Best of technology 2018: the gadgets that we’ll remember, selected by Domus

In the beginning, it was Siri. First we met the digital assistants embed onboard our smartphones. Now they’re becoming ubiquitous, traveling in cars with us and powering up smart homes, that gravitate around these artificial brains. It’s all about smart speakers powered by Google Assistant vs Amazon Alexa, a talking presence in the living room or the kitchen that’s becoming familiar, with Apple’s HomePod that’s limited to English speaking countries. While Google and Amazon sell their own speakers, there are interesting alternatives to opt for, like the detachable JBL Link 20 or the Sonos speaker co-designed with uber-cozy nordic design brand Hay, with a colorful rendition of the basic Sonos One, Alexa powered speaker.  Dim the lights, heat up the boiler or ask for a recipe or weather conditions are basic tasks partly automated, otherwise voice controlled. Virtual assistant are the new remotes, and will do more and more in the future. But expect them to change: they will be deeply integrated in new houses and probably gain a display, like the Lenovo Smart Display o JBL Link View. 

Crosley is a British brand which has become pretty famous for its modern day turntables with built-in Bluetooth; this year at IFA, the biggest consumer electronic fair in Europe, they showcased a simply tape player: no wifi or wireless connection, just an analogic player like in the golden years of BASF and Philips musicassettes. In photography, hybrid instant cameras lead the retrofuturist parade. OneStep Plus by Polaroid Originals is an instant camera that can get extra features when wirelessly connected to a smartphone; Fujifilm SQ10 and new SQ 20 renovate the success of the Instax lineup with cameras that shoot on digital, but can also print pictures at the moment. But the bravest move comes from Kodak, that never found its way through digital photography. Ektachrome reversal film, that was developed in the early 1940s and became familiar due to its use by National Geographic photographers and more recently filmmakers like Spike Lee (Inside Man, 2009), was completely discontinued in 2013. After an annoucement at CES last year, now Ektachrome G and GX (a slightly warmer version) is again available, both in 35mm and Super 8 and 16mm motion pictures formats.   

Laptops are changing. Merging with tablets, in popular 2:1 hybrids – like the unique HP Spectre Folio, crafted in leather. Or adding a touch experience in the keyboard: the Touch Bar can replace with a smart display a complete row of keys in MacBook Pro and was announced in 2016; in the new Asus ZenBook Pro 15, there’s a screen in the touchpad. But the biggest evolution comes from Lenovo, which launched its second Yoga Book, a superslim laptop that has no real keyboard. Instead, it uses a e-Ink display to simulate it; but obviously this second screen can be used as a eBook/documents reader, or for taking handwritten notes.    

It’s been the Fortnite year. The free battle royale, online-only title from Epic Games is the most discussed and popular game in the world (and the FIFA World Cup). But retrogaming is also a thing, and the Sony Playstation Classic, which debuts after the revamp of iconic Nintendo consoles (Nes & Super Nes), is the item that we’ll remember in what’s become the first entertainment industry in the world, the video games, that have a cloud based, console-free future coming, with services like xCloud from Microsoft and Google’s Project Streaming that will stream games on smartphones and TVs. The video games industry will probably fork and its destiny tells a lot about future technology: on one side, everything will be cloud-based; on the other, a niche of sophisticated gamers will play with stuff like Labo, the already cult cardboard project that Nintendo created for its bestselling Switch console. With Labo, you can turn your console into a piano, a robot and many other incredible super funny and deeply educational objects.

Apple applies the iPhone X revolution to the premium iPads: the new Pro is almost bezel-less, and you won’t find that iconic Home button you got used too, but an all-screen design with 11” or 12,9” display. There’s a new Apple Pencil, and the A12X Bionic processor, that makes this  tablet so powerful that it should really be actually considered as an alternative to the laptop. In the last few year, Apple is the only brand still focusing on “pure“ tablets, while competitors shifted mostly to 2:1 Windows 10 computers. Let’s see if the new iPad Pro can reverse the trend. 

There was a day when drones were huge flying machines with state of the art hardware, or just small toys capable of less more than nothing. Mavic Air from Dji, world’s leading brand in drones, defined a new standard. The “Air“, a name that echoes the revolutionary Macbook showcased by Steve Jobs in 2008, is a super light, foldable drone that fits in your pocket, shoots 4K videos and pictures and is a bit cheaper than a premium smartphone. It’s the Volkswagen Beetle of drones, a flying machine for the people. Parrot, the french brand that ranks among the few Dji competitors, replied with ultrafoldable Anafi, which carries similar tech specs, lacks obstacle avoidance, but mounts a more versatile camera and is bit cheaper than its Chinese counterpart.  

Many nice and innovative smartphones were launched during 2018. Pixel 3 from Google features a hyperminimal version of Android and a super intelligent single lens camera, capable of taking incredible pictures using a machine learning powered engine; the new OnePlus 6T is elegant as the Pixel in his software design, with a far more beautiful body and display, and a fingerprint sensor right on the display. Apple updated iPhone X with the single camera XR and the super powerful XS, that you can buy also in a maximized version, the Max, perfect for Netflix and gaming. Samsung has recently unveiled its solution to the notch, with the Galaxy A8s, that’s practically a super small hole with a whole phone around. And Vivo revamped its Nex series with a double screen phone, forecasting the advent of foldable smartphones in some kind of way. But the biggest jump in 2018 comes from Huawei. The chinese brand launched its amazing triple camera & AI powered phone in the spring, the P20, and did even better with the incredible, super powerful – even if a bit too much Samsung Galaxy-looking – Mate 20 Pro in the fall. That’s the phone that we’ll most probably remember the most, for its features, design and soul, the Kirin 980 intelligent chip.       

While the mayor of Genoa will possibly ban Vespas from one of the most Vespa-crowded cities in the world, Piaggio showcases the first electric version of its popular scooter, that should be available in 2019. A full charge of the battery is designed to last for 100km. But a full electric Vespa is only the first step, and the new scooter will take advantage of smart technologies developed by Boston’s Piaggio Fast Forwards laboratories, that design a self moving luggage and assistant, Gita, that will also go into production in 2019.