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Apr 12
Spending on security solutions to reach $91 billion in...

Worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software, and services is forecast to reach $91.4 billion in 2018, an increase of 10.2% over the amount spent in 2017, according to IDC. This pace of growth is expected to continue for the next several years as industries invest heavily in security solutions to meet a wide range of threats and requirements, adds the research group.

IDC says worldwide spending on security solutions will achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.0% over the 2016-2021 forecast period and total $120.7 billion in 2021.

"Banks, discrete manufacturers, especially within the high-tech sector, and the federal government are spending the most on security to avoid large scale cyber-attacks and adhere to regulatory compliance," said Eileen Smith, program director, Customer Insights and Analysis. "Looking ahead to 2021, as the need the to protect IoT connected devices and infrastructure becomes paramount, industries like telecom and state...

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Apr 10
Strategy Analytics: third party messaging apps better...

Consumers are becoming less social in person by becoming more social “virtually” through advanced messaging features, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com). Achieved through pre-installed RCS platforms and self-installed third party messaging apps, these platforms are providing a more consistent, expressive and compelling messaging experience for the sender, according to the research group.

Key findings from Strategy Analytics’ report include:

° Unlike SMS - a universal standard available across all phones - social messaging apps are run by third-party companies and need to be downloaded separately. This does mean however, that OTT messaging apps are consistent across all devices, regardless of operating system.

° Features that attract users are critical to the success of social messaging apps. Capabilities such as payment or game options within one app make...

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Apr 10
Consumer robotics revenues to reach $23 billion by 2022

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that domestic aide robotics will drive consumer robotics hardware revenues from an estimated $6.4 billion in 2018 to nearly $23 billion by 2022. That’s an increase of over 250%.

Juniper says that domestic aide robots, such as robotic vacuum cleaners, will account for 73% of total revenues by 2022. This will be due to increasing popularity of such devices from iRobot, Dyson and Samsung. These have been joined by lower cost devices, which will broaden the segment’s appeal.

The research group found that, despite popularity of domestic aide robots, the biggest growth area of consumer robotics will be in the educational area, representing an average annual growth of 40% in hardware revenues. Companies such as Anki and Wonder Workshop are joining established players like LEGO in providing robotics focused on programming. Juniper...

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Apr 06
IDC forecasts growth for connected devices in key...

IDC (www.idc.com) has published results from its newest Tracker research program covering the fast-growing market of Smart Home Devices. In 2017, 433.1 million smart home devices were shipped worldwide, growing 27.6% from the previous year.

Looking ahead, IDC anticipates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.5% as the market balloons to 939.7 million devices shipped in 2022. Within the smart home market, the smart speaker category, which includes devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, will remain the fastest growing category throughout the forecast. Meanwhile, shipments for most other categories, with the exception of video entertainment products, will experience a double-digit CAGR during the same period.

"The smart home market is still in its infancy but we're already seeing some significant changes in consumers' and vendors' approach," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device...

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Apr 05
5G Boost won’t save vanishing wireless connectivity...

There will be 9.0 billion user-linked subscriptions to wireless services by 2023, up from 7.7 billion today according to new forecasts from Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com). The research group predicts that 5G adoption will follow a comparable path to that seen by 4G LTE, but warns that there’s limited growth left in connectivity revenue for service providers.

Key findings of the report include:

° Wireless service revenue will peak in 2021 at US$881 billion, just 3% above the level forecast for 2018.

° User-linked mobile 5G connections will grow from 5 million in 2019 to 577 million in 2023 (excluding fixed wireless applications and industrial IOT). These will account for 10% of connectivity revenue in 2023.

Prior to the launch of 5G services, there is considerable time for 4G LTE platforms to evolve though LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced Pro technologies....

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Apr 03
Connected clothing to become a $1 billion industry in...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the wearables market has begun to shift away from wrist-based devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, with other device categories forecast to grow much faster.

The research group ranks the fastest growing wearable sectors, in terms of shipments and compound annual growth rates (CAGRs), over the next two years as: connected clothing (102%), smart glasses (98%), smart jewelry (55%), hearables (31%), and smart watches (31%).

Juniper forecasts that the total smart wearables market will reach nearly 350 million devices shipped by 2020. The market is currently dominated by smartwatches and activity trackers, with 137 million devices expected to be shipped in 2018. However, growth will slow, shipping almost 190 million by 2020 as the lifecycle of devices lengthens as fewer new features and a software focus delay...

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Apr 03
Gartner: I&O skill gaps to cause business...

Two-thirds of organizations are not adequately addressing the infrastructure and operations (I&O) skills gaps that will impede their digital business initiatives, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Successful I&O organizations will need to implement vastly different roles and technologies during the next five years, adds the research group.

