A New Year, a New Start

So we all know that 2016 was less than what everyone wanted. Between the wars, terrorist attacks, and failed projects, last year was actually pretty rough. However, 2017 holds a lot of promise, at least in the technology field. Read more to find out.



Last year saw the arrival and failure of the Samsung Note 7 and the (arguable) failure of the iPhone 7. Phones and devices exploding/igniting and the questionable design choices of companies such as not including an auxiliary/audio port has set the bar pretty low for the new year. That said, it should be fairly easy for companies to come out with a device that isn't a critical failure. The new iPhone is rumored to have wireless charging capabilities, but that has not yet been confirmed. Lithium Ion battery technology has also improved from the recent failures.

Virtual reality has also been in the news after many companies have released new products and software. With companies like Sony and Playstation getting behind virtual reality with their own headset for the Playstation 4, many other small companies have begun to release their own versions of the headsets. After being purchased by social media giant Facebook, Oculus seems to be taking a backburner and not continuing on many large scale projects.

Self driving cars have also received quite a bit of publicity. With the unveiling of Telsa's self driving ability, more and more manufacturers seem to be giving the thought a chance. As of late 2016, Mercedes Benz and a few other companies have teased the idea of releasing fully automated cars as early as 2018. For the last few years, most new cars have had partial self driving, such as automatic braking and parking assist, but this is only a small part of fully autonomous driving and still usually require some driver interaction. However, the technology is still there and is improving every day.

Any thoughts on this? Any predictions for the new year? Be sure to post them in the comments and follow to stay up to date on the latest science and tech news.