10. Aftershokz    $49.99 - $79.99  http://www.aftershokz.com/

One danger of listening to music while jogging, biking, or just walking to work, is that it can make listeners unaware of warnings such as sirens or horns. Many headphone wearing pedestrians are hurt or killed by a train or car every year because they were unaware. Aftershokz solves this problem because it sends sound waves through the listeners’ cheekbones directly to the inner ear, instead of the eardrum. This allows pedestrians to listen to their music, but also be aware of their surroundings.

9. Liquipel    $59.00 - $79.00   http://www.liquipel.com/

Have you ever spilled water onto your phone? Liquipel makes sure that you don’t have to worry about buying another. Liquipel puts a microscopic coating over your device that makes it safe from spills and accidental drops in the pool, and it’s so thin that you’ll never notice it. It doesn’t change how your phone looks or feels, and it may save you from having to buy another. Two drawbacks is that you’ll have to send your phone to the company, and some say that it hardly works at all.

8. Touchcode   http://www.touchcode.de/

Touchcode is a new type of code, similar to QR codes, which you can scan without a scanner. All you have to do is open the app and place the paper where the code is printed onto your phone’s screen. The screen detects the code just as it can detect your fingers, and will open whatever media is on the code. Touchcode is also invisible, so you cannot reproduce the code, which makes it ideal using them to make payments. All content scanned is on Printechnologies servers, so you won’t be directed to malicious sites.

7. Project Glass

Project Glass, started by Google, is developing a head-mounted display which will be hands free and controlled by voice commands to access the internet and online content. In prototype stages, Google Glass is like glasses without the lenses, and is aimed to “allow people to access information very, very quickly.”

6. OLED tv

An OLED TV is the latest in television technology, utilizing OLED (organic light emitting diodes). This TVs feature a brighter picture, that’s thinner and more efficient than other TVs on the market. It has better contrast, color production, and refresh rate than LCDs, and prototypes have been made that are as thin as 0.3mm. These TVs also provide future opportunities such as making TVs flexible or even transparent.

5. Retina display    http://www.apple.com/

With over 4 million pixels on the 13-inch Macbook, you’ll never be able to notice them. Of course, not being able to see the individual pixels isn’t the only feature, as it can reduce up to 75% glare and provides greater color and contrast than other displays. There are around 2 million more pixels than a HDTV, which makes for a sharp, vibrant display.

4. Nest thermostat   $249   http://www.nest.com/

Everyone likes to save money, especially when it comes to bills. Nest is the thermostat that learns, after a quick installation Nest can be taught a schedule to use less energy throughout the day, such as when you’re out of the house. If you’re coming home early, you can make sure the temperature will be where you want it when you get home over your computer, tablet, or phone. You can look at Nest’s schedule online as well, see when you’re heating, cooling, and saving energy, then you can change the schedule if you wish.

3. Spatial gestures

Spatial gestures is a fancy name for controlling technology by simply waving your hands. Propelled to the public by Microsoft’s Kinect, users can play games by moving their hands and bodies. Hopefully this will lead others to develop the technology for more sophisticated uses, and not dancing games. Modders are already utilizing the RGB camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone to think up new creative uses for the Kinect.

2. Siri   http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/

Voice control is nothing new; many of today’s phones have voice command functionality, but what makes Siri so innovative is its ability to understand you. You can talk to Siri as if it was an actual person without awkward commands, and it will take care of whatever you wish. Find out the score to the basketball game last night, find local Chinese restaurants, send a text, and look up the weather. Certain car manufacturers are working with Apple to allow Siri to integrate into the voice command system for hands free control in the car. Although Siri is helpful for sending texts and making calls, Google voice search is becoming a big competitor when it comes to searching up information.

1. Cloud storage

When it comes to transferring data, the most common tool used is a USB flash drives, but with the advent of cloud storage USB flash drives may become obsolete. Many big companies out there, such as Apple and Microsoft are utilizing a new way of date storage called the Cloud. Cloud storage allows you to upload any file, from pictures to essays and more, to the internet where you can access it from any of your other devices. You can start reading an eBook on your phone, mark the page within the app, and then continue it on your computer. Music can be bought from your computer and be downloaded onto your phone automatically for quick listening. The main ability this gives us is being able to do anything, anywhere. You no longer need to go to a store to buy newly released movies, you don’t have to buy flash drives to transfer documents, and you don’t have to bring your computer to access your data. It’s all there on the cloud, leading us into a completely digital future.