Upcoming gadgets for 2018...

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

TESLA MODEL 3 (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Electric car manufacturer Tesla will be delivering its hotly anticipated Model 3 vehicle at the end of 2018. This iteration of the stylish roadster brings revolutionary electric car tech at a much more affordable price point. Elon Musk’s creations are far safer, better for the environment and can do 0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds. They also look pretty awesome on the road too.

AIR SELFIE CAMERA DRONE (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Selfie sticks are awkward, flimsy and, let’s face it, not very cool. The AirSelfie camera drone can get you a much better shot and means you have your own personal drone in your pocket. You use it by tossing the mini-drone up into the air, then four turbo fan propellers thrust it up to 20 metres into the sky. It comes with an HD camera, including image stabilization, and gets you a much wider angle. You simply attached the thing to the back of your phone case then control everything from the app.

ACER SPIN 5 (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
The Acer Spin 5 is a versatile laptop that adapts to whatever you need to do. The 360° hinge supports the slim, durable design, whilst also offering four different modes to view the screen. The sleek, stylish metal cover houses a machine with plenty of power to keep you productive. So, whether you’re in entertainment or the traditional laptop mode, its versatile design lets you work and play in style.

FLOW (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Do you know what’s in the air you’re breathing where you live and go to work? It’s going to get a lot easier to keep track of this in 2018 thanks to this nifty bit of kit. Flow tracks what’s in the air around you and sends reports to your phone so you can see where to go to find cleaner air. It’s small, discreet and looks good too.

HOVERBIKE (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Proper hoverbikes are coming in 2018. Yes, you heard it correctly. A Russian company that builds drones has announced a prototype called the Scorpion-3. It’s an electric-powered, single-seat hoverbike and could be ready for release next year. The manufacturers say that they wanted to build something of a hybrid between a motorbike and their quadrocopter drone technology, and this is the result. They say that you won’t need a pilot’s licence or even a motorcycle licence to drive the thing either.

KURI HOME ROBOT (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Meet Kuri, the first release from Mayfield Robotics. Kuri is a real multi-tasker. It can help you out with chores around the house, play your favourite music and other audio content via on-board Bluetooth speakers, take photos and videos of you and your nearest and dearest, and even dance. If you want Kuri to be part of your family, it’ll cost you US$800 and pre-orders are on-going.

WIRELESS OCULUS RIFT (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Virtual Reality has come a long way in 2017 and things are about to get even more exciting this year. The team at virtual reality company Oculus Rift are working on a stand-alone wireless headset that doesn’t need tethering to a computer or smartphone. Code-named “Pacific”, the headset will be much lighter than things we’ve seen this year, have more processing power and better graphics capabilities.

NUKI DOOR SECURITY (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Did you lock the door when you left? Not sure? Well, Nuki’s here to stop you worrying (or arguing) about that again. You can attach the simple mechanism to your door in three minutes and then control it from your phone. You won’t need drills or screws either.

WEARABLE HEALTH MONITORS (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
We’re all now familiar with wearable tech like bracelets that measure our heart rate and activity level, but this year things are expected to step up a gear. Currently under development are smart materials that can track more complex data like skin temperature and muscle contraction. There’ll also be advances in areas such as glucose monitoring and insulin pumps.

GOTENNA MESH (Must-have gadgets for 2018)
Whether you’re at work or on-the-go, you can do pretty much anything with a smartphone. However, it’s useless when you’re offline. goTenna mesh can get you out of a sticky situation when you’re in a total blackout zone. It works through revolutionary mesh networking that privately and automatically relays text messages and GPS locations through other devices to extend beyond your point-to-point range. You also get read receipts and message logs, so it’s more useful than satellite phones and two-way radios.

 

[Mr Allen]

Virtual Reality for Xbox? Might be worth a look, well it would be if the whole VR gimmick didn't originally fail abysmally about 30 years ago way back in the late 80's.

 

[LucyPurrs]

Well, dang, here I was perfectly content not to have a wish list and perfectly satisfied with what I have and then this list comes along!

 

[AGXStarseed]

Well, dang, here I was perfectly content not to have a wish list and perfectly satisfied with what I have and then this list comes along!

Tell me about it.

There's no way I could afford the Hoverbike (over $50,000) and I'd be too scared to ride it even if I could, but that doesn't stop it from looking awesome.

 

[LucyPurrs]

Tell me about it.

There's no way I could afford the Hoverbike (over $50,000) and I'd be too scared to ride it even if I could, but that doesn't stop it from looking awesome.

