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2016: A Technological Lookback
With 2017 right around the corner, we can’t help but tip our hats to many of the advancements in technology that occurred in 2016.Prajesh SJB Rana
With 2017 right around the corner, we can’t help but tip our hats to many of the advancements in technology that occurred in 2016. In fact, 2016 was a year for innovative technology that will drive the technology we expect to see in 2017. We’ve seen smart assistants for home, we’ve seen the internet of things take hold and we’ve also seen self-driving cars drive around actual roads without any driver input at all. We have seen 360 degree videos take root and we’ve even seen VR technology adopted to such an extent that even Nepali developers are tinkering around with the technology. But all innovations aren’t progressive and we’ve seen regressive technology as well, much like the removal of the industry standard 3.5mm headphone jacks on the iPhone which is bound to spill over newer technology as well; we’ve also seen the wide-spread adoption of an upcoming technology like the USB-C standard that might be better but the overall tech industry is still young for.
So just how important has 2016 been grand scale of innovation in technology? Innovation in technology never stops, partly because consumers keep demanding for more and partly because we haven’t seen just how far we can push technology. And 2016 has been no exception, we’ve seen tremendous advancements in the field of technology and as we slowly close of the curtains on the year that was 2016, we take a final look at just how much 2016 managed to develop and advance in the specific field of consumer electronics and technology. Here are a few devices that pushed 2016 in a new frontier of technological innovation.
Nvidia GeForce Pascal Series
The reason why the Pascal architecture by Nvidia has made this list is solely because of how efficient the graphic card really is. Moore’s Law, a law stating that the number of transistors inside a silicon wafer will increase every two years, has slowed down in recent years, now it’s all about architecture and efficient power and information management. The efficiency of the Pascal graphics cards are phenomenal with a 10 time performance boost in comparison with their earlier 2015 Maxwell architecture. Nvidia has also managed to scale down the cards for notebooks and laptops with minimal loss of power because of the 16nm fab size and efficient power consumption, features beneficial for all laptops. Nvidia’s Pascal architecture is a great example of efficient hardware architecture and how efficient constructions of processors can significantly boost raw performance. Efficiency is not only prioritized by graphics card manufacturers but processor manufacturers like Intel are also working with efficiency as seen with the release of newer generations on their Core line of processors.
Google Home
While a home assistant device like the Google Home is not an original idea since Amazon had already released the Amazon Echo back in 2014. Released two years later in 2016, Google Home builds on the original idea of the Echo and makes it better. With the powerful Google ecosystem to back-up the Home, Google Home does a much better job of understanding what you’re telling it to do than the Echo. It even looks better than the Echo with fat bottom and more slim cylindrical top that feels at home in the middle of your home. The introduction of Google Home adds to the idea of a smart-home where can you control all of your technological devices with a simple voice command that the home understands and automates the action. For example, you can tell it to play the latest season of Game of Thrones and the device automatically connects to your TV with the help of Chromecast and streams the series on your TV.
Wireless Technology
All technology pioneers in the industry have hinted at a wireless future where interacting with your devices can be done without the need for a physical cable. This has happened to some extent with the popularization of wireless charging, wireless headphones and wireless storage devices. But with the announcement of a new standard in Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth 5, there are major advancements in the technology. Even though we’ve tried to move to a completely wireless environment, the Bluetooth technology has been holding us back. The technology is not perfect and we’ve had many instances where pairing two Bluetooth devices with each other has been a chore. This has been rectified by Apple to some extent with the inclusion of the W1 chip of their Bluetooth devices that makes up for many of the technology’s failures but Apple being Apple, it limited only to Apple devices. This is why Bluetooth 5 is so important to realize a truly wireless future because being the proprietary technology, it should turn into a standard that all manufacturers can take advantage of.
VR and Augmented Reality
2016 has been all about virtual reality and augmented reality. We saw the first game to utilise augmented technology, Pokémon Go, which went viral after a few days after their official release. One of the first games to fully utilise augmented reality, the game had people moving around their neighbourhoods looking for imaginary friends and people to battle their friends with. We also saw a wide adoption of VR in smartphones because of the Search giant’s inclusion of a Cardboard option on their Android devices. Many smartphones manufacturers quickly jumped on the technology by releasing their own VR headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR headsets and HTC’s Vibe Headsets. Gaming focused VR headset manufacturer Oculus also released their first consumer version of their Rift VR headset on the first quarter of 2016. But although the Oculus Rift hasn’t seen widespread adoption, the tech is being used by many tech minded people. One example of the use of Oculus in mainstream media would be the inclusion of the technology in the popular React videos produced by the Fine Brothers Entertainment on YouTube. Microsoft’s HoloLens, the augmented reality headset has also seen a pre-production release on 2016.
Drones
Drone footage has also been widespread appeal on the internet and with the prices of camera drones falling, drones have turned into a device that many can afford for high-altitude footages. We’ve seen drone footage used in amateur
videos as well as large production units. And with the availability of consumer drones like the DJI Phantom 4 and Parrot Bebop Drone 2, on-the-air photography and videography have started taking root. And with great advancements in image stabilization technology, Drone footage in 2016 looks clean, stable, and awe-inspiring.
While there have been countless advancements in the technology spectrum in 2016, these are just some of the advancements that have reached consumers. While the circuitry inside all of your devices have also been improved from devices in 2015, these are more subtle improvements that consumers won’t notice. But, taking a gander at some of these new and refined technologies will paint a clear picture of what technology looked like in 2016 and hopefully predict the technology that the new year of 2017 will bring us. So, here is to everyone we’ve come to love in 2016 and here’s to experiencing the amazing technology that 2017 will bring us.