Voice recognition devices are hot

While Siri may be the highest profile rollout of the new innovation, she isn't alone. Microsoft Corp. has voice-command innovation for its Kinect device, which is an add-on for the Xbox 360 gaming console.

New TVs and entertainment systems are more connected than ever with the ability to pull content from home media servers and stream movies and shows from the Internet.

The need for a new control scheme

With those new abilities comes the need for a new control scheme, which is why numerous applications have been rolling out for smartphones, Android and iOS, allowing people to turn their phones into touch-screen remote controls.

During peak TV viewing periods, traffic from Netflix and YouTube accounts for upward of 60% of all Internet traffic in Canada.

With new Smart TVs hitting the market and other devices, just as Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PS3 console, bridging the gap between TVs and the Internet, the trend toward streaming video services will only increase.

. Not: Discs of any kind Sales of DVDs and new Blu-ray discs are falling as online streaming services bite into earnings.

The Internet

People are realizing that it is easier to get content off the Internet, through a growing number of legitimate and legal means, than it is to buy or rent discs.

Sales are likely to continue nosediving as cable companies beef up their on-demand servi-ces. iTunes continues to offer top-tier movies and TV shows for sale and rent, and Internet services just as Netflix continue to strengthen their content libraries.

. Hot: Voice-over-Internet protocolphones Many companies, including newcomer Ooma, are introducing phone service to Canadians that allows people to do away with their monthly telephone bill.

The device, which piggybacks on a person's Internet connection, works by routing phone calls over the Internet instead of the traditional phone network.

The phone network makes calls in the extreme cheap

Bypassing the phone network makes calls in the extreme cheap, otherwise free, which is why most of these new devices require no monthly fees.

Ooma's Telo device can be bought for about $200. The mandatory 9-1-1 charges and taxes amount to about $4 a month. Since these devices work over the Internet, they offer numerous services that phone companies would charge a premium for, just as call waiting, call display, the ability to route calls to a cellphone when you aren't home and the ability to check messages over the Internet.

. Not: Landline phones Between the emergence of the new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phones and the ever decreasing price of owning a cellphone, more Canadians are opting to ditch their land lines.

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