Apple

We’re fairly sure the world’s second most valuable company has a few tricks up it’s sleeve for 2012, as it always has.  Expect to see a 3rd iteration of its iPad, with a crazy high resolution screen, maybe even 2 versions, one being smaller in size.  This will be the year of the iPhone 5, which is almost guaranteed to be different in design to the iPhone 4 models, and will most likely have an NFP chip to let you buy stuff without your purse or wallet.  One final questions remains, is an Apple television on the cards?

RIM

Things aren’t looking too rosy for Research in Motion, the maker of Blackberry, with sliding sales both for their phones and playbook tablets.  Although it is worth pointing out that they’re still popular amongst teenagers, as we’ve been informed by our college clients.  We won’t be too shocked if they’re split into hardware and software divisions, then sold off (most likely primarily for the patents they hold).

Google

Google has recently bought out the hardware arm of Motorla, so expect to see a more integrated approach when it comes to the latest Motorola Android devices.  Also, keep an eye on how your search results are being affected by Google’s social media platform Google plus.   If you’re logged in, and carry out a search, there’s a high chance that what your circles have been searching for and viewing will skew your search results.

Microsoft

Microsoft should make some inroads with it’s funky mobile os offering, and is likely to announce the next version of it’s Xbox gaming hardware, probably launching early 2013.  We’re expecting to see Windows 8 officially released towards the end of the year too.

Nokia

This will be the year that Nokia either wins back the hearts of the masses with its new Lumia handset using Windows mobile, or slides even further behind the competition.  Its new handsets aren’t bad, but they’re probably too little, too late.

Facebook

Expect to see Facebook’s new “timeline” profile structure become the norm this year.  Also, we shouldn’t be too surprised if they make changes to the way pages work, allowing companies to do more to market their brand within the Facebook domain.  Lastly, Facebook is almost certain to go public, with analysts expecting it to raise $10 billion, valuing the company at a whopping $100 billion.

That’s about it for now folks!  Check our blog throughout the year for updates, or at the end of the year to see how our predictions have turned out.  Saying that, we may not be around that long, if the Mayan’s “end of the world” prediction is anything to go by…