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Sep 11
25% of U.S. broadband households interested in a...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that 25% of U.S. broadband households are interested in using a health portal to review doctors' notes and nearly one-fifth would like to receive an electronic checklist after a doctor or hospital visit.

Over 50% of U.S. broadband households use two or more patient portals at least once a month, and interest in additional capabilities, particularly related to doctor communication, is relatively strong, according to the research group. Health plans and providers need to invest in connected solutions that will be more attractive to their members and patients, focusing on the entire health value proposition for consumers instead of just on their medical expenditures," says Ron Ozminkowski, Chief Scientific Officer and SVP, OptumHealth Care Solutions, UnitedHealth Group. "

"Lowering healthcare costs will be the biggest driver for the...

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Sep 10
Younger folks more likely to give Apple Pay a try

While nearly half of all U.S. consumers believe nontraditional providers will drive innovation in the financial services industry, only 38 percent said they would consider a nontraditional provider for future financial services needs, according to a survey (www.theraddonreport.com) from Raddon Financial Group, a provider of financial industry research and trends data.

However, likelihood to use a nontraditional provider such as PayPal, Amazon, Apple or Google broke down sharply along generational lines, with younger consumers much more likely to consider doing so.

"U.S. consumers continue to trust that banks and credit unions will provide them with the highest quality and most secure financial services available, and they believe that the emergence of nontraditional financial service providers has the potential to drive innovation in the industry," asys Bill Handel, vice president of...

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Sep 09
Global WLAN market shows mixed results in the second...

The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments decreased -5.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15). According IDC (www.idc.com), the enterprise segment's growth continued to slow compared to preceding quarters, increasing just 1.4% over the same period last year.

The research group says that, after several quarters of high single-digit growth rates, the enterprise WLAN market growth rate has fallen to the lowest level seen in years due to the confluence of two factors: a hold on new WLAN projects due to the uncertain short-term trajectory of the global economy and market anticipation of Wave 2 802.11ac.

The 802.11ac standard continues on its path toward becoming the prevailing WLAN standard. After two full years of product availability, the 802.11ac standard already accounts for just under 50% of dependent access point unit shipments and 62.8% of...

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Sep 08
Speech recognition to achieve 82 percent penetration...

Voice-based user interface technologies are becoming an increasingly important part of the user experience for smartphones, tablets, and smart watches.  According to a recent report from Tractica (www.tractica.com), this growth is being driven by a variety of use cases that include not only traditional applications like hands-free calling, but also high-growth areas like virtual digital assistants (VDAs), always-on interfaces, and voiceprint identification of individual speakers.

The market intelligence firm anticipates that these use cases will drive significant growth in attach rates for speech and voice recognition technologies in mobile devices during the next several years. Tractica forecasts that native speech recognition will grow from 45 percent of all mobile devices in 2014 to 82 percent by 2020. Meanwhile, voice recognition, which identifies individual voiceprints and may be utilized for various...

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Sep 04
Gartner: worldwide server shipment markets grows 8...

In the second quarter of 2015, worldwide server shipments grew 8.0 percent year over year, while revenue increased 7.2 percent from the second quarter of 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

"The second quarter year-over-year growth for 2015 slowed compared with the annual growth of the first quarter of the year," says Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at the research group. "Currency exchange rate changes have started to show their impact by reducing relative spending power in regions like Western Europe. It is likely that in anticipation of further currency rate shifts that some organizations utilized their budgets earlier in the year rather than waiting until the third or fourth quarters when their purchasing power may be further reduced by these relative currency changes.

x86 server shipments increased 8.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015 and revenue grew 9 percent. RISC/Itanium...

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Sep 03
Medical apps are leading advancement in 3D printing

Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) says that 3D printing (3DP) technology has progressed rapidly in recent years, and that medical applications are leading to some of the most significant deployments of 3DP technology.

