Deloitte: 2007 Will Be 'Exciting' For ITDeloitte: 2007 Will Be 'Exciting' For IT

What are going to be the hot technology markets for 2007? According to Deloitte analysts -- a burgeoning job market, cell phone usage eclipsing landlines, and thumb-print scanners replacing locks on our front doors.

"I think it's going to be a heck of a year," said Tony Kern, a deputy managing partner with Deloitte. "We'll continue to see exciting devices coming out in the cell phone market. We'll start thinking about how we can monetize social networks. And it'll be interesting to see how a lot of things will start to coalesce around consumer electronics."

Kern said Deloitte's analysts canvass industry groups and users and compile their findings, along with their own theories, into a set of predictions. Here's some of what they came up with:

* The Job Market -- Kerns said this will be a great year for high tech professionals looking for a job or looking for a new job. It just might even be a good year for workers who want to stay where they are, but just want a better deal.

"I think we're going to see job stability and an increase in jobs," he said. "We have a big office in San Jose and we're trying to hire hundreds and hundreds of people to serve that community. We are well out of that downturn. There are a lot of tech people needed. There will be an upsurge in the need for tech people."

Kerns also pointed out that while hiring workers outside of the United States won't be slowing down (a practice known as offshoring) companies will be hiring more tech workers right here in the U.S. They'll even get to the point where they start working really hard again to keep talented people from jumping ship.

"Companies are becoming focused on how to retain the best people they have," he said, adding that a lot of companies will begin offering extra time off; flex time, extra holidays, on-site childcare and more telecommuting opportunities.

What will be he hot jobs? Think engineering and programming, said Kerns, adding that anything around R&D will be hot this year. "There are so many new devices and the market is insatiable for devices that are faster and stronger."

* The Cell Phone Market -- Cell phones are quickly gaining speed on their landline cousins, with Americans using more monthly minutes on their cell phones and less on their home phones, Kerns predicted. This will be the year, he contends, when the number of calls placed and minutes used on mobile networks will surpass landline usage.

"I have two daughters in their 20s and they don't' have landlines," notes Kerns. "The big regional Bells are starting to lose money on landlines. The new AT&T owns Cingular, and Verizon owns Verizon Wireless. It's interesting to start to watch the old business start to come apart as they ramp up their mobile subscriber base."

Kerns also said Deloitte is beginning to hear talk about mobile carriers considering a plan that charge users less when they're using their cell phones at home. Calling Mom on your cell while flopped out on your couch? It just might cost you less at some point soon than if you called her from a coffee shop.

"There's a hefty amount of usage from inside people's own houses," he said. "People think they should have a special rate inside the house. It could be difficult to do but there is beginning to be a lot of talk around it. You could have a special cradle in the house that the mobile phone could sit in."

* Is Free Still Worth It? -- "The prediction is that nothing is really free in life and it's becoming obvious here, too," said Kerns. "A lot of free services -- like e-mail access and free storage -- come with spam and advertising. The trend we're predicting is that people are willing to pay something, even if it's a little something, if they can have spam filtered out of those systems and be protected from the junk out there and the advertising."

He adds that companies, like Yahoo, will step up efforts to protect users from unwanted e-mail but most free-service providers will not be quite ready to start charging fees yet.

* Tech Goes Green -- "The tech industry will wake up to the green [movement] and get on board with it this year," said Kern. "There's a very strong green movement and it will manifest itself as energy savings and devices made from recycled materials."

Kern said he was at his local waste transfer station recently and was blown away by the image of desktops, servers and laptop computers being scooped up by a bucket loader and dumped. He said we'll start to see less of that as we become smarter about discarding equipment, saving what can be saved and reusing as much as possible.

"More devices that we use everyday will be made out of recycled plastics and materials," he said.