Every year the tech market sees scores of new products, discoveries and startups. Most of them are gone or forgotten within the decade.

But a few of them go on to have a lasting impact on the way people work, live and play.

While it’s hard to know which ones will wane as fads and which will change the world, several trends emerged in 2007 that appear to have long-term potential. While none is a brand-new concept, here are the top five ideas that went mainstream and promise to have an even bigger influence in 2008:

Cloud computing

True, this is just another way of saying “Web services,” a concept that’s been around almost as long as the Web itself. Now, it’s finally reaching the masses.

Think of it as the third wave of computing: first there was the mainframe, hulking, centralized computers that doled out access to the lucky few. Then came personal computers anyone could own. Unfortunately, they were mostly islands of computing, disconnected from one another except in small client-server networks. Then came the Internet, which has helped connect every computer to almost any other anywhere around the globe.

Web pages and e-mail were only the beginning. Thanks to faster connections and easier-to-use services, it’s now a snap to use faraway software and data storage as if they were on your own computer. By tapping into this “cloud” of Web-based services, you have access to your information no matter where you are.

Offerings such as Google () Docs and Zoho Office make it possible to create, edit and share documents online. And others such as Mozy, Box.net and Xdrive let you use the Internet as your own personal hard drive.

Next year, Google is expected to launch a service that lets users easily store and share documents online. And Microsoft plans to add its own twist to the concept with Office Live Workspace. An add-on to Microsoft’s () Office applications will make saving to the Web as easy as saving to your hard drive.

Greentech gets practical

If idealism was the root of the early ecology movement, a more down-to-earth business sense seems to be fueling the tech industry’s recent shift to cleaner, more sustainable policies. Besides the PR benefits of going green, companies are saving real money.

Case in point: Sun Microsystems () says its switch to electronic annual reports alone saves it close to $1 million a year.

This year, expect companies to consider the ecological impact of their products at the design stage. Instead of merely supporting the recycling of electronic waste at the end of a product’s life, Sun and other companies are thinking about how to design a product from the start that’ll be easy to recycle later.

At the same time, rising oil prices and global-warming worries have sparked a wave of investment into alternative energy, alternative-fuel power conservation and efficiency.

Batteries used in hybrid and electric cars are set to get cheaper and longer-lasting, while computers promise to offer more bang for the kilowatt.

Getting Social

While some scoff at the $15 billion valuation suggested by Microsoft’s investment a few months ago in Facebook, the trend is clear: technology is getting more social.

Social networking sites help you stay connected with friends and colleagues and their friends and colleagues. And those features aren’t limited to social networking sites such as Facebook, News Corp.’s () MySpace and business-focused LinkedIn. Case in point: Google’s news-gathering service, Google Reader, added a feature that lets you see items shared by other Google Reader users.

And Microsoft’s Xbox Live gaming service now lets players see not just their friends, but those friends’ friends.

Google’s recently launched Open Social effort could make it even easier to keep in touch.

Solid-state storage

If you own a cell phone, iPod Nano or digital camera, you’re already using solid-state storage in the form of flash memory.

The technology, which stores information on computer chips rather than magnetic film, is fast, compact, rugged and easy on batteries.

But it’s been too expensive to use in large capacities until now. The ever-shrinking size and price of chips make it possible to put lots of storage on small devices and making flash memory a realistic substitute for hard-disk drives.

Several computer makers offer the option of flash-based storage instead of hard drives. And flash-based portable devices are now capable of holding thousands not hundreds of songs and videos.

The upshot: tiny devices get more powerful; powerful PCs get tinier.

Ubiquitous Internet

Wi-Fi wireless networking and WAP (wireless application protocol) cellular data services gave many laptop and cell phone users their first taste of data on the go in the late 1990s. It also exposed the technology’s maddening limitations: namely, speed and coverage.

Users who want to stay connected have had to make a frustrating choice: enjoy fast connections, but only at a few scattered Wi-Fi hot spots, most of which charge serious money. Or stay connected anywhere a cell phone works, but at slow speeds on tiny screens.

That’s poised to change in 2008, thanks to a mix of technologies that will blanket more areas with high-speed connections.

The first is 3G, or third-generation, data networks being rolled out now by wireless carriers.

AT&T’s () HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access/universal mobile telephone system) offers download speeds of up to 1.4 megabits per second.

Also, more computer makers are rolling out notebook PCs with built-in connections to EVDO (evolution, data only) networks run by Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel. ()

Another technology called WiMax could offer even faster speeds. Expect fast data to become commonplace. As science fiction writer William Gibson put it: “The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.”

