Opinion: 10 Tech Predictions for 2016

[Julio Franco]

Another year has come and gone, and in the tech world, it seems not much has changed. 2015 was arguably a relatively modest year when it comes to major innovations, with many of the biggest developments essentially coming as final delivery or extensions to bigger trends that started or were first announced in 2014. Autonomous cars, smart homes, wearables, virtual reality, drones, Windows 10, large-screen smartphones, and the sharing economy all made a bigger initial mark in 2014 and continued to evolve over this past year.

Looking ahead to 2016, I expect we will see changes that, on the surface, also don’t seem to amount to much initially, but will actually prove to be key foundational shifts that drive a very different, and very exciting future.

Read the complete article.

 

[nnguy2]

No "death of the pc" prediction?

 

[Julio Franco]

No "death of the pc" prediction?

Never

 

[robb213]

I've been saying for awhile that I doubt VR will be anything but a niche in its current state/form: expensive, performance hungry, requires headgear. Those are the top 3 reasons/excuses I see people give for these things.

I recall S3D for 3D applications being in the same state a decade ago: going to change our lives, etc. It was overhyped (not that I didn't like it, Mirrors Edge remains my favorite title to play in 3D Vision). Then after a bit of time passed, people complained they didn't want it because it was expensive, performance hungry, and required eyewear--the latter being I find the most silly since glasses are so common already. Now, it's such a niche market that even Nvidia is cheaping out on their support for it.

Once these things are possible without extra headgear, or find ways to involve the body from head to toe (full body motion), VR, or the other AR as Bob refers to the other side, it'll really take off. Matured and easier manufacturing of either option would also help concerning pricing.

 

[Kibaruk]

Nothing about battery improvements and upgrades on heat over energy usage??

 

[deemon]

6. nope. even on personal level it has been completely impactless so far.

 

[George Jenkins]

No "death of the pc" prediction?

Though not dead, the market flatlined and companies are seeing more value in mobile technology. Microsoft is trying to reinvigorate the PC market with their Universal App design but I don't know the percentage of iOS developers are actually tweaking their code to encompass Microsoft's format. I've played with the Dropbox and other Microsoft Universal apps and they're not very good.