This is what awaits us in 2019

This is what awaits us in 2019

The Internet is preparing for a new regulation, while the 5G knocks on the door. While Facebook wants to make forget its disastrous 2018

2018 is about to close and 2019 already heats engines. The technological year closes with an indisputable business protagonist for his problems with security: Facebook.

Zuckerberg's team is prepared to forget all their problems. While in the Old Continent, companies are still trying to adapt to the General Data Protection Regulations (RGPD) and look askance at the arrival of a new technology, the 5G, which threatens to change the lives of all. In Innova + os we leave the 12 grapes that will move the technology in 2019:

1. Ready for 5G

2019 will be the year for telecommunication companies operating in Spain to take positions in the starting boxes of the race to dominate the 5G. This new telecommunications standard will arrive, if forecasts do not fail, in 2020.

This technology will change the way of life in the coming years and will not only improve the speed of the internet connection. The 5G will be the basis to build smart cities, put autonomous cars to circulate and definitively settle virtual reality, augmented and mixed.

In the deployment of 5G will also be very guilty smart phone manufacturers. Samsung has been the first to announce the presentation in this new year a mobile device with 5G connection, Huawei has also joined the race. However, who for now seems not to bet on it is Apple, but nothing can be ruled out with the giant apple bitten.

2. Settlement of virtual assistants

Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant and, the last to arrive, Amazon's Alexa. This 2018, the speakers with virtual assistants have been the kings in the Christmas gifts, where it has triumphed above all Alexa. A reign disputed with the voice of the search engine giant, which, according to several studies, is the best on the market.

The voice and actions through them is a business that big techies are beginning to explore. However, one subject is still pending in this field: security. In recent months, Amazon has been the protagonist of several scandals related to privacy and what Alexa records.

The next few months will bring new generations of smart loudspeakers and new competitors, such as Samsung and Bixby, in a market fairly spread among the American giants.

3. Start of autonomous cars 

The sights are set in 2020 as the exact date to see the first autonomous vehicles on roads and streets, at least in the United States. However, the tests of this new technology will increase as the next months pass to fine-tune its start-up.

During 2018, the tests have not been entirely satisfactory. Last March, a UBER vehicle without a driver ran over and killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. The investigation revealed that the software was badly programmed and configured, since the device did see the pedestrian, but decided to ignore it, so the fatal outcome occurred.

The new year that is about to arrive will continue with the advancement of the automation of driving. However, the arrival of SAE Level 5, total autonomous driving, is yet to land. Waymo, the Google division for the vehicle, is already testing autonomous SAE 4 level cars without a safety driver on the street.

4. New copyright law on the internet 

Last September, the European Parliament gave the green light to the processing of a rule that can change the use of the internet as it is known today. This January will be the final vote on the final text and if there are no changes, the giants of the Internet will be responsible for monitoring what content is on their platforms and if they infringe the copyright.

Users who upload this type of content to the network will not be fined, but will be removed immediately if there are suspicions of content protected by copyright. Article 13 of this new European directive that passes in 2019 its final examination includes that companies use "monitoring technologies to detect copyrighted materials and filtering technologies to block charges that infringe their copyright." A measure that the industry and associations of Internet users have called "great censorship."

5. Digital transformation in companies with the arrival of 5G

The arrival of the first pilots and tests in the 5G will not only change the lives of consumers, but will bring great changes to the industry and endless opportunities. The 4.0 revolution or the 4.0 industry are terms that have already appeared in recent months and are becoming increasingly important.

The development of the 5G will bring a better connection to the companies regardless of the sector and place where they are located. This new technology breaks barriers and facilitates communication, services and transforms business.

Without the current limitations, companies can also develop their projects with the internet of things. Thanks to this, devices that will have a great presence in the lives of users will appear.

6. Flexible mobiles

It is the big bet of the mobile phone market for this 2019. If 2018 has been the year of the notch, of the triple and up to quadruples cameras and infinite screens and increasingly larger. The market is preparing for a 2019 with screens that are folded in half.

