The world of cinema has repeatedly imagined what technology would have been like in 2020. Just think of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim”, or Doug Liman’s “Edge of Tomorrow – Without Tomorrow”, just to mention a few films set in year that is coming.
In short, between giant robots and advanced exoskeletons, cinema has always imagined 2020 as a revolutionary year for technology. However, just a few days after the “fateful moment”, the time has come to try to understand what the innovations that will mark next year will really be.
Folding devices – Motorola RAZR
Folding devices, which are already starting to arrive in Italy, will probably be one of the technologies that will mark 2020 more. We are in fact talking about devices capable of expanding the common screens that we usually find on smartphones, giving us the opportunity to have a tablet in your pocket. In addition, enthusiasts later in age will be able to rediscover the pleasure of storing the mobile device in the jacket pocket, a practice that has not been possible for several years now, given the growing size of smartphone screens.
In short, it is a technology that could revolutionize a stale market like that of smartphones. If we had to choose an exponent of this category of products, at the moment we would focus on Motorola RAZR, smartphone that should arrive in Italy at a price of 1599 euros in the first months of 2020. It is in fact the most inspired folding device, so much so that even Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 seems to want to follow a path similar to that followed by the Lenovo brand.
The new era of data connection – 5G
Although the first 5G applications in Italy have already been seen, many think that 2020 will be the year when the standard will finally begin to consolidate, especially thanks to the arrival on the market of devices for all budgets and the expansion of the network coverage. On the other hand, Xiaomi has already announced that all its smartphones that will come out next year with a starting price of at least 250 euros will have support for 5G. Furthermore, we hear more and more often about cities finally covered by this technology. For example, TIM recently brought 5G to Genoa and obviously there are big plans regarding the expansion of the network over the next twelve months.
Many experts have stated that the year ahead may be the good one to start with get 5G to the mass. It may take several years before it reaches a similar spread to 4G, but in 2020 it will begin to seriously enter the new era of data connection. In this regard, Intel’s Asha Keddy wrote in an official blog post: “From cars connected to immersive multimedia experiences to drones, to agriculture improved through artificial intelligence and to intelligent cities, we can only begin to guess what we can achieve with 5G“.
No more physical SIMs – eSIM
Forget the old physical coupons: eSIMs have already become reality in Italy thanks to TIM for a few weeks, given that the telephone operator has started to distribute them through some centers. In short, the future is clear: we will no longer have to insert a card into the smartphone, but everything will be done virtually, via QR Code and various codes. The advantages are clear: possibility to switch from one device to another through a few taps, essentially immediate operator changes and more space available to manufacturers regarding hardware.
ESIMs are the future of this technology and many think that 2020 will be the year in which many people will start adopting these virtual cards. On the other hand, as we have explained to you in our in-depth analysis on eSIM, during the next twelve months there will be many operators who will move in this direction.
Fast charging of smartphones – 100W
2020 will be the year in which fast-charging technologies could come to bring a smartphone dalo 0 to 100% in less than 15 minutes. On the other hand, as you can see in our in-depth analysis on the best fast charging technologies, companies are working hard to bring these solutions to the market as soon as possible.
For example, we think of the 100W charging system recently shown by Xiaomi, able to complete a full charge in just 17 minutes, or the 120W one of Vivo, which achieves the impressive result in 13 minutes. Considering that many smartphones currently have 18W chargers, which also take an hour and a half to fully charge, 2020 could bring a real revolution from this point of view. The classic doubts related to battery wear remain, but manufacturers will have to deal with that.
If we are to talk about the technology most expected by gamers, we can only mention Ray Tracing. This year we have already seen the first implementations, such as the one related to Control, but 2020 will be the year of the renewed AMD Navi architecture, which will bring with it the hardware implementation of Ray Tracing.
This will certainly expand the catchment area and according to many, the next twelve months will be of fundamental importance for the diffusion of technology. Indeed, in 2020 Ray Tracing will land on consoles (Sony has already confirmed support for PlayStation 5, same thing as Microsoft). For more details on the technology and what the benefits are from it, we refer you to our in-depth analysis on Ray Tracing.
