Samsung now offers 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9, S9 Plus on website

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Just months after Samsung launched its newest flagships, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus, the smartphone giant announced two new storage configurations for the phones. Both the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus will soon be available with 128GB and 256GB storage options.

Samsung will offer the 128GB and 256GB versions of the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus exclusively on its website. You can pre-order the phones beginning May 1 and will be able to purchase them on the Samsung website on May 18.

The 128GB version of the Galaxy S9 will set you back $770, while the same storage configuration on the Galaxy S9 Plus comes in at $890. If you want to max out your internal storage, the 256GB Galaxy S9 sells for $820, and the S9 Plus will cost $940. Mind you all Galaxy S9 phones come with a MicroSD slot that will allow you to add up to 400GB of external memory.

The decision to release extended storage options for the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus in the U.S. is a nice surprise: In 2017 Samsung released a Galaxy S8 with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM, but the phone was only available in South Korea and China. While Samsung is selling two extended storage options of its flagships in the U.S. this year, neither include additional RAM.

Samsung released the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus this February at Mobile World Congress to rave reviews. While the phone features a powerful Qualcomm 845 (or Exynos 9810) processor and 4GB of RAM, many felt the 64GB of onboard storage was a little chintzy. The addition of a 128GB and 256GB storage option now places the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus on a level playing field with other flagships like the iPhone X and Pixel 2XL.

While the additional storage may be enough to convince some to pick up a Galaxy S9 or S9 Plus, Samsung is sweetening the deal for people who pre-order the device. If you pre-order either phone on the Samsung website between May 1 and May 17, you can pick up a Gear IconX (2018) for free or get a Gear S3 Frontier for $100.

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Indiana Jones would hate jacket that mimics feeling of snakes slithering on you

As amazing as VR headsets are, haptic technology offers a way to make virtual reality seem even more real. With that in mind, investigators from Disney Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, and Carnegie Mellon University need to step forward and take a bow for their new proof-of-concept “Force Jacket.”

Resembling a life vest, the jacket is lined with airbags which can either inflate or deflate on command. By doing this, it is possible to accurately mimic sensations including (but not limited to) racing heartbeats, a tap on the shoulder, the impact of a snowball, the vibrations of a motorbike, or slime dripping down a person’s back. In other words, this is probably not the best jacket to wear to your next high pressure job interview!

“Force Jacket can enrich narrative embodied experiences — [such as] VR or AR — by providing variable force feedback on targeted locations on the upper body,” Ken Nakagaki, a Ph.D. candidate in the Tangible Media Group at MIT Media Lab, told Digital Trends. “The Force Jacket can create variety of haptic effects such as a hug, punch, or even a snake slithering around your body. [It] consists of 26 inflatable airbags, with force-sensitive registers placed on individual bags for tracking the force applied to the body as the bags [are] being inflated and deflated. Studies in our paper include development of a software ‘Haptic Effect Editor’ to design hundreds of haptic effects with the jacket, and a user study which evaluated 14 haptic effects generated by the software.”

With Disney involved, we wouldn’t be surprised to find the jacket incorporated into one or more of its theme park experiences. However, Nakagaki speculated that, in addition to VR, the technology could also be useful for rehabilitation or training, or to help blind or partially sighted people navigate better by conveying spatial information around the body via haptic feedback.

In the future, the team hopes to make the jacket more compact and mobile while improving the haptic technology. “As it is exciting to imagine what other haptic effects can be created with this type of jacket, I think another future work could be letting other people use our Haptic Effect Editor to expand the library of haptic effects,” Nakagaki said.

A paper describing the work is available to read online. It will be presented at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems later this year.

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Nerve-stimulating algorithm gives prosthetic limbs a lasting sense of touch

L. Brian Stauffer

There’s no doubt that modern prostheses are pretty darn amazing. But one thing that most don’t provide users with is a restored sense of touch. That could change, however, thanks to work coming out of the University of Illinois, where engineers have found a way to use electric current to provide consistent sensory feedback to the wearers of prosthetic arms. The results can help make these prosthetic limbs feel less like tools and more like parts of the body.

