| Happy New Year from Bloomberg's Global Technology team. There's much to be excited about this year. But first... Today's must-reads: • Aldi's UK shops faced a rush of customers looking for an energy drink promoted by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI
• Huawei says it's overcome US restrictions and 'business as usual' is back
• Tim Wu, who helped shape President Joe Biden's antitrust agenda, will leave the White House Jan. 4 We're kicking off another year with a look ahead to the technology we can't wait to get our hands (and brains) on in 2023. EV charging infrastructureDuring a recent trip to visit family in Texas, I rented an electric car for the first time (a Fiat, not a Tesla). I quickly discovered a big problem: There aren't enough charging stations. One listed on a map wasn't there; another I found didn't work. In the US, EV charging is one of many renewable energy projects set to get a big funding boost next year from the federal government and states like California. Ideally, that should bring far more reliable stations and comfort those of us looking to ditch gasoline. —Mark Bergen Nuclear fusionCan there be any answer here other than nuclear fusion? Even on the off-chance that scientists haven't figured everything out by the summer, the action is going to be in energy, from weird battery technologies to the debate over how to use the kind of nuclear power plants that already exist. In the climate change era, this is also the place where tech breakthroughs can enable really massive societal changes. These next few cold months in Europe are going to be just another reminder of the stakes. —Joshua Brustein Diablo IVAfter 10 years' wait, the latest iteration of Activision Blizzard Inc.'s dark and brooding action role-playing series Diablo is my most anticipated game of 2023. I absolutely can't wait to visit Diablo IV's horror-filled landscape and dungeon-dive with a party of friends. —Cecilia D'Anastasio Cheaper and plentiful gadgetsI'm looking forward to a new flat screen TV, a faster router, new high-definition monitors, more memory for my computers, more memory cards for my camera — all at much more reasonable prices and available when I want to buy. How? The chip industry has lurched from shortages into one of its periodic gluts. Great news for consumers, especially after the last two years or so. —Ian King Brain computersBrain-computer interfaces have been around for years, but 2023 should bring a critical mass of breakthroughs. Elon Musk's Neuralink Corp. and a rival called Paradromics could win approval for a clinical trial of its device in humans. Synchron already has a small human trial up and running. So does Inner Cosmos, which plans to share some early data by year's end. Neuroscientists hope BCIs can help treat a swath of disorders, ranging from paralysis to depression. Go, brain chips and human cyborgs. —Sarah McBride Nintendo Power-Up BandsMy kids are completely obsessed with Super Mario right now. We will obviously see the movie, and we're planning a trip to Super Nintendo World in Hollywood after it opens this year. They're stoked to get Power-Up Bands, which communicate wirelessly with creatures and coin blocks around the park. It's a pricey gadget for something we'll only use for a day, but that comes with the territory of theme parks, I guess. Let's-a go! —Mark Milian Climate tech breakthroughsUnited Nations climate talks in Egypt failed to produce stronger commitments to curb the use of fossil fuels, and that was depressing. But even in this tough financial environment, there's still cash ready to be put to work in climate innovation. I'm looking forward to seeing tech like batteries, hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and storage get the support needed to develop and scale. —Jennifer Ryan Apple's long-awaited headsetApple Inc. is hard at work on a headset that blends augmented and virtual reality, and we're expecting to finally catch a glimpse of it in 2023. The device has been in the works for years — one of Apple's legendary "next big things" — and should vault the company into head-to-head competition with Meta Platforms Inc. But the headset is just a stopgap product on the road to Apple's true goal: creating a pair of lightweight AR glasses that could eventually replace your phone. —Nick Turner Better e-bikesI love biking, but I am also A) lazy and B) afraid of death. Wider e-bike adoption promises to ameliorate both problems: electric assistance for hills and more cyclists to support safer bike lane construction. E-bike sales surpassed $760 million last year, up 15% from 2021, according to NPD Group. And companies like VanMoof are slated to debut sleek, new models. E-bikes will offer a greener, funner way to travel in 2023 — as long as they don't catch fire. —Anne VanderMey The FTX debacle prompted Matt Levine to write a postscript to "The Crypto Story," his takeover of Bloomberg Businessweek that ran about two weeks before Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange imploded. Its failure amounts to a double betrayal of confidence in crypto because FTX had billed itself as a stabilizing force. More regulation could be the salvation, but it's not inevitable that anyone else will want crypto to work. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 lost about a third of its value last year as technology stocks emerged as some of the most vulnerable to rising rates. Turns out 2022 was the worst in more than a decade for global equities and bonds, and the start of 2023 may prove to be a bumpy one. Twitter's server outage shows the consequences of Elon Musk's cost-cutting drive. That's not all: reductions in cleaning crews and office space consolidation have left the smell of takeout food and body odor to linger. And some staff have resorted to bringing their own toilet paper to the office. The 10 best video games of the year show that when blockbusters get postponed, independent studios can rise to the challenge. | 
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