Inbox:It's the end of another year in the gadget world but there is no sign that the pace of innovation is slowing up. The world of technophilia is seeing to it that gadgets become smaller, faster, lighter and generally better designed every day. So what are the broad trends we can expect in the next year? Mike Butcherinvestigates.
Starting off with mobile, it's quite clear that these are poised to become the all-singing and dancing devices they are threatening to be.
If you had told someone 10 years ago that you would be able to listen to the radio, find yourself on a map, watch a TV show and surf the internet from your mobile they may have had you certified. Today all of this is possible and is poised to become easier still.
The launch of the iPhone in Europe (alas, not yet here, but no doubt soon) has fired the starting gun on a new interface to mobile applications and especially the web. So expect to see lots more handset makers - Nokia will be among the first - to come out with big- screened mobiles which make both the production and consumption of mobile content much easier.
As for media players like the iPod, it's entirely plausible that mobile phones will replace audio and video players next year as the technology and battery life improves, and as people realise the convenience of switching to the one device.
It goes without saying that mobiles can now take pictures as well as some cameras and this technological development is only going to improve. What won't happen is the mobile phone overtaking the capabilities of a good digital camera.
The simple reason is thus: the lens which crucially captures the light cannot get much bigger on a mobile phone, but with a camera, there is no such limit; the humble camera is here to stay.
On that note, digital cameras have come on in leaps and bounds over the last year. There are now digital cameras appearing with lenses capable of the equivalent of 19mm focal length, all the way up to 504mm, a range unheard of a few years ago.
But the real innovation is going to be in the software that improves picture quality, so don't have your head turned by the slew of adverts for "X megapixel cameras", but inquire instead about light sensitivity (so-called ISO or ASA ratings).
To display those pictures you'll probably be thinking of a digital picture frame, which will get bigger and cheaper as more of us buy them.
In the TV world, high definition sets are coming down in price and next year will be within reach of the average household. But even though you might not like the jumble of set-top boxes underneath and prefer a fully-integrated set with digital tuner combined, to really future-proof your house it's smarter to get the best screen you can afford and let the TV providers fight among themselves over what box you should plug into it.
Broadband is going to create a much more "wired home" generally. Already high street stores are selling storage hard drives which run into hundreds of gigabytes, as the average household now realises that it needs to store all the audio and video it is producing from mobiles, cameras and PVRs.
Expect the "home server" to become a favourite phrase of gadget obsessives.
The list of innovations goes on, but as far as I can tell, teleporting Star Trek-style is not on the agenda for next year.
Yet.