While some work has been done in this area in the past, using adhesive electrodes to stimulate nerves, this isn’t a good lon- term solution. That’s because electrodes that are connected to the skin can begin to peel off, often resulting in painful shocks for wearers.

“One of the most promising ways to deliver this feedback, without requiring implants or surgery, is to use what’s known as electrotactile feedback, which delivers a tiny amount of current across electrodes on your skin to stimulate sensory nerves,” Aadeel Akhtar, a researcher on the project, told Digital Trends. “The sensation can have many different qualities, such as vibration, tingling, pressure, pulsing, [or] pain. However, the feeling you get is inconsistent. If you start to sweat or the electrodes lose contact, the feeling can either diminish or feel like a shock. We developed an algorithm that relates the intensity of the sensation you feel to the electrical resistance across the electrodes, and we modify the amount and timing of current we send so that the sensation feels the same, even if you sweat or the electrodes lose contact.”

In tests, the device that the researchers developed was shown to be highly durable, even when wearers were carrying out strenuous activities, such as running on an elliptical machine or hammering nails into a board. In the future, they hope to further miniaturize the technology so that it can more easily fit inside (rather than on the outside, as is currently the case) prosthetic limbs.

“In providing this sensory feedback, we need a prosthesis that can detect when it comes into contact with an object and how much pressure it is exerting,” Akhtar said. “With existing prosthetic hardware, there are crude ways of determining whether a finger has come into contact with an object by monitoring the current draw of the motor. But a better approach is to place pressure sensors in the fingers themselves, which tells you more accurately when contact is made and how much pressure is being applied. My company, Psyonic, is developing a prosthetic hand that has sensitive pressure sensors in the fingertips and fingerpads.”

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Science Robotics.

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Here are a few ways the Sprint and T-Mobile merger could affect you

After several years of rumors and discussions, T-Mobile and Sprint executives finally reached an agreement to merge the two carriers, now referred to as the “New T-Mobile.” If the $26.5 billion deal is approved by the U.S. Justice Department, this could bring a stream of changes to the more than 100 million customers on both networks.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere will keep his title, and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure will serve on the board of the new company. Softbank, which owns Sprint, also has a stake, with CEO and Chairman Masayoshi Son serving on the board as well. Aside from internal structure, we took a look at a few ways how this merger will affect you, ranging from an improvement in overall 5G wireless technology to pricing, and more.

Better cell service

Since the deal has to be approved by antitrust regulators, there will be few immediate changes for both T-Mobile and Sprint customers. If the two merge, customers could potentially see greater coverage, reliability, and speed — especially in rural areas. Sprint customers will be migrated over to T-Mobile’s network, but the process could take up to three years.

Both companies will work independently for now until further notice, but at least one deal will take effect even if the merger doesn’t go through. Both carriers have come to a roaming agreement, where customers will jump onto the T-Mobile network if Sprint’s network is unavailable (and vice versa). It’s unclear when the Justice Department will announce its decision on the merger, but the 4-year roaming agreement goes into effect immediately.

Since Sprint uses the CDMA standard and T-Mobile uses GSM, you may need to upgrade your device to utilize this roaming deal. There are a lot of phones, 20 million on Sprint specifically, that work with both networks, and can take advantage of this new arrangement now.

Your phone bill

In a press release, Legere pointed out the merger isn’t a case of going from four wireless carrier companies to three — but for consumers, it is. It means one less option to choose from when deciding on the right carrier for you, and it means carriers won’t be as aggressive when competing with one another. How does that affect your phone bill? It’s too early to tell, and while both carriers promise lower prices, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what will happen.

Federal regulators blocked a merger deal between T-Mobile and Sprint back in 2014, and it enabled T-Mobile to start an aggressive price war, with a host of enticing new deals and packages for consumers — such as an unlimited voice, text, and data plan. The rest of the carriers soon followed suit. Without that kind of price competition and fresh deals, it’s tough to see how the new T-Mobile will keep prices lower.

