Tech trends 2020: Bendy phone screens and super fast mobile
If your ambition is to fly into space - and you have got plenty of spare cash - then 2020 could be an exciting year.
Should space travel not really be your thing, but you would like a much bigger screen on your mobile phone, then 2020 might also have some tech for you.
But if you think there are already too many phones out there and the technology industry needs to be less wasteful, well some tech companies might catch up with your thinking.
Here’s a little taster of what might be coming in the next twelve months.
Flexible displays
The launch of Samsung’s first foldable phone in April did not go smoothly. Several reviewers broke the screens and the company had to make some rapid improvements before it went on sale in September.
Motorola had a more successful launch of its new Razr, although some reviewers complained about the price. But this is unlikely to hold the market back. Samsung is expected to launch other devices with flexible displays next year - possibly a tablet.
TCL, the second biggest maker of TVs in China, has also promised to launch its first mobile foldable device in 2020 and then other products quickly after that.
Super-fast mobile
We can expect the rollout of high-speed mobile phone networks to continue. By the end of 2019 around 40 networks in 22 countries were offering 5G service.
But analysts say that next year we may see prices based on the speed of the service you want – a bit like the way home broadband is already priced
Quantum computing
Will next year be another big one for quantum computing; the technology which exploits the baffling but powerful behaviour of tiny particles such as electrons and photons?
In October Google said that its quantum computer had performed a task in 200 seconds, that the fastest supercomputer would have taken 10,000 years to complete. There was some quibbling over its achievement, but experts say it was a big moment.
Once the technology is proven, quantum computers could spur breakthroughs in chemistry, pharmaceuticals and engineering.
Google has also promised to make its quantum computer available for use by outsiders in 2020, but has not provided any details yet. -BBC