Gartner forecasts that, by 2019, IT technical specialist hires will fall by more than 5%. Moreover, by 2021, 40%of IT staff will hold multiple roles, most of which will be business-related rather than technology-related. 

"What made I&O leaders successful in the past is not what will make them thrive in the future," said Hank Marquis, research director at Gartner. "Instead of focusing on the 'what' of I&O jobs — such as technical knowledge, education and training — I&O leaders need to shift their focus to the 'how' — the behavioral...

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Apr 02
The Northern Spy: history’s most ironic question

By Rick Sutcliffe

The Spy notes and passes on verbatim with little comment (it is its own commentary) the following advertisement:

Is your target audience completely persuaded?

Let Vologda Analytica do it for you. Our extensive data sets and state-of-the-art algorithms can analyze any target population and build your campaign. Whether your product is political, household or industrial goods, or your services, our techniques have proven effective with a wide variety of clients and situations and will work in yours as well.

We begin by comparing your targets with our general population, analyzing their vulnerabilities within their particular social environment, and weaving a fabric of data around them that reinforces their proclivities in directions most favourable to you. This can be as simple as reinforcing the beliefs they evidence by virtue of the context of their very social connections--a few posts here and there from people they...

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Apr 02
More than 25% of companies expect to be breached...

Nearly four in five companies (79%) were hit by a breach in the last year, according to new research from Balabit (www.balabit.com), a provider of privileged access management and log management solutions.

The report also revealed that seven out of ten (68%) businesses expect to be impacted by further breaches this year, with more than a quarter anticipating a breach to occur within the next six months. The Balabit survey was deployed in the UK, France, Germany and the U.S., and reveals the attitudes of 400 IT and security professionals surrounding their IT security concerns, their experience with IT security breaches, their understanding of how and when breaches occur, and the strategies they’re using to combat hackers.

According to Balabit, the majority of businesses know very little about the nature of the security breaches that take place within their organizations. While a high percentage of companies...

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Apr 02
Security-as-a-Service grows 21% in 2017

2017 has seen a steep increase in adoption of Security-as-a-Service  (SaaS), thanks to its multiple advantages compared to software licensing, according to Canalys (www.canalys.com). However, this fast change in revenue stream is creating headaches for vendors who have to rework forecasts for 2018 to not disappoint investors, adds the research group.

Security-as-a-service (SaaS) registered strong growth in 2017 at 21% to US$4 billion, following the rise in adoption of cloud solutions for enterprises. This growth was double the pace compared to the rest of the security market with software and hardware growing respectively 5% and 10% year-on-year to reach $27 billion combined. Canalys estimates the total security market was US$31 billion in 2017, up 10% overall.

“In the past year, Vendors like Cisco, McAfee and Trend Micro have strengthened their cloud portfolio, which now includes a wider range of products...

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Mar 30
Gartner: worldwide IoT security spending will reach $1...

Internet of Things (IoT)-based attacks are already a reality. A recent CEB, now Gartner, survey found that nearly 20% of organizations observed at least one IoT-based attack in the past three years. To protect against those threats Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) forecasts that worldwide spending on IoT security will reach $1.5 billion in 2018, a 28% increase from 2017 spending of $1.2 billion. 

"In IoT initiatives, organizations often don't have control over the source and nature of the software and hardware being utilized by smart connected devices," said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner. "We expect to see demand for tools and services aimed at improving discovery and asset management, software and hardware security assessment, and penetration testing. In addition, organizations will look to increase their understanding of the implications of externalizing network connectivity. These factors will be...

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Mar 29
Apple releases Swift 4.1

Apple has released Swift 4.1 (https://swift.org/download/) for developers, an upgrade of its programming language. It contains updates to the core language, including more support for generics, new build options, as well as minor enhancements to Swift Package Manager and Foundation.

There was also significant progress made in stabilizing the ABI, according to Apple. Swift 4.1 is a minor language release. It is source compatible with Swift 4.0.

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Mar 29
IDC: smartwatches to have more than 15 minutes of fame

Worldwide shipments of wearable devices is on track to grow 15.1% in 2018, totaling 132.9 million units over the course of the year, according to IDC (www.idc.com). The overall market is also expected to deliver a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4% over the next five years, culminating in 219.4 million units shipped in 2022, according to the research group.

With cellular connectivity on the rise and shifting consumer preferences, IDC believes smartwatches will account for almost two out of every five wearable devices shipped in 2022.

"Consumers are finally starting to understand and demand the utility of a smartwatch," said Jitesh Ubrani senior research analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers. "At present, fitness uses lead by a mile but mobile payments and messaging are starting to catch on. The addition of cellular connectivity is also starting to resonate with early adopters and looking ahead the...

