Tech 2013 Hits and Misses…So Far

2013 is turning out to be the “year of the wear”, and mobile payments are looking grrrreat too!

HIT: Glass: Wearable tech is all the rage with Google Glass leading the field. Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical, head-mounted display that is being developed by Google with the mission to producea mass-market, ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like, hands-free format that can interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands. Even though Glass hasn’t officially been available for sale on the mass market, the demand for it is incredible.

HIT: Fitness tech: CNET reports:“For example, Fitbit announced a new tracker, called the Fitbit Flex, which is squarely aimed at the Nike FuelBand and Jawbone Up. A wristband-style gadget, the Flex connects to iPhones and Android handsets to share stats such as the number of steps you take and the quality and duration of your sleep. In the same vein, startup company Basis Science finally disclosed plans to bring its Basis Band health tracker to market.”

HIT: Mobile payment: Phys.org reports: “There are players of all sizes in the burgeoning mobile payment systems industry, including big U.S. financial institutions such as Bank of America and small startups such as Square in San Francisco. It has become a crowded field, and some of the bigger players are expanding their products to set themselves apart.”

MISS: Tablets that aren’t running Apples iOS. Certainly, many people are using tablets and there are a few people not using the iPad. But, well, who’s not using an iPad? Where are they? Anyone I see pecking away is on an iPad. I keep reading articles such as “Death of the Windows Tablet”. I think it’s just a matter of time.

MISS: Symbian mobile operating system. Techweek reports: “Nokia has stopped shipping the devices with Symbian. The PureView808, was the last handset to run the Symbian operating system. The OS loved by many Nokia enthusiasts is well and truly dead – though its death warrant was signed much earlier, in 2011, when Nokia pinned its hopes on Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS.”

Robert Siciliano, is a personal security expert contributor to Just Ask Gemalto and author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! . Disclosures