Top tech trends of 2020: from medical help on your wrist to flying cars, this is what to expect

Laptops with flexible screens, 3D printed face masks, and smartwatches with medical credentials are just some of the top tech coming your way in 2020.

Wearable technology will finally diagnose your ailments, your laptop could be one giant screen, your skincare could come from a printer, and Apple will finally release a 5G iPhone.

These are just some of the top tech trends you can expect to hear more about in 2020, alongside flying car demonstrations, smarter home appliances, and a new type of shopping.

But what is vapourware and what will you really see? We quizzed the creators to find out.

Flexible screens you’ll actually want

Just one flexible screen made it into stores last year.

This year, we’re likely to see a lot more gadgets that fold and bend, in new styles and from new sources.

Lenovo, for example, has revealed plans to launch a fully functioning computer with a long folding screen.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a laptop with a 13.3-inch folding screen. It's due to launch in stores in the second half of 2020.

The ThinkPad X1 Fold, due out in the second half of the year for $US2499, will feature a 13.3-inch screen that can lie flat to deliver the largest canvas, fold up 90 degrees to work like a dual-screen laptop, or be used with a wireless keyboard to act like a desktop monitor.

Lenovo smart device business president Christian Teismann said the “major engineering challenge” would create an entirely new type of device.

But the company won’t be going it alone.

Motorola won a lot of attention when it showed off renders of its iconic RAZR phone with a flexible screen, and Samsung is expected to unveil a second folding smartphone at an event in San Francisco next month.

Leaks indicate the new offering, codenamed ‘Bloom,’ will be a long smartphone that folds in half vertically rather than opening like a book. The end result could be a square, more pocket-friendly device.

Telstra Labs technology head Andrew Scott said consumers should expect to see plenty of smartphones that experiment with new forms this year.

“More than a gimmick, these fordable phones have created a genuinely useful proposition where your screen size isn’t limited by the size of your pocket or bag,” he said.

Medical help on your wrist

Actual medical help could land on your wrist within months.

While Samsung and Apple promised electrocardiography in their smartwatches, it looks like Aussies will finally get access to the technology from a difference source.

Withings has revealed plans to release its ScanWatch locally after jumping through a lot of medical hoops to allow it to function as a medical device in Australia.

The smartwatch will feature sensors that allow it to detect both heart arrhythmia (an irregular beat) and sleep apnoea, and store the information so users can show it to a qualified medical professional.

The Withings ScanWatch will feature medical-grade heart monitoring when it is released in Australia in 2020.

Withings chief executive Mathieu Letombe said both conditions were “extremely common yet largely undiagnosed” and the smartwatch could provide wearers with an “early warning system”.

A spokeswoman for the company said the device had already received medical clearance in other countries and would seek approval from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration before a launch in the second quarter of the year for $479.

Neither Samsung nor Apple have been able to deliver the ECG features on their watches in Australia, despite their use overseas, though this could provide a new tech pathway.

Faster mobile internet for more

Australia became the third country to get 5G mobile connections last year, promising download speeds up to 20 faster than the generation before it.

This year, that upgrade will affect a lot more consumers. Mr Scott said Aussies should expect to see greater coverage, with 5G spreading closer to their homes or businesses, and many more hardware options than last year.

“Industry experts are predicting that most major smartphone brands will offer a 5G device in 2020,” he said.

People look at 5G phones at the Samsung booth during the CES tech show, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, in Las Vegas. Picture: AP Photo/John Locher

That could include Apple, which overlooked 5G for its iPhone 11 Pro launch last year.

Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo this week predicted the tech giant would embrace 5G in a big way, releasing four 5G models in late 2020.

And the company can expect plenty of competition from their big South Korean rival.

Samsung Electronics Australia mobile vice-president Garry McGregor told News Corp “almost nine out of 10 5G phones” sold in Australia had been Samsung models, and the company planned to win over more users this year.

“5G has been massive for us in Australia,” he said. “You will see a continuation of 5G in Australia this year.”

Consumers should read their new smartphone contracts carefully though: some telcos will start charging an additional fee to connect to 5G from July.

Personalised skincare

Skincare is getting a tech makeover but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to trust Microsoft with your make-up.

Traditional brands including L’Oreal, Procter and Gamble, and L’Occitane showed off tech visions for the future of face creams and cosmetics at the Consumer Electronics Show.

CES executive vice-president Karen Chupka said it showed we were reaching the point where “every company is truly a tech company”.

Innovations included L’Occitane’s Duolab that delivers small, warmed samples of skincare based on the user’s answers to a series of questions and, from Korea, Amorepacific showed off a 3D printer designed to create personalised face masks for the operator.

Expect to see many more devices designed to keep you looking young this year.

New modes of travel

Cars were supposed to be driving us to work by now, and not the other way around.

Those predictions were premature but we are getting closer to new modes of tech transport.

Uber Elevate head Eric Allison, for example, told News Corp he was “bullish” about the company’s goals to launch air taxis in Melbourne within three years.

The Hyundai S-A1 electric Urban Air Mobility concept at CES. Picture: Robyn Beck / AFP

“We’re pretty confident that some of our partners will have vehicles that are certified and ready to operate in the kind of 2023 time frame that we’ve laid out previously,” he said.

That does not include Hyundai, who announced its Uber partnership last week and showed off a prototype, but other so-called flying cars were more advanced and “we are still working towards public demonstrations of these vehicles this year,” Mr Allison said.

Driverless cars are still on the agenda in Australia too, and their introduction is likely to be informed by trials currently underway with Lyft and Aptiv in the US.

Checking out without check-outs

Amazon has now opened 21 stores in the US that operate without check-outs; replacing them with sophisticated camera technology that monitors what goods you take from it shelves and charging your automatically. It has plans for more, including larger supermarkets.

Naturally, Australian operators are eyeing off the technology, with a Coles executive predicting that registers could go within a decade.

Mr Scott predicted convenience store operators could also eye off the technology, which was easier to deploy in a small environment.

“Start-ups like AiFi, Zippin and Standard Cognition are offering similar propositions,” he said. “Give the high convenience of such offerings, it is just a short matter of time before Australian convenience stores see this as a way to attract customers.”

Originally published as Top tech trends of 2020: from medical help on your wrist to flying cars, this is what to expect