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Mar 29
Wearable computing market to see CAGR of 21% from 2016...

The global wearable computing market is anticipated to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21% from 2016-2023, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

The adoption of wristbands and smart watches in consumer market, increasing focus towards networking, communication and recognition technologies, increasing adoptability of internet of things and increasing adoptability of wearable medical and health devices are some of the key drivers for the growth of the market, adds the research group.

What’s more, high price range of eye and body wear and data privacy concern are some of the major challenges which hinders the growth of global wearable computing market. On the basis of geography, global wearable computing market is diversified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world.

Research and Markets says the North...

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Mar 28
Demand for AR/VR headsets to rebound this year

Worldwide shipments for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets will grow to 68.9 million units in 2022 with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 52.5%, according to the latest forecast from IDC (www.idc.com). Despite the weakness the market experienced in 2017, the research group anticipates a return to growth in 2018 with total combined AR/VR volumes reaching 12.4 million units, marking a year-over-year increase of 48.5% as new vendors, new use cases, and new business models emerge.

The worldwide AR/VR headset market retreated in 2017 primarily due to a decline in shipments of screenless VR viewers. Previous champions of this form factor stopped bundling these headsets with smartphones and consumers have shown little interest in purchasing such headsets separately. While the screenless VR category is waning, Lenovo's successful fourth quarter launch of the Jedi Challenges Mirage headset—a...

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Mar 27
Integrated systems’ revenue to grow 18.4% in 2018

Worldwide integrated systems revenue is forecast to total $12.3 billion in 2018, an increase of 18.4% from $10.2 billion in 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).The hyperconverged integrated systems (HCIS) segment will experience the strongest growth (55%), whereas integrated stack systems will experience a 5% decline, adds the research group.

Integrated systems are combinations of server, storage and network infrastructure, sold with management software that facilitates the provisioning and management of the combined unit. It can be used to derive the benefit of an architected design and deployment of integrated compute, storage and memory infrastructure to support digital business.

"The majority of integrated systems replace existing infrastructure, which is great for cost, agility and consolidation of IT and efficiency metrics," said Naveen Mishra, research director at Gartner. "When...

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Mar 27
Home assistant devices add to fragmented shopper...

While brick-and-mortar stores still remain the most popular place for consumers to shop, according to a new report from SmarterHQ (www.smarterhq.com), a multichannel behavioral marketing platform, the challenge for marketers is that consumers are on-the-go, moving from channel to channel, and they’re distracted as they do it.

And the increasing use of assistant home devices, led by Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod, has only added to the problem for marketers to create a connected consumer experience. In fact, 53% of survey respondents noted that their homes have more than three internet-accessible devices.

“Consumers view all the channels they shop on – online, in-store, through social media, or via assistant home devices – as a single point-of-contact with a brand, yet many retailers still treat these channels as disparate systems that aren’t connected,” said Michael Osborne, CEO of...

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Mar 26
Global popularity of digital wallets on the rise

As digital wallets become more prevalent, it's not surprising that a growing number of retailers are embracing the trend to increase and facilitate more sales, according to Market News Updates (www.marketnewsupdates.com). Digital payments, through apps like Apple Pay, Venmo and Zelle, are faster, easier and generally more secure than some traditional payment methods.

Digital payments grew to about $721 billion in 2017, according to Experian. And the Global market is exploding at an impressive rate. Mobile payment transactions in China alone added up to more than $12.8 trillion last year, making it the world's largest mobile payments market.

Now leading tech companies are accelerating efforts to tap into the market, with Google recently launching Google Pay in a move that rebrands and unifies its previous mobile payment apps as it rolls out new features and plays catch-up with Chinese...

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Mar 26
Internet’s founder calls for tougher regulations

As the World Wide Web celebrates 29 years of existence, its founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee has expressed his concerns about Internet’s vision as an open platform “that would allow everyone, everywhere to share information, access opportunities and collaborate across geographic and cultural boundaries.”
 
While last year’s statement was mostly concerned with the lack of Internet privacy and increased government surveillance, this year Sir Tim Berners-Lee mostly spoke about the danger of concentrating all Internet’s power in the hands of a few major companies, such as Google and Facebook. He said:“What was once a rich selection of blogs and websites has been compressed under the powerful weight of a few dominant platforms.”

Therefore, he called for a legal or regulatory framework that would help control these companies whose main objective is profit, resulting in fake news, bots and other outside influences.
 
His comments come right when government...

