Very rich in promises, the year 2019 will probably mark a turning point in the history of new technologies. Indeed, many projects that seemed previously utopian will materialize during what could be a good year.
From foldable smartphones to instant translators, discover our selection of the must-have products that will make the year 2019 an unforgettable high-tech vintage.
FOLDABLE SMARTPHONES
The realization of a long-standing project
Old dream for all techies, the foldable smartphone is ready to appear this year. In pole position, South Korean manufacturer Samsung opened the show with product presentations made during the last Samsung Developer Conference.
Named “Infinite Flex Display,” this new technology is based on an Amoled slab that can be folded and unfolded as it sees fit. Thus, the display surface of the smartphone is doubled compared to that of a regular device.
As a result, with its 7.3-inch touch-screen surface and 18.5-centimeter diagonal, the foldable smartphone becomes a hybrid device that can look like a tablet when the user wants it.
In order to meet the new features of this device, Google has already announced the update of its Android OS, so that it can include several tasks and open several applications at the same time.
Anyway, the idea is very serious and does not seem to disappear from radar after some unsuccessful attempts. In this sense, the first customer feedback will be decisive in order to design a viable device for long-term use.
A credo that DJ Koh, the President of Samsung Electronics summed up in these terms: “When we offer a foldable phone, it will really make sense for our customers. If I do not judge the customer experience up, I would not want to offer this kind of product.”
However, Samsung is not the only manufacturer to lead this project, with Huawei, Xiaomi, and Motorola also on board.
A welcome competition for consumers, so that very high prices (it is a question of tariffs higher than 2000 euros, for the launch of the first models in March 2019, on the European continent) can quickly fall.
THE CONNECTED MIRROR WITH VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Connected objects have become part of the everyday life of many techies for a few years now. Consistent with an idea often treated in sci-fi stories, a new connected mirror should this time making its appearance in the year2019.
Indeed, the Verdera® Voice Lighted Mirror, supposed to work with Amazon Alexa, will be the first bathroom mirror to have Amazon’s virtual assistant in integrated software. Designed by the manufacturer Kohler, it aims to facilitate the daily lives of its owners, allowing them to perform basic tasks when they do their toilet.
To do this, all the features available on Amazon Echo will be part of it (namely to shop online, listen to music, view various information, etc.) and offer a wide range of options to the most demanding technophiles.
The mirror itself will work with LED lighting, whose dimming can also be adjusted vocally so that you can enjoy the brightness that suits you, without having to move your hands.
In this sense, a double microphone and speakers are integrated into an airtight housing in order to allow you to better direct the operation of your home-connected mirror.
INSTANT TRANSLATORS, TO HELP YOU TRAVEL
“Travel trains youth” but is also a source of hassle for people struggling to tame foreign languages.
So far unavailable for all budding globetrotters, linguistic misunderstanding now seems possible thanks to the instant translators that are due to appear in the year 2019.
As a pioneer, the Chinese distribution giant, Alibaba, has already presented (during the CES) an application delivering an instant translation that appears in subtitles, on the screen of your mobile device. Working together with a Neural Machine Translation (NMT ) module, this voice translator supports only Chinese and English for the time being.
The software remains, however, only at the draft stage and should not be posted on the Alibaba.com platform until around spring 2019.
Designed primarily to facilitate contact between buyers and suppliers in the Chinese marketplace, Alibaba’s translator is far from the only one to compete in this category.
Indeed, Google, Systran, and other groups have been running similar projects in recent years and the arrival of 5G may give a boost to the development of this software. Thus, we are talking about boxes that can instantly translate 30 or even 74 different languages, while devices mixing iDST voice recognition technology and connected headsets are under study.
THE AIR PURIFIER CURTAIN
Air purifiers are not new technology. There are indeed many models that ensure this task more or less effectively. Nevertheless, what is generally a wired cube could now take the form of a curtain with purifying textiles.
Indeed, the giant Ikea has unveiled Gunrid, one of its most ambitious projects, whose release could take place at the end of the year 2019.
