The tech week in 4 news

The week just gone by was was full of news from the tech world: it is the arrival of the new iPad on October 30th was announced, Facebook was once again attacked on the privacy issue and many others. But there are 4 pieces of news in particular, on as many hot topics, which can tell us a lot about what the trends of 2019 will be.

Voice Assistants: Alexa will take care of us from colds.

Artificial Intelligence software is becoming increasingly popular. important in devices made by various manufacturers. Amazon's Intelligent Personal Assistant, Alexa, is integrated into Echo devices, special speakers capable of listening and responding to main voice commands. Among the capabilities of Alexa will come introduced the possibility to make a diagnosis. By listening to the tone of our voice the assistant will know if we are sad, happy or if we have a cold. The objective is, obviously, to suggest the best products to treat bronchitis and send us Aspirin or syrup directly to our home.

Smart Home: the home of the future is today.

In LG's smart home, through SmartThinQ, presented at the beginning of 2018 at CES in Las Vegas, the appliances are able to communicate with each other and with an app installed on our smartphone. LG's vision for the home of the future does not differ much from that of Samsung's competitors, who have arrived a little first on the market with their Smart Things solution. The substantial difference, however, lies in the integration of voice control. For Samsung devices you have to use Bixby, the virtual assistant developed by the company itself, while LG has chosen to collaborate with Amazon (Alexa) and Google (Assistant). The advantage for the consumer is that devices compatible with the two systems offer greater openness and can thus communicate with devices from other manufacturers.

TV series: Apple's debut and Snapchat's bet.

Cupertino is working to enter the streaming TV market. Apple told the American TV channel CNBC that the service will be available starting from 2019. The contents, original or purchased exclusively, will be completely free and usable through the ""TV"" application. In this way, Apple users would not need to install apps from other streaming services. Snapchat is also trying to position itself on the TV series market and presents itself as a pure entertainment app on smartphones, going beyond photos. It all began with ""The Dead Girl Detective Agency"", a soap opera with supernatural contours. Each episode lasts a maximum of five minutes and viewers will be able to watch the TV series directly on Snapchat. The show is one of the 12 original productions announced by the ghost's social network.

Automotive: technology and speed.

Mercedes has developed a remote parking system via app, an autonomous steering assistant to avoid obstacles and one for autonomous overtaking. Volvo has presented a sensor that recognizes the edges of the road even if they are not indicated by stripes. BMW allows maps to be updated via the web. &` It is clear that when it comes to automotive the challenge is not more in form or speed, but in technology. The challenge is has become that of the connected car, defined as a vehicle which, in addition to having access to the internet, has sensors and can send and receive signals, perceiving reality surrounding and interacting with other vehicles or entities.