5G coverage

A key part of the merger is the move to 5G networks. The new T-Mobile claims it could provide up to 15 times faster speeds on average by 2024, in comparison to T-Mobile’s current network. The idea is to utilize T-Mobile’s low-band 600MHz and Sprint’s 2.5GHz to create a high-capacity network in the U.S. This may speed up the 5G rollout, but it’s unclear just by how much.

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, T-Mobile announced 5G service would roll out to 30 major cities including New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas in 2018. The 5G network will use the carrier’s LTE spectrum, and will work once you’re within range. Meanwhile, Sprint announced it would roll out 5G in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C., and Las Vegas as well. Sprint also introduced plans to use Massive MIMO antennas to deliver 5G, and will also use LTE as the network’s foundation, with 5G picking up in areas where it’s available.

The new T-Mobile claims to be able to “light up a broad and deep 5G network faster than either company could separately,” and faster than AT&T and Verizon. There are several hurdles it will still need to go through, as the 3GPP has yet to approve specifications for stand-alone 5G networks.

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Meet Explorest, the photo-scouting app curated by real photographers

Explorest

GPS-enabled cameras allow automated software to put photos on the map, giving photographers and travelers an idea of where to explore next. But automated programs will mix in those stunning landscapes with cat photos and duck-lipped selfies — leaving lots of digging left to scout out the best views. One startup is aiming to change that by curating locations from real, human photographers. Explorest is a new iOS photo-scouting app that mixes the best views with photography tips and tricks from local shutterbugs and influential Instagrammers. After launching in Singapore in July 2017, Explorest expanded to California on April 24.

Several apps and websites already suggest photo locations by pulling photos from the web and using the GPS metadata to show exactly where the view was shot. Explorest is different, CEO and co-founder Justin Myers explains, because the app is 100 percent curated, from the suggested locations to the best times to shoot and even how to get there. That means the app is filled with only pro shots — and pro recommendations.

The app, which officially launched July 17, 2017, for Singapore, now recommends locations in California. The company plans to continue expanding by inviting local photographers worldwide to contribute to the program. The start-up encourages photographers to help by sharing half of the app’s revenue with the contributors.

The second biggest way that Explorest differentiates itself from options like Streetography and Photo Hotspots is in the level of detail, Myers says, often listing information that isn’t easily accessible on the internet. For each location, Explorest lists the exact GPS coordinates and how far away that spot is from the user’s current location. While the program allows users to easily pull up directions inside Apple’s native Maps app with a tap, insight from the photographer on just how to get there is available, too, pointing out obscure locations and spots that require a bit of walking as well as noting whether it’s easier to hop on a subway or drive.

Along with how to get there, Explorest helps photographers plan by suggesting the best times to visit — including the “magic hour” times for the golden hour, blue hour, sunrise, and sunset — and what to pack. Real-time weather for the location is also integrated into the app. The exact photo specs are also listed, along with at least three technical or compositional tips from the photographer. The app also includes a list of recommended things to see and do nearby.

“Compared to other products, we personally vet every piece of information — our entire app is vetted,” Myers said. “We interview photographers before building location insights. The users can trust that the information is not only from local photographers, but accurate and something to depend on.”

The photo scouting app built by photographers is also designed to personalize the results to each individual user. At the first log-in, the program asks photographers a series of brief questions to determine their photo style and what they like to shoot. Based on those answers, the program will prioritize architectural locations to those photographers who choose architecture, for example. While the personalization is based on that initial series of questions, the program is a form of artificial intelligence which will continue improving personal recommendations the more the user interacts with the app.

Inside Explorest, users can search by keywords, view the closest locations or sort by genre or the newest locations. The app also saves locations and users can also mark which spots they’ve already visited and even take a photo or jot down notes in-app while there.

Myers founded Explorest with professional photographer and Instagrammer Michael Lax. After Lax realized how much time he spent searching the web and asking for in-person recommendations for new locations (sometimes only to miss the best shot time) the two partnered to develop a solution.

