Tech in 2014: What Will Tech Look Like in the Next Year

Trends in technology now move almost as fast as technology develops. Looking at growing tech trends now, what can we expect to see trending in 2014? To get an idea of this, we need to examine what is starting to catch momentum now and what ideas are challenging the current status quo. Here is a look at what we can expect in technology in 2014.

Tech in 2014

Streaming

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A current growing trend that we will likely see expand all the more in the coming year is video and audio streaming. Tech developers are working to unlock the screens, that is, to easily and intuitively share content across all your devices wirelessly. Recently, Google released Chromecast a small USB device that plugs into your TV and allows you to stream content from your Android phone or tablet, as well as iPhone or iPad, directly to your TV over your wireless connection effortlessly.

Apple’s Airplay through its Apple TV device allows similar streaming capabilities but strictly for iOS devices. What developers are attempting to do is create a unified experience across all your screens.

Wearable Tech 

We already see now how the line has blurred between tech and fashion. As tech has grown from merely the domain of the nerdy to encompass the trendy and the fashionable, it was only a matter of time before people began literally wearing tech. Both Apple and Samsung are rumored to be in the works of developing smart watches—the iWatch and Samsung Galaxy Altius.

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Smart watches will link with your phone via Bluetooth and display notifications like text messages and emails and may even allow you to reply directly from the watch rather than dig your phone out of your pocket. 2014 could also see the long awaited release of Google Glass as well. With the major contenders entering the stage of wearable tech, who knows what other gadgets people will be adding to their wardrobes.

Electric Cars

Not too long ago, the idea of electric cars entering the market as major competitors was still an eye-roller. But opinions are beginning to change, especially with the growing success of electric car brand Tesla Motors, who are actively proving how their cars can be used for more than just local drives.The Tesla Model S can take you 300 miles on a full charge.

Plus, Tesla is building super-charging stations around the US, capable of recharging a car’s battery in a fraction of the time of a conventional outlet. In addition to Tesla, major manufacturers are also bringing their own all-electric cars to the market,  like the Nissan Leaf. Couple this with affordable prices for the average consumer in the coming year and we could see a huge increase in zero emission vehicles in 2014.

Phones

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One trend we are not likely to see change is the market focus on smart phones. However, the smart phones themselves might be strikingly different.One major potential innovation coming to phones in 2014 is curved and flexible screens. Earlier this year, Samsung demonstrated their Youm flexible display, because their OLED’s do not require a backlight, they can produced thin, durable screens on flexible plastic.

This creates some great advantages, flexible screens are much better at absorbing shock and will not shatter like glass screens, and flexible screens allow for curved displays, this gives developers more room to design across than just a flat screen; one possible utilization of this was a ticker style notification feed along the curved edge of the phone. The major tech trend for phones in 2014 will be ease of use.

These are just a few examples of what tech trends might look like in 2014. The development of ideas and trends that are being brought to the table now plus the implementation of completely new ideas. Whatever actually comes in tech in 2014, we are sure to see some awesome new trends in tech.

Donna Lee leads the innovation team at http://edictive.com/ her team designs prototypes for her company’s products and tests their hypothesis in the marker. This is a very interesting blend of technology innovation and functional marketing. Donna writes that she actually approached the management team at Edictive and created here own job description for this role.