Biggest tech fails of 2017

Find out which were the top tech fails of 2017.

By Chandrika

| Updated: Friday, December 22, 2017, 18:00 [IST]

2017 has been quite a year with all the new trends and inventions coming in. On the flip side, we also witnessed some of the biggest tech fails. Not just products, some of the much-hyped tech projects ended up being a flop as well.

Some of these tech fails were unexpected, while some were destined to be doomed from the beginning. As success and failure are two sides of the same coin, today we will talk about the biggest tech fails of 2017. If you think we may have forgotten to include some tech fails in the list below, you can tell us in the comment section. So without further ado, let's look at the lowest water marks of 2017 in the technology world.

Google Tango Project

While Google first introduced the Project Tango in 2014, the company announced this year that it will shut down the Augmented Reality (AR) platform from March 1, 2018.

While initially, the implementation of rear-mounted tri-camera system to bring AR to phones fascinated many, it didn't quite work out. There are only two smartphones that support Tango; Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and Asus ZenFone AR.

The launch of Apple's ARKit also played a factor in the shutting down of Tango Project. With the ARKit, all the recent iPhones can access the AR apps.

So it was only a matter of time before Google decided to scarp the Tango Project in favor of its new new software development kit (SDK) called "ARCore" that brings the AR experience closer to Android users. ARCore will allow a wider range of Android devices including the Pixel, Pixel 2 devices and Samsung Galaxy S8 to enjoy augmented reality apps.

iPhone X's Face ID

Hardly anything goes wrong in Apple's perfect world. Unfortunately, this year was an exception for the Cupertino-giant. The whole world anticipated for the launch of iPhone X, but the launch event didn't go the way Apple may have wanted. And, what caused the trouble? The phone's face scanning feature; the Face ID.

During the unveiling, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi came onstage to show how fast and easy is to use the Face ID. To his embarrassment, the demo iPhone X's Face ID didn't unlock. While the Face ID feature worked perfectly on a second iPhone X, the incident gave us a preview of a series of unfortunate events related to the iPhone X's Face ID feature that were to follow in the coming months.

Apple claims that the chances of fooling iPhone X's face scanning feature is one in a million, but there have been several instances that suggest otherwise.

From specially crafted 3D masks to lookalike persons, fooling iPhone X's Face ID facial recognition feature doesn't seem difficult at all. Even last week, a Chinese woman complained that a colleague of hers was able to unlock the Face ID on her phone. Furthermore, Apple agreed to give a full refund to her.

Well, looks like, Face ID has not turned out to be much of a success.

Snapchat Spectacles

Snapchat first announced the Spectacles with its founder Evan Spiegel wearing them in September 2016. Initially, the product enjoyed a lot of attention and hype, but it soon died down. The circular video-recording specs ended up being a failure as only 0.08% of Snapchat's users bought its camera sunglasses.

So what exactly went wrong? Well, it is because, Snapchat waited 5 months from the announcement before finally selling the Spectacles openly. By the time, the product was made available for purchase, most of the people had lost interest in it. Another reason why the glasses failed to gain success is the fact you can't post directly from the glasses (which send video clips to your mobile device).

Essential Phone

Honestly speaking, we had no idea that Essential Phone would make it to this list. I mean what could possibly go wrong with the device right. As it turned out later, a lot of things. Even with the backing of "Father of Android", Andy Rubin, Essential Phone failed to live up to the mark.

To start with, the shipping of the smartphone was delayed again and again. And, when it was finally released, customers complained of facing many issues. For example, the camera system of the device was really bad. Eventually, eventually had to push out several software updates to make improvements to the camera.

Amidst all these, the company distributed the personal information of about 70 customers by mistake.

As a result, within two months from the launch, the Essential Phone received a major price cut.

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

The sad part is, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus didn't have any fault of their own. Apple's own product iPhone X cannibalized the smartphones. We think, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus would have tasted huge success if iPhone X was not launched.

Unfortunately, in front of iPhone X, the iPhone 8/8 Plus failed to cut it. In fact, demands for the iPhone 8 duo decreased to a significant level after iPhone X hit the shelves. Also, truth to be told, in comparison with iPhone X, Apple didn't add much upgrades to iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.