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Mar 23
360° video ads drive higher purchase intent

MAGNA (www.magna.com) — an “intelligence, investment and innovation” unit within IPG Mediabrands — has announced the results of a media trial examining consumers’ perspective on 360° video advertising from brands BMW, Royal Caribbean and PBS. According to the report:

° Consumers are eager to experience 360° video even when created by brands. However, they have high expectations for fun and excitement, which were reported as the top reasons for engaging with 360 video in the future. 88% of those who found 360° “entertaining” intend to interact with 360° video ads in the future.

° Early tech adopters are most likely to engage with and enjoy 360° video, making it a big opportunity for brands targeting tech savvy consumers.

° Providing simple instructional cues delivered the best user experience. Some consumers didn’t engage with the video because they weren’t sure what to do.

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Mar 22
Digital transformation, IoT to drive cybersecurity...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that global business spend on cybersecurity solutions will grow by 33% over the next 4 years, reaching $134 billion annually by 2022. The research group ofound that nearly 70% of 2022 spend would originate from medium-sized businesses, as cybercriminals target “low-hanging fruit.”

In the context of strategies for financial services, mobile operators, enterprise and IoT service providers, the research highlighted that stakeholders’ digital transformation and IoT endeavors were key catalysts for increasing spend to defend assets from threats. Juniper anticipates that the cumulative cost of data breaches between 2017 and 2022 will reach $8 trillion, with variable per-business losses depending on the nature and scale of the attack.

Shipping company Maersk, for example, estimated the cost of NotPetya infecting its global network...

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Mar 21
IDC: spending on mobile solutions to top $1.6 trillion

Worldwide spending on mobility solutions is forecast to grow 3.2% year over year in 2018, reaching more than $1.6 trillion, according to a new Worldwide Semiannual Mobility Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC).

This growth is expected to continue through 2021 with spending on mobility-related hardware, software, and services surpassing $1.7 trillion as the market achieves a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8%.

"The new mobility use cases and technology adoption in enterprises is driving growth in all three facets of the market, from devices to software and services," said Phil Hochmuth, program director, Enterprise Mobility, IDC (www.idc.com) "As device capabilities continue to evolve with augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI), and with 5G networks on the near horizon, technology choices for mobile technology buyers will become increasingly complex and critical...

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Mar 21
Gartner: enterprise software spending increasing...

Enterprise application software spending in India is projected to reach $2.5 billion in 2018, an 19.8% increase from 2017, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). In China, 2018 enterprise application software spending is expected to reach $ 5.1 billion, an 18.9% rise from 2017, adds the research group.

While both countries are poised for continued growth, organizations have different criteria for selecting the vendors they use. For example, a recent end-user survey by Gartner showed that corporate branding is an important software selection criterion in China, while organizations in India focus more on pricing and contract flexibility.

"China's and India's enterprise application software spending has grown at double-digit rates historically, and they will continue to be hot spots," said Keith Guttridge, research director at Garner. "To be competitive in those countries,...

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Mar 20
Smart applicants market poised for growth

A new report from Navigant Research (www.navigantresearch.com) looks at the shift in the smart appliances market as a subset of the smart home Internet of Things (IoT) trend, examining factors behind the market growth cycle and providing recommendations to key stakeholders.

While a variety of smart home products like smart thermostats, connected lighting, and smart locks are experiencing a wave of adoption, smart appliances haven’t found the same success. Consumers have mostly avoided smart appliances due to higher price points and a lack of perceived value, but this is starting to change, according to Navigant Research.

“The growing smart home IoT market is helping drive new interest in the typically sluggish smart appliances subsegment,” said Neil Strother, principal research analyst with the research group. “The smart appliance market segment is now ready for a healthy growth spurt over...

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Mar 20
Toxins return in electronics and electrics

There is a flood of new electronic and electrical devices reintroducing toxins very similar to those in tobacco smoke, diesel fumes, asbestos and other killers, according to IDTechEx.

Some of these devices will sell in up to billions yearly but there has been no tracking of the big picture of imminent toxic threat from the balance of virulence, morphology and likely prevalence of these toxins. Something only moderately toxic is a threat if it is widely deployed in millions yearly and has uncontrolled disposal.

Small particles are more reactive and penetrating and researchers suspect that some can magnify the toxicity of others: small volume, big danger? The IDTechEx report, “Toxic Materials and Alternatives in Electronics/ Electrics 2018-2028” looks at all of this.

This report has a timeline of planned introduction of “toxins of concern” into electronics and electrics 2018-2028 and analyses those deployed today and those being researched in new devices....

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Mar 19
Full-screen smartphones will rule this year

According to WitsView, a division of the TrendForce (www.trendforce) research group, full-screen smartphones will become the trend in market this year. The pursuit of narrower bezels and notch designs has emerged, bringing about solutions of under-display fingerprint sensor and applications combining camera modules and facial recognition.