New data from the research group reveals that 3DP of medical devices has reached the Peak of Inflated Expectations, but certain specialist applications are already becoming the norm in medical care.

"In the healthcare industry, 3DP is already in mainstream use to produce medical items that need to be tailored to individuals, such as hearing aids and dental devices," says Pete Basiliere, research director at Gartner. "All of the major hearing aid manufacturers now offer devices that are personalized to the shape of the customer's ear. This is evidence that using 3DP for mass customization of consumer goods is now viable, especially given that the transition from traditional manufacturing in this...

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Sep 02
The Northern Spy: Modula-2 R10 Templates

By Rick Sutcliffe

Modula-2 R10 has been the Spy's meat and potatoes in this space for a few months now. It is the fully modern dialect of Niklaus Wirth's Modula-2 that he and Telecom engineer Benjamin Kowarsch have developed to address serious software engineering issues of safety, security, reliability, and extensibility. This month we consider the use of Generic templates to reach toward the software engineering grail of reusable code.

Modern programming practice first saw Generics in Modula-3, C++, and Java. The Modula-3 technique was then modified somewhat by the Spy as part of a proposal to the ISO committee for Modula-2 and this became a supplementary standard to that work, subsequently implemented by most vendors.

Generic facilities address two common situations with a lightweight solution for which using class types and their objects is overkill. These are:

1. the implementation of algorithms...

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Sep 01
Production printer market grows in the second quarter

The worldwide production print market enjoyed 9.4% year-over-year growth in unit shipments in the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15), according to new data from IDC.

According to the research group, shipments grew to approximately 9,279 units (printers and MFPs) and shipment value increased 6.0% to nearly US$1.1 billion in the same time period. All of IDC's regional markets saw positive year-over-year unit growth in the production print space. Key contributors to the worldwide growth were Latin America (32.7%), Middle East & Africa (30.7%), and Western Europe (19.7%).

All categories in the production print market recorded year-over-year gains. Mid-Production shipments grew 5.8% year over year while Production shipments increased 25.8% and Label & Packaging was up 18.3%. Color laser shipments grew 24.8% year over year in 2Q15. The Xerox Versant 2100 Press and Konica Minolta bizhub Press C1100/C1085 have each made strong gains in this segment and contributed...

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Aug 31
Publishers struggle as digital ad budgets grow

As the number of screens and ad impressions continue to proliferate, advertising dollars are moving from traditional to digital environments at a staggering rate.

An important key to capturing share of the growing digital spend comes down to the ability for publishers to leverage real-time data, according to Forrester Consulting (www.forrester.com). The research group found that 65% of publishers report that they used SSP/exchange analytics data for critical operational decisions.

Further, the study found that 67% of publishers – large and small – believe that real-time data is important to their efforts, and 62% find that it leads to an increase in revenue, yet only 27% report receiving data in real-time. As publishers grow, their appetite for data and actionable insights increase too.

The study also found that the majority of larger publishers, with over 500 employees, experience challenges...

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Aug 28
Mobile services market to reach $21.4 billion this year

Spending on mobile services will grow 4% to reach US$21.4 billion in 2015, according to Gartner Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Spending on mobile services will be driven by data services, which is expected to grow 15% to reach $6.5 million in 2015, says the research group. A large chunk of this growth will be driven by the increasing use of cellular services on data-centric devices, such as tablets and notebooks, through either embedded cellular modems or USB sticks.

"In India, the rise in spending on data-only connections will be driven by two user scenarios – first, to complement their fixed broadband connectivity, so they can use their larger-screen data-centric devices on the go. In other use cases, data-only connections will be the way for consumers to access broadband connectivity because of a lack of fixed networks," says Neha Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner.

Newer and faster networks, a...

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Aug 27
One in 10 iOS users listens to Apple Music

According to a new research study conducted by MusicWatch (http://www.musicwatchinc.com), a company providing consumer research for the music industry, three quarters (77%) of Apple’s iOS users in the United States are aware of Apple Music, and 11% reported they are currently using Apple Music.

