If the popular misreading of Mayan mythology is correct, we have fewer than two more years left on this Earth. That leaves precious little time for the tech industry to develop and perfect of all the cool technologies that sci-fi authors have dreamed up over the years. Still, while a December 2012 apocalypse may spell doom for the commercial viability of hovercars, it doesn't mean that the next couple of years in tech will be dull -- quite the contrary. 2011 is already shaping up to be a banner year for tech and web innovation.
Below is a list of over 40 websites, apps, companies, gadgets and technologies that the editors of Mashable think that you should keep an eye on over the coming year. None of them let you zoom through the air over traffic, but they're definitely all worth a look.
Be sure to click through to each article to see our full write ups on individual entries, and let us know in the comments what you're looking out for in 2011.
Kickstarter
OpenLeaks
Klout
Hipmunk
Gilt Groupe
Diaspora
Quora
Grooveshark
Drupal
Foursquare
The Daily
Ge.tt
GetGlue
Bizzy
Kik
Shopkick
Path
GroupMe
5 Web Technologies and Trends to Watch
jQuery Mobile
Hardware-Accelerated Web Browsers
Node.js and Server Side JavaScript
Real-Time Clickstream Sharing
NoSQL Databases
Qi Wireless Power
Nintendo 3DS
Android-Powered Tablets
Smart Shopping Carts
PalmPad
Notion Ink Adam
NFC-Enabled Phones
PlayStation Phone
Minimal, Inc.
StumbleUpon
Animon, Inc.
Bloom Energy
Skype
Tumblr
Clicker
inDinero