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The problem with voice control and activation is our generally noisy environment. I already dislike any cubical-neighbors who insist on using speaker phones whenever they answer their phone. I frequently get an urge to join their conversation and say inappropriate things. If more people start talking to their phones I may go postal.
To me, the next big thing has to be a major display improvement, either foldable/rollable or heads-up (e.g. Google glasses). I think heads-up has more long term bang.
There are many small things that improve incrementally such as battery capacity, memory capacity, processing speed (and speed per unit energy). I think the 'next thing' to evolve from this incremental improvement is having your cell phone be your primary PC via a docking station. It has been tried before but our overall usable mobile power is still not quite up to snuff. Maybe in 3 to 5 years.
There is a competing movement toward cloud computing. That relieves the hardware from having to be powerful but it requires a connection. We're too far behind the curve on nation-wide fast wireless access for the cloud to take over. In 3 to 5 years, maybe.
But I'm not seeing the signs of ubiquitous cheap wifi or cellular 4G while I am seeing the constant hardware improvements mentioned above. Our government COULD probably institute nationwide wifi in one year, if it was a priority, but the major cellular providers (AT&T, Verion, Sprint) would cry foul.
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