2013′s most incredible innovations
By Daren Klum
We did it, we made it to a New Year!!! It’s very clear that 2013 was a year marked by incredible innovation but got overshadowed by the wave upon wave of horrific events. I think we will all agree 2013 will be likely remembered for sequestration, a Government shutdown, a gridlocked congress, a botched Healthcare.gov roll-out, Snowden waking up America to the unprecedented spying operations of our Government on it’s people & allies and of course the global carnage created by mother-nature from NYC getting hit by a hurricane to the Philippines getting wiped off the map. What I hope doesn’t get overlooked is the incredible innovation happening not in just this country but around the world. From breakthroughs in medicine, robotics, communications, computing, the social Internet and high-tech mobility. We live in a time when the pace of technology innovation is no longer based on years but based on minutes, seconds. What a time to live.
So what were some of the technology innovations that blew me away in 2013? What was the defining technology that made 2013 such a special year. Here you go:
Mobility: More than any year in my life mobile had without question the most advancements and fastest rise to popularity. From the small form factor tablets like the Mini, the bevy of Android / Windows tablets to the perfect mobile devices running iOS, Android or WindowsMobile. A lot of money was made in 2013 in the mobile world. Billions! What astounded me were the low powered, high performance chip-sets coming from ARM. Phones are thin, capable, responsive and battery life is almost going beyond marginal to acceptable. We also saw mobile devices in all shapes, sizes and colors. The selections and features seem almost overwhelming. With this mobile revolution there were some big bets made. Some hit big and some hit he floor. The big bets that won in 2013 in the mobile space were all versions of Android (Jelly Bean, Ice Cream Sandwich), the update to iOS 7 (although some would argue) and of course the devices that came with the ecosystem like the Samsung Note III, the Galaxy Tab, the Nexus and for iOS the iPad Air and the Mini. It was a great year and I don’t expect anything to settle down in the mobile space as we head into 2014. I think things will heat up as Apple launches a big screen phablet phone and tries to compete with Android device maker Samsung. The big flop for 2013 was actually a very sad one. The implosion of the new Blackberry that had so much promise and a great user experience. It was sad but they just couldn’t get the market to care. I personally believe had Blackberry done a better job marketing the advantages of the new Blackberry and gone after their core market of “business” they could have really done some damage in the mobile market. Yet, they tried to compete against Apple / Samsung and got killed. Pretty sad. Lesson learned – know your market and know your customer!
Wearable Technology: Wearable technology is in it’s infancy and my prediction is in 2014 you will see some really cool new devices built around some amazing new technology like flexible screens that are paper thin, printable processing technology and advancements in wireless power. As we look at the past year we got a glimpse at where things are heading. A couple of the first wearable devices the Pebble watch that attaches to your phone through Bluetooth. For those wanting more features and a color screen there was the Galaxy Gear smart watch that uses a touch interface. Sony also launched the Sony Smart Watch II that was a great concept and form factor. Also, in 2013 Apple hinted that it too would join the smart watch craze but now it appears to be a 2014 rollout. The good news is mobile wearable technology will continue to develop and will astound. I see huge growth potential here as fashion meets technology and becomes more integrated into every day life. The market flop in the wearable space was Google Glasses because who honestly wants to go into public wearing a camera, who would even want to talk with you wearing those goofy glasses and even more it’s creepy to video “everything.” I know Google wants all of our data, all the time but at what point is there just TMI (too much information)? The market was smart enough on this one and thankfully it will tank and go away. Lets hope.
Battery Operated Cars: What I love about 2013 is that an underdog won in the automotive technology race. If you followed the trials and tribulations of Tesla you would know just how difficult it was birthing a new market for electronic cars. Especially, when you were underfunded initially and had the well entrenched automobile industry going against you. The good thing is underdogs still win. Tesla was a study in never quitting and ultimately they made it along with driving their stock to incredible levels. 2013 showed that America was open to new markets, new technologies and that a car company could be birthed in California and not just Detroit. Also, the story of electric cars couldn’t be told unless you talked about great competitive American made products like the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Camry Hybrid that I drive. I personally like Hybrid technology over battery only cars but they all prove innovation hit our market in 2013 and these are not incremental changes but leaps forward. I expect more movement in this market as other car brands try to out compete and out innovate others. Also, I’m aware of several new technologies for both batteries and even “free air” powered vehicles that will hit the market soon. So there is a ton of innovation in the car industry right now and there is a new renaissance as we wean our way off petroleum based vehicles.
