Jitendra Soni highlights the tech news that made headlines through 2018
As the year 2018 comes to an end, we are looking at the dawn of a new era of technology and endless possibilities, let us also have a look at what all happened in 2018, the highs and the lows. We will also look at key developments that paved the way for the future. And boy, a lot seems to have happened during the year that is on its way out!
To be or notch to be
With Apple launching iPhone X late 2017, it was obvious that brands would follow suit. Soon we had the market flooded with wannabe iPhones. Notch was all over. While Apple did have a whole lot of technology crammed into that small space, most of the Android phones lacked these sensors but the notch was duly present.
The notch, which could be seen in different shapes and sizes, divided the community into further two different halves — one which liked the notch and the one which thought that it was a designing disaster.
Almost all brands introduced their phones featuring a notch including Google. Pixel 3XL’s design was disliked by many just because of that huge notch. Apple’s arch rival Samsung resisted the trend till the fag end of 2018, however, at its developer conference the South Korean company showcased multiple display designs with a notch which will be seen in its upcoming phones.
Even though, Vivo did launch more than a few devices housing a notch, it was Vivo NEX which opened the doors of possibilities of having an all display design without a notch, thanks to a mechanical pop-up selfie camera. And yeah it also introduced the in-display fingerprint sensor.
Android gaming phones
Gaming on smartphones took a different route this year. High end games like PUBG and Fortnite etc. have been the talk of the year ushering the era of mobile gaming.
Though the Razer phone was announced in 2017, it was this year that most of the other brands came up with their own variants. Led by Xiaomi’s Black Shark, it was soon joined by ZTE Nubia Red Magic in April and later Asus joined the league with the ROG phone in June.
These phones are a gamer’s delight and come with high end configurations, designed with RGB LED light strips and cool accessories to enjoy the games. Xiaomi, Razer and Nubia have already introduced the second generation of their gaming phones which suggests that this trend is here to stay and we would see more Android gaming phones in 2019.
Facebook Cambridge Analytica
Facebook is the biggest social media network in the world with over 2.2 billion registered users as of January 2018. Such a huge user base means a lot of personal data including users’ interests, behaviours, friends and political interests, among other important data. This data, belonging to millions of users, was harvested by Cambridge Analytica without their consent and used for political purposes.
This was one of the biggest scandals of 2018 and cost billions off Facebook’s share price in a matter of days. It also had Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg testify in front of the Unites Stated Congress.
Huawei and ZTE’s dollar dreams
Huawei and ZTE are two major Chinese mobile and communication equipment makers which have been involved in a lot of controversies throughout year. The United States declared that both the companies could not be trusted because of their close connection with the Chinese government which could use both the companies to spy on the US citizen.
Both Huawei and ZTE were also accused of violating the US trade sanctions for selling telecom equipments to North Korea and Iran. ZTE was slapped with fines amounting into billions of dollars and supply ban from the US which almost had the company shut down its operations.
Huawei, on the other hand, is still at loggerheads with the US government which has urged its allies to stop using Huawei’s products. While the Chinese government is backing its companies, the Trump government isn’t letting the matter settle easily. Would this trade war continue next year too?
Apple losing its pie
Has Apple lost its magic? For the first time, it is under severe pressure because of continuous drop in sales. The iPhone X was a slow starter, while factors like lack of innovation in the current gen iPhones and exorbitant pricing made matters worse.
Apple’s patent infringement dispute with Qualcomm has further deteriorated the situation. Qualcomm winning injunctions against Apple causing a ban on the sales of old iPhones in China and Germany has made matters worse for Apple. The company had reduced 40% manufacturing orders of iPhone X last year, and may see a 15% dip in YoY sales in 2018 causing over 2% dip in revenues in 2019.
Multiple cameras
The year 2018 saw a shift from dual cameras to triple or more in flagship phones. With Google Pixel being the exception, all the flagships this year had two or more camera sensors. Huawei had released some of the best camera phones like the Huawei P20 Pro and Mate 20 Pro. Other key phones with multiple camera sensors were LG V40, Samsung Galaxy S9 and Note 9. Samsung also launched the world’s first Quad camera phone, the Galaxy A9. This is one trend that is expected to continue next year as well.
(A technology buff, Jitendra stays up-to-the-minute of trends in smartphones, gadgets, apps and more.)
