Far from Crystal Ball gazing, looking 12 months ahead is all based on trends from the last 12 months and even more recent times. Looking at what has worked, what is new and what struck a chord with consumers allows us to get a sense of what might be coming in 2018.
So here’s my thoughts on some of the big things we’ll be talking about and seeing in 2018.
Google Home won “first to market” and was a BIG hit in late 2017, expect that to continue in 2018, except many more companies will have “google home” enabled speakers.. plus, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant will launch in Australia in the next few months, AND, Apple’s Siri Enabled HomePod speaker is going to launch shortly too… All these speakers will slowly change the way we listen to music, the radio, search for answers to simple questions, and even control our lights at home….
LG, then Samsung then Apple – big companies changed the way smartphones look in 2017 – so in 2018 that will keep going, with the continued push to a “borderless” screen on your phone… and we will certainly see that come into lower cost phones – companies like Alcatel will bring what we call 18:9 displays into the sub $100 phone market
Pokemon got it started, but in 2018 there will be ever more apps pushing us to glance through the screen of our phone to look at the real world. Shopping experiences will change, way finding and navigation, and of course gaming – more people will be looking at the world around them through the lens of their smartphone…
It’s not a new thing, it’s been around for years and Samsung has had it in their phones for a while now, but in 2017 Apple added Wireless Charging to the iPhone, and the power of Apple will drive a huge wave of new products, wireless chargers for home, more cars will have wireless charging, you’ll find it being built into cafe tables and benches as we move away from the cable and just place our phone down to charge…
We love to text, and with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp a big part of our way of communicating, BOTS are the next big thing. This year you’ll find more and more customer service happening in chat, and the customer service person on the other end you’re chatting to won’t be a person, it will be a computer, handling most of the basic conversation until it works out what you need help most with and then a human will take over – for now:)
This is a multi-million dollar industry, and with Formula One, the AFL and others all getting involved, expect to see more live streaming and even televised computer gaming events, Real people playing computer games as a spectator sport will break well and truely into the mainstream in 2018..
We won’t be buying self-driving cars this year, but more companies will pioneer advanced technologies to make “hands free” driving a reality, and at the same time there will be lots of conversations at a state and federal government level about what legislation is required to keep up with let alone get ahead of this automotive revolution…
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Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair.
Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave.
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