Happy and successful new year 2010!

With a new decade come new challenges: .

On this watch list, you will find what I think will be some key issues to address in this new hyper-information era.

1. CENTRALIZED DIGITAL LIFE MANAGEMENT

email, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, web apps: our digital life is scattered  across dozens of services.

We need a unique platform to “write once, reuse everywhere” our profile metadata.

Watch: oAuth, OpenSocial, FaceBook Connect, LinkedinConnect (wildguess?)

2. MOBILE

Mobile was big in 2009. Mobile will be everything from 2010.

The big winner was obviously Apple. Apple got everything right, thanks to the amazing strategy and architecture behind the ITunes Store.

The Apple ecosystem is a closed one and has its shortcoming, especially the App Store approval process.

Despite the trade-offs, developers are still contributing to enhance the IPhone/IPod Touch experience.

Google can’t afford to lose its relationship with the hardcore developer base and Android and the GPhone are its answer to Steve Job’s unstoppable march in the digital consumer space.

Watch: Apple, Google. Don’t waste your time with: Microsoft.

3. ADVERTISING

Not sure if we will see any change in the online ad industry this year, but the display model is broken.

We need a serious overhaul of the ad serving business. Thanks to the death of privacy, be ready for the hyper-targeting experience.

Watch: Google and any serious innovation they will swallow to keep their business running.

4. E-COMMERCE

Despite or perhaps thanks to the economic crisis, E-Commerce is now part of everyday life. Add mobile access and Inet penetration rate growth into the mix and we should witness an explosion in online transactions.

Watch: Amazon, Apple, Square, Ebay/Paypal

5. OPERATING SYSTEM + THE CLOUD

New fight, same opponents. The OS WWII has just started.

I’ve been using Microsoft Windows for years; I’ve tried hard on linux desktop many times; and one day I gave a shot at Mac OS.

You can’t deny the superiority the UNIX based operating system: once again, the execution is flawless (coming from windows 2000/Vista at least).

With HTML5 around the corner and serious adoption of SaaS, Google once again had to step in with ChromeOS.

But Google is putting itself in a tough position by launching so many initiatives at the same time: you can’t always guarantee that the absolute best resources (read engineers and product managers) will be available for ALL your projects. Look at Google Wave: brilliant idea, bad strategy (maybe worth another post).

Watch: Apple, Google, Microsoft. Don’t waste your time with: Jolicloud and look-alike.

Enterprise: Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, VMWare/EMC.

6. VIDEO

Again, maybe not quite ready for 2010, but be prepared for the online streaming revolution.

Telcos/ISP hold the key to a new way of consuming media. Who will be the winner in the VOD for mainstream?

Watch: Netflix, Apple