Contextual prediction is hot. I am not just saying that because I am in the prediction, forecasting and analysis business. I am talking, for instance, about the ability that businesses have to predict what we are going to buy, how much we are willing to pay, whether we can pay to begin with, whether we are potentially fraudulent and so on. Business intelligence and analytics software vendors provide tried and tested tools to telecoms operators giving useful contextual intelligence about their (potential) customers in the virtual and connected ecosystem.
Contextual prediction is hot in the physical world as well. Through sensors the Apple iPhone knows it should power off the touch screen if I bring the phone to my ear. It predicts I am making a call. The Samsung Galaxy S3 predicts I am reading an e-book because the front camera sensor says so. Smartly, it keeps the backlight on. Gesture-controlled laptops shut off automatically if I walk out of the room. Through the Doppler effect measured by the built-in microphone and speakers the laptop predicts I will not need it for the time being.