That usage level is similar among consumers who purchase music from iTunes or use iTunes to manage their music collections. Among users of iTunes Radio, Apple’s earlier music streaming service, listening to Apple Music reached 18 percent. The study measured trial, awareness and use of Apple Music across a representative sample of U.S. consumers.

Among people who had tried Apple Music, 48% reported they are not currently using the service. More than one quarter (28 percent) of Spotify Premium customers also use Apple Music, but the draw from popular ad-supported services is more modest: Just 11% of...

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Aug 26
Portable computer shipments are expected to be flat...

According to the latest market data findings from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com), total system shipments for portable computing are predicted to reach 165 million units for full-year 2015, which is essentially flat compared to 2014 levels.

Assuming that the free upgrade promotion to Windows 10 OS offered by Microsoft is successful, much of the Windows installed base are likely to use their current computer hardware for at least a while longer. (The portable notebook PC category consists of four segments: netbooks, laptops, Chromebooks, and ultraportable PCs.)

"Segment growth is occurring in Chromebooks, much in part due to purchases by schools," says Research Director Jeff Orr. "Growth for 2015 is also in ultraportable PCs where thin and light designs are looking to tackle more mobile use cases by reversing the display panel flat like a tablet or having the screen separate entirely."

ABI...

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Aug 25
IDC: personal storage market declined in the second...

Worldwide personal and entry-level storage (PELS) shipments declined by -9.7% year over year and -13.8% sequentially, finishing the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15) with 15.1 million units, according to the IDC research group (www.idc.com) Shipment values declined along with unit shipments, down -16.1% from a year ago to $1.2 billion.

"The personal and entry-level storage market has been showing seasonality since 2013, indicating that it has become a mature market and is no longer immune to macro trends," says Jingwen Li, Research Analyst, Storage Systems, IDC. "Competition from cloud offerings and shift of media consumption preferences within mature markets are negatively impacting demand within the personal storage space, making high growth emerging markets more critical than ever."

According to IDC, personal storage, which accounted for over 98% of the market shipments, continued to experience decline in the second...

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Aug 24
Strategy Analytics: 2-in-1 tablet sales are taking off

While the overall tablet market contracts in 2015, 2-in-1 detachable tablets have become a bright spot, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com).

Traditional PC vendors like Asus, Acer, and HP have found a niche in which they can credibly compete against mobile device heavyweights, as the segment is forecast to grow 91% over the next five years due to lower prices and better designs, according to the research group.

By 2019, 2-in-1 tablet growth will show a five-year compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 57% while slate tablet growth will amount to a 2% five-year CAGR, says Strategy Analytics. The overall tablet market is set to decline 4% in 2015, with modest growth returning in 2016 due to more innovative designs and enabling technology in 2-in-1 and slate tablets alike.

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Aug 21
IEEE: young generations playing video games for...

One of the most common behaviors of gaming aficionados over the years has been to sit for hours at a time playing with, or against, fellow gamers across the world, but recent findings from IEEE (www.ieee.org), a professional organization "dedicated to advancing technology for humanity," has dispelled myths of the "traditional" gamer.

IEEE today revealed data on the past and future of gaming, based on input from an interactive timeline. Gamers from around the world were invited to view and participate in the interactive timeline launched on Facebook from June 11 – July 13.

The timeline revealed that younger generations of gamers are actually playing for a shorter period of time. Respondents aged 18-24 years shared that they have only played five to eight hours, at most, in one sitting, while respondents aged 25-34 years indicated that the longest they have played videos games in one sitting was 15+ hours, more...

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Aug 20
IDC: Early movers will reap rewards from Ripple...

A new IDC Financial Insights (www.idc.com)study builds on recent IDC analysis of the Bitcoin ecosystem by considering the potential of Ripple, an offshoot of Bitcoin which purports to be an open source, real-time payment settlement infrastructure, and the impact it could have on the financial services industry.

