SMARTPHONES Looking Forward to 2012: Apple TV, iPhone 5 and Goodnight PCs

Onward, tablets, smartphones and post-PC (yet still just as much “personal computing”) devices — call them whatever you like, 2012 will see a glut of me-too mobiles designed to untether us from stodgy office desktops and augment our everyday, ordinary activities by slipping into our everyday, ordinary surroundings. With that in mind, here’s my list of up-and-coming 2012 tech picks:

Apple TV, the Next Generation

The trouble my 37-inch, four-year-old LG 1080p LCD TV has squeezing inside my mammoth mission-style entertainment center aside, I’ve been eyeballing a new TV all year. I already have an Apple TV, but we’re talking the tiny black box, not a full-blown TV set. So when I say I’m eyeballing an Apple TV, let there be no confusion — I’m speaking of the rumored 32- and 37-inch Apple television sets due sometime this summer, not the device I only use to stream my music library to the living room.

Apple’s challenge, assuming these things are real, is twofold: Leapfrogging the current black box Apple TV’s features, and pricing its televisions competitively (assuming it wants to sell these things mainstream, anyway). Feature-wise, Apple needs to do more than offer access to a few third-party services and stream iTunes media from an Apple computer (it needs to be more than just an Apple TV inside an Apple-branded television, in other words) so here’s my wish list: An Apple TV that could sync wirelessly with iOS devices, allowing video, photos and even apps or games to appear (magically!) on the TV without cables, and a Siri-like voice command feature, making an appearance alongside a motion-control interface similar to (but ideally miles better than) Microsoft’s Kinect. Bring it on, Apple!

(MORE: Looking Forward to 2012: The End of Media Ownership)

iPhone 5 or Android Whatever

The iPhone 4 I picked up last February — my first iPhone, if it matters — has been a mostly up experience. It’s quick, dependable, swarming with apps that cover all my bases and not a total disaster when texting so long as I use just one finger (in lieu of two thumbs). My only complaints: The screen is too small, the phone’s too breakable (all glass, front and back) and I’m still not sold on finger-gaming, especially first-person stuff where I’m fighting just to see around my thumbs (would someone please release a thumbstick snap-around like the 3DS’s add-on already?). I have mixed feelings about most Android phones, but after playing with a friend’s Galaxy Nexus, I’ve sort of done a one-eighty: Unless the iPhone 5 is thinner and has an edge-to-edge 4.65-inch or larger display, I may just pick up a Galaxy Nexus to go hand-in-glove with a new Windows-based, gaming-angled ultrabook.

Goodbye forever, desktop PCs — hello ultrabooks and tablets!

I ditched my tricked-out Windows desktop PC a few weeks ago — good night, good luck (and, with all due respect, good riddance). I barely touched the thing in 2011, and I’ve jettisoned any nostalgic sentiments I once had for screwing around with soldering circuits or tweaking liquid cooling kits. My work machine’s now an 11-inch MacBook Air, though it might as well be a Windows-based ultrabook. I love OS X, but I’m almost as fond of Windows 7, and since I’ve kept my personal and work data agnostic, organized and easy to migrate, I’ll be happy to switch if the right hardware comes along (hello Razer Blade!). The desktop PC is a dinosaur, and Moore’s Law ceased to matter years ago (just because computing power doubles in a given period doesn’t mean app requirements or consumer needs do), so bring on the souped-up ultraportables and 2012′s enhanced tablets (be they Android or iOS based), and may the space beneath (or beside) our desks, chairs and tables remain case- and cable-free forever.

Apple TV to come in 3 sizes, top out at 55 inches, report says

The rumor mill is heating up around Apple's television plans, and now, a new report claims to have information on the device's screen sizes.

Citing anonymous sources in Japan who work at a "major" company working on the set's production, Australian technology site Smarthouse reported on Sunday that Apple television buyers will be able to choose from three screen sizes, ranging from 32 inches to 55 inches. In addition, the sources say that the television will ship with the same Apple A6 processor expected to come in the iPad 3.

On the software side, Smarthouse's sources say that Apple has built entirely new software that will allow users to "call up programs" with the company's Siri virtual personal assistant application.

Talk of Apple producing a television has been making its rounds for years. Back in 2009, for instance, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said that he believed the tech giant would sell its first television by the end of this year. Since that hasn't happened, Munster has revised his schedule a bit, saying now that the television will likely launch by the end of next year.

But Munster hasn't only speculated on the set's launch. Last week at the Business Insider Ignition: Future of Media conference, Munster said that Apple firmly believes consumers want an all-in-one television that isn't tied down to external boxes. He also predicted that Apple would sell its line of televisions for twice the price a comparable alternative.

Like Smarthouse's sources, Munster believes the televisions will come with Siri support and a few different screen sizes.

Apple hasn't said that it will, in fact, launch a television. However, those who have been hoping for it became a bit more confident about the possibility earlier this year when Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography revealed that the Apple co-founder was not only thinking about a television, but found a way to make it match his vision.

"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," Jobs told his biographer. "It would be seamlessly synched with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

In an interview with CNET last month, however, Isaacson said that an Apple television wouldn't launch anytime soon.

"He told me it was very theoretical," Isaacson said of Jobs. "These were theoretical things they were thinking about in the future."

Bloomberg reported in October, citing sources, that Apple has tapped iTunes creator Jeff Robbin to head up the television's development. Those sources said Apple currently has a TV prototype, but there is still a possibility that it won't go beyond that stage.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on the Smarthouse report.

iOS 5.1 roundup: new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV references, minor tweaks

Yesterday was iOS 5.1 day, and we broke the news on everything relating to the beta release. End users won’t find any new features in the operating system, but the release was gold for those interested in the future of iOS hardware. Here’s our roundup of the new devices found in iOS 5.1:

-The sixth-generation iPhone:

Located deep inside the iOS 5.1 file system is a reference to an iPhone 5,1. As explained yesterday, a 5,1 identifier is significant as it means this next-generation iPhone will pack in a new processor. The A6 in all likelihood.

-The iPad 3 and a new iPad 2:

-Located in the file system is a reference to a third iPad 3 model, perhaps a carrier variation, known as iPad 3,3. Even more interesting is an iPad 2,4 reference: an updated iPad 2 that is either a carrier variation, a GSM+CDMA dual-mode device, a Sprint iPad 2, or something completely new.

-The next Apple TV:

-We were able to find the J33 codename for the Apple TV 3,1 in addition to references calling for this new Apple TV to carry Bluetooth 4.0/Smart capabilities.

There is hardly anything noticeable save for iTunes Match streaming over 3G and extremely minor keyboard enhancement in the iOS Mail application. Apple is also more open about geo-fencing (such as in Reminders.app) in the location services preferences (Thanks Jonathan). If you find anything else please let us know at tips@9to5mac.com.