What’s Coming In 2015 in Tech

With all the new technology constantly being developed and released, customers are left only to wonder what is next. So far, 2014 has already been a big year for new innovations, and 2015 is promising to be just as exciting. So what is coming next?

Wearables:

Google Glass and the Apple Watch are the first two major players in this field, and it is sink or swim. Both technologies have yet to prove their worth, but it seems to be the way the world is shifting. It is no longer easy enough to look at your phone, people now want to have that information at their fingertips, or wrist, or in front of their face at all times.

With the wearable craze may come a new kind of app development and web design. Most higher end websites are built with computers, tablets and phones in mind. But now, with a fourth player in the field, designers and developers will have to add an entirely new trick to their trade.

Mobile payments:

Apple Pay is an important innovation, but the company has a fight on their hands. Companies like Walmart and CVS have already said they will not be accepting the form of payment (and many are coming out with their own payment systems). With all the payment systems rolling out in the near future, Apple is at the front of the game.

Could social payments be next? According to the Huffington Post, Twitter has already rolled out a test, but it will not reach a large audience.

Google Wallet has been out for years, but Google is now improving it to compete with major players. PayPal, who has been processing payments for 15 years, is also getting into the merchant game, but is working to catch up to both Google and Apple.

Single-service apps:

A trend of the past was to try to do everything you could possibly think of with your app. You wanted to draw people in with the amount of information, but it became overwhelming. The trend of the future will be single-serving apps: apps that do one thing, and do it really well. Instagram is a great example of an app that has one purpose: to post pictures. Even Facebook is going the way of the single-serving app, by separating the Facebook Messenger section of their original app into its own app.

In the future, don’t expect apps that will teach you everything you need to know. Expect an app that will teach you one thing, but will make you think it’s the most important thing in the world.

Driverless cars:

While this has been talked about for years, there hasn’t been much movement — so very few people actually knew it was happening. Tesla is out with their car that “will probably be 90 percent capable of autopilot,” according to Tesla’s Elon Musk.

And how will it happen?

“With a combination of various sensors,” he said. “You combine cameras with image recognition with radar and long-range ultrasonics, that’ll do it. Other car companies will follow.”

Google has even rolled out their driverless cars, which have been tested by real people.

Home automation:

Although home automation has been around for a few years, it is in the early stages of rollouts for many companies. Being able to control your home remotely through your phone, or letting your home choose the settings, is appealing to many homeowners. But what can this mean for businesses? Although automation services have been available to companies for a while, they have not been cheap. But with the low prices expected by customers for the services in their homes, it could mean that your office will soon be using the same services you use in your home — but at a premium.

Wink is an example of home automation software. This is a hub used to control and manage the compatible hardware and software like the Nest, Phillips Hue lightbulbs, Dropcam, and more. Wink is fairly inexpensive compared to others, and you can attach a wide range of third party hardware and software — not necessarily only one brand. It also offers developer tools that would allow any manufacturer to create compatible products.

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