According to Boyce Fan, research director of WitsView, full-screen smartphones have become the focus of market since 2017. The new models launched by Apple and Samsung have led to designs of higher screen-to-body ratio. Smartphone brands will be changing the overall appearance of their devices as a way to upgrade hardware specifications, especially in the situation that smartphone market goes saturated and replacement purchases decrease.

In addition to Samsung, LG Electronic and many Chinese brands who already have active layout, even Sony, who tends to be more conservative...

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Mar 19
Worldwide server revenue grew 25.7% in quarter four of...

The worldwide server market continued to grow through 2017 as worldwide server revenue increased 25.7% in the fourth quarter of 2017, while shipments grew 8.8 percent year over year, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). In all of 2017, worldwide server shipments grew 3.1% and server revenue increased 10.4% compared with full-year 2016, adds the research group.

"Server growth was driven by relatively strong economies for the quarter across the globe," said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner. "This was a somewhat surprising quarter because the strength was exhibited in a variety of positive server shipment and revenue mixes in almost all geographies.”

Dell EMC and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) were neck-and-neck in the worldwide server market based on revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017. Dell EMC ended the year in the No. 1 spot with 19.4% market share, followed closely by HPE...

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Mar 16
Facebook loses favorite brand connectivity with...

Moosylvania (https://moosylvania.com/), a brand building agency, recently asked consumers from 18-38, how they’re relating to their favorite brands – and on which channels they connect.

“We know they are on the channels talking with their friends. What we want to know is how and where they are connecting with their favorite brands,” said CEO Norty Cohen.

The average millennial checks their phone more than 150 times per day – but how often and where are they checking in with their favorite brands? Moosylvania asked consumers, via a mobile-only survey, in January of 2018 was, “You’ve just told us your favorite brand – how do you connect with them on your smartphone?”
The survey compared reactions from 2017 to 2018 and saw significant changes within just 12 months.

“The big news is the change on Facebook – down from 52% to 40% with younger millennials (17-27) and from 48% to 33% (28-38)...

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Mar 16
By 2020, 50% of workers will be working remotely

Per Amr Ibrahim, CEO of ULTATEL (https://www.ultatel.com), which makes telecom solutions for businesses and service providers, says that, by 2020, 50% of all workers will be working remotely.
 
Currently, 3.7 million employees work from home at least 50% of the time. Since 2005, the remote worker population has increased by 115%, almost 10x more than the rest of the workforce. Up to 90% of the workforce reports that working remotely 2-3 days a week is ideal, with most believing remote work to be the right balance for concentrative work away from the office, as well as collaborative work at the office. Ibrahim says a vital component to making remote work possible is the Cloud.
 
"Cloud-based technology is allowing workers to access their information and customer base from anywhere at any time and is imperative for working remotely both now and in the future,” he says.

However, he...

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Mar 15
Global video revenue hit $70 billion in 2017

Online services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have transformed the video business in recent years, but according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com), revenue increases will be even higher in the next four years than in the previous four years.

The research group concludes that global video revenues, including online, physical media and advertising, reached $70.2 billion in 2017, an increase of $29.4 billion since 2013. Over the next four years the increase in dollars, $36.3 billion, will be even greater, taking total industry revenues to $106.5 billion in 2021.
Other key findings from the research include:

° In 2017 online revenues, including consumer spending and advertising, accounted for 84% of the total video market, compared to 52% in 2013.

° Subscription VOD revenues rose by more than a third in 2017 and are forecast to...

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Mar 15
Citizen engagement crucial to smart cities’ success

Citizen engagement is critical to the success of smart cities, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Smart city initiatives are no longer about optimized traffic patterns, parking management, efficient lighting and improvements to public works, says the research group.

"The way forward today is a community-driven, bottom-up approach where citizens are an integral part of designing and developing smart cities, and not a top-down policy with city leaders focusing on technology platforms alone," said Bettina Tratz-Ryan research vice president at Gartner.

For smart citizens the focus is not just about the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and smart machines, but the enhancement of services and experience. Therefore, citizen-government dialogue is a key component that will ensure that the right issues are tackled.

To keep pace with the changing needs of citizens, and the...

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Mar 14
Cyber attacks becoming the number one business risk

SonicWall (www.sonicwall.com), a security partner protecting more than one million networks worldwide, has announced research and intelligence from its 2018 Cyber Threat Report. In sum, the company recorded 9.32 billion malware attacks in 2017 and saw more than 12,500 new Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) reported for the year.

“The cyber arms race affects every government, business, organization and individual. It cannot be won by any one of us,” said SonicWall CEO Bill Conner. “Our latest proprietary data and findings show a series of strategic attacks and countermeasures as the cyber arms race continues to escalate. By sharing actionable intelligence, we collectively improve our business and security postures against today’s most malicious threats and criminals.”

