Two Growing Mobile Technology Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2017

When you stop and pause to reflect on the advancements in mobile technology and connectivity we have achieved in recent years, the level of functionality and amount of information we now have access to in our pocket-sized devices is quite astounding. However, looking backward is still not as awe inspiring as looking forward to what the future has in store for mobile technology and the increased role that mobile apps will play in catering for the new breed of mobile technology and mobile integrated hardware on the horizon.

Let’s put aside some of the scarier innovations expected to take place in the long-term, such as Elon Musk’s cyborg-predicted future via his ‘brain lace’, a device implanted in the human brain which seeks to connect our minds directly to computer systems and the internet. For now, we’ll focus on the mobile technology trends that are emerging and becoming a reality right now – all of which you’ll want to be following in your role as a tech brand, mobile app business or marketer.

VR & AR

Virtual Reality : With major players now heavily invested in the technology and its developing use, it’s clear VR is here to stay. Both Oculus Rift and HTC’s Vive among others have provided powerful consumer-based VR systems for the home. These are extremely impressive pieces of kit and if you haven’t tried this technology for yourself, then it really is something we urge you arrange. The experiences are unimaginably immersive.

Despite these very powerful and progressive systems, it is mobile technology that has brought VR to the masses in a more accessible format. Google’s ‘Cardboard’ and ‘Day Dream’ products and Samsung’s hugely successful Samsung VR headset have succeeded in providing more attainable VR experiences. They do this directly through smartphones rather than standalone headsets, making VR more accessible than ever.

Augmented Reality : We have seen major strides forward with the use of AR in recent months as new innovations continue to layer a digital interface over the top of our physical world. There is no better example that the world is ready for AR than the 2016 mammoth mobile app, Pokémon GO. This mobile app was a savvy business move by Niantic and achieved in excess of 100 million downloads with users of all ages navigating the physical world via their mobile device screen.

With VR and AR becoming more popular and more easily accessible, particularly through mobile technology, how soon is it until we start to see app developers use AR style interfaces to connect with the IoT and start to bring digital engagement to physical spaces? What is for certain is that over the next 12 to 18 months as the technology becomes more widely adopted, some very interesting opportunities for new ideas and marketing tactics will no doubt emerge.

Home Connectivity & Smart Devices

In the same fashion that the HIVE mobile app burst on to the scene as a convenient solution to controlling your home’s heating and electricity use via a home installed ‘smart meter’, the long forthcoming prophecy of the IoT (Internet of Things) as a day-to-day reality is starting to unfold. From the increased popularity of home security installations and baby monitors that allow you to view your home via a video streaming link on your mobile device, to mobile app controlled light bulbs, our homes are becoming increasingly connected to our smartphones via innovative new devices.

It won’t be long before some sort of mobile app technology controlled HUB in our homes allows us to connect with the vast majority of our daily devices. Everything from checking what’s in your fridge while you’re out on the move to boiling the kettle for when you walk through the door is all imminently possible and on the close horizon. The major hold up in the progression of the Internet of Things has been the amount of competition and lack of collaboration between technology providers, app developers and mobile operating systems. Though it seems increasingly that we’re seeing even Apple now allow for increased developer freedom and other technology providers understanding the value of working together.

We’re a little way off but a connected home controlled via mobile apps is very much within reach and there are examples of this trend working well right now. Couple these innovations with the other mobile technology trends in AR & VR and we’re heading in to a limitless era of mobile technology dominated revolutions set to change how we live and interact with the physical world through our devices.