Predict the next century and you can fantasize; predict the coming decade and you can wax enthusiastic. But if you’re looking at just the next 12 months, you’d better keep your feet on the ground. That’s what we’ve done in this year’s tech survey: In choosing our subjects, we considered mainly the likelihood of their figuring prominently in the coming year’s tech headlines, not whether we thought—or hoped—the technologies themselves would succeed.
A case in point is extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography: It has been promoted for more than 15 years as the best way to sustain Moore’s Law, and this is the year it’s expected to reach the make-or-break point. We can’t tell you whether it will win or lose, but in either case, the result will be big news in Silicon Valley—and beyond.
This year, the Ekso Bionics exoskeleton for paraplegics hits the market
By Eliza Strickland
In 2012, 3-D chips will help extend Moore’s Law—and move beyond it
By Rachel Courtland
Full battery-electric and hybrid-electric plug-in vehicles will start hitting the streets in significant numbers later this year
By David Schneider
The 2012 release of Windows 8 will show whether Microsoft can surf the tablet tidal waves
By Steven Cherry
In 2012, there will finally be a first-rate LED bulb you can afford
By Richard Stevenson
In 2012, electrodes will bring eyesight to the blind
By Eliza Strickland
In 2012, a new exoplanet hunter will look for worlds like our own
By Rachel Courtland
2012 could mark the arrival of utility-scale battery storage
By Jean Kumagai
2012 will be the make-or-break year for extreme ultraviolet lithography
By Katie M. Palmer
Hundreds of telecoms will invest in 4G LTE networks in 2012
By Marisa Plumb
This year, commercial spaceflight will really take off
By James Oberg
2012 will test the feasibility of EV charging stations
By Lawrence Ulrich
In 2012, China’s chips will power the Dawning 6000
By Joseph Calamia
In 2012, 3-D printing technology will go from prototyping to production
By Paul Wallich