The annual threat report frames, compares and contrasts advances made by both cybersecurity professionals and global...

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Mar 14
4K UHD tech to have CAGR of 20.5% through 2022

Globally, 4K UHD technology is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.5% through 2022, according to a new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

Ultra-high definition is the term used for resolutions over HD (1080p). It includes both 4K and 8K screen resolutions. However, Research and Markets’ report only includes 4K technology, which has garnered far more acceptance and popularity among end users.

4K UHD has witnessed a significant price drop and increased innovation in terms of screen size. This has led to a significant rise in the demand for 4K UHD televisions. The market for 4K UHD is segmented on the basis of screen size, screen technology and end use. In terms of screen size, the market is segmented into screens that are less than 40 inches, 40-49 inches, 50-60 inches, 60-65 inches and 70+ inches.

In terms of screen...

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Mar 13
Brain machine interface hardware revenues to reach $19...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that global hardware sales revenue from BMI (brain machine interfaces) will reach $19 billion per annum by 2027, up from an estimated $2.4 billion in 2018. BMIs bridge the gap between technology and the brain, interpreting brain signals for the purpose of interpretation or control.

The research group found that medical uses will account for 78% of shipment revenues by 2027. This will be due to development of advanced medical uses, such as artificial vision and prosthetic control.

Juniper says the greatest impact of BMIs will be when used for concentration monitoring, where EEG (Electroencephalogram) technology can be leveraged to monitor fatigue. This is crucial for industrial businesses, which strive to improve safety and productivity. The research group says t heavy industry will use EEG to replace more expensive existing...

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Mar 13
State of Business Intelligence Reporting Survey shows...

Narrative Science (www.narrativescience.com), which specializes in Natural Language Generation (NLG) for the enterprise, has released its 2018 State of Business Intelligence (BI) Reporting research report, which highlights the challenges and opportunities in current data analysis and reporting processes facing businesses.

The research report surveyed hundreds of BI report authors, BI administrators, and business decision-makers, unveiling the following findings on why adoption remains low:

° It’s too time-consuming:

° Almost two thirds of analysts surveyed responded that more than half of their weekly activities are dedicated to manual reporting tasks;

° There’s not enough context:
° A majority of business decision-makers cite their biggest pain point is that reports include “what” happened but lack explanations on the “why.” Excel ranks as the primary way this group...

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Mar 12
Consumers expect digital healthcare experience to be...

According to research findings released by NTT DATA Services (nttdataservices.com), which specializes in global technology services, U.S. healthcare consumers want simple and reliable digital interactions for routine transactions, such as filling prescriptions, accessing test results and making doctor appointments. In fact, 59% of U.S. consumers expect their healthcare digital customer experience (DCX) to be similar to retail.

Consumer expectations for healthcare providers and insurers are being shaped by other industries, and they want their digital experiences to more closely mirror interactions with major online retailers, such as Amazon, Apple and Southwest Airlines.

“Consumer-focused brands with rich, engaging content, interactions and features have changed the landscape in digital customer experience, and healthcare is lagging behind,” said Alan Hughes of NTT DATA Services. “As patients seek seamless care to bring together services related to diagnosis,...

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Mar 12
Ethernet switch and router trackers show modest growth

The worldwide Ethernet switch market recorded $6.9 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17), an increase of 3.2% year over year. For the full year 2017, the market recorded more than $25.7 billion in revenue for a year-over-year growth rate of 5.4%.

Meanwhile, the worldwide total enterprise and service provider (SP) router market recorded just under $4.0 billion in revenue in 4Q17, increasing 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. For the full year 2017, the router market finished at $15.2 billion, an increase of 4.0% over 2016. These results are according to new data from the IDC (www.idc.com) research group.

"The Ethernet switching market continues to rapidly mature with customers quickly moving to higher 100GbE speeds, especially in datacenter deployments," said Rohit Mehra, vice president, Network Infrastructure at IDC. "While different regions are in varying stages of maturity viz-a-viz public and...

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Mar 09
WLAN market sees steady growth

The worldwide enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) market grew 6.5% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17) with revenues of $1.5 billion, according to IDC (www.idc.com).

Enterprise WLAN growth for the full year 2017 was 5.7% with $5.7 billion in revenues, notes the research group. The combined enterprise and consumer markets decreased 0.3% year over year in 4Q17, but rose 0.2% for the full year 2017, indicating the market for consumer-grade WLAN remains weak.

