In this age of wireless and smartphones, PCs are viewed as relics of the past. Cutting edge tech is bringing the era of personal computers to an end. Critics may regard these as ‘ancient history of digital age’ but there is no denying the accountability and resourcefulness of these robust machines. However, owing to long-standing nostalgia surrounding the old-school screens, a certain section of technophiles have been instrumental in bringing about innovative breakthroughs in the small laptop/desktop forefronts, in today’s era of virtual reality, 4K video format and 5G connectivity. Here we have listed top 10 PC technologies and trends to watch out in 2018.
- VR Headset PCs
VR is becoming a feature of today’s trending tech. It is being developed in a number of shapes and sizes for the average user. Tech mammoths like Dell, Asus, Lenovo are on the verge of releasing mixed-reality headsets. The device will feature interactive 3D objects superimposed on real-life backgrounds. The ‘holographic computers’ will be powered by Intel chips, an integrated GPU, and a 3D RealSense camera to collaborate between the user and the OS.
- Voice Activation
The latest trend of voice-activated assistants is on the rise and the wave is about to hit the PC industry. Like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant, the Microsoft owned Cortana voice commands will be introduced in Windows 10 PCs from this year. Until now, Cortana worked best with short-distance voice commands but all that is set to change with the all-new far-field speech recognition.
- AMD vs. Intel Chips
Intel has always been the leading manufacturer of microprocessor chips. But now the AMD chips pose a considerable threat to the Intel owners. The newly developed Ryzen PC processor is claimed to be 40 % faster than its current PC chips. This announcement will no doubt make a handsome portion of Intel supporters to shift camp with AMD.
- Bluetooth 5
From now onwards, laptops and 2-in-1s will be designed with in-built Bluetooth 5 facility. The Bluetooth 5 is an upgrade over the ageing Bluetooth 4.2. It has an operational range of 400 m of clear line of sight (LOS); although tech analysts put the effective range at 150 m. It is equipped to transmit data at the rate of 2 Mbps- twice as fast as its predecessor.
- 4K & HDR Screens
The edge-to-edge designs crafted by XPS 13 and Lenovo Yoga 910 are all set to be introduced in the upcoming laptops of 2018. 4K and HDR (high dynamic range) screens are bound to make movies and games appear more stunning. Fast-moving sports and action movies will find a new dimension in this latest tech.
- Changed Keyboards
Virtual keyboards are in this year. Apple introduced the Touch Bar and Lenovo replaced its standard keyboard with a virtual one in its Yoga Book. The versatile nature of these keyboards has led Lenovo to add more of these to Chromebooks and 2-in-1s.
- Time to cut down USBs
USB 2.0 slots will soon become redundant with the introduction of USB Type-C jacks. Headphone jacks and SD card slots will retain their position but the 2.0 has got to go. Type-C can be used to charge PCs and connect display or storage devices, besides other peripherals.
- Rise in Storage Device Prices
There will be quite a rise in purchasing cost of SSDs due to ongoing shortages and this in turn will affect price of laptops, 2-in-1 computers and storage compartments. Most PC makers are being forced to add 128 GB or 256 GB SSD in PC by default.
- ARM-based laptops
The first ARM PCs designed for Windows RT failed miserably. But Microsoft is attempting to build PCs with Qualcomm’s ARM-based Snapdragon 835 that will run Win32 applications. Manufacturers are being extra cautious due to the RT fiasco in the past.
- New Storage technologies
Intel is developing Optane, an expensive super fast SSD and DRAM, designed to operate X10 faster than traditional SSDs. Optane is based on 3D Xpoint technology developed by Intel and Micron together. It is still a future tech piece in development.
