The Tech That Might Be Dominating This Holiday Season

We’re coming up to the colder months of the year. You know what that means. It’s time when all the tech companies start pulling out the big guns. Announcements, release dates, and information have already started to flow in. Particularly with Apple’s latest keynote and the Tokyo Game Show showing all kinds of new details on highly anticipated items. So, let’s take the time to look at what we’re anticipating. At the tech that’s going to be all over your newsfeed in the next upcoming months.

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The iPhone 7

So, we recently learned a good deal more about the iPhone 7. For one, we’ve learned that there’s quite a bit of controversy over the new Air Buds and the sudden lack of an audio jack. That said, the iPhone 7 is still set to be one of the most hotly anticipated items of the season. Already, the boosted stats on the regular model and the Plus have seen preorders rocket. But there’s still a lot about them we won’t know until the release date. If you want to make your decision as quick as possible, but not an uninformed one, pay attention to the enthusiast sites. Look at the places that are going to tell you the latest in Apple tech, from features to fixes.

The PS4 and Xbox One upgrades

Upgrades to video game consoles aren’t exactly anything particularly new. Just looking at the Playstation line, each iteration had at least one alternate version. From the Playstation to the PSOne, for example. But the theme amongst these versions was just creating a ‘slimmer’ version. Nowadays, that’s not what we’re looking at. The PS4 Pro and the Xbox One S are real iterative upgrades. They’re boosting things like 4k gameplay and guaranteed 60fps. Nowadays, the PC market way outstrips the console market at the time of the release of any hardware. So is this new mobile-like approach to iterative upgrades their way of competing?

Google Glass 2

Speaking of iterations, how about something that most of us have never got our hands on? This year, Google revealed and released its new version of the AR-touting Google Glass. Still, most people haven’t got to use it. We’re wondering why exactly that is. Breaking the boundaries between digital and ‘real’ experiences isn’t as new a thing as it was at the start of 2015. Pokemon Go took a novel approach to augmented reality in a way that caught on like a wildfire. Meanwhile, we’ve seen a slew of VR products come out and are likely to see more. Still, the amount of people who have gotten their hands on the original and new Google Glass models are few and far between. We’re expecting more news in the months to come, but we’re still not sure if that’ll be a public release.

Oculus Rift

Speaking of those reality blurring experiences, you can’t go talking about them without talking about the one that led the charge. Oculus Rift is well out now and it is leading what seems to be a single-minded charge towards VR. There are more VR games and apps coming out, showing a real passion for the medium. At the same time, a lot of PC manufacturers are turning to build models built specifically to give the best VR experiences. The Rift itself is going to get some more support from the Oculus Touch. Sony’s even jumping into the mix with Sony VR, which will likely have some compatibility with the PS4.

Apple Watch 2

From blurring the lines or virtual and real to something a little more quaint. A watch that uses the digital to give you more functionality than ever. The Apple Watch might not have had the most impressive start to its life. However, the Watch 2 is looking like it might be one of the must-own devices for certain groups of people. Particularly, those who want to use it as an all-seeing, all-knowing fitness device. An improved GPS makes it a lot more suitable to running and improved water resistance does the same for swimming. We’re supposedly looking at the first generation of reliable heart rate monitors on your wrist-wear. Fitness buffs would do well to watch out for this one.

Home control devices (all of them!)

Smart homes have long been one of the biggest unfulfilled promises of technology. Sure, there are a lot of devices that you can build into the home that offers extra functionality. However, few of them live up to that ‘control everything with your voice’ that was touted. Well, now we’re looking at two of the sharpest competitors for smart home devices. We’re talking about Google Home vs Amazon Echo. Apple is even jumping into the mix with their Apple Home. We’re not sure any of them are still going to offer that ‘home of the future’ promise we were raised on. But we’re looking forward to seeing what kind of functionality both of them offer.

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Nintendo NX

Now, now, we know the NX isn’t coming out this year. We know that NX is still practically a complete unknown. But that’s what’s going to make this holiday season so exciting. With a supposed March 2017 release, we’re surprised that Nintendo is keeping silent about a new mainline console. Is there something going on behind the scenes keeping it back? Tokyo Game Show is on at the moment, but there’s still no word on whether or not we’ll see any more details. The Wii and Wii U have both marked significant periods of success and decline for Nintendo. The radio silence on the NX is a real nail biter for the future of the company. That’s why we’re keeping an eye on Nintendo this holiday season.

There are both upgrades and innovations a plenty to look forward to. We know not all of the items here might be in your hands when holiday season does come. However, what’s certain is that we can look forward to hearing a lot more about them. Which is almost as good as Christmas itself for tech-heads.

Main Photo: Pixabay

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