To me it still sometimes seems like SQL Server 2012 has only barely been out. In reality it's now been out longer than a year. Which means that Microsoft is not only obviously busy on the next version of SQL Server, but that they've actually been at work on it for a long while now.
SQL Server 2014 Spotted in the Wild
Interestingly enough I was reminded of this after spotting the following tweet from Richard Douglas:
Sure enough, by manually punching in the URL specified in his screenshot, I managed to find myself on a page claiming to contain Product Documentation for SQL Server 2014 (i.e., I was able to find the EXACT page that Richard captured in his screenshot).
Only, when I started poking around it became apparent that this page is only, at best, a potential place-holder—since every link I clicked on managed to route me into pages containing documentation for SQL Server 2012 (as you bet that the first thing I checked was the "what's new documentation" and then tried the "developer" docs and so on).
So, at best this link is/was just a reminder that a new version is 'in the works'. At worst it's a potential error or accident and will either disappear or be corrected (in what I imagine will be semi-short order). And, practically speaking, I'd wager that it's more along the lines of the latter (or maybe it's early and I'm the brunt of a joke—as I can't help but note that the version number specified in the url above isn't 'right'). Either way, this was a fun reminder that (duh) a new version is in the works—regardless of what it'll be called when it drops.
New Features on the Horizon
Still, we already have a decent idea of some of the things that Microsoft is working on for the next version of SQL Server. For example, Hekaton should be something to watch. And if it ships with the degree of thought, maturity, and comprehensiveness that we saw with the 'version 1' release of SQL Server AlwaysOn, then I think we'll have a serious game-changer on our hands—especially if Microsoft doesn't do something STUPID like making this an Enterprise-Only feature.
I'm also guessing we'll see some improvements or changes to AlwaysOn, and I'm hoping that Microsoft does something about the growing malaise arising in the BI arena—which you can easily gain a sense for by checking out the comments in this great post from Jamie Thompson about the seemingly hap-hazard degree to which Microsoft continues to 'pepper' BI tools and interfaces out upon users with no real, clear, signs of a single, unified, strategy.