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3D TV, tablets top the charts


Johannesburg, 11 Oct 2010

Media tablets, 3D flat-panel TVs and private cloud computing are at the peak of the technology hype cycle, according to Gartner.

The research firm's Emerging Technologies Hype Cycle is a commentary on the common pattern of human response to technology, says the company.

The Hype Cycle characterises the typical progression of an emerging technology, from over-enthusiasm through a period of disillusionment, to an eventual understanding of the technology's relevance and role in a market or domain, adds Gartner.

It provides “a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that IT managers should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios”.

Chart toppers

Gartner says it examined the maturity of 1 800 technologies and trends in 75 technology, topic and industry areas. Each of the 75 individual Hype Cycle reports provides a snapshot of a key area of IT or business.

“Senior executives, CIOs, strategists, business developers and technology planners should consider these technologies when developing emerging business and technology portfolios.”

Gartner VP Jackie Fenn says the Hype Cycle features technologies that are the focus of attention in the IT industry because of particularly high levels of hype, or those that may not be broadly acknowledged but which Gartner believes have the potential for significant impact.

"High-impact technologies at the Peak of Inflated Expectations during 2010 include private cloud computing, augmented reality, media tablets (such as the iPad), wireless power, 3D flat-panel TVs and displays, and activity streams, while cloud computing and cloud/Web platforms have tipped over the peak and will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users," she adds.

Gartner also says in the longer term, 3D printing, context delivery architectures, mobile robots, autonomous vehicles, terahertz waves and human augmentation will be transformational across a range of industries.

4G future

Key themes emerging from this year's Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies include user experience and interaction, where new styles of user interaction will drive new usage patterns, giving organisations opportunities to innovate how information and transactions are delivered to customers and employees.

It also includes augmented reality, context and the real-world Web. “The migration of the Web phenomenon - and technology in general - beyond the desktop and into the context of people's everyday lives is creating new opportunities for personalised and contextually aware information access,” explains Gartner.

“Other elements, such as 4G standard, sensor networks and context delivery architecture, are evolving more slowly, but will play a key role in expanding the impact of IT in the physical world.”

Data-driven decisions and cloud-computing implications are also key themes in the cycle.

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