New year, new tech. And no, we’re not talking about the latest variation of the iPhone. We’re talking about ground breaking, never-before-seen, game changing, emerging technologies that will be mixing things up over the next year. So strap in and be prepared to have your mind blown.
1. The Internet of Things (IoT)
Ok, sure. Your mind isn’t quite blown. Each year, the tech blogosphere reports that
this is going to be the year that the
Internet of Things takes off, only to have our hopes dashed.
But what we’ve come to realize is that the development of the IoT isn’t going to be an announcement at a tech conference, or Elon Musk standing up and saying something awesome at a TED talk. That’s not how it’s going to happen. The Internet of Things is, by its nature, a slow, inexorable crawl towards a higher plane of interconnectivity, until eventually we look around and no longer get excited that our appliances can talk breakfast strategy with each other.
But we think we’re going to hit that tipping point in 2016.
First, this is the last year of the €50 million public/private project in Finland called
DIGILE, which has been working on the IoT since 2012. They’ve worked to build the infrastructure, public engagement, testing and trials to actually get large-scale IoT projects off the ground. We think we’re seeing some fantastic results.
[caption id="attachment_4062" align="aligncenter" width="625"]
DIGILE smart traffic[/caption]
Second, last year in Finland (again), there was the launch of a
5G network in Oulu, further enhancing connectivity on a new superfast scale. It’s regularly predicted that for the Internet of Things vision to be realized, our networks will need to be supersized in a big way. 5G is expected to increase mobile network capacity
literally a thousand times over, supporting 100+ billion connections and up to 10Gbit/s speeds.
Basically, serious network upgrades, for serious speed. Again, Finland is leading the charge on smartening up our world with the IoT.
Third, there’s just a lot more money and incentive to innovate. Until now, the IoT has been a great idea, but one that is (a) really expensive to get involved with; and (b) not very easy to monetize. That’s why, thus far, it’s only been public/private organizations and huge companies like Samsung who have been actively engaged.
But we think that in 2016, this is going to change. More and more devices are being connected every single day, and we think there’s going to be serious opportunity both in developing new and clever infrastructure (
via APIs), as well as devices and apps that people want. And where money goes, explosive innovation usually follows.
And finally, just look around! Everywhere we go, we’re increasingly aware of the Internet of Things. Toasters, wearable tech,
fitness and health trackers, digitized airplanes, smart homes, smart fridges… the list goes on. Not to mention the heart of this whole wonderful new world: smartphones, which are now so integral to our lives it’s hard to imagine life without them.
2. The best things to come out of CES 2016
Earlier this month, the annual tech conference kicked off in Las Vegas. Sadly, we didn’t attend, but here are the things we’re most excited about:
- Huawei Mate 8: Just another smartphone? Pretty much. But with one caveat: its battery has some serious juice. With a proven 15.6 hours of use, it seems like Huawei has taken a big step towards cracking the secret to quality, long-lasting battery technology, which has been stalled for years.
- Parrot Drone: It’s a drone that you throw like a paper airplane, that flies itself, and automatically records with the killer 14MP camera mounted in the nose. Did we mention that you launch it like a paper airplane?
- Escape Treadmill: The NordicTrack Escape treadmill (for a cool $8,000) is a treadmill that tilts forward, back, and side-to-side, so you get an off-road feeling. Of course, to complete the illusion, there’s a person-sized screen in front of it, so you can visualize running through canyon country in 4K.
However, we’re sure you noticed that not all these ideas are actually on the market yet. And the IoT isn’t really up and running either.
So, what is actually out there right now?
3. Emerging tech projects you can get now (or at least very soon)
First, a favourite here at Moveable Online:
The Hyperloop. A funny start for emerging tech that you will actually be able to “buy”, but we’re going for it.
Hyperloop concept image
Rumour has it that the 2013 project to link LA to San Francisco in a pressurized, vacuum-sealed tube is currently under development and on track for completion in 2020.
Second, virtual reality is definitely going to be a key feature.
Sony, Samsung, and now HTC and Valve are all offering VR products that are getting better and better every day. With the official release of the consumer-ready Oculus headset scheduled for later this year, 2016 is likely to see a robust, competitive VR market, and lots of software goodies to go along with it.
And finally, self-driving cars.
Yes, we know there are lots of roadblocks left to overcome, including technological, societal, psychological, and legal ones, but at this point it is a certainty that, before too long, cars are going to be driving us.
Conclusion
Those are some of the ideas that we’re excited about for the coming year. And like a lot of other people, we think that 2016 is going to be a huge year for the commercialization of new products, not just trial versions and testing.
So even if we don’t get our flying, human-sized drone this year, we’re happy enough with where things are heading.
