T EC H N O LO GY SPECIAL...Things to Watch in 2013

T EC H N O LO GY Things to Watch in 2013 

So what’s going to be big in the year ahead? JWT’s annual trends report titled ‘100 Things To Watch Out For’ has put the spotlight on technology. 

“This reflects how integral technology is to our lives, how businesses are responding to it and how consumers react to it,” says Ann Mack, director of trendspotting for the New Yorkbased marketing communications brand. A look at some of the things that will shape your world…

TRUST RATINGS
    As the peer-to-peer market expands in size and scope, currency will be only one part of the transactional equation for sites such as Airbnb and Taskrabbit. Enter startups Repify.com and Connect.Me and nonprofits such as Open Identity Exchange that focus on assigning “trust ratings” that reflect whether someone is a good transactional risk. “New trust networks and the reputation capital networks they generate will reinvent the way we think about wealth, markets, power and personal identity in ways we can’t yet even imagine,” says Collaborative Consumption guru Rachel Botsman.
DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS
    Today’s tech giants — Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook chief among them — are working to create or expand ecosystems that lock customers into an array of devices, tools and services. The ultimate goal is to “own every waking moment,” as The New York Times has put it, or serve as “control points to consumers’ digital lives,” as The Wall Street Journal says. Once operating in separate spheres, these heavyweights will increasingly be going head-to-head in the battle for consumers’ hearts, minds and data, a fight that’s intensifying with the advent of the mobile wallet and the proliferation of mobile devices, content streaming and cloud services.
EMOTIONAL RECOGNITION
    Researchers and programmers from Egypt to the UK and the US are working on getting computers to read human emotions through a practice known as “affective computing.” Teaching our increasingly interactive devices to recognize how users are feeling could improve not only basic digital interactions — think Siri commenting cluelessly to frustrated users — but enhance digital education tools or help people on the autism spectrum learn to better “read” others.
PRIVACY ETIQUETTE
    The more that digital sharing becomes a ubiquitous part of life, the more people are looking to formulate rules around the behaviour: an etiquette for how and what is shared. Watch for social media users to start thinking twice about behaviours ranging from photo-tagging to posting congratulatory notes on Facebook as they grow more tuned in to sensitivities around personal privacy.
AFRICAN TECH STARS
    Now that many more parts of Africa are getting Internet access, tech entrepreneurs and engineers are converging in a rapidly rising number of tech hubs and incubators. In Rwanda, for example, the government launched kLab, an “open community innovation center,” as part of its development plan. These hubs are producing innovative ideas, largely focused on mobile tech, born out of local consumer needs.
APPCESSORIES
    Accessories are taking on high-tech functionality, turning into “appcessories.” Hightech specs, like Vuzix’s M100 smart glasses, include microphones, speakers and small screens that provide users with info on the world around them. Wristbands like the Nike+ FuelBand and Jawbone’s re-released UP monitor physical activity and provide stats via a mobile app. Hi-Fun sells gloves with embedded microphones and speakers, lettings users “talk through your hand”.
LIVE-STREAMING LIFE
    Memories will be live-streamed in real time. The newest supercompact video camera from GoPro is 30% smaller and 25% lighter than its predecessors — a big selling point for the skiers, divers and other extreme sports enthusiasts who love to document their exploits — and includes built-in Wi-Fi, enabling live-streaming of footage. The camera can be remotely operated by using a smartphone app.
THE ARABIC WEB
    With smartphones bringing the Internet to more Arabic-only speakers, the Middle East/North Africa region is “a market of untapped potential for online businesses,” as Euromonitor puts it. Despite certain technical challenges, there’s rising incentive as this region of around 420 million people starts warming up to the web. A stumbling block: the regional preference for cash transactions, but local entrepreneurs are working around it.
WIRELESS CHARGING
    Who needs an outlet? The worldwide market for products like Duracell’s Powermat — which wirelessly charges a compatible smartphone — is forecast to leap from around $4.9 billion in 2012 to $15.1 billion in 2020. The adoption of an industry standard by a consortium of manufacturers will help propel this rise. Companies including Starbucks and Delta are putting wireless chargers in their stores, lounges and even Madison Square Garden; Intel is looking to embed the technology in Ultrabooks; and Apple was granted a patent for an alternative system in June. Cars could be next, with companies like Nissan and Rolls-Royce reportedly working on the idea.
CLICK-AND-COLLECT SHOPPING
    Already gaining popularity in parts of Europe, “click and collect” melds digital and physical commerce by letting customers order online, then pick up the goods (frequently groceries) at a store nearby. It’s hyper-convenient, with retrieval often at curbside. In Europe, retailers including Tesco and Asda in the UK and Ahold in the Netherlands now offer the service. A few US retailers are testing the waters. Online retailers including Amazon and eBay are getting into the pickup game too. Look for digital-physical hybrids to expand to more categories, such as home improvement.
