Does this phone BLAST ?
What about the Headphone Jack?
Oops! Was that waterproof ?
Will I need Dongles for that?
Is this fake news?
Well this was what 2016 was almost all about, some weird questions which seemed quite necessary to be answered !
This was a dramatic year in the world of Tech. Google finally started manufacturing its own hardware products with the the Pixel phones, Google Home and Google WiFi. Apple weirdly took away the head phone jack from the iPhone and went all in for USB-C ports on the Mac, Microsoft announced its competition against Apple with its Surface Studio and the Surface Book, Amazon had a great innovative year in the A.I world, Facebook dealt with a lot of Fake news problems (Still dealing 😏), Samsung surprisingly started blasting one the best phones (Had it survived 😜) of 2016, the Note 7 and we finally have a company (One Plus) which gives you some great premium phones for a affordable price.
Best Of 2016
2016’s Best Tech Company
It was a year where companies had a lot of ups and downs, but the company which for me had the best of 2016 was Amazon. When you see Amazon you see Innovation and thats what they did the best again, Services like the the Amazon Prime, Drone Delivery in the UK, the Amazon GO Program and Launchpad for startups became something to look forward to. They kept on getting their grip tighter and better on their Hardware like the Kindle, the Fire Stick, The Fire TV and Of course the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and the Tap.
Although they have received a tough competition for the Echo from the Google Home, the Alexa based Echo still tops, especially after receiving some new features (what Amazon calls the ‘New Skills’) making it better functional and smarter than the Google Home. This Smart Home system could easily get into more houses next year as more and more people start to know about it.
For the retail part of their business, they are still the best in the game. Their sales keep on increasing as they recorded their highest Holiday Season sale than any other previous years. But the real reason Amazon had a better year than other Tech companies is that they had not so such serious problems to deal with, all they have seen this year is positives.
Google had a great year as well but they still have a job to convince people to switch from their iPhones or the S7’s to go for the Pixel and also try to replace the Echo with the Google Home as the ultimate smart home device. And although they didn’t face the Fake News problem as much as Facebook it was still quite a problem for Google to deal with.
Smartphone’s
I am simply going to name the Google Pixel as the Best smartphone this year even after a close competition from the iPhone 7. Fast charging, a better battery and yes a headphone jack is what sets it apart from the iPhone.
The Other great phones to count on are the S7, The ‘Late’ Note 7 (Had it lasted) and the One Plus 3T. And the other phone that struck my mind was the Xiaomi Mi Mix, not by its usage or performance but by its crazy bezel less design factor.
Laptop’s
Lets make it clear, it has been more of an Laptop year than the smartphone’s. We have seen some great Laptops like the Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360, Microsoft Surface Book, New MacBook Pro’s, Lenovo Yoga 910 and many more.
For me the best Laptop this year was the HP Spectre x360, its a well all around built piece of Tech. It looks super neat, has some well built power and is not over priced either. In all its something which anyone can buy no matter how they use it. Others like the Dell XPS 13, Microsoft Surface Book and the new MacBook Pro’s were also some great Laptops to look out for.
Tablet’s
There’s no argument for which is the best Tablet for 2016. Its clearly the iPad Pro 9.7 inch. Tablets have always been Apple things and no one can take away that title from the iPad even though Microsoft has entered that territory with the Surface Pro it still needs a lot of time to compete the iPads.
AR and VR
Its time for Augmented reality and Virtual reality to enter the consumer market. It was a year where VR dominated than AR, more VR headsets were launched this year like the Day Dream, PS VR and Oculus Rift. People now know what exactly VR is and it is no more a thing of the future, it is the present
But what about AR? It was not a year for AR as such even though Pokemon GO a AR based game (A big big hit) and Microsoft Hololense’s hit the market. People still really don’t exactly know what is AR, it is when people know about it they actually value it. But the way Pokemon GO became the most played game ever it seems 2017 could be the year where AR will be brought forward to people and it can help us do amazing things.
Smart Watches
Pretty much the worst year for these wearables, the only companies which survived this were Apple and FitBit. A boring year for smart watches, nothing really happened that would excite people to buy more. Yes Apple and FitBit have had a great year in these but as a general it was a flop. Pebble, who actually started the trend of Smart watches sold them self for almost nothing to FitBit and Android Wear has almost given up on these or just delayed on them. The only reason is that there is nothing much exciting done on these watches to actually attract people towards them.
New Tech to Look Out
I feel the Smart Home gadgets have really done some great business this year. The Amazon Echo & Echo Dot and the Google Home devices have really come forward and these A.I based devices could make our life a lot more easier and productive at our home.
Although this technology wasn’t introduced this year, it has been a year where it has had a lot of improvements making the A.I more smarter and capable. It was the drones last year and now its these smart home devices which have stole 2016.
2017 and coming……
2016 was a year which was really amazing, it was exciting and a lot of new things came into perspective. But it was also a year where companies had to face a lot of tough times to face and for some companies it was just a start which they have to convert into real success in 2017.
I believe 2017 will be a even bigger year for the world of Tech. Facebook would have to end their privacy and fake news problem, Apple has to bring back their magic touch back again, Google needs a better grip on their new hardware products, Samsung has to be back with a better Note 8, Microsoft has to get Windows better to compete Apple at a higher level and One Plus will have to keep up their great work and Amazon needs to put their beta programs into practice.
For the American Brands it would be a totally different year under the Trump Presidency, new policies and new way to deal, It will really be a year to look out for.
And yes its CES time in a couple of week, nothing but interesting piece if Tech coming up there. Make sure you stay connected to my social media accounts to stay updates.
So HAPPY NEW YEAR in advance and I only hope to make this blog better next year and give you readers some amazing content to read about.
PEACE
PS – I am thinking about either entering into Podcasts or starting a YouTube channel, so do write your recommendations down below or just message me on either Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
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