Tech that swayed us in 2019

Ashis Dutta Roy

The last year of the decade, 2019 was as eventful as it came. While the title of the most significant breakthrough in the world of technology this year may well go to Google’s announcement of achieving a tipping point called “quantum supremacy” in quantum computing — a whole new paradigm that could upend current technologies that power smartphones, laptops and supercomputers with something that works hundreds of thousands of times faster — for us lesser mortals, too, 2019 had plenty in store. From opening a new dimension in form-factors that could mark the return of everybody’s favourite flip-phones to telling your digital assistant “Light bandh kar do”, here are some of the big moments in the world of technology from this year.

Anybody can shoot

This was the year when cameras on budget phones got so good that even the big players had to sit up and take Note (Cough… ‘Samsung’). Knocking down the doors of Rs1 lakh flagships, budget phone makers like Xiaomi and its sub-brand Redmi, Oppo and its sub-brand Realme, Vivo and even OnePlus carpet-bombed the market with phones with great cameras at even better prices. As a result, premium phone-makers like Samsung had to launch their M series of phones and Google had to launch a whole new India-focused budget Pixel smartphone. The bottomline? Today, you no longer need to take out a bank loan for a phone that can power eye-popping Instagram posts and TikTok videos.

Okay Google, Hey Alexa

Powered by attractive discounts a massive push in popular media, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant-powered smartspeakers seemed to be everywhere. Everyone from annoying celebrities to even-more-annoying colleagues suddenly felt very comfortable about having an always-listening wire to government-friendly mega-corporations in their bedrooms. Weather info, alarms, music and even lights are now voice-controlled thanks to these smart speakers. They can play a movie for you, remind your anniversary, or even tell you a joke when you are low. 2019 was the year when these artificial intelligence or AI-powered assistants started speaking Hindi only entrenching them deeper into our lives.

Mass entertainers

Within what seemed like weeks of India’s Union Budget announcing a tax cut on large television panels, the market seemed to explode with giant, (relatively) cheap LED TVs which — like all things in 2019 — are of course “smart” and powered by voice-controlled assistants. From phone-makers like Xiaomi, Nokia and OnePlus to nearly extinct companies like Onida jumped on the bandwagon of 55-inch TVs. And everybody lapped these up. A giant 65-inch TV, which until two years ago sold at around Rs2 lakh, now can dazzle your guests for a quarter of the price.

No wires, finally

Apple may have removed the headphone jack from the iPhone in 2016, forcing people to use unwieldly headphone dongles or cough up more money for bluetooth headphones, but 2019 was the year when the truly wireless personal audio business really kicked off. This year, almost all major Android flagship phones dropped the headphone jack (even holdouts like Samsung and OnePlus, which once mocked Apple), thrusting bluetooth upon people. This created the perfect foundation for a flood of cheap bluetooth earphones, especially those completely cordless, easy-to-lose earbuds Apple Air Pods and Samsung Gear Buds. These True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphones and their ilk are undoubtedly far more convenient than having wires dangling down the sides of your face, look cool (arguably) and now can retail for Rs1,500 and above — quite a deal!

Bend it like… phones?

2019 began with the exciting promise of phones with foldable displays. The promise of a tablet that could fold up into the size of a phone or a phone that could fold up into half its dimensions seemed like the next big thing. Samsung’s much-talked about Galaxy Fold was quickly followed up by Huawei’s Mate X, and then finally the unveiling of the new Motorola Razr.

While their over-Rs1 lakh price tag and initial hiccups like durability issues kept them from becoming mainstream, foldable phones gave the world a glimpse into the promising future of more screen real-estate, and far more pocketable form-factors.

Click, click, click

Another trend everybody seemed to agree on in 2019 was that one or even two rear cameras on a smartphone are just not enough. From bellwethers like Apple to all generic Chinese manufacturers, everyone decided for us that the backsides of our smartphones needed to incite trypophobia with its unnerving patterns of multiple (as many as five in some cases!) cameras. Most smartphones worth their salt this year launched with regular, wide-angle and telephoto cameras. Many amped it up with depth and motion sensors that can shoot better portraits with gorgeous background blur.

Instant payback

The Unified Payments Interface or UPI — India’s digital payment platform for instant transactions — made sending money as easy as sending a WhatsApp message. The hordes of masses hunting Rangoli stickers on Diwali (to encash a reward on Google Pay) was proof just how ubiquitous digital payments really became in 2019. From your local vegetable-seller to your auto-driver every one seemed to have one of those QR codes plastered which you can just scan and pay with your phones. And the money goes straight from your bank to theirs — no middleman or “digital wallet” needed. 2019 did for UPI what 2004 did for email. In November alone, Indians made 120 crore transactions on the platform using software like Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm and, yes even WhatsApp.

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