This year at the Mobile World Congress, foldable phones were everywhere such as, “Huawei’s Sleek Mate, Xiaomi’s triple-folding model, TCL’s angular DragonHinge design, Oppo’s Prototype, and the Royale Flexpai to LG’s V50 second screen.” Although we have seen these foldable phones advertised, they will not be going on sale in the US with the exception of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold.

These unique new phone designs never become super popular in America. I believe this is because we are majority Apple users. Based on the article it says, “…in the fourth quarter of 2018, Apple controlled a 54 percent chunk of the market, while Samsung had 22 percent — together, the two brands make up more than three-quarters of all phones sold in the US.” I personally think these foldable phones allowing the screen to become almost a tablet could be the future direction most phones are heading.

Even if these phones would be sold in the US they would definitely have an uphill battle trying to get into the market. I do not think I will ever own a foldable phone unless Apple came out with one of its own because that is what I have always used and what I know best and I am sure plenty of users agree with that. It just leaves us waiting around for Apple to step up their phone design and do something more creative like this.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/3/17/18267901/us-foldable-phones-china-import-5g-frustration-problem

There comes a time when senior citizens need help from a caregiver or a relative. If they can’t get that help at home they typically have to move into nursing homes to get the daily help they need. This article describes how smart home technology may be the solution that helps senior citizens remain living independently in their own homes. A concern is that senior citizens will not want to adopt this kind of technology, but a recent survey shows something different. According to the survey, about 64% percent of seniors are ready to embrace the idea of smart technology. WIth about sixty-five million baby boomers getting older,  the market for this technology is expected to reach nearly $30 billion by 2022.

Baby boomers are going to be pushing the age of retirement because people are simply living longer and many do not want to stop working at 65. The surveys also interviewed caretakers of the seniors for their input. Many solutions for seniors are already readily available such as, “safety monitoring, emergency response, communication, home control, automation, and home robots, not to mention autonomous vehicles.” (Clayton Moore, Digital Trends) Another solution that is available is virtual consultations with their doctors which could be helpful in some situations. Surveys also looked at the idea of “fitness-tracking devices, diet and weight-loss tools, wellness monitors that track things like sleep, meditation, pain management, and brain health, and personal sound amplification devices that augment traditional devices like hearing aids.” I think there is plenty of technology currently available to senior citizens and that as technology grows and improves it will help them remain independent. It is definitely a growing market to focus on as the baby boomers age.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/cta-survey-seniors-smart-home-technology/

Apple has come out with 4 generations of watches in the past few years but they have yet to be able to track your sleep. It is a topic of discussion because competitors like Fitbit have had this feature since the beginning. With current devices similar to the Apple watches there are two different kinds of ways to track your sleep. According to the article, “One that simply measures how long you’re horizontal to approximate how well you slept, and another, sleep stage tracking, which uses the wide variety of sensors in modern wearables to make an educated guess not only on how long you slept but how much of that sleep was the coveted REM kind.”

This can be very beneficial for some consumers. Good sleep can be better for your health for a variety of reasons from concentrating better to reducing your risk of diabetes. An issue with Apple trying to add sleep tracking could be the current battery life of the watches which is only around 24 hours. Most owners of Apple watches charge them at night along with their phone. With word that Apple is now testing sleep tracking it is hard to know if it will really be a great feature or if they are just late to the game on this one.

https://gizmodo.com/apple-may-finally-add-sleep-tracking-to-the-apple-watch-1832895850

Virtual Reality is a growing aspect of technology we have discussed a lot in class. Virtual Realty devices are now easy accessible and affordable, such as the headsets you slide your phone into. It is a cool experience but not exactly realistic in terms of getting human-eye resolution. Isn’t that the overall goal of VR? The Finnish company Varjo has officially delivered exactly that.

They just launched a device called VR-1 which is claiming to have more than 60 pixels per degree. This would actually be equivalent to the human eye. This is the catch, it would cost you $6,000. The article states, “According to Varjo, the headset’s resolution is 20 times higher than other devices on the market, and it comes with advanced eye-tracking capabilities. The company said it plans to introduce a mixed reality component later this year.”

Unfortunately, it might be another few years until we see consumers start to own one of these devices. The company only plans to sell to businesses in industries like construction or engineering. They also stated in the article that it does not seem like consumers are warming up to the idea of VR but, for businesses it is quite the opposite. There is not current plan to ever lower the price, but they do believe it will hit the consumer market eventually. This is very interesting to see and I am excited for the future of VR and all of its capabilities.

England, Rachel. “Varjo’s Human-Eye Resolution VR Headset Costs a Mere $6,000.” Engadget, 21 Feb. 2019, www.engadget.com/2019/02/21/varjos-human-eye-resolution-vr-headset-costs-a-mere-6-000/.

Podcasts are now becoming more and more popular. With Apple having its iTunes Podcasting app that makes it very easy to listen to almost any podcast, other companies are looking to challenge that. You-tubers, Instagram Influencers, Actors, Specialists, etc. are all creating podcasts that are taking off based on their original following. Due to this, I myself have been listening to more podcasts. Spotify has now bought Gimlet and Anchor, which are two big Podcast influencers. Gimlet Media has its own studio for podcasts, production, and advertising capabilities that have been used by many for around 4 years now. Where Anchor has a wide platform of tools and creative abilities for podcast creators to use. Both could be very beneficial to Spotify moving forward.

Apple’s podcast app is currently free and easily accessible. But, Spotify costs about $9.99 a month and if you were only using it for podcasts it doesn’t seem worth it. According to the article, “Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said in a blog post Wednesday that Spotify has become the second-biggest podcasting platform in a little less than two years.” Spotify has done this to branch out from music and get in the evolving format and explore the potential growth there is with podcasts. Podcasters I listen to are already advertising listening to them on Spotify instead of other platforms. In addition to this, Nick Quah of Hot Pod, “anticipates Spotify may try to monetize podcasts in the same way that it’s struck deal with musical acts to upload their music directly and automatically receive royalty payouts.” This shows that there is a lot of potential to grow this deal and both of these streaming services will continue to compete to disrupt the market. It may come down to your favorite streaming platform and the apps overall usability to see a clear frontrunner.

The Associated Press. “Spotify Buys Gimlet, Anchor to Ramp up Its Podcast Game.” USA Today. N.p., 6 Feb. 2019. Web, https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2019/02/06/spotify-buys-gimlet-anchor-ramp-up-its-podcast-game/2787981002/