MOOC STARS
    As more people sign on to MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), we’ll see a cohort of star instructors emerging. This platform will push the most compelling lecturers to the top — perhaps even enabling them to command Hollywood-level. One rising star is Duke philosophy professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, whose Coursera class “Think Again: How to Reason and Argue” has a roster of 1,50,000 students.
NEWS BITES
    As smartphones proliferate, more people are catching up with the news on their mobile. Watch for consumers to adopt apps that use algorithms to provide summaries of news stories, making it easy to stay current with a quick scan. Summly, an iPhone app created by Nick D’Aloisio, who has been called “the Internet’s newest boy genius,” boils news stories down to about 400 words. And Wavii pares articles to a simple sentence.
COOL TECHIE CAMPS
    Now that it’s cool to be a tech whiz, tweens and teens are attending camps that offer everything from game creation to robotics. iD Tech Camps offers tech camps on US college campuses. eCamp in Israel allows campers to choose among tech-related workshops. SWEappcademy, hosted by Stockholm-based SWE Advertising (a JWT partner agency), gives 10- to 12-year-olds the chance to create mobile apps.
COUPLES APPS
    Social networking apps for couples are emerging as a niche form of social media that combines intimacy with the easysharing benefits of sites like Facebook. Pair, for example, is an app that lets partners send each other private messages, photos, videos, updates and “thumb kisses.” In the two months after its March 2012 launch, Pair gained 2,20,000 users and $4.2 million in funding. Apps like Cupple, Avocado and SimplyUs likewise aim to provide a private platform for couples.
WINDOW SHOPPING
    Store windows are turning into 24/7 retail platforms, via technologies like interactive touch screens and QR codes. In late 2012, PayPal rolled out a test in Amsterdam’s shopping district in which retailers posted QR codes on their storefronts, enabling shoppers with the campaign’s mobile app to scan the code for purchase links to products in the window. JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out)
    It’s the flip side of FOMO: consciously opting out of the endless social media stream, the 24/7 news cycle, the deluge of e-mail and countless other distractions and demands. People are putting their fear of missing out to rest by excising the extraneous and often irrelevant, finding a joy in missing out (blogger and entrepreneur Anil Dash coined the acronym JOMO). DATA SCIENTISTS: THE NEW HOTSHOTS
    With governments and corporations starting to rely on Big Data for decision-making, we’ll see demand explode for the scientists needed to cull insights from the analyses gleaned through analytics platforms. These data wranglers will command heady salaries, as the role becomes increasingly central to business planning processes. LOW-TECH DEVICE CHARGING
    Anumber of companies are devising ways to charge devices without power outlets or wireless chargers. Nokia is developing a Portable Solar Charger for use in places such as Nigeria and Kenya, where sun is plentiful but outlets are not; Sony Japan has released a wind-up charger; Powertrekk has a technology that uses available liquid to create charges. HYPER-PERSONALISED CUSTOMER SERVICE
    Businesses in some industries now have the means to fine-tune their customer service to individual consumers. Restaurants are logging details on customers with the help of software programmes, then catering to various preferences without patrons having to ask. And British Airways launched Know Me in 2012, a programme that aims to provide very personalised service to VIP frequent flyers. MOBILE-OPTIMISED GOES MAINSTREAM
    Agrowing proportion of smartphone owners access the web primarily through the mobile device. But as many as 6 in 10 of Google’s top advertisers did not yet have a mobileoptimised website as of April 2012. As consumer patience wears thin, expect 2013 to be a turning point, with the vast majority of marketers’ sites optimised by year-end.
ONLINE GROCERIES
    Online grocery shopping is going mainstream as more consumers start purchasing across channels. A 2012 Nielsen survey found that 26% respondents planned to buy food and beverage products using a digital device in the next three to six months, up from 18% in 2010.
PERSONAL DATA OWNERSHIP
    With online and mobile consumers generating greater amounts of data and businesses growing more adept at leveraging it, the question of who owns that information is coming to the fore. Increasingly, people will start to perceive their data as currency. We’ll see consumers adopt services like Reputation.com’s upcoming data vault, Personal and Qiy, that helps users limit how much is shared or platforms that help them profit from their data. Users of Enliken download software that tracks their web activity; the money generated from selling the data is then directed to designated charities.
PRIME TIME FOR SECOND SCREEN 2 013 may be the year the internet gains true legitimacy for its original programming. In April, Netflix answers fans’ calls to revive the cult hit Arrested Development. Hulu, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft are all recruiting big-name talent to develop attention-getting web programming, while YouTube’s $100 million bet on programming channels is well under way. With so much invested, web programming is almost too big to fail.
