. The automotive sector is rife with disruption and the push towards batteries will continue and I think this year will see the first talk of the 500 mile range battery as we also see more autonomous driving hit the market from the likes of Audi, Volvo and Mercedes in response to Tesla.

As for the rest of 2017, your guess is as good as mine. 2016 was a year of unexpected change and events, from Brexit to Trump. 2017 is the first year of consequence. Those shifts are going to effect all strata of life  and seeing how that will change the technological landscape will be fascinating.