The main indexes turned up abruptly at noon and drove higher, taking back every stitch of lost ground and closing with gains.

The NYSE and Nasdaq both ended up 0.8%. The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and the Dow 0.5%. The small-cap S&P 600 jumped 1.6%, based on preliminary figures.

Volume rose across the board, the first time the major indexes rose on higher volume since Wednesday.

Oil prices also turned sharply near midday, settling down 14 cents at $90.49 a barrel, after rising as high as $92.88.

A number of energy stocks rose. Range Resources () jumped 2.44 to 47.19 after Standard & Poor’s announced the company would be added to the S&P 500 index beginning Thursday. The blip left the stock just below a 48.07 buy point on a high handle above an eight- week cup-shaped base.

Elsewhere, First Solar () vaulted 15.13 to 247.10. The move reversed Monday’s 8% loss, and left the solar component maker just below recent highs.

Credicorp () jumped 2.04 to 78.33 on big volume. The Peru-based credit lender and insurer has edged higher, past the 77.86 buy point after rebounding from its 10-week line. It is now etching new highs on tall volume.

Companhia Siderurgica () gained 3.19 to 80.40 after announcing it would spend $5.3 billion over the next six years to boost iron-ore output. The move bumped the Brazil-based steel producer up off its 50-day moving average, putting it just below the 80.75 buy point on a pullback to its 50-day line.

On the downside, Indonesian wireless service provider PT Indosat () dropped 1.23 to 45.50. The move drove the stock to close beneath its 50-day moving average in heavy volume, well below highs notched on Nov. 14.

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3 p.m. EST update: Stocks Head Higher, Recoup Earlier Losses

BY MARIE BEERENS

The stock market turned for the better in late afternoon, after retreating below yesterday’s lows.

The Nasdaq advanced 0.7%. The NYSE was up 0.6%, the S&P 500 and the Dow gained 0.5% at around 3 p.m. EST.

Volume was running higher on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq, putting the market on a more positive tone. Breadth improved sharply, as winners overtook decliners by roughly a 3-to-2 ratio.

Stanley () rose 0.90 to 30.66, trying to overtake its 50-day moving average in heavy trade. The provider of business process outsourcing and logistics to the government plunged below the 50-day line on Monday.

HMS Holdings () jumped 2.20, or 8%, to 28 in double its usual turnover. The company provides cost containment, reimbursements and benefits coordination to government health-care programs.

Millicom International Cellular () gained 2.41 to 107.20 on above-average volume. The Luxemburg-based wireless service provider is trying to regain its 50-day support.

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1 p.m. EST update: Stocks Surrender Initial Gains; Volume Rises

By Alan R. Elliott

A fast start faltered into losses midday Tuesday, as cautious earnings outlooks left investors wary of further economic slowing.

The NYSE composite slipped to a 0.1% loss and the Nasdaq was down 0.4% at 12:52 p.m. EST. The S&P 500 and the Dow were both down 0.3%. Volume had turned positive on both sides, up 10% on the NYSE and 14% on the Nasdaq.

Decliners overtook advancing stocks, and were leading at a 3-to-2 rate on both exchanges. But 61% of IBD’s 197 industry groups held even or registered gains.

Goldman Sachs () and Best Buy () both reported better-than-expected Q4 results. But a thread of caution in their outlooks was apparently enough to send investors scurrying. Goldman was down 9.26 to 199.37. Best Buy was down 1.15 to 49.99 after winking as low as 48.77 in morning trading.

Other than that, damage to leading stocks remained minimal. Most stocks seeing heavy-volume selling carried comparatively weak fundamentals or were already well into consolidations.

Factset Research () dumped 4.17 to 58.50 after landing squarely on analysts’ views for its fiscal Q1, but offering Q2 guidance slightly below forecasts. The move drove the financial data service provider down 8%, putting it well below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Wimm-Bill-Dann () tacked on 3.16 to 119.51. The Russian dairy and juice producer is sticking close to support at its 50-day moving average line, in its fifth week of a possible base.

Huron Consulting Group () added 2.03 to 76.29 after Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage with a buy rating and an 87 price target. The stock is in its eighth week of a possible base, after a massive-volume sell-off early in November killed an earlier breakout.

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11:15 a.m. EST Update: Stocks Ease After Initial Spurt: Volume Mixed

By Alan R. Elliott

Indexes wobbled but held most of their early gains, helped by an infusion of capital by England’s central bank and better-than-expected Q4 results by investment banker Goldman Sachs.

