01 January,2022 07:25 AM IST | Mumbai | Jaison Lewis
NFT and Crypto
Video games are changing thanks to Blockchains, NFTs and Cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is not something to be afraid of it is nothing more than a digital public record of all the transactions performed on a particular network. It is usually used to create and validate the authenticity of Cryptocurrencies and it is also used to make Non-Fungible tokens. These NFTs have information on who created them, how many times they have changed hands and at what price. This year will see a lot of new games using the play to earn model, allowing gamers to cash in on digital assets they earn while playing certain games. Even major game studios like Ubisoft are already working on integrating NFTs and Blockchain in their games. Games like Blankos Block Party, Axie Infinity and Lost relics are already giving/selling special edition NFTs to their players.
The next big evolution in appliances is going to be wireless power. Our phones and earphones are already powered wirelessly. However, starting this we are going to see this tech in household gadgets like air fryers and rice cookers. A lot of these devices will be showcased at CES this year which is scheduled to happen over the next few days. Companies like Ikea, Philips and Jabil are already working on devices that use this tech and they will be showing them off in 2022.
Starlink and Tesla may most likely enter the Indian market in the coming months. Starlink uses an army of low orbit satellites launched by SpaceX, to connect users to the internet via satellites. This will let you have a high-speed internet connection even in the middle of a dense forest or at the top of a mountain. Sure, the government has asked Elon Musk's company to stop selling preorders for Starlink in India till the regulatory practices are completed, but that is just a matter of time. Tesla has already started hiring in India and has set up a company in Bangalore. That is a good sign that we might soon have the opportunity to ride a Tesla on Indian roads. The company plans to launch Tesla Model 3 in India, but don't expect the car to be cheap. We will also have to see how the car and its autopilot
work with Indian roads, it should be interesting. Additionally, there are some rumours that Tesla plans to launch its phone which will run off the Starlink network. While a Tesla phone would be interesting, these are baseless rumours with no confirmation from the company.
With the Metaverse on everyone's mind, augmented and virtual reality has got a huge push. Augmented reality makes the real world interactive by attaching digital assets to it. This can be seen using special AR goggles. Virtual reality, on the other hand, creates a virtual environment that doesn't interact with the real world. Both these technologies have existed for some time now. However, with Facebook changing its name to Meta and the pandemic changing the way we interact with people, there is a genuine push to make tech more mainstream. 2022 will see more advanced devices and possibly a golden year for AR and VR as people try to get in on the tech.
This year saw computer chips, CPUs and GPUs skyrocket in price. This happened because a company called TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) produces chips for a lot of major companies including Apple, AMD, Nvidia, MediaTed and even Qualcomm as they have the most advanced chip building facilities in the world. These chip manufacturing plants are costly to build so companies outsource chip manufacturing to TSMC that has already invested billions in their facility. Building chips also requires a lot of water and currently, Taiwan is facing a drought. Add COVID and shipping crisis to the situation for a perfect storm. Needless to say countries and companies are taking action to remedy the situation, mostly by trying to build chip plants fast at different locations. This takes time, so 2022 will, unfortunately, face more stock issues with consoles, computers and even cars.
Our environmental problems have also now reached epic proportions where turning back is getting difficult every day. This year will see a major focus on sustainability and being environmentally friendly. We have already seen this with Apple selling its phone without a charger and in smaller packing. There is also a push for universal chargers and connectors to reduce the burden on landfills. Companies like Microsoft are even buying greenhouse gas offsets as a part of their drive to be carbon neutral by 2030.
