Trends Identified
On the slow death of pure cable TV
Dan Hays, tech, media, and telecom industry lead, PWC. On the slow death of pure cable TV: As the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” This is especially true for video services, where continued declines in traditional, bundled subscription services are set to reach a breaking point in 2019. We expect to see even more cable, satellite, and fiber-based service providers shifting their focus to a combination of providing broadband services and delivering competitive, over-the-top, cloud-based video streaming services as consumers increasingly reject legacy services and their higher costs.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On startups built on voice platforms
M.G. Siegler, general partner, Google Ventures. On startups built on voice platforms: I continue to be on the lookout for startups in the audible-computing space. The rise of Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home in 2018 has these devices in millions of homes already, and this holiday season should only accelerate that trend. I would include Apple’s AirPods in this general space as well. These are not niche products. But the jury is still out—people need to learn to use these devices beyond just listening to music or asking for the weather. I believe they will, especially as young people grow up with them integrated into their lives. It will take time, but I think the groundwork can be laid in 2019.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On cities realizing the opportunity of micromobility
Miles Clements, partner, Accel. On cities realizing the opportunity of micromobility: 2018 may well have been the year of the scooter, but their impact on cities and archaic urban infrastructure is just beginning to make a dent. Revenue share agreements with high-growth startups like Bird and Lime provide cities with income streams they’ve never before had exposure to. As municipalities invest those dollars into infrastructure improvement and new commuter options, an ecosystem of tools will emerge for urban planning, transit mapping, and ease of navigation around the modern urban environment.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On AR in the enterprise
Greg Sullivan, Director of Communications, mixed reality, Microsoft. On AR in the enterprise: This past year one of the things that’s become clear is that the commercial space has seen the value of HoloLens, and AR/VR/XR in general, in a range of deployments in some very interesting ways. There is a value in taking the digital world and the physical world and bringing them together in meaningful ways. We’re just starting to see people getting a handle on what they can do with the technology–things like remotely assisting someone or laying out physical objects in a digital space. In the next 12 months we expect to continue to realize the commercial value of the HoloLens. We fully expect to see more [enterprise] customers take advantage of HoloLens to achieve more.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On the proliferation of smart cameras
Michael Wolf, former MTV President and current activate CEO.On the proliferation of smart cameras: We see 2019 as the year of the smart camera. Over the next four years, the average American will have 12 smart camera devices in their lives. As part of that, we expect people to increasingly put cameras inside their homes, especially as existing smart speakers add cameras. Already, roughly 18% of adults have non-mobile smart cameras–this is today.The cameras can create networks, and we see the Ring camera on someone’s front door connecting with someone’s car or phone so that everyone else in the neighborhood can see what’s going on. Smart cameras will also enable cashierless retail, seamless facial recognition security (say for going to the ATM), and at-home medical diagnoses. Smart cameras are just exploding, people see them as a way to not only interact but control their own security
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
Silence is gold
"We’re seeing a dramatic escalation in the rate at which people disconnect, unsubscribe and opt out to stem the barrage of content and messages that clutter daily life. As consumers, we’ve come to realize that it’s no longer simply a lifestyle choice, but a serious mental health issue. As we put up more barriers between ourselves and digital technologies, organizations must learn how to offer value to users who crave quiet in a noisy world."
2019
Fjord trends 2019
Fjord
On drones in 2019
Scott Parazynski, CEO, fluidity (and former astronaut).On drones in 2019: Drones will continue to pop up in amazing new applications in 2019, with ever greater sensor capabilities and advances in pilot-guided automation. We believe that advances in human-machine interfaces in particular will dramatically reduce the training time and cognitive workload for drone pilots, allowing for much wider adoption for enterprise applications in dynamic, unscripted environments. While still a niche market, we see substantial growth in the public safety realm–fire, search and rescue, police and security–as well as DoD and security applications.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On laying the groundwork for flying cars
Carl Esposito, President of Electronic Solutions, Honeywell Aerospace. On laying the groundwork for flying cars: The work being done over the next 12 months will be crucial to making the vision for urban air mobility a reality. We’ve seen a lot of innovative and motivated companies come to the table with concept aircraft and business models that sketch out a future where you and I get to commute from point-to-point with ease and convenience in our “flying cars.” But before we cross that threshold, we need to map out the regulations, infrastructure, and relationships that make the skies above our urban environments as safe and efficient as the routes we travel today. A lot of that foundation will be set in 2019.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On how cities with losing Amazon HQ2 bids may still profit
Steve Case, CEO, revolution (and cofounder of AOL).On how cities with losing Amazon HQ2 bids may still profit: It would have been great if Amazon chose an unexpected location between the coasts, but I believe the bid for HQ2 has the potential to deliver significant benefits starting in 2019 for the cities that participated, but didn’t take home the prize. The search for Amazon’s second headquarters drove collaboration between universities, economic development groups, civic leaders, and startup ecosystem builders. Those efforts could likely prove catalytic for these cities, helping to build the next thriving startup community that might–just might–launch the next Amazon. Next year, look for cities to repurpose what they built to lure Amazon to help their own cities rise.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company
On the role of artificial intelligence in health care
Vic Gundotra, CEO, Alivecor.On the role of artificial intelligence in health care: One of the major trends that we’ll see in 2019 is the explosion of devices that push consumers to do more measurement of biometrics like heart rate monitoring and glucose monitoring and remote blood pressure. And we’ll also see and explosion of frustration on the part of doctors around how to make sense of all this data. How do you deal with the data of a consumer constantly generating heart measurements? How do you deal with consumers generating hear data who may be anxious? At some point in 2019 there will be a realization that AI is going to be needed to make sense out of all this data, because physicians don’t have the time to look at this tidal wave of data.
2019
The biggest tech trends of 2019, according to top experts
Fast Company