Samsung has been the first of the big ones to present their weapons. He did it last November at his developer conference. An announcement that is expected to be a reality in Barcelona next February at the Mobile World Congress.

Its competitors have not been left behind and have already announced that by 2019 we will see more flexible screens and is the case of Huawei and who knows if Xiaomi joins the challenge of folding screens to continue growing in size.

7. Cybersecurity

This year, Spain, if there are no last minute changes, will close the year as the third country that has received the most online attacks, only surpassed by the United States and the United Kingdom. That means that one in three Spaniards has been the victim of a cyber attack, according to the Norton Cyber ​​Security Insights Report 2018 study.

The forecasts for 2019 are not very positive in terms of security, the experts point to stronger attacks and, above all, smarter ones. This exercise we have familiarized with the ransomware and from January we will know the steamworms or malware without file.

The boom of personal devices and IoT can be exploited for different criminal purposes, which will give rise to a new generation of attacks characterized mainly by its volume and scope. "The next generation of attacks will be even smarter," experts say.

8. eSports

This year has been the explosion of eSports, a business that has aroused the interest of large companies outside and within the technology sector. In these past 365 days, electronic sports have grown, expanded and investments have not stopped growing. Income that can even exceed four million euros.

Professional leagues, world finals held in Spain, coaches specialized in eSports and even academies dedicated exclusively to the training of future players as if they were stars of the world of sports. It has even been asked to be included in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, an extreme point rejected by the International Olympic Committee.

This 2019, electronic sports have a pending task education through video games. In the Canary Islands, this year an initiative was launched in the public schools of the islands. Now, IESports and University Esports carry the esports to the educational centers with the objective that students and players learn values ​​and acquire competences thanks to electronic sports.

9. The cloud will be more important in the business of companies

90% of companies will make investments in cloud-based services because they understand that they are the basis for their digital transformation.

According to experts, the cloud infrastructure will be hybrid. A model that combines public and private cloud will be the bet of Spanish companies in the coming years, although companies continue to make more use of traditional centers than in other countries and only 15% say they have implemented a hybrid cloud. The startup and the big company will continue to be the main drivers of the cloud.

10. Facebook, to forget your problems

Cambridge Analytica, filtered photos, account theft, stock collapse, loss of users. These have been some of the main problems of the company of Mark Zuckerberg, who increasingly hear more voices to leave the direction of the famous social network.

The year began with the Cambridge Analytica scandal and data collection of about 87 million accounts. Added to this were the problems with violent messages on the platform, spreading false news and censorship.

It has not been the best year for Facebook to see how the number of users falls in Europe in recent months and how certain tools such as stories do not work in the largest social network. 2019 comes with many questions in the Zuckerberg Universe, although Instagram and WhatsApp, for now, still give good news to the CEO of Facebook.

11. Blockchain to strengthen security 

The blockchain or the chain of blocks are the pillars where the bitcoin is based, which does not close the year with good news. The bubble of the most famous electronic currency seems to deflate, but the experts bet on its background: the blockchain.

Since its appearance in 2009, the concept of blockchain is gaining strength and importance in many areas. The blockchain is a distributed database formed by chains of blocks designed to avoid their modification once a data has been published. This becomes a tool of incalculable value for security. "The blockchain is the result of years of advances in cryptography and cybersecurity," the experts point out.

12. Virtual reality is a reality

The Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) has presented at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, a pilot project aimed at cancer patients of day hospitals and Chemotherapy and Hematology rooms, which will help them improve their well-being during the chemotherapy sessions , through virtual reality glasses and augmented reality.

In addition, for the first time, a team of Spanish surgeons and engineers has managed to carry out an operation with the combination of augmented reality glasses and personalized 3D printing that has allowed to gain precision and shorten the time of surgery.

Developed by the Hospital Gregorio Marañón, the team of surgeons combines augmented reality to project on the patient holograms of their radiological studies to which is added a 3D reconstruction of their pathology as well as surgical planning.