“One of the most common questions I come across on Instagram is, ‘where was this photo taken?’” Lax said. “To answer this, we’ve essentially built a digital location scout that allows people to quickly access a premier database of photo locations curated by locals who have insider knowledge about a given area. One of my favorite things about Explorest is that it can be used for so many purposes for photographers and travelers alike, including finding the perfect setting for an engagement proposal or simply wanting to experience the most epic views on vacation.”

For the California launch, the state’s locations will be unlocked for a limited time. Full access to all of the app’s features is available for $6 a month, or $30 a year from the App Store.

Updated on April 30: Added expansion to California. 

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WhatsApp co-founder announces departure after apparent clashes with Facebook

Tobias Hase/Getty Images

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum announced on Monday, April 30, that he’s leaving the company.

Koum launched the messaging app with Brian Acton in 2004 before selling it to Facebook for a colossal $19 billion in 2014. It currently has more than 1.5 billion users.

In a message posted online, Koum simply said that he was “taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology,” but a report in the Washington Post claims his departure comes after a clash with Facebook over data privacy issues as well as the messaging service’s business strategy.

Keeping WhatsApp independent of outside interference — even from the company that bought it — and preserving the privacy of its user data were central to Koum and Acton’s vision for its messaging app. The Post suggested in its report, however, that attempts by Facebook “to use its personal data and weaken its encryption” had caused tensions between the two companies, with the recent data scandal involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica contributing to “a climate of broader frustration with Facebook among WhatsApp employees,” sources with knowledge of the matter told the news outlet.

Acton departed WhatsApp in November 2017, and in March tweeted his support for the #DeleteFacebook movement that gained momentum in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Koum: ‘Time for me to move on.’

Announcing his departure in a Facebook post, Koum mentions none of the reported issues that apparently prompted him to walk away. Instead, he describes his time with WhatsApp as “an amazing journey with some of the best people,” adding that it was “time for me to move on.”

He continued: “I’m taking some time off to do things I enjoy outside of technology, such as collecting rare air-cooled Porsches, working on my cars and playing ultimate frisbee. And I’ll still be cheering WhatsApp on — just from the outside. Thanks to everyone who has made this journey possible.”

In a comment responding to Koum’s message, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg wrote: “Jan: I will miss working so closely with you. I’m grateful for everything you’ve done to help connect the world, and for everything you’ve taught me, including about encryption and its ability to take power from centralized systems and put it back in people’s hands. Those values will always be at the heart of WhatsApp.”

Growing tension

In WhatsApp’s early days, Koum and Acton made a big deal of their reluctance to collect user data or include ads in the app, a strategy in stark contract to Facebook’s approach. So when Zuckerberg made the pair a multi-billion-dollar offer they couldn’t refuse, Koum and Acton insisted on assurances that the core values behind WhatsApp would stay in place.

But with Facebook keen to score some returns on its investment, the social networking giant eventually got WhatsApp to alter its terms of service to give it access to users’ phone numbers, as well as other data that it could use to benefit its broader business.

Another issue centered on advertising. Following the acquisition, Facebook got WhatsApp to ditch its $1-a-year subscription fee, but with the app’s founders keen to keep ads of the platform, Facebook needed to find other ways to generate revenue. It came up with a tool that allowed businesses to chat more easily with customers, but when Facebook bosses wanted to make it easier for businesses to use the tool, Koum and Acton feared it would mean weakening WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption that it introduced in 2016.

Other gradual changes that pushed Facebook and WhatsApp closer together reportedly served to increase tensions between the two companies, culminating in Koum announcing his departure this week, with the Post describing the Ukrainian-born entrepreneur as “worn down by the differences in approach.”

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Blue Origin sends New Shepard space capsule to its highest altitude yet

Rocket company Blue Origin completed its eighth successful test mission on Sunday, April 29, taking the New Shepard capsule to its highest altitude to date.

