These types of wearables -- along with
wireless blood pressure kits like iHealth -- will see serious consumer interest
and [be] exciting products next year.”
Other wellness technology on the rise
includes remote health care, the Consumer Electronics Association forecasts.
With this telepresence medicine,
you can visit a virtual doctor anywhere, anytime, just as telecommuting lets
you work from anywhere in the world. In fact, pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens are already testing the
technology, though it’s still unclear how soon patients might expect to see
kiosks.
In the world of gadgets, shoppers will
see a slew of “two-in-one” convertibles that act as both traditional laptops
and more portable tablets, at least for Windows and Intel-based devices. “We will see a huge campaign around
these in 2014, including devices with dual operating systems, i.e. Android Apps
running on Windows machines.”
As for the most revolutionary consumer
tech in 2014 . . . Although they’ve tried for years, the 3D printing industry may finally come to fruition, thanks to palatable
prices and a growing interest in do-it-yourself manufacturing.
Wearables
Technology
has become a part of our daily lives, but 2013 showed the promise of what could
happen if it becomes part of our bodies.
From
our socks to our glasses, tech companies have found ways to add sensors to
everyday items that turned them into mini computers. Fitness trackers and
Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smart watch, which can take photos and answer phone
calls, showed consumers the potential of wearables.
Flying above
Flying drones and advanced robots
will generate a lot of buzz in 2014, but probably won’t be in every home by the
end of the year.
Google and Amazon.com invested
heavily in the development of unmanned aircraft and robots this year, raising
expectations for 2014.
Google’s purchase of Boston Dynamics, best
known for making robots for the Defense Department, raised expectations the
tech giant would develop robots for a mainstream audience. Their robots can
carry heavy loads even on bumpy terrain.
Amazon says it is planning to use drones to
deliver some packages within 30 minutes of being ordered online.
But commercially produced drones
will face a few more roadblocks before they take to the skies. The Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that it selected six
states to test unmanned aircraft system, but it’s unclear when drones will have
easy access to the nation’s airspace.
Companies
to watch
Microsoft
endured a tumultuous 2013, including the continued deterioration of the PC
market and the retirement of longtime chief executive Steve
Ballmer.
Now
all eyes are on the company as it attempts to find its footing.
“Their
successes are overwhelmed by their failures, need to simplify the company. Twitter,
on the other hand, has the opposite problem — the social media company needs to
grow, and grow quickly. Fresh off its 2013 market debut, the six-year-old
company can boast that 18 percent of all Americans have an account on the
service, according to data from the Pew Center for Internet and American Life.
And
though Twitter must focus on aggressive growth to satisfy investors, it also
has to be careful not to lose its scrappy start-up vibe, particularly as it
faces competition from an ever-growing wave of new messaging services such as
Snapchat, which lets users send private messages that erase themselves after 10
seconds.
Watch
your back
Cybercrime
is expected to become even more common in 2014, posing a tricky challenge for
tech companies and retailers encouraging consumers to share information online.
Most
recently, hackers gained access to as many as 40 million credit and debit cards
used by customers of Target during the height of the holiday shopping season,
and analysts say that breach was only the tip of the iceberg.
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