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During the last decade, we’ve seen a lot of new technologies emerge that were hard to even imagine a few years ago. This global trend will continue, but what will these new technologies includef? Let’s dive into the hot tech trends to expect in the year 2020!

5G and connected everything

The year 2020 is expected to be a year of worldwide 5G adoption. The main advance of 5G technology is the ability to transmit vast amounts of data via mobile networks. According to experts, this technology has the potential to replace all existing wireless standards, including Wi-Fi, Z-wave, Zigbee, LoRa, and Bluetooth.

For all of us, this means that vendors will be able to bring more and more new devices online. Along with the proliferation of 5G technology, the IoT industry will skyrocket, adding almost every gadget you can find at home today to the global network.

Several countries are running a wide-scale pilot project, and companies like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint promise more comprehensive rollouts of the technology.

Human Augmentation

Despite the common fear of robots taking jobs from people, the year 2020 will be a year when we see a lot of emerging technologies that augment humans both physically and cognitively.

For example, we have already seen lots of smart devices and wearables. Many of these devices can be used to improve safety in the workplace. Robotic technology can even be used to increase productivity and enhance the power of the workforce.

There are companies like Boston Dynamics that have already developed a wide variety of devices for human augmentation. This technology can be used both at factories and for military applications.

Tech-powered health

One of the top trends of the last several years will continue to develop. In particular, we will see more and more health sensors integrated into consumer products. These sensors, accompanied by apps and software that help to analyze collected data, will save lives, prevent diseases, and save millions of dollars for hospitals and health insurance companies.

For example, there are already products like The Withings ScanWatch and app, which can find signs of sleep apnea. The level of understanding of our own bodies and health that we can gain today using these tech tools would have cost thousands of dollars and several tests only a couple of years ago.

More tech for solving personal tasks

The rapid development of the internet, big data, and machine learning technologies have led not only to the birth of next-generation services for professional use but our personal lives are profoundly affected as well.

There is a whole new class of apps that help to optimize almost all aspects of our personal lives. An excellent example is gift-giving. It has always been a massive pain to both find a great gift or get the right present as a giftee.

Now there are apps like Friendsbox that allows you to exchange wish lists based on the content you can find online (for example, on Instagram). Then it is super easy to share these wish lists, reserve, and buy desired items. All in a couple of taps. The process that would take hours and even days a couple of years ago shrank to minutes! And we will see many similar advancements in the future.

More self-driving cars in real life

According to estimates, more than 50 startups are developing a form of LiDAR technology (Light Detection and Ranging), which is used in self-driving cars. The leading project in the field is called Velodyne LiDAR. This company is expected to conduct an IPO, with others raising dozens of millions via venture capital.

Big automakers like Hyundai are rumored to invest in such companies as well. All this gives us a hint on what to expect: the further development of a driverless future.