From the OnePlus Concept One smartphone to the Microsoft Xbox Series X, Khalid Anzar lists the top 6 gadgets we can look forward to in the new year.
The new year brings with it exciting new gadgets. Here are some of the more interesting ones that will hit the stores in 2020.
Oppo under-screen camera
Water drop or punch hole, the front camera is always an eyesore on a pretty screen.
So the nerds at Oppo put their heads together to invent a piece of tech genius that will hide the camera under the screen.
Meaning, a full, obstruction-free screen with the camera underneath.
The new sneaky stuff unveiled at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year is coming from the same folks who first came out with an in-display fingerprint and a pop-up selfie camera in a smartphone.
Talk about a bright future.
It's full of colourful screens.
iRobot intelligent mopping robot
Imagine two robots that can talk to each other and divvy up the household chores.
It's like Rosie the Robot Maid (x2) from The Jetsons, but without the face and the apron.
Founded by roboticists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, iRobot is an American company that has been fairly successful at cutting man hours with their vacuum cleaner robot, Roomba.
In 2020, Roomba will get the assistance of its floor-mopping cousin from the Braava series.
The company's imprint technology will allow the two robots to work in sync and, to make the experience even more seamless, the iRobot app is also expected to get Amazon Alexa support.
Unlike, I, Robot, the film, it looks like man and machine will finally be able to talk through their issues.
LG Ultrafine Ergo Display
Tied to a desk for long hours?
LG wants to help relieve your neck pain.
Its UltraFine Ergo Display monitor will come attached to an ergonomically advanced, arm-type adjustable stand, which can face up or down, and extend inward and outward to suit your posture.
Oh wait, it can also swivel to face the opposite direction so that your mates can peep at your screen without being sneaky about it.
The LG Ergo also replaces the conventional monitor stand-base with a desk clamp to free up more space and comes prepared with a USB-C 'One Cable' solution for 4K imaging, fast data transfer and power.
LG's 2020 Ultra series also includes the UltraGear and the UltraWide monitors made with gaming enthusiasts and content producers in mind, respectively.
OnePlus 'Concept One' smartphone
The speculative excitement around the OnePlus 'Concept One' has assumed many forms.
The phone will bend like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or it will take the clean, port-less and button-less silhouette of the Vivo Apex and the Meizo Zero.
Truth to tell, one does not have the least hint about it (the Chinese manufacturer likes it this way), but it's expected to be the smartphone showstopper at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The countdown to January 7 has begun.
Motorola Razr
The Motorola Razr will be the crown prince of nostalgia in 2020.
It's razor-thin, bendable and on the flip side of speculation.
Approaching the end of a decade, its India launch is already in sight.
The iconic phone was first launched in 2004 and its chic new avatar unveiled this November packs a foldable screen that does not become a big, bulky tablet when opened.
That's a key differentiator that sets its maker, Lenovo, apart from Samsung's and Huawei's visions for foldable screens.
Rejoice! Pocket-size phones are making a comeback.
Cyberpunk 2077
Marvel hasn't been able to woo him.
But Keanu Reeves (more recently, the aloof, dog-loving assassin, John Wick) will indulge in mind-numbing violence yet again for his nerdy fans who just can't get enough of the gore.
He will be roaming the streets of Night City, a graphic-generated megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modifications, in a gaming title Cyberpunk 2077, as Johnny Silverhand.
The trailer is out, and soon little children will be running around with gun-wielding action figures of Silverhand and his mercenary friend, V, before the game arrives in April next year.
"Adult-rated" is only adding to the excitement.
Microsoft Xbox Series X
The Sony PlayStation nemesis from Microsoft is set to get a complete makeover next year both in terms of design and performance.
But you might just have to exercise some patience.
The Xbox Series X gaming console is expected to launch in the last quarter of 2020 along with its exclusive set of gaming titles.
Microsoft plans to overshadow the conventional Blu-ray-like form factor with a towering new design, which does look more like an air purifier than a gaming console.
Although the exact hardware specifications have been kept under wraps, the company promises that the graphic performance will be twice as good as that of the Xbox One X.
*Image used for representational purpose only.
