"That's not to say that the path ahead is easy," adds Editor Patrick Goss. "Expect to see plenty of people publicly question if a tech that has been considered a gimmick since it hit cinemas more than 20 years ago has any real place in today's cinemas and living rooms."
Nick agrees. "Will people go for it? That's always been the question about 3D, and asking people to upgrade their shiny new HDTVs in the middle of a recession is a bit much.
"But people will wear the silly glasses if the payoff is worth it and that means finding the TV programming and movies that deliver 3D as a benefit rather than a gimmick. Do I want to watch EastEnders in 3D? Not really. But I might want to yell at the ref for missing an offside in the football."
YouTube screens feature movies
Also of recent interest has been YouTube's focus on feature-length content. "I predict that, when it comes to screening movies, YouTube will really shine in 2009," says News Writer Marc Chacksfield. "Slowly but surely the website has added various features in 2008 to make feature-length viewing possible - such as the Lights Out application and Cinema View."
"There's been a plethora of illegitimate streaming movie sites pop up in 2008, which points to a move away from peer-to-peer for online pirates. If YouTube starts legitimately screening decent movies on its pages - and with the site now embracing HD, image quality shouldn't be a problem - then YouTube will not just be a go-to place for short-form entertainment but feature films too. Forget direct-to-DVD, direct-to-YouTube is the future."
And finally several wholly likely prediction from our Senior Database Coordinator Shonette Laffy: "Google Mail will still be in beta, Pioneer will make a plasma TV so good you can actually immerse yourself in the action of your favourite films and Kerry Katona will become the new face for Windows in their adverts. Finally, Apple will make something that looks nice but doesn't work with anything else you have in your house."
The latter, at least, is wholly likely.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now read 2008 tech predictions revisited: how did we do?
Sign up for the free weekly TechRadar newsletter
Get tech news delivered straight to your inbox. Register for the free TechRadar newsletter and stay on top of the week's biggest stories and product releases. Sign up at http://www.techradar.com/register
