Are you looking ahead to the technology trends that may be just around the corner? Technology is increasingly becoming a dominant factor in our daily lives, and if you’re a tech geek seeking the next big trends, there are a few things to pay attention to.
Here are six of the top tech trends expected by the experts for 2012:
- Multi-function devices. Never before have consumers had the option to forgo carrying numerous entertainment devices – until now. Consumers have begun to use their smartphone as their main device. The smartphones hitting the market are replacing a person’s digital camera, laptop and video games. As technology improves and a device’s ability increases, more and more consumers will rely on one unit to do everything.
- Social networks grow to distribute content. Twitter and Facebook are primarily working as a discovery platform for users. However, experts believe that the increase in users and platform capabilities will enable more content consumption to be driven from those sites. It also remains to be seen how new sites like Pinterest will impact the social media landscape.
- Screens get innovative. As users become more reliant on their mobile devices, the clarity, resolution and durability becomes important. Therefore, manufacturers have introduced more and more touch screen devices that are sensitive to the users’ touch and needs. Another high-profile fad is flexible devices. Nokia and Samsung have both hinted they will release phones with bendable screens this year.
- Voice control. While voice controlled devices have been around for years, they were never really user friendly or accurate – ruining the mystique of the entire project. However, with Apple’s Siri on the iPhone 4S, voice controlled devices may soon be flooding the market as a very feasible advancement.
- More tablets and ultrabooks. The competition between tablets and ultrabooks will heat up in 2012 as more consumers turn to these popular mobile devices. Intel is making a huge push behind ultrabooks this year but this week’s announcement of the new iPad 3 has some experts wondering what the impact will be on other tablet brands and notebook sales in general.
- Mobile payments. There are already a few applications out there that allow a user to purchase merchandise or services with their phones where permitted. Consumers have been slow to adopt them for fear of security risks, but that may change as the convenience of these processes lure vendors to these applications more and more.
Which technology trend are you most excited about? Are there other top trends that you feel should be included in this list? Let us know in the comments section below!