The NYSE composite was up 0.4% and the Nasdaq 0.2% at 10:53 a.m. EST. The S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Dow 0.2%. Volume ran lower on the NYSE, slightly higher on the Nasdaq.

Advancing issues led decliners by about 3-to-2 on both exchanges.

Dry-bulk shipper DryShips () rose 2.97 to 75.15. The Greek-based fleet operator said Monday that it planned to acquire a 30% stake in Norway-based offshore drilling contractor Ocean Rig for about $405 million. DryShips is in its seventh week below its 10-week moving average, and well below its late-October highs.

JA Solar () climbed 1.41 to 69.48 after announcing it had extended its wafer supply agreement with ReneSola. The China-based maker of solar power systems is just below a 72.16 buy point on a pullback to its 50-day moving average.

Online jewelry retailer Blue Nile () was up 1.82 at 66.42. The stock is in its first week below its 200-day moving average.

Mercadolibre () fell 2.60 to 57.73. The Latin American online marketplace logged a huge-volume, gap-up gain Friday. It gave back a piece of that 15% surge in a high-volume decline on Monday.

Computer touchpad maker Synaptics () slipped 2.65 to 43.94. It continued a four-session losing streak that is pushing the stock toward its 200-day moving average.

10:15 a.m. Update: Indexes Surge In Early Trading

By Alan R. Elliott and Vincent Mao

Stocks busted out of the gate Tuesday, but they have pulled back a bit.

At 10:01 a.m. EST, the NYSE composite jumped 1%. The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and small-cap S&P 600 picked up 0.7% each. And the Dow rose 0.6%.

Volume was tracking higher on both exchanges in the early going.

Oil stocks rallied, helped by crude futures’ gain of $1.73 to $92.36 a barrel.

Atwood Oceanics () jumped 4.63 to 90.36. The puts the oil drilling and development specialist’s stock just below recent highs after two sessions of pullbacks.

Waste Industries USA () gapped up, surging 6.01, or 20%, to 35.70 in brisk trading. The company accepted a $544 million bid to go private. The buyout is from an investor group led by Waste Industries’ founder and chairman.

HDFC Bank () spurted up 4.62 to 125.13. The move lifted India based lender back above its 50-day moving average after tumbling from highs over the past two weeks.

Millicom International Cellular () popped 6.40 to 111.19. The 6% gain lifted shares just above their 50-day moving average, but well below recent highs.

On the downside, Garmin () slipped further south of its 50-day moving average. Shares tumbled 2.12 to 99.70 The GPS device maker is working on the eight week of a new base, but has seen some heavy distribution.

Oil and gas producer TEL Offshore Trust () dropped 1.11 to 18.68. The slip dunked the stock below its 50-day moving average, where it had clung to support after two session of high volume selling this month.

9:15 a.m. Update: Stocks Poised For Solid Open

By Vincent Mao

Stock futures pointed to a strong open Tuesday, as equities look to rebound from recent losses. Nasdaq futures gained 22 points vs. fair value, S&P 500 futures rose 11 points and Dow futures climbed 85 points.

The European Central Bank overnight loaned out $501 billion as it offered unlimited two-week funds at a fixed rate. Money rates, which have been at multi-year highs, retreated. Stock futures rallied on that news.

Results from Monday’s Fed auction will be out Wednesday.

Housing starts fell 3.7% to an annual rate of 1.19 million units, slightly above economists’ estimates. Building permits, a gauge of future activity, slipped 1.5% to a 14-year low of 1.15 million. But that was in line with estimates.

Adobe Systems () late Monday reported a 48% rise in Q4 earnings and a 34% increase in sales. Its outlook was solid. Adobe boosted its stock buyback by 30 million shares to a total of 50 million. Deutsche Bank raised the stock to buy from hold. Shares were indicated only slightly higher.

Best Buy () rallied 2% in pre-open trade. The nation’s biggest electronics retailer delivered fiscal Q3 earnings and sales ahead of views. It also lifted its full-year 2008 outlook to $3.10 to $3.20 a share, up from $3 to $3.15. And sales are pegged at about $40 billion. Analysts expected $3.12 a share on sales of $39.81 billion.

Goldman Sachs () gained 3% in the preopen. The investment bank delivered fourth-quarter profit ahead of views. Goldman cited strong results in its advisory and investment banking segments.

Group mate Morgan Stanley () reports tomorrow and Bear Stearns () on Thursday.

Range Resources () jumped 5% in the premarket. The oil and gas producer is joining the S&P 500 index after the close of trading Thursday.

