2016 Technology Trends

Hopefully you had a fantastic holiday season and will have a prosperous and happy new year.  Today we take a look at a couple of technology trends that will become more prominent this year:

3D printing
3D printing has been a popular talking point for years now. However while the technology is well-established for modeling and prototyping, it has so far failed to make the momentous impact many analysts once predicted.  This was mainly due to the cost of the printers and consumables.  These costs are on a steep downward trend and we may even see 3D printers under the Christmas tree by the end of the year.

4K displays & content
4K Ultra HD is the next generation industry standard resolution for displays in our homes and computers ie. TV’s and monitors.  The reason it’s called 4K is that the images are approximately 4000 pixels wide.  While most of us are currently using full HD (1920×1080) displays, 4K is four times that resolution at 3840×2160 adding about 6.2 million more pixels.  This allows for incredible clarity for video, games and photos.  Currently Netflix and Amazon have content streaming at 4K and it is looking like 2016 is the year the cable providers get on board too.

The following technologies are not necessarily new but are some that we feel are going to see great strides in 2016:

  • Virtual and augmented reality
  • Home automation
  • Wearable technology
  • Online shopping
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Smart cars
  • Drones
  • Smartphone charging speeds and methods
According to the BBC, the following are the top 10 tech trends that will affect business in 2016:
  1. Cybercrime and a renewed emphasis on cybersecurity
  2. The internet of things and the development of the hyper-connected world
  3. Real-time data analytics, not intuition, driving business decisions
  4. New data protection laws forcing firms to rethink compliance strategies
  5. Artificial intelligence and robotics replacing repetitive tasks
  6. Smartphones becoming the primary tool for almost everything
  7. More business applications for virtual and augmented reality tech
  8. Increased personalised and in-store location-based marketing
  9. Drones to be allowed to make deliveries and perform other public tasks
  10. Established businesses to face increased competition from start-ups
Most of the technology trends for 2016 represent a move towards simplicity and convenience, even as the technology gets increasingly complicated.
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