Research In Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry has predicted that tablet and smartphone sales are going to out run PC and laptop sales in 2012.

It said that despite security and integration challenges it’s time for IT to roll up its sleeves and say “hello” to the mobile revolution with smartphones prices tumbling and more employees are going to come to the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) party in the workplace. The device which bristle with 3D, HD, GPS, QR codes, gyros, accelerometers, gesture recognition, object recognition, augmented reality, visual search, four-core processors and what-have-you. Besides, designers are getting their heads around uber cool form factors that are bound to wow consumers.

Rim referred to a Gartner forecast to suggest that end users will splurge $15.9 billion on the goodies in app stores in 2012. The apps will drive secondary business in hardware sales and advertising spends. This means app developers will sharpen their tools, and produce cutting edge stuff for us to consume.

Who wants a wallet the size of a PC or a laptop? Shouldn’t the wallet fit into your pocket? That’s exactly what a mobile phone will do. Transaction platforms are emerging and could begin to supplement – if not replace – credit cards and online payments. In fact, in emerging economies where credit card usage is low and online payment is limited because of poor IT infrastructure, m-commerce could leapfrog entire societies into the future. It’s a question worth pondering in 2012.

Research firm Arthur D Little says that in BRIC nations 1 million users sign up on mobile payment platforms every week.

RIM said that Augmented Reality is a virtual platform that adds a new dimension to location based search, making the function a lot more relevant. Some of the next generation BlackBerry smartphones powered by BlackBerry 7 OS are loaded with AR applications like Wikitude to help users find location based information instantly. In this way technology gives users a perfect combination of the real and virtual world and simplifies the way they do things.

2012 will be the Year of the Mobile. As the world becomes more connected, begins truly global conversations, collaborates and develops colossal collective bargaining power, there will be pressure on businesses to deliver faster, cheaper and better.