Tag: mobile tech trends

A device to predict the future may not yet have been released, but industry analysts have their own forecasts.

Mobile technology truly solidified itself last year. It was no longer something new or luxurious. It became the standard and the vast majority of people have it. It is the new worldwide norm.

With a new year underway, industry influencers are weighing in with the direction they think 2017 will take.

This year’s mobile technology market will, after all, be taking a new direction. It’s no longer a matter of making itself mainstream. That has already happened. Fresh directions need to be taken in terms of both hardware and software.

The entire concept of “mobile” is expanding. It’s not just a smartphone anymore. Last year planted the seed for the widespread growth of virtual reality, augmented reality, smart home gadgets and even the beginnings of artificial intelligence. So now we’re starting to wonder where that leaves us. In which direction will we take all this smart tech?

Industry analysts are taking a hard look at 2017 mobile technology and have some big predictions.

Among those mobile tech forecasts are the following:

• Changes in “reality” – the stage has been set for virtual reality, augmented reality is already hot (greatly thanks to Pokémon Go) and the iPhone 8 is rumored to be heading in a mixed reality direction. AR, VR and mixed reality are all headed toward more mainstream use.

• Artificial intelligence – we may not yet have reached the point where a robot housekeepers will be moving into our homes, but websites will be getting the next best thing through the more commonplace use of AI-based chatbots.

• Mobile Internet of Things – IoT has been a hot topic for the last handful of years but this year will start to see its use in a much more standard way now that smartphones are in the majority of people’s hands, handbags or pockets. For many, the smartphone is the core of a consumer’s connected life. In 2017, they will become a component of a broader smart environment.

To a certain degree, mobile technology will become so popular that it won’t need the word “mobile” to be used in many areas anymore. Online transactions and interactions will continue shifting away from desktop. The question is whether or not 2017 will bring the world to the point that web traffic is simply assumed to be mobile traffic – no specification needed.

Some people feel that older smartphones offer them everything they need and are holding off upgrades.

The mobile technology industry’s smartphone segment is watching its sales slowing and it has been trying very hard to help to make sure consumers burn through their present devices as fast as they can so they will replace them with something new.

However, there is a chunk of the consumer market that isn’t interested in all the latest bells and whistles.

Despite the fact that carrying older forms of mobile technology, such as smartphones that are older than a couple of years or so, there is a sizeable group of consumers who aren’t taken in by all the efforts the smartphone industry is making to try to push them to drop their old tech in favor of larger screens, touchscreens without physical keyboards, or even non-flip phone designs. There are many different reasons that people are choosing to hang on to their older devices instead of upgrading – even when their mobile providers try to woo them with great upgrade deals in order to stick around with them for another year or two.

Many people find that they reach the point that they know and love the mobile technology they have.

These individuals find that their devices perform all the tasks they need to complete and it stops them from handing even more of their lives over to a device they must carry around all the time.

The truth of the matter is that over 90 percent of smartphone owners change models within every span of two years. This, according to Ramon Llamas of IDC mobile phone trend tracking research firm. That said, there is a small but meaningful percentage of the population that is hanging onto their phones for three, four years or more.

While some people don’t want their devices to be as large as today’s typical offerings, others say that they aren’t actually all that impressed with the features currently being offered and they don’t see any reason to sign on to a new contract or hand over hundreds of dollars when their current mobile devices are still working.

Eventually, all mobile technology does need to be replaced in order to keep up with current standards, but it will be interesting to watch the replacement rates over years to come, and to see if people continue to want the latest or if they begin to hang on to what they already have as the novelty of novelty wears off.