By Saurabh Gandhi:
“Love me or hate me, but you can’t ignore me.” This is what all gadgets seem to be saying to us. Be it a student chatting with his friends on whatsapp or a grandson in US, video chatting with his grandmother in Punjab using iPad’s Facetime — gadgets have become an integral part of many people’s lives. What is interesting is that there is no dearth of innovation in this sphere of life. Let’s look at a few known and a few unknown gadgets you should watch out for in 2014:
Samsung Galaxy S5:
“A few months is a long time in electronics.” It has already been a few months since the S4 released and it certainly has not met the Korean giant’s sales expectations. Add to that the recent release of arch-rival Apple’s iPhone 5S and you realize that you are just months away from seeing another all new Galaxy phone.
Release Date — Rumours on the net put it at around February-March in 2014.
Tech-Specs — Around the time that Apple was releasing its 64 bit processor, Samsung had revealed that one of its devices would be sporting a 64-bit processor. It is expected to take it one step further by upgrading the hardware too. It remains to be seen whether the S5 becomes the first phone to have a 4GB RAM. If so, it will revolutionise the speed of smart phones. My laptop has a 2GB RAM, so I can just imagine how faster this phone could be.
Other Features — The camera of the S4 is rumoured to be updated to 16 Megapixels. Another rumour doing the rounds is that Samsung will take on Apple and HTC by using a metallic look for its S5 instead of the usual plastic one. But this rumour was there before the S4 launch too and consumers were disappointed.
Scanadu Scout:
Whenever we think of medical gadgets (if at all we think about them), it’s just the blood pressure measuring device that is used by people at home. But this gadget’s tagline is “Check your health as easily as your email”.
So what does it do and how does it work? Medical data such as pulse, temperature, oxygen levels, and electrical impulses can be measured. All this simply by pressing this device to your temple. It analyses the data and tells you if you ought to head to the nearest hospital, or not. The developers believe this will reduce hospital readmissions and reduce costs for patients with chronic diseases.
Motorola — Phonebloks:
You may have heard of an assembled computer, where all the parts, like processor, keyboard, monitor, etc. are not of the same company, rather you can select from the best available in each category. What if this experience could be replicated for a smart phone? Phonebloks along with Motorola is trying just this. Just imagine, you have a phone with a very bad battery life, all you need to do is get a better battery and attach it to your phone. Need a faster processor, change your old one with a new one. No need to change your phone just for that one trouble you are having. The concept is called a modular phone. It surely is “a phone worth keeping” but like all ‘too good to be believable things’ the question is “will it ever happen?”
Apple iWatch:
Now, you cannot have an article on gadgets without mentioning Apple. Apart from the usual releases of the new iPhone and the new iPad which are expected in 2014, there is huge speculation around iWatch. The rumours are so true to their name that it isn’t sure whether an iWatch even exists. But the rumours gained traction when Apple CEO Tim Cooks, when asked about the Google Glass (another interesting gadget) said “the wrist is more interesting”.
Release date – 2014
Tech specs — screen size — 1.3 inches to 1.5inch.
Low energy Bluetooth for it to be used along with iPhone and iPad. It is also rumoured to have Siri and maps.
If some of these are what the famous “rumours” say they are, then surely the gadget market will be a buzzy place in 2014.