While 2018 has finally drawn to a close, we will take a look at the past year’s not-so-great tech products and services that will ultimately meet their Waterloo — and perhaps those that have forever entered the history books - or constitute outright flops.
The bulk of the list is no surprise from the internet giant, Google who got rid of tons of products that have some that are deservedly so and the not so popular, like the Google Goggles app that is supposed to allow users search items using images from their smartphone camera.
Albeit, the Google Goggles app has transitioned into Lens, Google’s attempt to streamline its product offerings continue into the New Year, as also the Google-branded messaging app, Allo, an experiment to integrate smart technologies into messaging.
Inbox by Gmail, Google+ & Allo Shutdowns
Google's stint at social networking, Google+ is billed to be discontinued by August 2019, the announcement was necessitated following the site's compromise with private data leakage, that affected over 500,000 users account.
Also, Google’s streamlined email, Inbox by Gmail has been set on the death row for March 2019, as well as Allo, the Google-branded messaging app with Google Assistant integration.
Valve Steam shutdown
Online gaming will never remain the same as the long-promised Steam overhaul of the desktop app, and the ostensible end of the Valve-owned gaming service, Steam, the piece of streaming hardware that brought PC games into the living room of consumers that got the axe in November.
However, Link streaming lives on as a software, and Steam Link for Android is still kicking, but certainly not for iOS as Valve canceled Link for iOS following rejection from the App Store.
The shutdown of Opera VPN
Opera's free virtual private network service launched in 2016, with the VPN service powered by SurfEasy, and a edicated free VPN apps for iOS/Android with built-in ad blocking was shutdown in April, 2018.
Swype Keyboard Shutdown
Swype Keyboard hit Android devices in 2010, which brought ease to typing, instead of long typing you can just drag your finger across the screen, touching the letters for the word to be spelt out. But, it just wasn’t good enough as Nuance decided to shut down the keyboard apps, pulling it from both the Play Store and App Store in February.
There are still some others which were more or less short-lived, or merely abandoned; albeit the house cleaning is expected to continue into 2019 as tons of flop techs deserved it.
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