Particularly committed to the green field, the Swedish firm intends, therefore, to plant a milestone in the field of clean air, by marketing the first purifying curtain in the world.
According to Florent, founder of the Informatruc website: “[…] it is important to work on products that are relevant to people and products that really solve a problem. […] Everyone deserves to breathe clean air.”
A crucial issue
True guarantor of the health of living beings, the quality of the air is, indeed, one of the major challenges of the current century. According to the WHO, air pollution is even “the main environmental health problem,” directly causing the death of one in eight people worldwide.
External pollution is not the only cause since in some countries indoor pollution is five times higher than that in the open air. A powerful argument for carrying out the development of this project both beneficial and ergonomic, since a curtain is much easier and more elegant to store than a sophisticated machine.
Developed in collaboration with engineers from European and Asian universities, this textile assembly breaks down common pollutants through photocatalysts that react to internal light. Very ingenious, this project should probably emulate and, why not, revolutionize health technologies.
SUPERCHARGERS
At a time when mobile devices are legion, the question of their recharge is more and more pregnant. Indeed, constantly more sophisticated and energy-consuming, mobile devices can no longer rely on the correct autonomy to operate over a satisfactory period.
The charging time becomes crucial, which perfectly understands the Oppo brand, which intends to solve this crucial problem with the commercialization of its Find X super-charger. With the charger, only thirty minutes are enough to charge your smartphone 100%. An incredible time saving, especially for nomadic individuals that are students or young active.
However, one Chinese manufacturer hides another, since Huawei has immediately positioned itself in the field of flash charging. With such competition, it would not be surprising to see devices charging our devices in less than ten minutes… waiting for the arrival of super-batteries.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST 5G MOBILES
Even if 5G is not expected to spread before 2020, the first compatible mobiles should be marketed in the course of the year 2019.
Thus, the largest smartphone manufacturers are on the lookout, Samsung (S10 5G), Huawei (Mate X) or Xiaomi (Mi Mix 3) each preparing a model that will serve as a showcase for this new technology, which will probably change the use we make of smartphones, in the same way, that the 4G could do in time.
To support speeds comparable to fiber, new components, much better than those running on conventional models, enter the manufacturing process of these new smartphones. In this way, the data can be exchanged at 100 Mbps, while the viewing of videos in 8k will become a formality. It will nevertheless be necessary to wait a few months, before making good use of it.
THE NEW SSD CARDS
Combined with the need to improve IT performance, storage technologies are set to flourish in year 2019. Indeed, as of this period, the SSD cards will benefit from the generalization of M.2 NVMe models, which will lead to an increase in storage capacities.
Far more compact and faster than their older 2.5-inch format, the new SSD models will be a quantum leap in the field of new technologies. By making use of the technology of 3D cell layer stacks and QLC memory, manufacturers will, thus, considerably unleash storage capacity, all at extremely reasonable prices.
Among the first beneficiaries are digital cameras, which will benefit from improved flash memory performance (up to 1TB). Smartphones will also see their performance take off, for the same reasons.
THE ARRIVAL OF NEW COMPACT AND OVERPOWERED PROCESSORS
That says improving storage capabilities, says considerable graphics progress. In the year 2019, computers will logically experience an exceptional vintage, with the arrival of the latest AMD chips, named Ryzen 3000. These new processors, engraved in 7 nanometers, are extremely miniaturized in addition to concealing a considerable power (between 8 and 16 cores, if not more).
As a result, the most demanding players will find themselves delighted, as it will become easy to operate AAA and other softs always more greedy in terms of graphics.
Clearly, ahead of its competitors, AMD has only Intel for the sole pursuer, even if it can barely produce 10-nanometer processors.
LAST WORD…
This completes our selection of the most anticipated products of the year 2019. While many projects seem to be on track to change the face of the world of tomorrow, others seem to have reached the stage of drafting. It remains to be seen if we can as quickly make use of instant translators as ultra-fast chargers.
