Must-have tech devices: a selection for mobile app development companies

As seen in the last CES and MWC, supersonic insoles, speaking canvases, drones, accessories to keep your coffee at the desired temperature for hours or voice-controlled motorcycle helmets can become some of the next tech-musts. Although it’s difficult with so many ideas out there, here’s a selection of some of the most remarkable gadgets. Mobile app development companies must be tuned to this news because it's what they'll have to develop mobile apps for soon.

Some must-have wearables

We have already started to spot some people wearing smartwatches or smartands to track their physical activity, such as steps, burned calories and heart rate. The king of these wearables is maybe the Fitbit smart-bracelet, but other alternatives include the SMS Audio BioSport Earbuds, which don’t need to be regularly charged as the vast majority of wearables. Thanks to an embedded biometric sensor, they can collect fitness data and send it right to your phone. The sweat and water-resistant SMS Audio BioSport Earbuds are born from collaboration between Intel and the singer 50 Cent, and they cost $79.95.

But if you thought fitness trackers always have to lay on your wrist, you’re very wrong, andDigitsole is here to prove it. Digitsole is a smart-insole for your shoes that tracks your daily steps and, in addition, keeps your feet warm and absorbs shock and vibrations thanks to a layer of padding. These intelligent soles cost $200 and transfer their data via Bluetooth.

Another top wearable is the Skully Motorcycle Helmet, an augmented reality motorcycle helmet. The Skully Motorcycle Helmet is equipped with a heads-up display, a 180-degree rearview camera and GPS navigation and allows you to control your phone and music with voice commands. The Skully is available at $1,500 and it claims to be the smartest helmet ever.

Also for bike drivers, there’s the Garmin Varia, a very helpful high-tech radar display that will alert you when a car is approaching you from behind. Indeed, this gadget can make bicycle races much safer.

Quellis is a very interesting TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) wearable aimed to people who suffer from chronic pain conditions. It acts like a digital assistant, stimulating nerves below the knee in order to relieve that pain. This drug-free wearable is one of the only pain-relief gadgets approved by the FDA.

And of course, we get to the hot spot here: smartwatches. Though the Apple Watch is probably the most known one, high-class and luxury watchmakers have also started to introduce their own proposals in this area. It’s the case of the TAG Heuer Smartwatch and the Hermes Apple Watch. The TAG Heuer Smartwatch is the first Android Wear luxury watch, and is expected to include health monitoring, GPS features and specific apps specific for the sports the company sponsors, which use to be car-racing events and marathons. The Hermes Apple Watch is already available at Apple for $1,250. Also a luxury gadget, the Misfit Swarovski Shine is a fitness-tracker bracelet filled with big crystals from Misfit that store solar energy to power the device. There are lots of mobile app development companies already focused on smartwatches, smartbands and wearables, basically, and gaining enough experience to be the best app development companies in this industry.

Some top gadgets

If you think a work of art has to be seen, heard and felt, the connected canvases Soundwall will make your dream come true. Yet another collaboration between a musician and a tech company, rock legend Bruce Springsteen and Soundwall present a limited-edition (available for $3,500) consisting of a Springsteen picture that features an exclusive audio interview with the photographer and a playlist selected by the singer himself.

For photography lovers, the Light L16 camera is a shooter that includes 16 separate cameras in one. For each picture you take, the L16 uses up to 10 of its lenses at once, blending them into a high-quality amalgamation. It’s also one of the only shooters that allow you to adjust the depth of field of the image after it was taken.

Are you a nostalgic? Polaroid Zip mobile printer gives you the opportunity to print 2x3-inch pictures right from your phone or tablet thanks to its Zink (zero-ink) technology.

If you have kids, the Pacif-i smart pacifier will help you take better care of your baby, by measuring his temperature at every moment. And if your children are already older and you want them to start discovering how technology works under the hood, you should offer them the LittleBits Gizmos & Gadgets kit, a pack of color-coded circuits, control boards and wiring that will teach the youngest ones how their smartphone, PC or console work.

If you like to travel, the Calypso Security Tag may be of your interest: the Calypso is a tag that notifies you when your bag is coming out from the airport carousel, so you will finally be able to go to the toilet and call your family right when you land instead of having to wait in front of the luggage belt for hours. The exciting Calypso Security Tag can be yours at Calypso for $169.

Do you terribly miss your pet when you go on holidays and always suffer about how he is without you? Good news: at last, new technologies provide solutions for our best friends as well. Some of them are the Petcube, a monitoring camera that streams video to your phone and lets you communicate with your pets, the Motorola Scout 5000 (a GPS collar that streams video to your phone or tablet and lets you talk to your pet) and Petnet, a device to feed your dog or cat when you’re not there.

Finally, what to say about the latest transportation alternatives, like the increasingly common self-balancing scooters or self-driving cars, with the anticipatedGoogle Car, big players like Mercedes, Toyota or BMW ready to release their driverless automobiles in the next years and 2020 announced as the big year of self-driving cars. Of course, self-driving cars won’t come along, but with a bunch of specific applications and gadgets yet to be discovered.

Must-have smartphones

If you are a mobile app development company or a freelance developer, you might be looking for the current top 5 smartphones to know where your mobile apps will end up playing in, here are some of the best handsets in the market right now:

• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: Considered by many as the best smartphone in the world, this Android 6 5.5-inch, curved-edge device offers an amazing 12MP camera, 1440 x 2560 resolution, 4GB RAM and 32GB of storage, all packed in a mix of metal and glass case that makes it very comfortable to hold.
• Samsung Galaxy S7: Like the S7 Edge model, this one comes with Android 6 too, but has a slightly smaller screen (5.1 inch) and so it’s a bit cheaper. It looks a lot like its predecessor, the S6, but its back feels nicer to hold thanks to a curved shape (through a process called 3D Thermo Forming). This model is water resistant and gets the microSD slot back.
• Sony Xperia Z5: The Japanese company’s lower-cost flagship smartphone works with Android 5.1 and, among others, features a brilliant camera with a stunningly speedy autofocus, a waterproof chassis and a fingerprint sensor on the side. The 5.2-inch Sony Xperia Z5 offers a 1920 x 1080 resolution, 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. Its camera is one of the best in the market, with 23MP.
• LG G4: The LG G4 runs Android 5.1, has 2560 x 1440 resolution, 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. One of its unique features is the leather back, and its 5.5-inch screen is one of the best on the market, as well as its 16MP laser auto-focus camera.
• iPhone 6S: Experts state the latest Apple handset, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6S, is simply the best iPhone ever made. Why? Because the new version suffered some interesting upgrades, like a better, 12MP camera, a more powerful processor and, of course, the new 3D Touch technology that allows you to preview content and open quick shortcuts.