In 4Q17, the 802.11ac standard accounted for 83% of dependent access point unit shipments and 94% of dependent access point revenues. For the full year 2017, the 802.11ac standard made up 80% of dependent access point shipments and 91% of revenues. This trend indicates that the 802.11n standard will be nearly obsolete by the end of 2018 in the mainstream enterprise WLAN segment.

Meanwhile, softness in the consumer WLAN market...

| Read more »
Mar 08
40% of energy companies believe digitalization can...

Aspen Technology (www.aspentech.com), an asset optimization software company, has announced the results of a recent survey of over 400 energy industry managers and executives about the impact of analytics and big data on the energy business in the next 24 months. The data confirmed that improving reliability is the key objective for upstream and downstream companies as well as the engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) firms that serve them.

To achieve greater asset availability and utilization, organizations are undertaking digital transformation initiatives that use advanced analytics and machine learning to drive significant increases in asset reliability and performance. Survey respondents indicate clear and compelling interest in the potential of analytics to drive operational excellence.

Forty percent of companies believe that digitalization can save 16% or more in operating expenses (...

| Read more »
Mar 07
Personal computer market predicted to decline

According to the latest forecast from IDC (www.idc.com), global shipments of personal computing devices (PCDs) – composed of traditional PCs (desktop, notebooks and workstations) and tablets (slate and detachable) – declined 2.7% year over year in 2017.

The results illustrate a year in which commercial PC renewal momentum remained as the main catalyst in a market that was also tempered by lackluster demand for legacy form factor devices and component shortages, according to the research group. Nevertheless, key metrics including commercial activity and notebook shipments all reached positive growth patterns due to some emerging region recovery and ongoing business PC refresh.

Within the PCD market, traditional PCs are forecast to contract at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -0.9% over the 2017-2022 forecast, with volumes dropping from 259.4 million in 2017 to 248.3 million in 2022. However, when adding in...

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Mar 07
Voice shopping to jump to $40 billion by 2022

Voice shopping is expected to jump to $40 billion in 2022, up from $2 billion today, suggesting the new channel may well be the next major disruptive force in retail, according to data from OC&C Strategy Consultants.

The survey showed growth in the voice segment will be driven by a surge in the number of homes using smart speakers, rising to 55% from 13% percent today. Meanwhile, Amazon is poised to dominate the new channel with the largest market share, currently more than twice that of its nearest competitor. Among other key findings of the study:

° Three tech behemoths lead the virtual assistant AI space in the US – Amazon's Echo has 10% penetration of US homes; Google's Home, 4%, and Microsoft's Cortana, 2%.

° Apple has been left behind. Siri lacks the AI capabilities of Google, while their HomePod has only just hit the market.

° Only 39% of consumers trust in the "personalized" product selection of smart speakers.

° Smart speaker owners...

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Mar 06
Dresner Advisory Services publishes End User Data...

Dresner Advisory Services (www.enduserdataprep.com) has published the 2018 End User Data Preparation Market Study, part of the Wisdom of Crowds series of research. The fourth annual report addresses user perceptions, trends, and intentions surrounding end user data preparation, defined as a self-service capability for end users to combine, model, and prepare data prior to analysis.

The annual study examines end user requirements including usability, integration, and manipulation features, as well as output and deployment options. It also considers current and planned industry support for end user data preparation functionality. 

Among technologies and initiatives strategic to business intelligence in 2018, end user data preparation ranks in the top half of the 33 topics under study, and one place up from the previous year’s report. While end user data preparation trails traditional topics...

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Mar 05
57% of U.S. broadband households want voice control in...

New connected car research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) finds 57% of U.S. broadband households are interested in voice control features for their car, with interest highest among consumers who already own smart speakers or use voice recognition on their smartphones. The research group notes that interest in voice control is particularly high among consumers planning to buy a car soon.

"Roughly one-fourth of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a new vehicle in the next 12 months, and more than 75% of these car shoppers are interested in voice control as a feature," said Kristen Hanich, research analyst, Parks Associates. "The popularity of smart speakers with voice-based assistants is spilling over into the auto industry, and already 5% of car owners have some type of voice control in their car.”

Parks Associates predicts that beyond traditional use cases such as mapping...

| Read more »
Mar 05
Android users are far slower to update operating...

Blancco Technology Group (www.blancco.com), which specializes in data erasure and mobile device diagnostics, has issued a new mobile report designed especially for mobile processors, call centers and resellers. It’s based on data collected from iOS and Android mobile devices that were brought in to mobile carriers and device manufacturers for diagnostics tests and mobile erasure in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia from Oct. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2017. Highlights from the report include:

° Approximately 30.5%of Android devices that underwent the Blancco mobile device erasure process in Q4 2-17 were running Android versions from 2013 or earlier. Meanwhile, of the iOS models wiped during this testing period (88.83%) were running the latest iOS 11 update. 