Well, darn it, that's the one I was interested in too! $50,000+? I'd have to off myself immediately after buying the bike as I'd have nothing left to live on.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Well, darn it, that's the one I was interested in too! $50,000+? I'd have to off myself immediately after buying the bike as I'd have nothing left to live on.

That's just made me think of it in the style of a cartoon comedy sketch - you buy the bike, have no money left so you charge up the bike's power to full, fly up as high and far as you can before the bike runs out of power and then shout something epic during the long plummet - waking up as you hit the ground, realising it was all a dream and asking yourself "what the hell was I drinking last night?"

(Me personally? I'd go all Vegeta from Team Four Star and shout "RENEGADE FOR LIFE!" during the last few seconds of the fall).

 

[VioletHaze_03]

Some of these are cool, but the air robot? Really? Is that nessecary? Last i checked, i really don't think i need a drone to tell me where to breathe. Hoverbike is cool though, hopefully it doesn't catch fire like hoverboards do.

 

[FreeDiver]

Virtual Reality for Xbox? Might be worth a look, well it would be if the whole VR gimmick didn't originally fail abysmally about 30 years ago way back in the late 80's.

Actually don't mock it yet. In the last 2 years, they've overcome one of the biggest hurdles that has plagued VR since it's conception. For the first time in my life. I was able to wear a VR headset for over an hour without getting sick. The systems of the past I could never use for more then 5 minutes without really getting sick. So yes, VR may finally be getting it's day after all these years.

 

[pjcnet]

People seem to forget that the generated electricity required to charge electric cars isn't always green when they talk about how environmentally friendly they are, then the large rechargeable batteries themselves aren't exactly environmentally friendly either, plus they're very expensive and have a limited number of recharges before requiring a replacement. There's also the big disadvantage of the excessive amount of time it takes to recharge electric cars which gives them a limited range without a long break. Traditional electric cars have and will continue to be used, but these issues are preventing them from taking over from most traditional engine driven vehicles and hybrid technology is used a lot more. I see a possible future of fuel cells for electric vehicles which are currently barely used. The big advantage is instead of having to wait hours to charge the vehicle, a liquid or gas fuel is used to refill the battery and therefore almost instantly recharges the vehicle as quickly as if you'd refilled a petrol (AKA. "gas" in the USA) tank. A typically accepted fuel cell currently uses hydrogen which combines with oxygen from the air, another big advantage is that any vehicles that use this technology effectively have zero emissions. Carrying compressed hydrogen is however potentially hazardous, but so is carrying petrol, but perhaps one day a different type of fuel cell will be used instead.

The small camera drone may become popular to some extent, but it's only really using existing drone technology which is currently somewhat a craze, but drones do have serious applications too that may even include a lot of courier services in future. If there becomes too many drones there will also be a lot more drone crashes and it's a lot of money to lose in a few seconds when something goes wrong, that's what puts me off drones generally. Eventually we could see drones crashing into each other as a substantial risk and one day there could even be a requirement for drones that fly over a certain height to be networked into a universal system that controls them like an automated air traffic control which will probably become mandatory and chargeable, you could even have to licence them and perhaps even insure them.

The Acer Spin 5 is a versatile laptop that will probably sell reasonably well, but it's design probably won't become the "norm" and I personally wouldn't pay a lot more for it. Also even though this has improved over the years, the moving part on a laptop can be it's weakest point when it's opened and closed literally 100s, if not 1000s of times in it's normal use because the ribbon connector cable has to be bent every single time, this new design could potentially add to this weakness and I'd want to see it used in the mainstream for years without any major issues before I'd touch it even if the price wasn't much more.

The FLOW that monitors the air around you is an interesting gadget and it's difficult to predict whether it will catch on. I suspect it either won't catch on, or it will be a short term gimmick. With air pollution it's not impossible that this and other similar gadgets will be here to stay, but I doubt most people will be carrying them even in 10 years time. What's more is this technology is hardly new, there's been numerous products available that do similar for quite a while and they haven't become the "norm" either.

The hover bike is interesting, in my opinion it's unlikely to become the "norm" any time soon, but a few people will still use them and there is potential for other vehicles to use drone technology in future too. At the moment the price is high, safety requirements for any domestic use is something that will be very difficult for them to overcome, the flight time is only 40 mins max (in reality it's bound to be considerably less, especially if the person weighs more) which isn't great and I suspect they will become more of an extreme sport than something a lot of people use every day to get to work. If a lot of people did start using them however they'd also need to be regulated.