Owned by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin launched its reusable sub-orbital rocket from its spaceport in the west Texas desert, with the ascent taking the capsule to 351,000 feet (66 miles, 107 kilometers) above the surface of Earth — some four miles higher than previous launches.

Following the pattern of previous tests, the capsule separated from the top of the rocket at an altitude of just under 50 miles, with the capsule continuing on to its record altitude. Both returned safely to terra firma a short while later — the capsule using parachutes, the rocket using its boosters for a perfect touchdown. The entire event, from launch to landing, took just over 10 minutes.

In a livestream of Sunday’s event (above), Blue Origin’s Ariane Cornell described the launch and landings as “another spectacular test mission.”

This was the second outing for Blue Origin’s latest crew capsule 2.0, following a flawless debut mission in December last year.

The company’s short-term goal is to offer high-paying tourists once-in-a-lifetime trips to the edge of space, where they’ll be able to view the curvature of Earth while floating around in a weightless environment for up to five minutes.

Sunday’s mission carried a number of payloads from a range of users, among them NASA’s Johnson Space Center, which sent instruments to collect capsule environmental data linked to CO2, pressure, acceleration, and acoustics. Another comprised technology to test the concept of providing Wi-Fi access for crewed missions, though if the capsule’s occupants are keen to check their Instagram rather than marvel at the view below, then there’s something seriously wrong.

Bezos said at the 2016 Space Symposium event in Colorado Springs that those inside the capsule will be able to “get out, float around, do somersaults, enjoy the microgravity, [and] look out of those beautiful windows,” adding that training for the experience would be “relatively simple.”

Blue Origin’s “Mannequin Skywalker” was also on board. The dummy made its debut flight last December to highlight the new capsule, as well as to show future space tourists how they’ll be positioned during the start and finish of a flight. This time, Mannequin Skywalker was performing “astronaut telemetry and science studies,” the company noted.

On Sunday, Blue Origin said its latest successful mission takes it another step toward its first human spaceflight tests, which it hopes can take place later this year.

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A fleet of delivery robots could soon be coming to a campus near you

We last heard about Starship Technologies‘ diminutive wheel-based delivery robot in 2017 when it trundled into trouble after a San Francisco official deemed it a safety hazard.

Using multiple cameras, an array of sensors, and GPS software navigate the path to customers, the autonomous robot was being sent out onto the city’s streets as part of a meal-delivery pilot. But a local official wanted it banned, claiming the 2-foot-high machine could cause pedestrian pileups, particularly among seniors, those with disabilities, and children.

While Starship Technologies attempts to convince skeptics that its robot will be just fine tootling up and down public sidewalks, it’s since come up with what many will consider as a far more realistic plan for its self-driving machine: Deliveries on campuses.

It makes perfect sense. After all, the robot would operate within a defined space with more predictable pedestrian traffic and ground conditions. There would be fewer hazardous streets for the 4 mph robot to cross, too, while the relatively secure space would eliminate the risk of miscreants disrupting its movements, or worse, stealing it.

Starship has been testing its campus-based delivery system at Intuit, a financial software company based in Silicon Valley, California.

As the video above shows, workers can order meals and drinks via Starship’s app and have them delivered across all 4.3 acres of the Intuit campus. Most deliveries take no more than 15 minutes, “giving people more time to be productive or enjoy their breaks around their campus, instead of standing in line,” Starship said in a release.

The system works pretty much as you’d expect. In other words, you simply choose your order, pay, and mark on a map where you want to meet the robot. You’ll then be told how long its likely to take. The company’s kitchen staff preps the food and drink, places it in a secure compartment inside the robot, and sends it on its way. When it arrives, you can retrieve your order by using the app to unlock the compartment.

Starship has a fleet of its robots zipping about the campus, each with a raised flag to make them easier to see, thereby preventing any of those pile-ups that some critics fear.

You might imagine that this particular delivery platform is yet another nail in the coffin of physical activity, but Starship’s autonomous vehicle doesn’t appear to enter any of the campus buildings, and can’t handle stairs or elevators, so workers have to leave their desks to collect their delivery.

