Tech trends for parents to keep an eye out for

The New Year excitement has come and gone, the CES show in Las Vegas has dazzled with futuristic ideas and now the dust has settled and it’s time to look around and say, ‘okay, what’s really going to happen in 2014?’

Quib.ly editor Holly Seddon reckons these are the top trends parents need to keep an eye out for from their tech-savvy children:

More life tracking
‘Quantified self’, ‘life tracking’ and so on have been buzz phrases for a while, but it’s reaching the masses thanks to gadgets like Fitbit Flex and Fuelband. They track your activity and sleep, and you can track your nutrition through the complementary apps. While these have been around for a while, they’re picking up a pace and new gadgets that don’t have to be worn on your wrist are emerging. All those exciting inventions that were raising money on Kickstarter last year, will be appearing this year. There’s even a fitness tracker for dogs close to its funding target.

Quibly writer Simon Munk is convinced that 2014 is the year of the quantified family and I’m inclined to believe him.

Smart homes
This was all over CES. But most of us probably aren’t going to be living in a truly smart home in 2014. But elements will be creeping in. For example Nest, which tech writer Stuart Houghton explains is: “a home automation product that controls your heating through a combination of temperature, humidity and activity sensors. It can tell if a building is occupied and learn how best to heat your home in the most efficient way possible.”

This stuff is here already, and it’s going to come down in price and as more of us cotton on.

Kids will be coding
On Quibly we’ve talked a lot about the benefits that learning to code can bring to kids. Besides the ability to create games and programs, the process of learning to code can also teach logic, planning, testing and various mathematical skills. As of September, every child in the UK will be taught to code. And while there are still some details to be ironed out, it’s just the start. Over the next few years, I predict more emerging young talent creating market-disrupting apps, as smart cookies who have not previously had access to proper coding lessons, will now be able to realise their ideas.

The return of happy slapping?
As Vine and Instagram videos grow in popularity, and 4G gets cheaper, I think we’ll consume more video on the go, and upload it too. This, of course, means that teenagers will be consuming and creating video. I hope I’m wrong, but I do worry a little that with this volume of vids will come an increase in revenge porn,super-inappropriate selfies and new trends in cyberbullying.

The battle of the networks
Facebook is not dying. But it’s not as cool as it once was. While our tech writer Jonathan Weinberg makes a very strong case for why the grande dame of the social networks still holds value for teens (especially for the parents of teens), there will be a continued swell of young Instagram users. In fact, in the under-25s category, I think Facebook’s little sister will be entirely trumping her big brother before the year is out.