The Best of 2018’s Tech

Last year saw its share of ups and downs in the technology-verse – with scientists and developers cheering the success of Sophia The Robot and shaking their heads at a multitude of cyber attacks against companies such as Uber, Yahoo, Google, etc. The struggle continues!

But 2018 will hopefully see a brighter day, with consumers anticipating the release of the next new generation of mobile devices and other goodies (and who knows, we might just see bendable technology). We may have come a long way, but the goal this year is to make the ‘best’ even better. Take a look at these promising inventions for 2018.

If you thought your 55-inch LED television was huge, think again. Inches are about to be next level and we’re not talking about hair. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show which took place in Las Vegas, Samsung unveiled its latest product – a massive 146-inch television screen dubbed ‘The Wall’. That’s the size of an entire wall. It’s so big, you might as well turn your living room into a movie theatre.

Other than Samsung’s revelation, it looks like artificial intelligence will integrate more with your television and LG already has a running start. Its premium televisions will include a system known as DeepThinkQ and Google Assistant backing. That means more voice-operated functions. Sounds pretty cool (and expensive) to us!

If you think Sophia is the highest level of robotics, you’re wrong. It’s about to get intense. Introducing Aeolus Bot, a robotic assistant that vacuums floors, hands things to you and comes with the built-in virtual assistant from Google Alexa which means more functions can be activated via your voice. ‘iRobot’, is that you?

And then there’s LG Cloi – a little robot friend that can manage your smart home and make a couple of jokes. Mashable tested the little bugger on Snapchat last year and it didn’t do so bad, but needs more upgrades and bug fixes.

Aibo is Sony’s latest invention, a cute mechanical puppy which mimics the actions of a dog and recognises voice instructions.

Expect these products to cost you an arm and a leg (or a seven-day trip to the Bahamas excluding return flights).

Bitcoins have been showing promise, but with an unstable market, many people who invested lost a lot of money. Last month, investors rejoiced when the currency’s value reached a high mark, but days later, it crashed.

So far, it’s been stable, but the fate of the Bitcoin remains unknown. Financial advisors are finding this currency quite tricky – with many claiming that it’s wise to invest, but not too much. Or not at all.

Oh, and it looks like there’s a new currency cowboy in town. Dogecoin, digital currency which was actually launched in 2013, is now worth US$2 billion dollars, although its worlds behind Bitcoin (which is worth US$270 billion). Does this mean that digital currency is the future? Possibly.

Guess who’s banking in on virtual reality headsets? That’s right – everyone. Several developers blessed 2018 with new devices, including HTC’s much-publicised Pro headset.

The smooth-looking device promises a “heightened sense of presence” and with this kind of invention, it means better quality in terms of gaming and a realistic approach of programming.

And it looks like Huawei is getting into it too.

The tech giant showcased VR2 which allows you to play and connect your phone, tablet, etc and have the ultimate VR experience.

But more people are becoming aware of the sudden transformation into the virtual world, which results in motion sickness, dizziness and other symptoms. So if you’re susceptible to that, rather skip the VR gaming. Others get used to it after a while, but remember your eyes are as precious to you as the ring is to ‘Lord of the Rings” Gollum, so if they hurt, ditch the device.

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