They've been trying to develop domestic home robots since the 1960s and none have ever seriously caught on. The KURI Home Robot is not much more of an expensive gimmick and toy however, it could have limited sales for a short time, but it can't really do much that can't already be done better apart from things that even children will soon become bored with like dancing. I'd much rather own a budget gaming PC for the $800 price tag or a decent games console for entertainment. Also why would you need the robot to take videos and photos when you could buy a smart phone much cheaper, or even a camcorder, probably with better results? Similarly why would you need that to play videos or music when it can be done much better on current dedicated devices?

The wireless Occulus Rift will have a fair few sales and rivals may also release wireless versions, but they're they're unlikely to be massive. VR was first publicised in the early 1990s and didn't take off in a massive way back then despite an initial craze, then in more recent years it's been introduced to the home market. Despite having initial good sales, the sales later plummeted and most dedicated VR games are still produced by indie developers while serious apps are still specialised and are not the "norm". They tried very hard to market VR by even allowing people to use VR with existing smartphones with systems that cost next to nothing like Google Cardboard, and yet VR still isn't used by the majority of people in their daily lives. VR enthusiasts will buy this latest wireless version of the Occulus Rift and a few more people will join in, but at the moment VR take-up is still likely to remain fairly slow overall. I however still think VR will continue to grow over time and will be fairly large, but even then I think the majority of people will continue using traditional monitors most of the time for the foreseeable future.

The NUKI Door Security system is in some ways a good idea and some people will buy it, but any system that can be controlled by a phone app also has the potential to be hacked. I also think most people will continue to use traditional home security systems and if people want things like this there's already digital door locks which some people prefer not to use.

More advanced wearable health monitors will sell fairly well as have existing health monitors because a lot of people these days are interested in health and fitness in a mostly urban world where gyms and health centres can be big business.

goTenna Mesh has some potential for certain people to be-able to use some smart phone services even when there's no cellphone signal such as people who live or travel to very remote places, although these days it's very rare to lose signal for the vast majority of people and this is becoming even rarer as cell phone technology continues to be more widespread (even if a signal is lost it's only for a few seconds), so such a device is hardly ever really required (some people will still buy it however for extra piece of mind, or just to boast they've got it). People like reporters and people who often go to remote places away from cell phone towers like fisherman are likely to continue to use more expensive satellite phones and radios however. In other words I think it will somewhat sell, but it won't sell in a massive way and it won't become the "norm" for everyday use.

 

[clg114]

People seem to forget that the generated electricity required to charge electric cars isn't always green when they talk about how environmentally friendly they are, then the large rechargeable batteries themselves aren't exactly environmentally friendly either, plus they're very expensive and have a limited number of recharges before requiring a replacement. There's also the big disadvantage of the excessive amount of time it takes to recharge electric cars which gives them a limited range without a long break. Traditional electric cars have and will continue to be used, but these issues are preventing them from taking over from most traditional engine driven vehicles and hybrid technology is used a lot more. I see a possible future of fuel cells for electric vehicles which are currently barely used. The big advantage is instead of having to wait hours to charge the vehicle, a liquid or gas fuel is used to refill the battery and therefore almost instantly recharges the vehicle as quickly as if you'd refilled a petrol (AKA. "gas" in the USA) tank. A typically accepted fuel cell currently uses hydrogen which combines with oxygen from the air, another big advantage is that any vehicles that use this technology effectively have zero emissions. Carrying compressed hydrogen is however potentially hazardous, but so is carrying petrol, but perhaps one day a different type of fuel cell will be used instead.

The small camera drone may become popular to some extent, but it's only really using existing drone technology which is currently somewhat a craze, but drones do have serious applications too that may even include a lot of courier services in future. If there becomes too many drones there will also be a lot more drone crashes and it's a lot of money to lose in a few seconds when something goes wrong, that's what puts me off drones generally. Eventually we could see drones crashing into each other as a substantial risk and one day there could even be a requirement for drones that fly over a certain height to be networked into a universal system that controls them like an automated air traffic control which will probably become mandatory and chargeable, you could even have to licence them and perhaps even insure them.

The Acer Spin 5 is a versatile laptop that will probably sell reasonably well, but it's design probably won't become the "norm" and I personally wouldn't pay a lot more for it. Also even though this has improved over the years, the moving part on a laptop can be it's weakest point when it's opened and closed literally 100s, if not 1000s of times in it's normal use because the ribbon connector cable has to be bent every single time, this new design could potentially add to this weakness and I'd want to see it used in the mainstream for years without any major issues before I'd touch it even if the price wasn't much more.

