• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, January 13, 2016

There is no end in sight to consumers’ picture-sharing obsession.  Rather, people will share and store some 2.5 trillion photos via digital channels, this year, according to Deloitte’s latest Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions forecast.

If accurate, that will represent a 15% increase in photo sharing and storing between 2015 and 2016. And more than 90% of these photos will be taken with a smartphone, Deloitte predicts.

Measured in terms of software revenue, meanwhile, smartphone and tablets will become the leading gaming platforms this year.

All told, mobile gaming will generate $35 billion in revenue -- up 20% from 2015, Deloitte expects. This compares to $32 billion for PC games, and $28 billion for console games -- up only 5% and 6%, respectively.

Also of note, 80 of the world’s 100 biggest software companies will have integrated cognitive technologies -- like machine learning, natural language processing, and speech recognition -- into their products, this year.

If the forecast is accurate, this will represent a 25% growth in cognitive technology integration from 2015 through 2016.

Deloitte expects machine learning to be the most prevalent of all cognitive computing technologies, thanks to its broad application from classification to anomaly detection to personalization and fraud detection. “

Advances in cognitive technologies such as speech recognition, natural language processing and machine learning … are contributing to a rise in commercial applications,” Paul Sallomi, vice chairman and global technology, media and telecommunications industry leader at Deloitte, notes in a new report.

“This year, cognitive technologies will continue to capture the imagination of industry giants and startups as they explore and monetize new areas within this emerging technology landscape,” according to Sallomi. He adds that more consumers and businesses are "embracing the potential that cognitive technologies offer in a wide variety of applications, including the Internet of Things.”