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Gone are the days when an average Joe's digital footprint amounted to just a few megabytes. With ever-growing digital photos, song and movie collections, an 80 GB hard disk doesn't take long to fill these days! But take heart - look out for cheaper, faster and much larger storage devices in this coming year.

Stunning advances in magnetic and solid state technology have resulted in affordable 500 GB hard disks and 8 GB pen drives. Also, keep your eyes peeled for 'hybrid' hard disks that will enhance your computing experience with instant start-up computers, and blazing quick programme response.

Powerful processing for everyone

Here's a field that continues to outpace itself -- today's computer processors are more capable than ever before. With technologies such as multi-core architecture (which bolts two, or even four processors onto a single chip), you can actually play your favourite 3D game, burn an MP3 disc, and run your virus scanning software simultaneously, and never know the difference!

Look out for laptops and desktop computers running the new generation quad core processors from Intel and AMD. Just for fun, here are a few cool-sounding jargon missiles for you to throw at those computer sales people: Intel’s 45nm Penryn processor and AMD's Phenom X4 processor - watch out for these processing powerhouses this year.

Visual experience

We live in an age that is defined by a torrent of visual stimuli all around us. Faster graphics cards, processors and Internet connections now deliver ultra-realistic games, high-definition video, and even video-streaming on the Internet. The core device driving this phenomenon is the graphics chip. 2008 will see a drop in prices of a slew of graphic cards like the Nvidia 8800 GTX and the Radeon HD 3870, which promise to elevate your gaming and movie experience to dizzying levels of realism.

This year, also look out for other affordable deals on DirectX 10-based graphics cards - you’ll find especially good ones immediately preceding a new product launch! …and a pipe to fill it all: Broadband Internet access is the ‘One Ring’ that will bind these trends together.

Expect true broadband Internet access to become more affordable than ever. At the same time, keep your eyes peeled for broadband service providers that are out to take a buck at your expense. Make sure you are clear whether the promised speed is dedicated, or subject to demand from other users. Also, make sure that usage isn’t limited by a data cap that could get hit quickly with all that available bandwidth!

The year for game sequels?

In many ways, 2008 is set to be the year of sequels and add-ons in the world of video games. Most of the games are likely to be iterations of popular titles. Metal Gear Solid 4 is gearing up to become the new benchmark in PlayStation 3 games, while Grand Theft Auto 4 is already being touted as the likely ‘game of the year’ for Earth’s next trip around the Sun.

The most widely-anticipated titles are the sequels: Devil May Cry 4, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, and Sam Fisher’s next adventure in Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Indeed, the only fresh title that has gamers drooling is Spore, designed by Will Wright - the man who gave us SimCity and The Sims. Sports lovers should forget cricket and football for a while, and watch out for Top Spin 3; if the previews are anything to go by, this one is going to revolutionise tennis video games.

Games go cheaper


The next year is also bound to focus on gaming hardware. Hopefully, the Nintendo Wii should finally hit our Indian shores, while the PS3 is set to make some moves again with the return of vibration feedback in the DualShock 3 controller.

For an Indian gamer, 2008 could well be the time when games finally become affordable. Developers are cutting back prices to force a little growth in the market, while other players are jumping in to offer rental services. With the cost of a console today being the same as buying 10 games for it, gamers will heave a sigh of relief as they get the cheaper option of simply renting a game. Granted, it still isn’t going to be dirt cheap, but baby steps, folks, baby steps.