Crucially, Ripple concentrates on providing a payments infrastructure, rather than a new currency, in its attempt to overhaul the international payments landscape.
IDC expects payments through Ripple or similar protocols to grow exponentially in the years ahead. As such protocols supersede Bitcoin, the distinction between cryptocurrencies and new payment protocols will become clearer, and the banking industry will embrace the protocols. With the support of Ripple Labs and other interested parties, Ripple is currently best placed to take this market share, according to IDC.

In the short term, more...

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Aug 19
Gartner forecasts 59% mobile data growth this year

Global mobile data traffic is set to reach 52 million terabytes (TB) in 2015, an increase of 59 percent from 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

The rapid growth is set to continue through 2018, when mobile data levels are estimated to reach 173 million TB, according to the research group. Gartner analysts advise communication service providers (CSPs) to rethink their data caps to meet consumer needs and win market share.

"Mobile data traffic is soaring worldwide, more than tripling by 2018," says Jessica Ekholm, research director at Gartner. "New, fast mobile data connections (3G and 4G) will grow more slowly, from 3.8 billion in 2015 to 5.1 billion in 2018, as users switch from slower 2G connections and consume more mobile data."

In the third quarter of 2014, Gartner conducted a mobile app survey and asked 1,000 smartphone users in the U.S. and 1,000 in Germany about their mobile app...

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Aug 18
Gartner: competition increasing to be the connected...

The hype surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) in the home is growing rapidly, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com), as the battle for the IoT gateway in the connected home gets underway. 

"The numerous IoT applications for the home include smart stoves, which tell you how to cook a meal and provide recipes; and smart washers and dryers, which help you determine the optimum time to run a load of laundry," says Paul O'Donovan, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Add to that smart lighting, which can be operated remotely and programed to dim or turn on or off at specific times; thermostats, which can have your living space at the desired temperature when you walk in the door; and entertainment devices, which can stream programming to your display whenever you want to watch it." 

As home appliances have increased in smartness, cellular and cable connections improved, and pricing declined, the...

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Aug 17
91% of back-to-school shoppers find online purchasing...

SOASTA, which specializes in performance analytics, has unveiled the findings of its annual SOASTA Back to School Shopping Report Card, which found that nearly all (91%) of parents who plan to shop online for back to school report there are stressors for them when making online purchases for the new school year.

According to SOASTA’s research, back to school online shoppers cited shipping costs (57 percent), out-of-stock inventory (51%) and not being able to see or test the product before buying (50%) among the top stressors when shopping online for back to school. Additional frustrations they’ve experienced include:
 
° Credit card security – 30%;

° Slow load times – 27%;

° Page crashing in the middle of a transaction – 25%;

° Hard-to-navigate websites – 23%;

° Out-of-date website and buying process – 19%.
 
While most back to school online shoppers report feeling stressed while making their online purchases, SOASTA’s...

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Aug 14
System on chip (SoC) market to grow at 11% CAGR to 2019

The system on chip (SoC) market will see a compound annual growth rate of 11% between now and 2019, according to Sandler Research (SandlerResearch.org).

The need to differentiate so as to compete in the increasingly competitive printer market has led to the innovation of 3D printers. 3D printers are increasingly being adopted in key technology-driven markets such as aerospace, automotive, educational, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors, according to the research group. With the increase in the number of functions per IC, ICs have become denser, which helps manufacturers to add more functionality.

Miniaturization also helps reduce the overall cost of a SoC. Miniaturization of electronics is a major trend, as can be seen in the ever-increasing number of sleek smartphones, smart watches and wearables popping up at trade shows. Almost all industry segments, including automotive, healthcare, and industrial vendors are following the trend, which has led to a high...

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Aug 13
Facial recognition market to reach $2.67 billion by...

