As the year comes to an end we all must put aside the frustrations of shopping, the stress of visiting family, and really try our hardest not to spike grandma\u2019s eggnog.\u00a0 \u201cIsn\u2019t that what Christmas is all about\u201d you say?\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u201d\u00a0 Christmas is about giving awesome techy gifts to one another, and returning ugly sweaters.\u00a0 So as many of us already finished shopping for this year, (those who haven\u2019t I wish you the best of luck out there) we have started to think about what cool gifts and trends are going to appear next year.\u00a0 What features will I be looking for in a good smartphone in 2013?\u00a0 What will make the best gifts?\u00a0 What will I be posting about 365 days from now?<\/p>\n
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Smarter Smart Phones \u2013<\/b> Phones will start to predict what we need and open apps for us before we need them, based on time of day, location, or other factors.\u00a0 This includes more human like interaction from our smartphones, them asking us what we need from them, more intuitive conversation, and perhaps even personality.<\/p>\n
Invisible Apps \u2013 <\/b>Applications that do everything you need but don\u2019t get in the way.\u00a0 Less alerts, less required by the user.\u00a0 These tie in with smarter phones (apps that launch for you).<\/p>\n
Better Voice and Facial Recognition \u2013 <\/b>Voice to text works \u2013 just okay<\/i>. I think next year we will see some huge improvements in voice recognition and perhaps even facial recognition.\u00a0 Whether it is through games, phones, or biomedical engineering, I think we will have devices that will be able to detect emotion and stress by facial patterns and eye movements.\u00a0 Doctors will use them to help diagnose patients from outside the office; games will be able to see how stressed or scared you are from a webcam, and business applications will be able to give you on the fly predictions on how the client is taking your presentation.<\/p>\n
Electronic Wallets \u2013 <\/b>I forget my wallet a lot, but I never forget my phone. If I do, I go back to get it. I can\u2019t function without it most times.\u00a0 Imagine not having to carry a wallet at all, but having your debit and credit information carried in your phone securely.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Google Wallet is trying to accomplish, allowing you to put your cards into your phone, password protect them, and use them at the store using NFC technology.\u00a0 If you lose your phone you can remotely disable the wallet from your Google account.<\/p>\n