Cheap HDTV: High quality HD pictures and ultra thin big-screen televisions are common place not just luxuries for the rich. You can’t talk about 2013 without talking about the tremendous impact television made on our lives. From the cheap big screen to streaming services like Netflix. There was a high definition revolution in 2013 and HDTV for the masses became a reality. Thanks to WalMart, a little manufacturing mojo from China, stiff competition, automated manufacturing and a enough volume to drive down pricing. The consumer won in this market. In 2014 the jury is out if 4K TV will take off but my guess is a slow adoption because honestly how much HD do you really need? Netflix has proved “good enough wins” over “ultra high quality.”
Appification: If you talk to any VC in the Valley they will tell you software rules, hardware is dead (I don’t agree but that’s me). However, as we talk about innovation in 2013 no greater innovation happened than in software. SDK’s from Android, Apple, Microsoft ruled the day and it seemed like everyone had some kind of application to build. From Angry Birds to Twitter. There was an app for this and an app that. Also, it’s very clear in revenue terms software applications make big money. The cost is minimal to build unless it’s a platform and they can be deployed quickly in multiple marketplaces for rapid adoption. The world loves software and small applications through iTunes / Google Play seems to be the new drug of choice for consumers. The real story though are the rapid development platforms made by the large OS partners that rake in the profits one application at a time. That took incredible innovation to build and was one of the big stories of 2013 in terms of innovation.
Particle Science: We all heard the shot the rang accross the world, you know the Hadron Particle accelerator that found the God Particle or what they call the Higgs Boson. Still, the largest science experiment in the world that is unlocking the mysteries of energy fields and particles is making advancements we cannot even imagine. When one researcher was asked “why spend all this money on this massive multi-billion dollar experiment” his response was amazing. He said “a man created television where you could capture protons and beam them into Grandma’s living room. Well, what if we could take you and put you in grandmas living room. What’s that worth?” So it would appear that teleportation is what the hadron accelerator is all about and its’ a race to see who can get there first. So that’s clearly one of the biggest innovations perhaps of my lifetime. The “wright brothers” of the modern era.
Robot Revolution: The robotic age is finally upon us and in 2013 the robotic community made incredible advancements. So much so that Google has quietly been buying up robotic companies to own this emerging market. In 2013 we saw incredible advancements in robotic engineering that is rapidly changing manufacturing, delivery and even in our homes. iRobot for example has a new breed of smart vacuums that actually work. There are American and Japanese engineers that have created amazing robot prototypes that mimic human movement, and they are getting close to human intelligence. Yes, I said that, human intelligence! Also, incredible inventors like Dean Kamen in 2013 showed that a robotic arm was possible and we are one step closer to making a truly bionic man. Half human, half robot. So it’s very clear as we head into 2014 that robots will play a part in our lives in the future and the lines between real or human could start getting blurred.
CAD Printing: 2013 marked the launch of CAD printers and what we call the ‘maker revolution.’ A maker is someone that can conceive an idea and then simply print the idea into a product. Lower costs CAD printers have become mainstream and anyone can easily make anything then simply print it into existence. This technology is dramatically improving to handle all kinds of elements from plastics to metals. It’s just a matter of time before just about anything you want can be printed right in front of you.
Best innovation of 2013: Without question one of my favorite innovations for 2013 was from Elon Musks company Space X and the reusable rocket. They successfully proved you could reuse a rocket by shooting it into space and then landing it so the components could be reused. This brilliant experiment worked and proved the possibility of rapid deployment into space without costing billions. Elon understands, like me, that mankind is rapidly outgrowing earth and in the not so distant future this planet will not be able to sustain the population explosion. So it’s imperative that we move to space, that we colonize other planets and expand our ability to maintain life in the galaxy. We need to become a multi-planetary society. If we don’t start aggressively moving to space I fear for the future of all mankind.
There you have it a run down of the amazing innovation of 2013. I’m sure 2014 will be another year of incredible innovation and I get a peek into the future at CES 2014 in just a few days. I will tell you what I see!
Source: http://cramworldwide.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/2013s-most-incredible-innovations/
