Predictions for 2013

The beginning of a new year is full of hope and sometimes dread. A search for 2013 predictions brought some interesting prophecies to light.

• The Daily Beast predicts, among other things, that Apple will finally introduce AppleTV, or iTV. The Beast said the probability is high that consumers are "ready and willing to cut the cord for good, will leave their cable companies in droves and fall into the open arms of Apple."
• The Daily Beast goes on to predict the fall of Facebook. "Facebook will change something major in its privacy code, led by the introduction of an all-new service that relies on such information, and millions will delete their profiles for good. Its stock price will take a hit, which will in turn trigger a round of serious debate about Zuck’s future at the helm of the company."
• Tired of paying for all those premium cable channels you don't really want? The Beast predicts HBO GO will be first to take the leap toward à la carte cable. "Showtime, AMC, and ESPN will follow, and consumers will applaud the first real step at premium cable companies going à la carte, meaning you pick and choose which channels you pay for across all your devices. Cable companies will panic, and quickly introduce apps on set-top boxes to retain cord-cutters, with hope of appealing to their customers’ desire for an easy way to get bundled, curated content, no matter what device they’re on."
• Bloomberg.com report predicts health insurance premiums will go up, especially for young people. "The Washington Post’s recent report that “Obamacare exchanges will open for business” on Oct. 1 will be proved false when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius admits the federal government won’t be ready by then. The Obama administration will propose further delaying the law. Democratic hopes that it will one day prove popular will continue to be frustrated."
• Bloomberg also forecasts that the "controversy over contraceptives and Catholic institutions isn’t going away because of the election, either. Most federal courts will rule that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act means that employers with religious objections to covering contraceptives and abortion drugs -- even employers who aren’t running religious organizations -- can’t be forced to do it."
• As for same-sex marriage, Bloomberg anticipates the Supreme Court won’t decide that the Constitution requires state governments to recognize same-sex marriage. "It won’t rule out the possibility that it includes that requirement, either. Instead, it will find a way not to settle that issue."
• Tax reform is just a bunch of talk, according to Bloomberg predictions. "Congress will look at the biggest breaks in the tax code and realize that they don’t actually want to get rid of any of them. There will also be no corporate-tax reform, because small business and big business don’t see eye to eye on it. There will be another debt- limit fight, which will cause another credit downgrade that will again have no detectable influence on the markets in labor, stocks or credit."
• In the world theater, Bloomberg expects "the Syrian regime will fall, and hopes for a liberal future in that country will fade just as quickly as they are fading in Egypt. Japan and South Korea will adopt increasingly independent, and militaristic, foreign policies in their region."
• The Futurist predicts the 2013 economy will become increasingly jobless. "Many recently lost jobs may never come back. Rather than worry about unemployment, however, tomorrow’s workers will focus on developing a variety of skills that could keep them working productively and continuously, whether they have jobs or not. It’ll be about finding out what other people need done, and doing it, suggests financial advisor James H. Lee. “Hard at Work in the Jobless Future,” Mar-Apr 2012, pp. 32-33."
• Tired of guessing what's wrong - the flu or a cold? The Futurist predicts the introduction of a "handheld breathalyzer called The Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer under development at Stony Brook University. It would use sensor chips coated with nanowires to detect chemical compounds that may indicate the presence of diseases or infectious microbes. In the future, a handheld device could let you detect a range of risks, from lung cancer to anthrax exposure. Tomorrow in Brief, Sep-Oct 2012, p. 2
• The days when a simple password protected laptops and cellphones are numbered according to  ITBusiness Edge.comThe password-only security model is dead. Easily downloadable tools today can crack a simple four- or five-character password in only a few minutes. Using new cloud-based password cracking tools, attackers can attempt 300 million passwords in only 20 minutes at a cost of less than $20 USD. Criminals can now easily compromise even a strong alpha-numeric password with special characters during a typical lunch hour. Stored credentials encrypted in databases (often breached through Web portals and SQL injection), along with wireless security (WPA2) will be popular cracking targets using such cloud services."
• Forbes.com had some bold predictions about the 2013 economy. It expects GDP growth to be 3 percent, slightly higher than 2.3 percent forecasts. Additionally, "inflation picks up slightly, but still winds up at 2.2%. Unemployment finishes the year at 7.4%, again better than forecasts but not quite as low as the better-than-expected growth will indicate. Construction employment finally picks up in select regions, but people begin to return to the labor force as the economic outlook brightens.
• Oil prices ended 2012 with West Texas Intermediate at $91/barrel and Brent North Sea at $111. Forbes.com predicts that "by the end of 2013, the gap will have shrunk, but after much volatility, little will have changed. Prices will fall below $100 by mid-year but end the year around the century mark."
• Netflix and Pandora will be acquired, according to Forbes.com. "In both cases, the likely buyer is Apple, which breaks precedent of never doing large-scale acquisitions." 
• Forbes.com anticipates that "Natural gas keeps going boom as prices come off their record lows as some wells deplete at higher than expected rates, but the fracking boom continues as at least some reluctant states join the party."
• Multiple predictions about social media and its role in 2013 were highlighted by Social Media Examiner. Among the are: Facebook Offers Better Tools for Businesses; A New Social Site Rolls Out; The Number of Podcasters Doubles; Content Marketing Is the New Social Media Marketing; Ecommerce and Social Media Grow Together
• The Daily Beast also predicts there will be Taxi-Hailing Apps. "Soon you’ll be telling your kids about the days standing on a street corner, waving helplessly at passing taxi cabs, as 2013 is all but guaranteed to see big-time innovation in the taxi world. Apps like Uber will become mainstream, as users simply click a button to request a nearby taxi cab. Cranky drivers, however, are here to stay."
• An iPhone Mini is another prediction from The Daily Beast. "In the tech market, small products packing big punch rule. Apple’s new iPhones are the perfect size, but they lack a lower-market product that will ensure the company continues to expand. Introducing the iPhone Mini, a more economically priced phone perfect for the casual user and global markets. All the other products have a mini version, why not the phone?"