New year, new technology. 2019 has just begun and with it, users will experience new tech innovations this year. We can predict more from CES & MWC this year. So, I made a list of technologies that may change the digital future in 2019. Let’s have a look at it.
Foldable Screens
No one should be left behind. That is the philosophy that Samsung has adopted. The South Korean firm has been working on one of the trends that will bring the new year: the flexible “smartphone”.
Infinity Flex Display offers a new type of mobile experience that allows users to do things that they can not do with a conventional terminal at the moment. It is a compact “smartphone” with a hinge that unfolds so that a larger wraparound screen (such as a 7.3-inch tablet) appears to perform multiple tasks and view content.
Although Samsung did not give a specific date of its launch, it assured that it will be in 2019. And everything points to that it will not be the only company to innovate in the market of smartphones.
It is very likely that Oppo will present in the next edition of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (February 25-28), a folding phone prototype. The new hybrid of mobile and tablet will also double as a book thanks to a special hinge so that it will go from being a 5-inch mobile to a tablet of up to 7 or 8 inches.
Huawei has also confirmed that it will launch a flexible screen phone in 2019. But it will not be its only innovation.
5G Technology
“We are working on flexible phones, 5G flexible phones,” revealed Richard Yu, CEO of the Huawei.
The firm leads the race in another of the novelties of 2019: the deployment of 5G, which will offer new capabilities in the face of the avalanche of connected devices: massive connections, ultra-fast speeds, and ultra-low latency.
Huawei has starred in this 2018 world milestones, such as the first 5G call in Spain or the first 5G video call internationally. Looking ahead to 2019, the company’s objective is to continue betting in the first wave of 5G, with pilots and pre-commercial deployments.
Cybersecurity
Thanks to 5G, more and more devices will be connected through IoT. According to a report by IDC, it is estimated that by 2020 there will be 80,000 million smart devices connected to attendees in the home, so the risks to security and privacy will increase.
Thus, attackers will continue to explore the features of connected devices to take advantage of new vulnerabilities. But it will not be the only worry of the new year. Experts predict 2019 with serious problems, especially related to data protection and privacy.
2018 has been the year in which users have become more aware of how their personal data is in the hands of the big technology companies, who handle them at their whim.
“Facebook and Google have accumulated gigantic user bases, along with overwhelming amounts of personal data about them, which should be protected from unauthorized access,” they say from ESET.
In order to cope with the unprecedented data leaks and personal data abuse, we need to develop a set of rules that companies should be responsible for these incidents. Before this happens, using a reliable VPN (check out some options here) might be the first step to protect your internet privacy. There are a ton of networks to choose from, just make sure to do your own research.
You’ll also like to read: 10 Cyber Security Trends To Look Out For In 2019
Artificial Intelligence
The Artificial Intelligence (AI), led by the US and China, will continue to develop in 2019. We talk about the ability of machines to use algorithms, learn from data and use what they have learned in decision-making, just like what a human does. But the AI does not need to rest, it can work uninterruptedly and much faster and, in addition, its margin of error is minimal. Only those who are prepared will survive in a world dominated by data.
In the autonomous cars, Tesla is able to interpret the data and its environment to perform efficient driving; Amazon uses the AI to offer products that the user is interested in based on their browsing patterns as well as Google with the search results.
But the AI also has its less kind face. In order to face the new challenges, it is time to re-educate millions of people who will be left unemployed.
Therefore, Europe is finalizing its ethical guidelines for AI. The new ethical code, which will be published definitively in March 2019, seeks to ensure an AI “focused on the human being”, based on fundamental rights, ethical principles and values and recognize that this technology provides substantial benefits but can also have a negative impact, such as the development of military weapons.
Blockchain Technology
The blockchain is the technology behind Bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency. The difference is that it allows transactions of any kind to be carried out reliably and safely, without the need for an intermediary.
As indicated in the report “Strategic technological trends for 2019”, the “Blockchain” is a technology in which data is distributed through different servers and its management does not depend on a single entity because it is decentralized, they cannot be modified and they are cryptographically protected, that is, they are safe.
Experts believe that blockchain technology can offer an outlet for the current centralized transaction and recordkeeping mechanisms, and thereby serve as the basis for digital business.
Related read: How is Blockchain Technology Being Increasingly Adopted by Tech Mahindra?
Immersive Experiences
The mixture of virtual reality with the augmented and mixed will offer new immersive experiences. That is to say, it will no longer be enough for the user to put on virtual reality glasses to play a video game. You need to feel at first hand that everything vibrates when there are explosions or shots. Even get to smell the food in restaurants whose dining rooms in 360º offer a new gastronomic experience.
The Catalonia Hotels & Resorts chain can now transform the room and experience immersive 4D experiences without resorting to virtual reality devices for individual use. Through this audiovisual 180º projection system, it is possible to enjoy immersive experiences: from a trip to the bottom of the sea, to overfly the Earth from a spaceship, through the virtual world of a video game.
According to the study, the extended reality businesses -which integrate virtual reality companies, augmented or mixed- have grown by 86.6% in the last two years, coinciding with the boom of the different display devices.
Quantum Computing
The quantum technology is fundamental to solving problems that currently have no solution. Until now, traditional computers move in the binary language, that is, between zeros and ones. The so-called “bits” (information units) can only adopt one of these two values. That way they can store information and do operations. But to increase the power of a computer, among other things, you have to increase the number of “bits”. Thanks to quantum mechanics, scientists have already managed to create the quantum bit: the cubit, a unit of information that does not have the value of 0 and 1, but can have both values at the same time. The result is that quantum computing will allow millions of calculations to be made at the same time.
A quantum computer reads all books from one library at a time, while the traditional one does it in a linear way. Quantum computing will allow to decode the human genome, predict the movement of molecules to design drugs or create a much safer encryption system than the current one.
IBM, Microsoft, and Google are already working on this to provide solutions to the challenges of the future.
Nice blog post on this topic. This is really a nice and informative, containing all information and also has a great impact on the new technology.