While the rest of the electronics industry has struggled over the past couple of years and is only starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the wireless segment has been surging, particularly thanks to smart phones. So what can we expect in 2011? Here are the top 10 developments we’ll see as we change the calendar. 

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10. Mobile TV: Video is popular on smart phones, but it comes mostly in the form of YouTube and short clips from other sources. Some movies and sports events also can be accessed depending on the carrier. Yet mobile TV is not yet ubiquitous. There is still some resistance to watching TV on a 4-inch screen. Qualcomm’s FLO TV over-the-air (OTA) service provided by AT&T and Verizon recently closed down due to lack of customers and viewing devices. But with the new ATSC A/153 mobile TV standard finalized and chips available, we may soon see more OTA TV from local stations that support the new standard. Siano’s new SMS1530 TV receiver chip handles the new ATSC mobile/handheld (M/H) standard. Look for free TV in some smart phones in the future, assuming the antenna situation can be adequately addressed.

9. NFC: The near-field communications (NFC) short-range, 13.56-MHz wireless method has been around for years with chips available to enable cell phones to be the next smart cards. Jeff Miles, director of mobile transactions at NXP, indicates that 2011 looks like a coming out year for NFC. NXP, which makes the NFC chips for cell phones, is projecting more than 50 million new deployments of NFC in smart phones worldwide this year. Support is coming from Nokia and RIM as well as Google, which indicates the incorporation of NFC capability in the next version of its Android operating system. Look for NFC to become a must-have feature on smart phones to make purchases, access buildings, ride transportation, and make reservations.

8. Wireless modems: USB dongles are the primary way that laptop and netbook users access the Internet via a cellular connection. With new HSPA+ and 4G services now available, more users are buying them. ABI Research indicates that 93 million such modems were shipped in 2010. Sales will no doubt continue, but the major trend is for more laptop vendors to embed 3G/4G modems directly into the PC and laptops alongside the Wi-Fi radios.

7. GPS/navigation: According to ABI Research, the number of global navigation devices is expected to grow from 100 million in 2010 to 283 million in 2015. The preferred form factor is still the personal navigation device (PND) from Garmin, TomTom, and Magellan. However, there is significant growth in GPS on smart phones and in-dash navigation systems in vehicles.

6. M2M: Machine-to-machine (M2M) mobile connections that monitor and control all manner of remote devices continue to show steady growth. ABI Research reports that these connections are expected to exceed 297 million in 2015. M2M module shipments are also expected to quadruple from their 2009 level to more than 114 million by 2015. GSM/GPRS data connections dominate because rarely is high speed needed in M2M telemetry applications. However, EDGE is not finding much adoption as many subscribers are moving to 3G WCDMA to future-proof their designs as the cellular networks evolve.

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