This story originally appeared on PCMag
I’ve been writing a tech predictions column for over 30 years now. I study research from my firm, Creative Strategies, and look for data that provides hints of what might be the hot topics, trends or issues in the coming year. Here’s what I see on the horizon for tech in 2018.
Cyber-security threats worsen
This is not a new prediction, but “state” actors have now entered the scene, reportedly with backing from countries like North Korea, Russia and China. They fund armies of hackers, who try to steal everything from nuclear secrets to bank codes, hacking into power grids and private accounts.
So it is not a stretch to predict that this will get even worse in 2018 now these hacking armies have learned how to game U.S. systems, especially as we head into midterm elections next fall.
What makes this worse for us in America specifically is that we just don’t have enough security experts to counter many of these major threats. Without the talent to develop more powerful cyber-security tools (and hold on to the ones we do have), our networks are highly vulnerable. I fear this will lead to new hacking disasters in 2018 that we are ill-prepared to fend off.
More folding smartphones, tablets
I saw some very interesting folding and dual-screen phone prototypes in late 2017, and I expect to see market-ready products next year.
ZTE released the dual-screen Axon M last month, but it’s exclusive to AT&T, limiting its reach, and PCMag found it to be a bit buggy in testing. With a few tweaks, though, we could see at least one foldable smartphone and one foldable…