° To address the different erasure needs required by various Android devices, our data shows that most Blancco customers are using secure, software-...

| Read more »
Mar 02
Could the End of Net Neutrality Mean the End of Your...

On Feb. 22, the Federal Communications Commission published its repeal of the Open Internet Order (which was created in 2015 during President Obama’s term). It is a decision that will have a far-reaching impact on nearly every industry.
 
“The posting of this new order on the FCC web site may seem like it means that net neutrality is doomed, but actually it means the legal floodgates are open and that corporations and government officials can now take action to stop the repeal,” says Marcus Harris (https://softwarenegotiation.com), software litigation attorney. “We can also expect Congress to possibly get involved, and they have until April 23 to do so. Meanwhile, in the Senate, politicians are still battling to stop the FCC’s decision, but the House will likely keep them from doing so once the bill moves to them.”
 
Harris says that the end of net neutrality could spell...

| Read more »
Mar 01
The Northern Spy: critical parts

By Rick Sutcliffe

Bad news for the iPhone X continues to hit the ‘Net--both by way of fact and rumour. Apple has severely scaled back its orders for displays from Samsung--indicative of the ongoing disappointing sales of the X.
The falldown is extensive. Samsung will now have surplus capacity and can both use those displays itself and sell them to Apple's competition, who will in turn retail phones challenging the X but at much lower price points. They won't make as much money, but will further erode Apple's market share. When one factors in the near saturated state of the market, one should look for impaired earnings at Apple's next report.

Further rumours have it, however, that Apple will introduce as many as three phone models this year--likely an 8s, a new premium model as a replacement for the X, and a 9?? Enough to save the bottom line? Only maybe. Perhaps Apple should consider making its own displays instead of buying...

| Read more »
Mar 01
Digital banking users to reach two billion this year

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) estimates that over two billion users will access retail banking services via smartphones, tablets, PCs and smartwatches in 2018, up 10% year-over-year.

The research group found that accelerated adoption in key emerging markets such as India and China means that mobile banking users now represent 50% of the global banked population. Juniper expects that the number of global mobile banking users will now overtake online users in 2018, two years earlier than previously anticipated.

2017 saw banks worldwide engaging in both technology investments and new tech offerings, although the extent of these activities varied considerably. Juniper analyzed leading tier-1 banks to evaluate their digital transformation readiness scores and highlight their respective positioning within the digital innovation roadmap.

| Read more »
Mar 01
Rep. Khanna introduces bipartisan legislation to study...

Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Ryan Costello (R-PA) have introduced a bipartisan bill, the Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act, to require the Bureau of Economic Analysis to conduct a study of the effects of broadband deployment and adoption on the U.S. economy.

The legislation empowers policymakers to make more informed decisions about broadband, connecting underserved communities and keeping America competitive in a digital world.
 
The internet is an integral component of our country’s economy and infrastructure. Expanding access to quality broadband internet is a potential driver for development and progress. However, despite its importance, the Federal government does not currently measure the impact of broadband on the U.S. economy, as it does for many other industries. The lack of current, reliable, and accurate data diminishes the decision-making ability of policymakers, business leaders, research...

| Read more »
Feb 28
Gartner: digital businesses require growth mindset

When embarking on a digital business transformation, too often organizations ignore the need to change the mindset of their staff, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). A technology shift not backed up by a corresponding cultural shift puts the success of a digital business initiative at risk.

"For any transformation to be successful, people need to buy into your vision," said Aashish Gupta, research analyst at Gartner. "The culture aspect and the technology demand equal attention from the application leader, because culture will form the backbone of all change initiatives for their digital business transformation. Staff trapped in a "fixed" mindset may slow down or, worse, derail the digital business transformation initiatives of the company.”

While every organization has its own unique culture, it must understand the nuance of attracting and retaining talent with values and mindsets aligned to the...

| Read more »
Feb 23
Hardcopy peripherals market grew 1.2% year-over-year

The worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market increased 1.2% year over year to nearly 28.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17), according IDC (www.idc.com).

The growth was driven by a solid performance in the inkjet market, which grew 3.3% year-over-year, adds the research group. Shipment value, on the other hand, decreased 1.0% year over year to $13.7 billion in the quarter.

Three out of the top five companies saw year-over-year shipment growth in 4Q17, with Epson leading the way at 12.2%, followed by Brother at 5.2% and Canon Group's 1.4%. Top-ranked HP Inc. recorded a year-over-year decline of 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17). For the full year 2017, HP's shipments of more than 39 million units remained unchanged from 2016 while Epson, Brother, and Canon Group posted positive year-over-year growth of 4.6%, 3.6%, and 1.3%, respectively.

| Read more »
 

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