While the most common delivery so far consists of breakfast sandwiches, the company behind the robot points out that it can of course deliver all manner of items, “from food and office stationery to tools and spare parts in large campus environments.”

London-based Starship says the campus launch represents “a major milestone” in its expansion plans as it continues to build on commercial delivery pilot programs in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, and Estonia, some of which include sending the robots out onto regular streets. It adds that its robots have so far covered 100,000 miles in 20 countries.

Starship CEO Ahti Heinla said that following the successful trial at Intuit, it plans to expand its services and distribute “thousands of robots across campuses around the world by 2019.”

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LG’s bizarre, rumored hybrid smartwatch may have a touchscreen and analog hands

LG Watch Urbane

LG may be about to get back into smartwatches with an unusual new model rumored to be called the LG Watch Timepiece. The watch won’t be like LG’s previous smartwatches, or any other models available either, as a leak describes it as having both a touchscreen that displays Google’s Wear OS, and a set of analog watch hands.

If this is accurate, the Watch Timepiece will create its own space alongside other hybrid smartwatches, although likely without the battery benefits we enjoy from smartwatches that don’t have a screen to power. Sadly, a picture of the watch has not been shown yet, leaving it down to our imagination what it will look like, but specifications have been leaked to Android Headlines.

A 1.2-inch screen with a 390 x 390 pixel resolution — the same spec fitted to watches like the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 41 — shows Wear OS, while the physical watch hands can also show the time, along with indicating compass direction, barometric pressure, altitude, and work as a stopwatch. The face will need a hole in the center for the watch hands, and the case will presumably need to contain some kind of watch movement, along with the chip, battery, and additional technical hardware. The rumor says the body will be 45mm wide, and 13mm thick.

Outside of the touchscreen and watch hand combination, the Watch Timepiece has a relatively familiar Wear OS specification, including the Snapdragon 2100 platform, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and motion sensors for fitness tracking. A heart rate sensor isn’t mentioned, but it’s stated NFC and GPS are unlikely to be included. Two versions are discussed, with a Timepiece Plus model supposedly coming with both a rubber and metal strap, plus an additional charging pad.

It’s not certain LG will ever release the Watch Timepiece, or if the rumor is accurate, but if the source is correct it may arrive around the same time as the LG G7 ThinQ, and be put on sale in June. Don’t worry, the bizarre name apparently isn’t final either.

The Apple Watch is the dominant smartwatch in terms of sales at the moment, while innovation and exciting design happens in the hybrid space, leaving Wear OS watches languishing somewhere in-between, with little direction. The prospect of seeing something new, from a manufacturer that really got smartwatches right early on, is an interesting one. We’ll keep you updated on the LG Watch Timepiece right here.

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From vaping to drones, 8 tech trends we may look back on and cringe

You only need to look at the reaction a show like Friends gets from certain young people in 2018 to realize that attitudes shift over time. What was acceptable decades ago can seem decidedly less so when viewed through modern eyes. This doesn’t just apply to social attitudes, though. From baby formula to smoking on airplanes to insulating our homes with asbestos, there’s a whole lot of past trends which makes us shake our heads with disdain and say, “go home [insert decade], you’re drunk.”

What are the technologies today with the potential to trigger regret 30 years from now? Here are eight:

Vaping

Akn Can _enol/Getty Images

Let’s kick things off on a controversial note: is vaping going to turn out to be more dangerous than we currently think? While some research has reported that they are considerably safer than tobacco cigarettes, the fact remains that e-cigarettes are still new enough that we don’t conclusively know how they’ll affect our health in the long term.

One alarming study from researchers at the University of Connecticut claims that vaping using a device filled with nicotine-based liquid may cause just as much DNA damage as smoking regular cigarettes. Another study, led by researchers the University of Rochester Medical Center, suggests that some of the chemicals and liquids used to add flavoring may be a health risk.

Let’s hope this doesn’t turn out to be one of those health hazards we look back on with bemusement from the future, like those old 1949 ads about how doctors smoke Camels more than any other brand of cigarette!

