At the forefront of innovation

The centre of America's tech revolution, Silicon Valley in California, is where the microprocessor, microcomputer, and other key technologies were invented. The area is home to some of the biggest tech enterprises in the world such as Facebook, Apple and Hewlett-Packard, among others. Over the years, Silicon Valley has become a leading hub and start-up ecosystem for innovation and scientific development. Renowned for developing latest technologies at warp speed, every year some of the most ground-breaking products come from the region. Here's a look at the hottest American tech launches this year: 
Apple HomePod 
Famous for a string of products such as the iPhone 7, Apple watch and wireless headphones, Apple recently launched HomePod, a wireless speaker for the home that delivers great audio quality. The speaker is designed for voice control with an array of six microphones, so users can interact with it from across the room. It uses spatial awareness to sense its location in a room and automatically adjusts the audio. Designed to work with an Apple Music subscription that offers access to over 40 million songs, HomePod provides knowledge of personal music preferences and helps users discover new music. It features a large woofer for deep, clean bass and powerful technologies built in to preserve the richness of recordings. The speaker will be available starting December this year. 
 

Microsoft HoloLens
Star Trek, the popular TV series of the 60s, was much ahead of its time in predicting technologies of the future. One of the futuristic innovations on the show was holograms, which allow you to visualise and work with digital content as part of the real world. Microsoft HoloLens contains more power than the average laptop and brings us a step closer to the future. It is made up of specialised components that enable holographic computing. The gadget's optical system works with different advanced sensors and can process a large amount of data per second. All of this allows you to move freely and interact with holograms. The headband is designed to offer a comfortable fit and is passively cooled without fans. 

HP Spectre
Known as the 'World's Thinnest Laptop', Hewlett-Packard's Spectre was designed by taking inspiration from women's jewellery and purses, and has a stunning two-tone finish with a copper-coloured spine. The laptop has been built using carbon fibre and aluminium for lightweight durability and comes with three USB ports, and a 13.3-inch full-HD WLED-backlit IPS display. It also incorporates a hybrid battery in order to maximise its capacity and can go on for a healthy nine and a half hours of runtime. That has been made possible thanks to a unique four-cell design, wherein the battery is split into smaller pieces to make better use of the available space.

Amazon Echo Show
Recently, Amazon released Echo Show, a speech-enabled Internet-connected speaker with a built-in touch screen. The screen allows for richer experience for enjoying music as it displays lyrics, communication, as it can enable video calls, as well as streams videos. The device is always on, so the screen is always up and running. Even when not in use, the device shows upcoming calendar appointments, breaking news, and other tips. The company also recently acquired Whole Foods, an American supermarket chain. Reports are saying that Amazon is going to be using Data from its acquisition to transform the retail landscape. This move is most likely going to make it easier for people with limited access to grocery stores in the U.S. to now place their orders online.
Lab automation
Health tech is also steadily changing the healthcare landscape both in the U.S. and around the world. One of the biggest breakthroughs has been automating laboratory testing. Lab automation plays an essential part in performing actions that require high precision and levels of accuracy and has proved extremely useful in helping eliminate human error. Most of the tasks executed in a clinical lab today, from micro plate handling to liquid handling, are achieved through lab automation and these processes handle routine tasks that were once performed by pathologists and lab technicians, and help in achieving a fully traceable and standardised sample processing.  
- deepa@khaleejtimes.com