The Tech FORECAST
A peek
into how the world of technology is likely to pan out in 2016
WITH THE new year comes
the promise of a bounty of all-new technology. Unfortunately, not every
direction tech will take us this year will be good.
GLITCHES
Put this in as your
Google-alert word, as you’re going to hear a lot more of it in 2016. A ‘glitch’
isn’t just a software bug. Glitches were why stock exchanges worldwide got
crippled and why thousands of flights were grounded. This is mainly due to the
all-new start-up culture of ‘release it NOW, we’ll fix the problems LATER’.
This fast-to-market attitude is going to lead to a lot of chaos this year.
VIRTUAL REALITY
Oculus Rift, Samsung VR
and cameras like the 360fly are all going to be in our hands (and on our heads)
this year. It is rare when a technology actually matures properly with
hardware, software and content-creation devices all coming together at the same
time. Life will never be real again.
4K FOR REAL
Those 4K TVs, 4K phone
screens and those 4K laptops were all wasted! Not any longer! Now 4K Blu-ray
players, 4K discs with real UHD content and 4K streaming movies (hint: I’m
talking about one of the biggies coming to India soon), are all set to unleash
their awesomeness. Full HD is so 2015!
BENDABLE SCREENS
It features on tech lists
every year as the promised bendable land. This year screens will finally be
able to curve and bend and fold. LG showcased an 18-inch bendable polymide film
screen device that rolls into a one-inch tube. Many others have shown devices
that do similar contortionist tricks.
TECH EVERYWHERE
Tech features are fast
becoming the USP in every walk of life. Ships such as the Quantum of the Sea
(The world’s first Smart Ship) and hotels like Yotel in New York (where robots
handle your baggage) are proving that technology may well be the biggest
selling point for everything.
SECURE PHONES
It’s happening all around
us and yet we still live under the illusion that it won’t happen to us.
Smartphones are the most easy-to-hack-into device ever built and yet we carry
on storing and creating more private data on them. 2016 may well be the year
for secure phones such as the Blackphone. The phone runs on PrivatOS, a custom
version of Android and this encrypts everything – data, voice calls and
everything stored on your phones. It is a wake-up call of epic proportions, so
don’t press the snooze button again.
AD BLOCKING
With Apple supporting ad
blocking, the world will be broken into those who want you to see ads while
online and those who don’t. At stake is the future of companies such as Google
(that simply live on ads) and those that don’t (ecosystem owners like Apple).
Eventually, you’ll decide.
3D PRINTERS
Just like bendable
screens, this makes a regular appearance on every new tech list and then
doesn’t seem to perform. It will, this year. With more printable raw material –
get ready to print your first food items, your first piece of 3D chocolate and
your first pasta. You might even print your own underwear sometime this year.
BIGGER TABLETS
This is a ‘not-so-good’
trend. After Samsung and Apple, all other Tablet manufacturers will now give 12
and 13-inch screen sizes a shot. A dying Tablet market may see some resurgence
before people will realise that a Tablet that is big, heavy and unwieldy is not
a Tablet at all. It’s all going to die kicking and screaming this year itself.
AWESOME HYBRID LAPTOPS
This is the golden boy of
2016. Really good laptops that convert to Tablets and don’t have ugly unusable
flexible keyboards built into covers. Microsoft has shown the way with its
Surface Book. It has a solid magnesium build, great keyboard, brilliant screen,
pops out at the press of a button and has an outstanding pen input. Expect more
of this from all brands.
MORE SMARTWATCHES, WAY TOO MANY!
Another unfortunate
trend. You’ll see Smartwatches popping up from every nook and cranny. Apple
will come up with version two and every other player will come with versions
three and four. All these will get a tepid response. 2016 isn’t the year of the
Smartwatch. Not even 2017.
DRONE LANES AND AIRPORTS
Drones were the biggest
trend of 2015. Except you were not allowed to fly one, legally. This year
you’ll get drone lanes (areas where you’ll be allowed to fly a drone) and
airports (designated areas and air spaces to go and give your drone a real
workout). Also, you’ll soon get
state-of-the-art drones for less than 20K.
Rajiv Makhni is managing
editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell
HTBR3JAN16
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