4 Emerging Tech Trends to Watch Out For

In the history of technology there have been several trends that have set milestones and have changed the course of technology forever. While some of these technologies have proven to be more hype than substance and have failed to create real impact, identifying technologies that create real value is like finding a needle in a haystack. The combined giant of social, mobile, cloud and data seems to be driving most of the change and collapsing old business models. Below are the 4 emerging technologies that seem to be causing a stir among tech enthusiasts, but only time will tell if these technologies will eventually enable disruptive change.

1) Convergence of Mobile and Cloud: Anyone who has been listening, even with only one ear, will agree that mobile and the cloud have been at the forefront of technological innovation in recent years. The convergence of cloud and mobile computing, also known as ‘mobile cloud’, has been gaining momentum of late. The advantage of the mobile cloud is that it makes it easy to build high-performance enterprise mobile applications that use the cloud resource as processing power and storage. Juniper Research suggests that 75% of mobile cloud app growth will be driven by enterprise users. By 2014, the market for cloud-based mobile applications is expected to approach $9.5 billion, Gartner Research suggests.

2) Internet of Things: The concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) has been around for quite some time, but of late it has gained traction. The Internet of Things fundamentally involves the incorporation of sensors and actuators into physical objects. Physical objects can be anything from infrastructure to medical devices. Sensors on these physical objects are connected via wired and wireless networks, often using Internet Protocol (IP). These sensors generate a massive volume of data that is in turn analyzed by computers. A fitting example of IoT would be pill-shaped micro-cameras that travel through the human digestive tract and send back numerous images that are used to diagnose disease. Such technologies are essentially redefining the relationship between humans and machines.

3) Innovations in the user interface (UI): Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, we have witnessed a major change in the way we interact with devices. Many innovative user interfaces have appeared in recent years, such as driverless interfaces (Microsoft Kinect), multi-touch trackpads (Apple), and a few others. These user interface innovations are rapidly replacing mainstream/traditional input devices. The near future will see the emergence of more such innovative interfaces that will be easy to use and more effective.

4) Augmented Reality: Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that has been imagined for a while (think Arnold Schwarzenegger’s virtual retina display in ‘The Terminator’). In augmented reality, elements of the real world are supplemented by computer-generated inputs (sound, video, graphics, and GPS data). Several AR apps are already available for mobile devices. Google intends to take AR to the next level through its next product ‘Google Glasses’. Google’s entry into this space has generated a lot of interest, and there is potential for this technology to go mainstream. AR data can be displayed on devices such as glasses, contact lenses, virtual retina display, etc. Augmented reality has the potential to open up a new perspective of application innovation.