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Defining the wow effect in consumer electronics is not immediate. Domestic technology, the one that reaches our hands and our homes, should make our lives simpler, but in reality it has made everyday life more complex. We are more efficient, even more productive, but we exploit the current potential in a minimal percentage. The more well a product is designed, the simpler it is. Instruction manuals, remote controls with lots of small colored buttons and devices to adapt are the past, or the domain of highly refined subject matter experts, failed engineers and intimate geeks. This is why televisions, smartphones, tablets, headphones, digital book readers, all look the same when turned off. Because there is no time to rush forward and innovation is almost always incremental. We all proceed together in small steps, perhaps copying the best ones.
Yet, this year something new has landed. We are talking about unusual, courageous and not always visionary objects, but which nevertheless managed to stand out. Here is a personal selection.
Let’s start with smartphones, which had their worst year in the last decade. However, 2023 has worked on the biodiversity of the sector, expanding the family of foldable mobile phones. The price remains high, but the technology seems mature. We highlight Motorola Razr 40 Ultra. He’s not the most powerful, but he’s the smartest. The greatest advantage of Motorola’s new flip phone is that it has understood what the foldable market really wants: a different, beautiful smartphone that can do things that others don’t. The same goes, however, if we stay in the tile format, it applies to the Pixel Pro 8, which in the Android world is the best incarnation of computational photography and the fun use of artificial intelligence.
However, wanting to choose the imperfect incarnation of a new generation of gadgets created for and with generative AI, the choice goes to AI Pin of the very secret startup founded by Imran Chaudhri, the former Apple designer behind some of the greatest products success. It’s the size of an Airpod pack, can be worn, projects information with a laser on your hand and has access to artificial intelligence models from OpenAI. In recent days it presented a preview of its first device, essentially a wearable smartphone without a display. Maybe they bit off more than they can chew, but at least it’s something new.
Just as new are the Dyson Zones, the first Dyson air purification headphones designed to combat urban pollution, including gases, allergens and particulates. The impact is certainly disturbing. Reminiscent of some Ken Shiro-style raiders or post-apocalypse characters. Less new, but more interesting, is the helmet presented this year by Apple. Vision Pro is not virtual reality, but not augmented reality either. It is announced as a spatial interface to Apple’s applications. And if it keeps what it promises, beyond commercial success, it will open a new path to a real metaverse.
Lenovo Smart Paper is instead an evolutionary step. It’s not an e-reader with a stylus. And not even a tablet for those who want to read. But something in between, a truly complete digital notepad for those who miss taking notes by hand.