NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (Reuters) - Wall Street Journal articles look to change the technology in people's lives by 2018. The article points out that Amazon, as well as cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, are poised to leap forward.
The following is the main content of the article:
This year is an extraordinary year. In 2017, technology extends its reach into unimaginable ways - think of a well-known credit agency Equifax was black, Russia manipulated Facebook, Amazon bought people's favorite High-priced supermarkets. By 2018, this invasion is expected to become even more extraordinary - more radical.
Artificial Intelligence will hit so much of the equipment and services we use, and we do not even realize it is the machines behind them, not humans, and hackers will continue to target organizations that have the most sensitive personal information about us. The concentration of tech giants (Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple) will have a bigger impact on what we see on the screen and what we buy.
Although you will not necessarily buy a new electric car with bitcoin in the future, you will surely hear about it and other cryptocurrencies continuously (yes, you will consider buying an electric car in the near future.)
Technology has become stronger than ever before. Here's how the science and technology will affect us in the coming year:
Electric cars become cheaper
In 2018, consumers will get very good electric vehicle options that are priced at about the average selling price of new US cars: $ 35,000 - not counting state and federal tax credits, and fuel and maintenance costs Long-term savings.
Next year, the market will not only have the much-anticipated Tesla Model 3 (priced at $ 35,000), the recently launched pure electric Chevrolet Bolt ($ 36,600), and the soon-to-market Nissan 2018 Leaf (Priced at $ 29,990), Nissan's model will have a completely new look and 150-mile range (a significant 107-mile increase over the previous model).
The car market will also usher in more affordable plug-in hybrid vehicles, and their mileage is enough to meet the daily pure electric driving commuters many commuters Chevrolet Volt (priced 3.322 million US dollars) can drive 53 miles , The Toyota Prius Prime ($ 27,100) can be electrically driven for 25 miles without fueling and in 2018 Honda will finally launch the 47-mile plug-in hybrid Clarity ($ 34,400) .
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Facebook back to the origin
This year was a rather unpleasant year for social networking giant Facebook - censored from the widespread dissemination of fake news on its platform during the 2016 US presidential election, to Russian manipulators locked on its platform based on race and religion Target users. 2018 Damage Control Approach? Let 'socialize' return to social networks.
'We hope that the time people spend on Facebook can foster meaningful social interaction,' writes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg a few weeks ago, and his remarks indicate that Facebook will Do more to push people to engage in social interactions such as comments, especially on video rather than passively consuming media content.
We will also gain greater control over what we see. In mid-December, the company began downgrading spam requests that liked and liked it, and introduced the 'Snooze' feature that allows you to Hide a person or their pages for 30 days without canceling their focus.
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Amazon takes over more areas
Although it has been possible to live a full day in the Amazon world, the company will continue to infiltrate more corners of your daily life.Video: For example, analysts estimate Amazon spending $ 4.5 billion on video content this year ; Next year, the company will further expand its investment - the amount of investment comparable to Netflix in 2017. Why? According to one of the company's executives, who come to Amazon video, often renew Prime member services, and Spend more money on the Amazon website to buy other stuff.
So where will Amazon go next? Furniture and appliances, office services, or pharmacies near your home? What the company learned from the acquired Whole Foods can be applied to any other entity Business supply chain.
By 2018, the e-commerce giant will have a workforce of more than 500,000, making it the second-largest private-sector employer in the United States after Wal-Mart.
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The network is losing its neutrality
In December 2017, cable companies and telcos get what they want from the FTC: the principle of network neutrality has been abolished. In the short term, you may not realize there will be What's different - your internet provider may not prevent you from accessing your favorite services.
However, network providers may find their way into something new: for example, offering wireless Internet access that gives you free access to your favorite video service or implementing home broadband speed restrictions (after watching a lot of 4K streaming video, You will find that your internet speed is slow like a snail.)
You might even see a different service package, a cheap service package subsidized by (and around) the Internet giant itself, which is exactly how Facebook is now operating in many parts of the developing world, where , Internet users actually see only Facebook.
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Cryptocurrency is less mysterious
Currently, encrypting 'currency' is more like a fanatics of encrypting 'gold' - bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies - making them more suitable for stockpiling rather than spending (provided you can tolerate their rollercoaster-like swings) .
No one knows which of the hundreds of cryptocurrencies can survive in the long term, while the easy-to-trade nature of cryptocurrencies means they're going crazy in 2017 - bitcoin prices soared from $ 1,000 to 12 Nearly 20,000 US dollars at the end of the month, followed by a 25% drop - will likely be repeated in 2018.
High transaction fees mean that Bitcoin has basically failed to meet one of its initial tasks - becoming an easy-to-trade digital currency, and system bumps and alternative tokens to address the issue will be a major theme for 2018. By the end of next year, you may be able to buy pizzas in digital currency without paying a high transaction fee.
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Software-driven smartphone progress
Smartphone hardware ushered in a huge change in 2017. Apple and Samsung brought the whole body smaller but larger screen smartphone products, the cancellation of the Home button and improve the quality of the camera in 2018 the industry will What happens? What is the theme? Software.
For the iPhone X, Apple has changed our way of interacting with the screen with a new set of sliding touch controls, and the next-generation iOS system and the new iPhone of 2018 should push the new screen to go one step further.With Apple's face With the development of the unlocking system, we may be able to use more of our glance and face rotation to interact with the device. In addition, it is reported that Apple will promote the application of unified, so that applications can support both Mac OS and iOS.
On the Android platform, as the phones get the latest Android 8 (codenamed 'Oreo') system, they will usher in several enhancements such as improved battery life and new notification center features.
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AI spread around
While two popular voice assistants, Alexa and Siri, are becoming more widely available and used by people, artificial intelligence will also enter the rest of our digital life in a more quiet manner.
You've been able to see it in Gmail's auto-reply email feature, and Google's machine analyzes your email composing style to give the appropriate quick reply suggestions. Did you hear from someone that someone posted you , Unlabeled photo reminders? Facebook robots are always watching your face appear on their social networks.
All this will also accelerate in late 2017. Google, Facebook and Apple introduced mobile machine learning tools for application developers in late 2017, and AI-optimized new chips from companies such as Qualcomm and Apple are also beginning to enter smartphones.
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Attacks on security and privacy continue to unfold
You were mostly hacked in 2017 and this is likely to happen again in 2018. Being denied access to 143 million Americans with Equifax was highlighted by leaks of social security numbers, highlighting the current information security issues.
Security experts warn consumers may face new security threats, especially on networked TVs, toys and other 'smart' appliances, and marketers and social media platforms will become more aggressive and collect all relevant Your personal information, from your location to your credit card transactions, is used to push you precise ads.
But you can do more to protect your digital security, and the Full Data Protection Regulations will come into effect in Europe next May, possibly changing the way U.S. companies treat your personal information.