Overuse of screens

Luis Enrique Carmona Perlaza/Getty Images

This is one of those areas where there simply haven’t yet been enough longitudinal studies to figure out the effects. Here in 2018, a growing number of people are worried about smartphone addiction, particularly among younger people.

Concerns include the fact that digital media use is decreasing the time we spend socializing with people face-to-face; that it interferes with sleep; and that the pervasiveness of social media is correlated with rising rates of depression.

Simple technophobia on the part of the older generation or something far more serious? We’d sure like to know.

Smart speakers

Whether it’s the intelligent Google Home, the cute Amazon Echo Spot or the great-sounding Apple HomePod, we’re suckers for a good smart speaker. But will we turn out to have been the worst kind of suckers?

The recent Cambridge Analytica scandal involving Facebook highlighted just how many people have no idea about the way that certain tech giants harvest and monetize user data. As smart speakers continue to get smarter (a rumored Facebook speaker is alleged to include facial recognition tech), there’s a chance we’ll one day regret our willingness to bring “always listening” (and, potentially, “always watching”) devices into our homes.

In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government forced people to install these devices. In 2018, we willingly buy them for ourselves!

Unrepairable devices

Bloomberg Creative Photos/Getty Images

There’s a scene in the excellent AMC series Mad Men in which the Draper family end a countryside picnic by simply shaking out their trash on the ground. It’s both shocking and archly funny because it shows absolutely no concern for the environment, and reminds us of how much our attitudes have changed in just a short space of time.

No doubt one day we’ll look back on e-waste in much the same way. Each year, up to 50 million metric tons of electronic waste are disposed of. Companies like Apple push their environmental credentials, but have no problem also making devices which can’t be easily repaired, based on a business model that pushes users to constantly upgrade their hardware.

Heck, they’re even willing to shell out money to fight “right to repair” bills. We can’t see that decision finding companies like this on the right side of history.

Cryptocurrencies

No, bitcoin enthusiasts: we’re not suggesting that a decentralized peer-to-peer payment solution is a bad thing. While there’s a definite argument to be made about the short term risks of a cryptocurrency bubble, we absolutely think the technology will pay off (figuratively and literally) in the long term.

The part we totally worry the people of 2048 will frown upon, though? The fact that cryptocurrency operations consume bonkers amounts of electricity. According to one study, bitcoin alone is on pace to use upwards of 42TWh of electricity this year: more than countries like New Zealand and Hungary.

In terms of CO2 emissions, that’s the equivalent of 20 megatons – or approximately 1 million transatlantic flights. Not good news!

Artificial intelligence

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A.I., or so certain people are fond of saying, could be either our best or worst invention. There are numerous possible threats artificial intelligence may pose in the coming decades. These range from mass unemployment to the existential threat of superintelligence.

Even though we’re still nowhere near replicating true general intelligence inside a machine, creating robust regulatory and ethical frameworks for these areas is something we totally need to be considering. Our future selves will certainly thank us for it!

Destroying our high streets

This one’s difficult. On the one hand, a high street that’s full of thriving local stores, instead of empty shop-fronts and payday loan sharks, is good for community spirit and making a neighborhood enjoyable to live in. On the other hand, who can resist a bargain offered by e-commerce companies like the almighty Amazon?

Add in drone delivery, subscription boxes, and the plethora of streaming services out there and it’s easy to fear what our high streets might look like 30 years from now. If we want the neighborhood of the future not to look like some post-apocalyptic wasteland you may want to act now!

Drones and flying cars

Ehang

They’re the dream of science fiction writers everywhere, but what’s the future going to look like if drones and flying cars (no pun intended) take off as expected?

While it’s hard not to get excited about the possibility of flying to work like a character in The Jetsons, it seems that there’s a whole lot which can go wrong in this domain as well. Dealing with bad pre-coffee drivers on the commute to work is bad enough when you’re on the ground; let alone hundreds of feet in the air.

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