Top Tech Trends of 2009

As 2009 passes by, the talk of what was hot and what was not becomes omnipresent. Ushering into the new year, we look forward to new possibilities in the world of technology. The world markets start bouncing back following a huge meltdown.


Optimism is the need of the hour.

The outlook is positive.

Bidding adieu to a remarkable year, "The Tech Rendezvous" presents "Top Tech Trends of 2009" listed without any distinct order :

1. Social Networking touches new heights:

The pool of Facebook users has more than doubled in less than a year; from 150 million worldwide users in January 2009 to an astonishing 350 million people before the end of the year. Twitter's growth continues to explode with a jaw-dropping 1,382 percent year-on-year growth according to Nielsen Online.

2. Rise of the Smartphone:

Phones with basic features like making calls, sending and receiving SMS are already passé. Smartphones with built-in multimedia, social-networking, connectivity-suites and computing capabilities are the in-things. People no longer use phones for regular call- making activity, rather phones are being conceived as the new gizmos with many-in-one features. iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm & Android devices are competing harsh, eying the lucrative smartphone market.

3. Netbooks:

Netbooks are the poised for growth simply because of their minimalist style, ultraportability & light weight (light on your pocket as well). In 2009, this computing segment evolved rapidly. This is evident as many OS manufacturers are rolling out netbook-dedicated versions of operating-systems. This single-handedly speaks volumes about the importance of netbooks in the computing market.

4. Books go virtual:

Knowledge is must but carrying books around is a chore! The answer is eBooks. Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook and Sony Reader are already making news in the market. Amazon's Kindle created history when eBooks outsold real books on Amazon.

5. Search Engine Warfare :

The big business of search is attracting big bucks of investments. Microsoft has rolled out Bing in order to strengthen its presence in the Google-dominated field of web-based search. Yahoo is also betting big and trying to make its presence felt in a stronger manner, specifically in the Third World.

6. Operating Systems :

The year saw multiple OS releases including Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Canonical Ltd. released Ubuntu 9.10, nicknamed Karmic Koala, a popular free Linux distribution.

7. Android

Google's open-source mobile operating system created quite a buzz around the year. It is being used for mobile phones, tablet PCs and eBook readers. Some popular names include Motorola's Droid, HTC's Nexus One and Barnes & Nobles Nook.

8. Web-Oriented Architecture:

Web holds a huge potential. In the turbulent times, the need for cost-effective yet innovative ideas is highly felt. Web-oriented architecture can deliver on that front. Cloud-computing is a buzz word.

9. Apps All Around :

The year has seen an exponential growth towards the supportive applications. iPhone would have not come so far without the hard-work of developers creating interesting apps for the mobile-phone. Google's Android being an open-source OS, has a great possibility of having coolest-of-the-cool apps.

10. Phone OS:

First iPhone and now Android. The magic has just begun. It has a lot to offer. The action is in place. The competition will eventually benefit the consumer.