Technology continues to develop at a fast-pace and it is difficult to predict which devices and applications will take off and which will disappear into the ether. It’s a crowded market and not every launch will be a success. Trawling across the various technology pages, Digital Journal has selected five that might make the cut.
Fitness apps and home gyms
Exercise, gyms and diet products are big-sellers in January. On the tech front, The Guardian profiles the TRX Home Gym. While part of the offering is a seemingly conventional mat and ropes, the TRX app provides curated workouts spanning anything from 10 to 30 minutes. The app is intended to track progress and to act like a personal trainer.
Foldable technology
The foldable smartphone could be with us in 2017, predicts Technology Review. Many of the e-paper based flexible displays are based on OLED technology and its variants. An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emits light due to the electroluminescence of thin films of organic semiconductors, on the nanoscale.
The idea of a foldable smartphone is based on a concept devised by Samsung. The aim is to have a device that allows you to read and view content on a tablet-sized screen. Once finished, the device can be converted into a smartphone-like size for convenient transport. Other companies testing this concept include Lenovo, and JDI.
Business travel
Technology is set to make business travel easier, predicts The Daily Telegraph. While security checks have slowed down the airport experience and made the process less pleasant, especially for the frequent flyer. To aid business people expect to see further checking-in using smartphone apps and cars on stand-by, called via Uber-apps.
Cloud computing
The Cloud or Internet Of Things Companies that use IoT (Internet of Things) looks set to increase in use during 2017, according to Tech Times. Cloud computing is a type of Internet-based computing that provides shared computer processing resources and data to computers and other devices on demand. Continuations with connectivity are are major part of the expansion of the wearables market and storage solutions are needed deal with the huge amounts of data gathered from new products. In addition, industry leader Cisco predicts that very soon, within 2017, 92 percent of data will be cloud-borne. CIO adds that the global public cloud market will top $146 billion in 2017, up from $87 billion in 2015, representing growth at a 22 percent per year.
Sleep aid apps and devices
The final item of technology selected is a sleep monitor, and one more sophisticated that fitness and health devices currently on the market. This is the S+ Sleep Monitor. The device looks like a small cube and it is located near to your bed and it is uses sonar to detect ‘vital signs’. The device monitors the breathing rate of the person and uses this to assess the quality, as well as the duration, of sleep.
