Cool stuff heading your way this year

This year is going to be great year for tech enthusiasts alike. Last year on September 10, 2014 (correct me if I’m wrong) Microsoft announced windows 10. Apparently skipping 9 to get as far away from windows 8 as possible. At CES (Consumer Electronic Show) there were plenty of new stuff announced. Namely, the Snapdragon 810 processor, USB – Type C, a new BMW electric car, free - form display by SHARP and better drones. I shall further discuss these new advancements below.  

WINDOWS 10

Microsoft did something different this time, in order to appease as many consumers as possible they’ve allowed the BETA build to be downloaded by anyone who wants. Do note that as it is still in BETA it is strongly advisable to not install this onto your primary system. The BETA build has been in progress since its release last year and is expected to end mid-2015. By looking at the picture you will immediately notice that the start bar as returned! Moreover, Microsoft has included Cortana, a digital assistant in-built into the system. Cortana is a primary character of Halo series, Microsoft’s bestselling First Person Shooting game. Recently Microsoft has confirmed that anyone can upgrade to windows 10 for free! And surprisingly enough people with pirated copies could upgrades as well, although, they will not be listed as an original copy. And lastly Microsoft is trying to have a universal app concept. So that and app on your phone could be used on say your XBOX One and on your Surface tablet.

Snapdragon 810

Snapdragon processors are present in a majority of smartphones today. The photo shows the key features that this new processor brings. Although, it is up to the company that builds the phone whether to include all these features or not. For example, a budget phone from HTC will not have gestures and voice activation. Phones like the Nexus 6 and the LG G Flex 2 already house this processor with more to come this year.

USB – TYPE C

‘One cable to connect them all’, quoting CNET. And that’s exactly what this new cable those. Type C can be used for just about anything that needs a cable to be plugged it, be it for HDMI input to charge a laptop. In addition, type C allows for faster charging as it’s able to provide up to 100 watts at 20 volts. Basically now you can charge your iPad by plugging it into your laptop. Another prime feature is faster data transfer rates of up to 10 GBs. That’s an entire HD movie in a second! The only drawback of this is that it requires a different port. And although adapters will be available they would be an additional device to carry with you. The new Google Chromebook and 12 – inch MacBook already have USB type C ports, with more devices coming soon.

Better Drones

CES this year so a wide variety of commercial drones. And costing at less than $1,300 dollars these are pretty hard to pass up. The DJI Inspire 1 (displayed in the picture) is a slightly more expensive drone (costing at about $2,900) but allows users to shoot videos in 4k. For this particular model the carbon – fibre landing gears lifts and rises for take-off and landing, allowing a 360 degree viewing angles and 125 degrees tilt for the camera. 

What’s cool about these new drones is that they’re simple to use. Some models can have the remote connected a tablet so that the consumer can get almost real-time footage from the camera. 

Another Kickstarter started drone called the Air-Dog follows user wherever he or she goes. Allowing for better photos to be takes. 

BMW i8 and i3

Almost anyone who’s watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol should recognise this car. It’s BMW’s new i8, an electric hybrid car. It is similarly prices to the popular Tesla model S, costing at around $130,000 dollars (2.4 Cr Rupees). Besides the futuristic looks the car comes with the BMW TwinPower Turbo 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine. But wireless charging definitely is a unique feature in this car.

‘Premium quality and high performance with a focus on sustainability’ quoting BMW’s brochure is the way forward for compact electric cars. Priced at a much cheaper $42,500 (20 Lac Rupees) the car makes for a pretty decent package. The car has a similar charger to the Tesla Model S, with charging points at malls and BMW service stations (3.5 hour charge time). When BMW unveiled the i3 at CES they had a live demonstration of a futuristic feature. Press a button on the phone’s custom app and it automatically drives to your location. Although this feature still needs work, it’s definitely something to note.  

Free form display

Although Sharp unveiled their free form display technology last year it only recently gain hype when Nintendo become its customer. This could possibly be for a portable gaming console or a sleep-tracking device. The display uses Sharp’s new IGZO technology and can be crafted into almost any irregular shape. Thus making it perfect for car dashboards alike. As this technology is still new, it would be interesting to see where this be in the future. Perhaps an integration in the new IOT (Internet of Things) industry.