The FLOW that monitors the air around you is an interesting gadget and it's difficult to predict whether it will catch on. I suspect it either won't catch on, or it will be a short term gimmick. With air pollution it's not impossible that this and other similar gadgets will be here to stay, but I doubt most people will be carrying them even in 10 years time. What's more is this technology is hardly new, there's been numerous products available that do similar for quite a while and they haven't become the "norm" either.

The hover bike is interesting, in my opinion it's unlikely to become the "norm" any time soon, but a few people will still use them and there is potential for other vehicles to use drone technology in future too. At the moment the price is high, safety requirements for any domestic use is something that will be very difficult for them to overcome, the flight time is only 40 mins max (in reality it's bound to be considerably less, especially if the person weighs more) which isn't great and I suspect they will become more of an extreme sport than something a lot of people use every day to get to work. If a lot of people did start using them however they'd also need to be regulated.

They've been trying to develop domestic home robots since the 1960s and none have ever seriously caught on. The KURI Home Robot is not much more of an expensive gimmick and toy however, it could have limited sales for a short time, but it can't really do much that can't already be done better apart from things that even children will soon become bored with like dancing. I'd much rather own a budget gaming PC for the $800 price tag or a decent games console for entertainment. Also why would you need the robot to take videos and photos when you could buy a smart phone much cheaper, or even a camcorder, probably with better results? Similarly why would you need that to play videos or music when it can be done much better on current dedicated devices?

The wireless Occulus Rift will have a fair few sales and rivals may also release wireless versions, but they're they're unlikely to be massive. VR was first publicised in the early 1990s and didn't take off in a massive way back then despite an initial craze, then in more recent years it's been introduced to the home market. Despite having initial good sales, the sales later plummeted and most dedicated VR games are still produced by indie developers while serious apps are still specialised and are not the "norm". They tried very hard to market VR by even allowing people to use VR with existing smartphones with systems that cost next to nothing like Google Cardboard, and yet VR still isn't used by the majority of people in their daily lives. VR enthusiasts will buy this latest wireless version of the Occulus Rift and a few more people will join in, but at the moment VR take-up is still likely to remain fairly slow overall. I however still think VR will continue to grow over time and will be fairly large, but even then I think the majority of people will continue using traditional monitors most of the time for the foreseeable future.

The NUKI Door Security system is in some ways a good idea and some people will buy it, but any system that can be controlled by a phone app also has the potential to be hacked. I also think most people will continue to use traditional home security systems and if people want things like this there's already digital door locks which some people prefer not to use.

More advanced wearable health monitors will sell fairly well as have existing health monitors because a lot of people these days are interested in health and fitness in a mostly urban world where gyms and health centres can be big business.

goTenna Mesh has some potential for certain people to be-able to use some smart phone services even when there's no cellphone signal such as people who live or travel to very remote places, although these days it's very rare to lose signal for the vast majority of people and this is becoming even rarer as cell phone technology continues to be more widespread (even if a signal is lost it's only for a few seconds), so such a device is hardly ever really required (some people will still buy it however for extra piece of mind, or just to boast they've got it). People like reporters and people who often go to remote places away from cell phone towers like fisherman are likely to continue to use more expensive satellite phones and radios however. In other words I think it will somewhat sell, but it won't sell in a massive way and it won't become the "norm" for everyday use.

I believe you are right about electric cars and batteries. With batteries you have a limited range, they are heavy, they are expensive and are not good for the environment. Hydrogen fuel cells are the best thing for electric cars. The only exhaust is water and we have a unlimited supply of hydrogen. Now we just have to come with a cheap, environmentally friendly way to produce and distribute hydrogen. There are cars made that are electric and run on a hydrogen fuel cell. The problem is that there is a very limited number of places to refuel them. I still think hydrogen fuel cells is the future for producing DC electricity.

 

[Mr Allen]

Actually don't mock it yet. In the last 2 years, they've overcome one of the biggest hurdles that has plagued VR since it's conception. For the first time in my life. I was able to wear a VR headset for over an hour without getting sick. The systems of the past I could never use for more then 5 minutes without really getting sick. So yes, VR may finally be getting it's day after all these years.

Well if it comes out here, and the games are any good for it, I MAY get one, no hardware is any cop if the games for it end up being pants.

If I didn't hate Sony I'd borrow a PS4 from somewhere and try out PS VR and Star Trek Bridge Crew.

 

[Bro'Freak]

This is a seriously interesting drone...
The DJI Mavic Air
The DJI Mavic Air Wins