15 Hot New Technologies That Will Change Everything

By Christopher Null, PCWorld

• Oct 28, 2008 5:00 PM
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Illustration: Randy Lyhus

The Next Big thing? The memristor, a microscopic component that can "remember" electrical states even when turned off. It's expected to be far cheaper and faster than flash storage. A theoretical concept since 1971, it has now been built in labs and is already starting to revolutionize everything we know about computing, possibly making flash memory, RAM, and even hard drives obsolete within a decade. The memristor is just one of the incredible technological advances sending shock waves through the world of computing. Other innovations in the works are more down-to-earth, but they also carry watershed significance. From the technologies that finally make paperless offices a reality to those that deliver wireless power, these advances should make your humble PC a far different beast come the turn of the decade.

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In the following sections, we outline the basics of 15 upcoming technologies, with predictions on what may come of them. Some are breathing down our necks; some advances are still just out of reach. And all have to be reckoned with.

• Memristor: A Groundbreaking New Circuit
• 32-Core CPUs From Intel and AMD
• Nehalem and Swift Chips Spell the End of Stand-Alone Graphics Boards
• USB 3.0 Speeds Up Performance on External Devices
• Wireless Power Transmission
• 64-Bit Computing Allows for More RAM
• Windows 7: It's Inevitable
• Google's Desktop OS
• Gesture-Based Remote Control
• Radical Simplification Hits the TV Business
• Curtains for DRM
• Use Any Phone on Any Wireless Network
• Your Fingers Do Even More Walking
• Cell Phones Are the New Paper
• Where You At? Ask Your Phone, Not Your Friend
• 25 Years of Predictions