PAPERLESS EDUCATION
    The days of telling students to put pencil to paper are gone. Thanks to tablet computers, the idea of “paperless education” is gaining adherents. US education secretary Arne Duncan has said textbooks should be obsolete “over the next few years”; South Korea is aiming for its schools to be fully paperless by 2015; and UAE is handing out tablets at higher-education institutions.
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN
    Proliferation of online platforms (smartphone, tablet, desktop) is pushing marketers into crossplatform designs that adapt to different screen sizes and devices. Jack Daniel's and Starbucks that have adopted this approach.
SOCIAL MEDIA “CLOAKING”
    As people look for ways to carve out private spaces while living publicly online, watch for services that help them temporarily hide from social media exposure. The notion of “cloaking” comes from Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, who explained: “You can imagine a service that says ‘I don’t want my name to show up on any social services for the next 3 hours.’”
SOCIAL MEDIA HACKS
    With everyone from employers to potential dates routinely gleaning information from Facebook profiles, people are learning to “hack” the social media system in a bid to maintain a certain image. For instance, some create Facebook profiles under pseudonyms known only to friends, and a few reportedly create second profiles portraying an “ideal self”. A November 2012 survey found that 30% of men and 15% of women have created alternative online personas. Watch for more people to game the system as privacy issues multiply.
TABLET SHOPPING
    As a wider array of consumers adopt tablets and more retailers embrace the platfo-rm’s opportunities, watch for Tablet Commerce to take off. The appeal of tablet shopping includes a bigger screen than smartphones and easier touch browsing than traditional e-commerce, among other things. In a 2012 study, about half of merchants surveyed reported higher average orders from tablets than PCs or smartphones. Watch for more creative tablet-based offerings from online retailers as shopaholics develop a new guilty pleasure.
BLOCKING SOCIAL MEDIA BORES
    Some social media users are tiring of finding their feeds stuffed with maddening posts, from political rants to neverending baby pictures. We’ll see more of them adopt Web browser extensions like Unpolitic.me and Unbaby.me, which replace partisan rhetoric and images of infants with alternatives like pictures of kittens or bacon. These extensions could branch out to more categories, offering lighthearted opportunities for brands.
HUMAN-CENTERED TECH
    As voice-activated systems and gesturebased recognition become more sophisticated and experimentation with wearable computing and emotion recognition grows, technology will increasingly adapt to humans. It will become more intuitive, integrating more seamlessly into our lives, rather than requiring people to adjust to it. “We’re entering an age of human-centered design, shaped around people and their existing habits and body language,” Olof Schybergson, founder and CEO of digital consultancy Fjord, told Fast Company. “Instead of learning how to interact with machines, it’s the reverse—machines learn to work with us.”
OBJECTS WITH ATTITUDE
    As more everyday objects evolve into connected, tech-infused smart devices, they’re gaining their own voice. “Toyota Friend,” which launched in Japan in 2012, is a social network of sorts that connects customers with their cars. Owners can “friend” their vehicle, then see information like battery charge and fuel level. Ericsson is developing a prototype Facebook-like interface where users can see detailed messages or instructions from their smart objects (lamps, fridges, ovens, etc.). As objects become interactive, marketers will need to provide them with personalities. DRONES
    Drones aren’t just for military surveillance anymore. Civilians can buy devices like Parrot’s AR Drone 2.0 for just a few hundred dollars, or cobble together amateur versions. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired drew attention to drones when he announced he’d be stepping down to lead a firm that sells low-priced drones and DIY kits. These UAVs usually come with attached cameras. These can be used to check on crops or damaged roofs and assisting with humanitarian aid. THE END OF VOICEMAIL
    Voicemail is gradually going the way of the answering machine or the pager. Checking or leaving messages is coming to feel like a chore, especially for younger people, who have little patience for wading through lengthy menu options when they could text or e-mail much faster. NFC TAGS
    With about 300 million Near Field Communications-enabled mobile devices expected to sell worldwide in 2013, watch for wide adoption of customisable NFC tags. Users can programme these small tags (which also come in bracelet forms) to initiate an array of functions on mobile devices. For instance, just tap the phone to switch it to silent mode, send messages or open up apps. Brands including Sony (Xperia SmartTags) and Samsung (TecTiles stickers) are in the game. MEDICAL SMARTPHONE
    LifeWatch AG has produced the first medical smartphone, featuring built-in sensors for monitoring heart rate, ECG, blood sugar levels, body temperature, even stress levels. Users can also check blood glucose by inserting test strips into the phone. Results can be shared with caretakers, physicians, etc., via email or text. The phone also reminds users to take medication and includes a pedometer application and diet apps. INSTANT-ERASE APPS
    Since the digital record isn’t easily erased, we’ll see more apps and other services that help people guard or instantly delete things they may later regret. Snapchat, for example, is a photo exchange app that lets senders specify how long a recipient can view an image (from 1 to 10 seconds) and notifies senders if the recipient takes a screenshot of the image. TigerText is a similar app. TCR130105