Panic Playdate, a handheld gaming device set to debut in early 2022, is among the products predicted to be a winner.

Reviewing 12 Products Predicted to Make a Splash in Sales During 2022

While most publications started the new year focusing on predictions for AI for 2022,  fastcompany.com takes a look at a dozen products we might expect to see or buy this year. Some of the highlighted products are still on the drawing board, while others have already been designed and are ready to roll off the assembly line when computer chips become available.

Needless to say, it’s going to depend on supply and demand for several of the manufacturers in Mark Sullivan’s piece. Sullivan broke his 12 choices down into three categories, so we will include one from each category as well: Sure Things, Maybes, and Probably Not.

SURE THINGS

Panic Playdate. Panic’s new Playdate handheld video gaming device should finally see daylight in early 2022 after the company delayed its launch twice. The Playdate, originally announced in 2019, has a 1-bit black and white display and the main control is a four-way directional pad. It was designed in collaboration with the eclectic Swedish consumer electronics company and design house Teenage Engineering, which might be the reason for its most intriguing feature: a hand crank on the side of the device that’s used for game control. Panic plans to release games in “seasons,” with new titles every week for twelve weeks.

MAYBE

Google Pixel watch. Google’s main role in smartwatches so far has been to supply the operating system that powers many of them. It merged its Wear OS with Samsung’s Tizen operating system. But the company’s purchase of the fitness wearable maker Fitbit in 2019 suggested to some that Google might soon release its own smartwatch in the same way it has developed its own Pixel smartphones. The smartwatch is expected to use the Pixel brand name, too. Google hasn’t confirmed any of this, but insiders say it’s the case.

PROBABLY NOT

Chevy Silverado E. GM CEO Mary Barra is expected to unveil her company’s latest all-electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Silverado E truck. The truck features the fixed-glass roof (the first on any Chevy vehicle), which creates a fishbowl-like effect in the cabin with maximum view of the outside world. The absence of a combustion engine paves the way for lots of space for front-seat and back-seat passengers, Chevy says. The vehicle, which can steer with all four wheels, can go 400 miles on a single charge using the GM-developed Ultium modular battery system. Production of the new EV truck isn’t likely to start until 2023.

We will definitely be seeing several EV products make their way into our mainstream of vehicles that get us from here to there. And that includes the major auto manufacturers from Detroit like Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. But look for Rivian to also be making headlines with its line of EV’s. It is an interesting look at what could be and what just not might make the grade. We will have to see who gets the breaks and who doesn’t in the coming year.

Sullivan’s piece also covers the huge jump in VR products and the mobile apps that will take gaming to the next level which will be the Metaverse.

read more at fastcompany.com