We’re immersed in technology every day, at home and at work. We’ve grown to value the convenience, security, and entertainment that come with our technology. So, we wanted to gather what our team is excited about in 2023. Below, 10 members of our team discuss a few technologies and tech products they’re especially excited about.
AR
While the metaverse is catching all the hype, Augmented Reality is already a reality (pun intended).
Some estimations place the number of AR-capable devices around 1.7 billion and I can only imagine the amount of AR-powered apps exponentially increasing over the next years. For 2023 I'll have one eye focused on merging native development with AR while having the other set on cross-platform development for AR.
Carlos Oliveira, Technical Architect EMEA
Flutter
Flutter is spectacular, and it only keeps getting better. We’ve been developing Android and iOS apps with Flutter for a few years, and, this year, we also used it for the first time to build a Windows app. The development experience, performance, and versatility offered by Flutter are top-notch, and it’s especially exciting that we can even use it to build web apps now. Looking towards the future, I’m excited to see it continue rolling out to new platforms. Samsung Tizen support is already underway, and, given the connected TV work we do, I hope we’ll continue to see more TV devices supported soon!
Chris Weathers, VP of Technology
Adaptable User Interfaces
The mobile development industry keeps evolving, and next year will be no different. With more users getting Foldable devices and large screen adoption getting higher, like Tablets and OTT devices, companies will need to invest more in adaptable user interfaces for the new form factors to keep the user experience at a good level. The good news is that declarative UI frameworks make this easier and they will continue to grow in adoption and stability. Cross-Platform is another area with growth, especially with new technologies like Kotlin Multiplatform getting stable next year.
Jimmy Morales, Technical Architect LATAM
Apple VR
Apple’s VR headset has been rumored for years now. If you read the latest analysts' predictions from, Ming-Chi Kuo, Mark Gurman, and others, 2023 will be the year. The analysts are predicting the headset will be heavy on gaming, media consumption, and communication, but not a device you wear all day, or as a replacement for real life. This aligns with what Tim Cook said recently “I always think it’s important that people understand what something is, and I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is”. One thing is certain, Apple has been brilliant at taking technology or a product and making it better.
Ted Ismert, President (2018-2023)
Multi-Device Experiences
I am super excited about the evolution of multi-device experiences. Google’s improvements on Wear OS, Apple’s latest continuity features, recent improvements on both platforms with single-tap cross-device casting, and the future of CarPlay…all of these things bring value to our everyday lives by making it easier to live (and thrive) with technology. Yay!
Jenna Carruth, New Business Director
AI
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has been changing how we use our everyday devices, from phones and watches to connected devices. I am excited about AI because it can analyze interactions to enhance personalized experiences. It can predict demand for services in near real-time and identify incidents even before they happen. AI automation can change the way we do things.
Sarika Syamala, Technical Architect
Low Code/No Code
Tools like ChatGPT, Github's Auto Pilot, and the proliferation of low code/no code platforms make it easier to develop applications quickly. These developments will make well-written and performant code created by experienced developers even more valuable as users demand high quality and performance for their digital products.
Jay Gyuricza, former VP of Sales
Matter
I’m hopeful that 2023 may finally be the year we see Matter and Thread roll out to Smart Home devices. If you are like me, you try to stay within a single eco-system for IoT devices as well as the apps that control those devices but it’s impossible to do. Matter is a new smart home standard conceived by Project Connected Home Over IP (Project Chip) in 2019. It's now maintained by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), formerly known as the Zigbee Alliance. The CSA brought many of the biggest smart home players on board with Matter, including Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. When combined with Thread, another dedicated wireless protocol that creates a low-latency offline environment that instantly sends and receives data across devices, your Matter devices continue working even when offline. Version 1.0 of matter was released in October, with 2.0 planned for 2024 – but I still have hope!!
Erik Haines, President (2023-Present)
Interoperability
I am most excited about the willingness of manufacturers to collaborate on interoperability in order to create seamless user experiences. For instance, in 2023, Google will work on expanding its Bluetooth technology, Fast Pair, to provide automatic switching among devices built by other manufacturers, which will open up new experiences, such as:
- Headphones that pair with an Android phone for a call and then switch to a Chromebook for a Zoom meeting independently
- Chromebook users setting up a new laptop from an Android phone, immediately access saved information like Wi-Fi passwords
- Onboarding additional manufacturers, such as Acer, HP, and Intel to use Fast Pair to let people seamlessly sync messages and share files.
As a manufacturer of an entire ecosystem of products, Apple is notorious for thinking of “interoperability” as a term only applicable to Apple devices. But the EU-mandated USB-C charging standard we should see on iPhones in ’23 is not the only new development. A few others showing promise for consumers include:
- Expansion of Passwordless sign in through FIDO, which allows users to automatically access credentials on many devices without having to reenroll every account. It will also allow sign in to an app or website on a nearby device, regardless of the OS platform or browser.
- Improved standards for mobile web browsers, to ensure web applications look and function similarly between Safari, Chrome and Firefox.
Brad Gagne, VP of Device Analytics
Machine Learning
In 2023 artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies will be utilized in a growing number of applications. As more and more open-source projects focused on specific technical problems in this space mature, developers will be utilizing these capabilities. An example of what’s ahead for these technologies is the increasing number of high-quality “deepfake” videos being created with the aid of deep learning. The challenge of detecting and flagging these videos using artificial intelligence and machine learning will evolve quickly as the tools used to both create and detect continue to mature.
David Logan, Technical Architect