Oracle’s hostile takeover bid for BEA Systems sent the Nasdaq surging Friday and helped the market erase almost all of Thursday’s losses.

BEA shares soared 38% to $18.82 10% above Oracle’s offer and a sign that investors expect BEA to sell for more than Oracle’s initial offer. Also gaining on the news was Tibco Software, which jumped 13% on speculation that it could also become an acquisition target.

The news sent the Nasdaq 1.2% higher, while the broader market gained 0.5% after retail sales came in better than expected, thanks to strong auto, food, gas and electronics sales. Producer prices were mixed higher than expected on the headline number, but lower than expected when food and energy costs were factored out.

Investors will turn their attention to earnings reports and consumer inflation data next week. Yahoo, Intel, eBay, IBM, Motorola and Google will be some of the names reporting in the tech sector.

The chip sector notched its first gain in three days after Samsung said it was boosting semiconductor capital spending by $1.2 billion. Novellus, Applied Materials and Varian Semi all posted gains of 4% or more on the news.

Baidu.com recovered half of Thursday’s drubbing on cautious comments from JP Morgan, rising 4.6% to $322.98. China Telecom and China Digital TV were other big winners.

Apple and Google gained on upbeat analyst comments, and Amazon.com and Research in Motion rebounded too.

Blue Nile fell 10% on a Citigroup downgrade.

The Nasdaq rose 33 to 2805, the S&P gained 7 to 1561, and the Dow rose 77 to 14,093. Volume fell to 2.76 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.96 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 20-12 margin on the NYSE, and 18-11 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 62% on the NYSE, and 76% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 94-66 on the NYSE, and 103-67 on the Nasdaq.

Commodities settled broadly lower Monday on the last day of 2007, but markets from energy to metals to agriculture saw their largest annual gains in at least a decade.

Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or Nymex, settled down 2 cents at $95.98 a barrel. For the year it was up 57%, the biggest gain for a front-month contract since 1999, when prices more than doubled from a $10-a-barrel low.

Gold futures for February on Nymex’s Comex metals division closed down $4.70 at $838 an ounce. For the year, gold was up 24%.

The spot price of gold bullion rose about 30% on the year, its biggest annual gain since 1979, and was less than $20 from hitting record highs.

U.S. copper for March settled down 3.10 cents at $3.04 a pound on the Comex. For the year, it was up about 8%.

In agricultural products on the Chicago Board of Trade, soybeans for January were down 8 3/4 cents at $11.99 a bushel. On the year, the market showed a gain of more than 60%.

Investors in commodity indexes in 2007 saw some of their biggest gains in 30 years, as five indexes in the energy, metals and agricultural markets ended the year with profits of almost 30% on average.

Five leading commodity indexes namely the DJ-AIG, under Dow Jones and American International Group; the S&P GSCI, owned by Standard & Poor’s and previously Goldman Sachs; the RJ-CRB, named after Reuters and Jefferies; the RICI, under the Rogers International Commodity Indexes family; and the DBLCI, operated by Deutsche Bank averaged total returns of 28.72% between Dec. 29, 2006, and Dec. 28, 2007.

Of the five, the RJ-CRB rose 8.07% in September alone, marking the largest gain since July 1975 for the basket of commodities it represents.

Analysts said early indications for 2008 are that growth in China and other emerging markets will keep demand for raw materials bubbling, while trouble in nuclear-capable states like Pakistan could send oil and gold to new record highs.

Comex gold hit 28-year highs above $850 an ounce in New York in November, while Nymex crude soared to a record of nearly $100 a barrel. Even the prospect of a U.S. recession next year has a possible bright side. A Federal Reserve interest rate cut to spark the economy would further weaken the U.S. dollar, making commodities priced in dollars more attractive in foreign-exchange terms.

December 31, 2007 —

SAN FRANCISCO - Two brothers who were injured when a tiger attacked them at the San Francisco Zoo had slingshots on them at the time, a source said.

An empty vodka bottle was also found in a car used by Amritpal Dhaliwal, 19, and his brother, Kulbir, 23, on the day of the mauling, which left 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. dead, according to the source.

The discoveries could be an indication that the brothers may have taunted the 350-pound Siberian tiger before it leapt from its grotto.

San Francisco cops have said since the Christmas Day incident that there was no indication the tiger was provoked.

The brothers have not commented since they left a hospital Saturday.

When the zoo opens tomorrow, the tigers will not be on display, as officials work to ensure that their enclosure is safe.

Meanwhile, an unidentified couple was allowed to hold their wedding at the zoo last night under tight security. Guests had to clear special checkpoints.