The Tech Experts Have Spoken! Top Gadgets and Trends in 2014

While it’s not an exact science, predicting the latest tech trends is slightly easier than most subjective predictions in the worlds of fashion, design, politics, etc. This is because we already have the benefit of seeing much of these cool gadgets in beta, or previewed at tech shows and in the media. In this blog, we are going to explore the latest gadgets and gizmos that are going to make our lives so much easier and more exciting.

Personally, I was disappointed to not hear any rumors of personal jet packs, flying cars, android girlfriends, and other cool gadgets, but after researching some of the Internet’s most popular tech sites and reacting to the tech experts’ personal predictions for 2014, I have come up with a list of tech projections for 2014 to get you all excited about the coming year:

Original source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/13/gameface-labs-hands-on-ces-2014/

1.       Virtual Reality Headset

Now I know that you’re probably thinking that virtual reality is not even close to being new tech and that this guy is a lunatic, but the current virtual reality headset technology is a far cry from the 90s version of this technology that was powered by very basic software and graphics and had a distinctly “unreal” environment and movement. The current VR software and headsets place players in a far more realistic environment and represent a much more natural feeling of movement and submersion.

The headsets and gaming technology are currently being developed by companies that include Oculus Rift and Sony. Is this the next revolution in gameplay and design? In 2014 this is set to be the biggest gaming evolution since motion control and Wi-Fi.

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Original source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/arieladams/2014/01/13/top-5-smartwatches-ces-2014/

2.       Smartwatch

The rise of the smartwatch was predicted at this time last year and became widely available by the end of 2013. But it’s in 2014 that this Bluetooth-based technology will catch on as the next trend or die off as the latest fad! The biggest players in this niche product space will be fighting for market control. Companies like Samsung and Sony as well as indie tech companies like Pebble and Martian (that provide awesome voice-command features) are producing smartwatches that look like the dream sci-fi products of our childhood.

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Original source: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/hometech/nbn-clears-the-way-for-4k-video-20130124-2d8fw.html

3.       4K HDTV

Just as the price of HDTVs become affordable for everyone, those pesky technology companies start developing bigger and better TVs. If you haven’t already heard, the 4K TV (or Ultra High Definition TV, as it’s also known) has a screen resolution that is seriously pushing the limits of a person’s ability to actually see that much detail! Current HDTVs have a pixel definition of 1080 pixels, whereas the new 4K machines have a resolution of 4,000 pixels. The resolution has been described as “like looking out of a window.”

Because of our love affair with the TV and our obsession with bigger and badder resolution, it’s likely that 4K TVs will gain greater exposure in 2014. But the jury’s out on whether these super-expensive items will catch on with a public who have only just upgraded their TVs!

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Original source: https://store.nest.com/#nest-gear

4.       Smart Homes

The home will become even smarter in 2014 with a cavalcade of products that enable users to secure doors, lock windows, open garages, detect smoke, etc., all from the comfort of their mobile device. It’s fair to say that these products have existed for some time now, but 2014 will likely be the year that these products enter the mass market and become cheaper and more readily available to consumers.

The frontrunners of this technology are companies like Nest, who have created gorgeous-looking thermostats and smoke alarms, and Alarm.com, who create entire smart home systems that you can control from your smart device.

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 5. 3D Gesture/ Holographic Interface

The Xbox Kinect seems to be just the beginning of this radical new trend for gesture-controlled technology. Although we’re unlikely to have the technology outlined in the video above available in 2014, holographic interface technology is likely to get massive exposure in 2014. An early adopter of this technology has been HP, who released the Leap Motion Controller in 2013 to give us a taste of the possibilities it represents for design, gaming, and a host of other applications. The idea that you can design something using gesture controls rather than needing to touch a mouse keyboard (or even a screen) is truly from the future.

Frantically being worked on by all the major tech companies, Direct3D represents a huge leap forward in how we interact with our digital world.

• That completes this list of the latest gadgets and gizmos we think will be big news this year. Please reply to this post with your own suggestions and ideas of what in the tech world you think will make a major breakthrough in 2014.