2015 Tech Trends: Forecasting upcoming advancements in technology (1)

With the curtain gradually falling on 2014, the question is: What technological trends can we expect to shape the business world in 2015? Tech aficionados are increasingly on the look out for answers.

To make headway, reflections on the major advances in a wide range of technological fields are being made and used to set the stage for an eagerly anticipated 2015.

Prognosticators have poured over mountains of data, analysing market trends and consumer habits in order to gain greater perspective on what 2015 holds for the tech industry. Often, when looking at future trends it is easy to compartmentalize emerging technologies and imagine them as living separately to one another. The truth is somewhat different – many technologies burst on to the scene as complementary to one another and combined they create the notable shifts in human lifestyle and behaviors which are the talking points of the day.

The challenge for many leading manufacturers of new technologies is how to help consumers understand how these new innovations will impact them as a whole and also identify a common benefit to the technology they see as providing better solutions to everyday life. One of such companies is LG Electronics with its forward-looking products. Context-based computing, the internet of things, fashionable wearables, increased potential for mobile computing and optimized cloud solutions are expected to be the defining trends of 2015 and will all be highlighted at consumer technology’s traditional 2015 curtain- raiser CES.

The next CES will also be its most connected ever, with virtually all attendees sure to be packing the latest smart devices, ready to serve as elite tastemakers by share their opinions on the new products.

At IFA 2014, LG unveiled an engaging catch-all term for the suite of new products showcased in Berlin back in September. ‘Innovation for a Better Life’ encapsulates just how integrated LG has become in consumers’ lives and sees the company further position itself as a brand that delivers a refined, smart user experience across its entire line-up of consumer electronics and home appliances, including the world’s first commercial 4K OLED TV, G Watch R featuring Android WearTM, CordZeroTM vacuum cleaners and appliances that respond to natural language text messages. Speaking at IFA Wayne Park, executive vice president and Global Sales and Marketing Officer at LG Electronics said.

“What consumers really desire is to live a better life without giving up the technology that more often than not makes our lives more complex”. It is a sentiment set to remain underpinned to LG’s communications, past CES and well into 2015.

Though smart technology has been available to fashion designers for well over a decade, only recently has mainstream wearable technology entered into the public eye. Though technology has vastly improved over the last ten years, the main reason for the sudden renaissance in wearable technology is that engineers are finally taking cues from fashion-conscious designers. Now that wearable technology developers have started to understand the way that fashion operates, consumer interest is reaching a fever pitch. While technology is primarily developed with practical application in mind, fashion in contrast is ultimately about beauty, desire, identity, and social standing. Smartwatches are sure to be the big tech item of 2015, and their renewed appeal derives from not just their increased capabilities, but conscious attempts at creating visually striking technology that fits seamlessly into users’ everyday lives.

Smartwatches serve as an excellent case study in fashion-driven wearables because their main competition – luxury wristwatches – have had their primary function displaced by mobile phones.

As a time-telling device, they are redundant; yet this has had scant impact on their sales. Why? Because the devices’ utility has always been second to fashion.

The desire for consumers to separate themselves from the pack, and highlight their status, lifestyle and good taste will always win out over rational assessments of efficacy.

As a leading consumer electronics manufacturer, LG Electronics has kept a watchful eye on global tech trends and is entering 2015 with a variety of cutting-edge products that utilize recent innovations in order to make life easier for consumers.

LG is committed to listening to consumers and putting out the best possible products to the public, so the company is looking for new ways to innovate and enhance the competitiveness of its products.

Though LG pays close attention to the latest trends in the tech market, the company is driven to be trendsetter, not a follower. In the summer of 2014, LG unveiled its much anticipated G Watch.

Though the device’s hardware specifications placed it at the top of its competitive market segment, several reviewers knocked its small screen size and clunky design. LG responded by releasing prototypes of its G Watch R, a more stylish device that boasts a larger, round screen. This story provides an excellent example not only of LG’s willingness to innovate, but of the company’s determination to hold its products to an incredibly high standard.

The G Watch R is one of LG’s leading products heading into 2015, and perfectly exemplifies the strides that the company has made in stylish, context-driven wearable technology. The other items featured in this presentation also demonstrate not only how LG has capitalized on current trends, but how the company plans on staying in front of them. Unmistakably, one of the key techniques that media like to employ when talking new technologies is to compare and contrast new and emerging trends against already established forms, or even other rival emerging technologies. It’s a ‘battle’ format that in the past has encompassed some of history’s most memorable consumer technology shifts such as with home video (VHS vs. Beta) and famously DVDs (Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD).

With LG managing to combine the ‘best of all worlds’ ahead of its competitors in 4K OLED, now the world’s biggest TV makers are looking at a new format to compete on. While not offering the superior picture quality of 4K OLED, Quantum dot technology (QD) offers a straightforward manufacturing process which can provide decent picture quality however at a cheaper cost than using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). The process involves incorporating a film of tiny light-emitting crystals into regular liquid crystal displays (LCD). This debate is set to be a key fixture of CES with rival companies actively pushing QD. LG’s official line is that while the company is pursuing a dual-track strategy with quantum dot and OLED, OLED remains the fundamentally superior product.

Advances in smart technology have made internet connections progressively cheaper and faster. In fact, there are more devices connected to the Internet than people on Earth. If current trends hold, Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) predicts 25 billion devices will be connected by 2015, and 50 billion by 2020. As interconnected devices become more commonplace, developers are looking for new ways to apply the seemingly limitless potential of the vast data networks which have been dubbed “The Internet of Things” (IOT) LG’s Music Flow speakers embody the company’s multifaceted approach to interconnected IOT technology. A “Mesh Network” with dual band Wi-Fi is utilised to create a speaker system that is not dependent on a single access point. By liberating the speaker network from a single Wi-Fi source, users can spread Music Flow speakers across their house without worrying about connectivity issues. As long as a Music Flow speaker can communicate with at least one other Music Flow speaker, it will remain connected to the entire network.

Ben Uzor