The global market for facial recognition is forecast to reach US$ 2,67 billion by 2022, according to Transparency Market Research (http://tinyurl.com/dygmb53).

The market is driven by increased demand for surveillance systems by civil and government agencies, according to the research group. This is majorly due to the rising number of crimes and terrorist activities across the globe that would elevate the demand for efficient facial recognition solutions/systems in the near future.

In addition, acceptance of facial recognition in the entertainment industry coupled with extensive use of facial recognition in consumer electronics is expected to fuel the demand for facial recognition technology in future, according to Transparency Market Research. Geographically, North America is expected to remain the largest regional market for facial recognition throughout the forecast period.

This...

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Aug 12
Gartner: personal cloud is growing in importance

The "personal cloud" is growing in importance as it shapes how employees operate across their digital lives, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) End-user computing (EUC) and digital workplace managers responsible for building the digital workplace will be increasingly challenged as the personal cloud continues to evolve and intersect with IT initiatives, says the research group.

"The personal cloud is the collection of content, services and tools that users assemble to fulfill their personal digital lifestyle needs across any device. Each user's personal cloud is unique and evolving, as the user's daily needs change and as vendors and products come and go," says Stephen Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner. "Looking forward, we see continued upheaval and challenges from the blending of personal and corporate digital tools and information within each user's life."

The next wave of the...

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Aug 11
Good Technology releases Q2 Mobility Index Report

In its twelfth quarterly Mobility Index Report, Good Technology, which specializes in secure mobility, has announced key findings showing that organizations are continuing to adopt an increasing variety of apps to secure corporate information. The acceleration of secure work app deployments enables users to perform work-related and personal activities on the same device, protecting user information, such as email, contacts, voicemails, SMS, location, etc.
 
With 67% of organizations now using two or more apps beyond email, companies are rapidly mobilizing content and apps while strengthening their cyber resiliency. The average organization now uses almost three and a half apps in addition to email, with secure browser leading all app categories for a third quarter in a row, according to Good Technology.

This quarter’s findings indicated that employees are requesting mobile access to corporate information located behind the firewall. The top five app categories...

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Aug 10
Virtual Reality Devices to Ship 43 Million Units by...

The early excitement surrounding AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) has prompted some substantial bets from major players, including Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and Facebook. ABI Research (www.abirsearch.com) says Microsoft’s Hololens will likely be a major driver of consumer AR devices, while Google Cardboard will continue to be the first choice for an inexpensive VR experience (estimated to ship around 1.5 million units by then end of 2015), and will join Samsung’s Gear VR in driving mobile-reliant device growth.

The Oculus Rift, along with similar devices like the HTC Vive or Sony’s Project Morpheus, will be dominant among tethered devices and will drive early growth, with their successors likely continuing that lead in the space, according to the research group. These tethered VR devices are forecast for the highest growth among VR device types — 128% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) 2014...

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Aug 07
Enterprise wearables expected to reach $8.5 billion

As wearables continue to explode, the discussion of practical applications for wearables within businesses becomes more and more important. At the end of last year a survey of 300 top IT leaders showed that over a third of the surveyed companies were interested in using wearables, but most also felt that the current market did not have any offerings that were ready for adoption into a corporate environment.

Now, according to a report from Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com), the U.S. Enterprise Wearables market is expected to reach US$8.5 billion by 2020, with growth driven by key industries such as medical, industrial, energy and field services.

"A wrist computer or glasses style heads-up-display will be beneficial to workers in the industrial sector, giving them the hands-free ability to manage difficult tasks and still receive and send information," says...

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Aug 06
'Internet of Things' connected devices to...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) says that the number of IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices will number 38.5 billion in 2020, up from 13.4 billion in 2015: a rise of over 285%.

While IoT "smart home" based applications grab media headlines, it is the industrial and public services sector – such as retail, agriculture, smart buildings and smart grid applications – that will form the majority of the device base, notes the research group. This is due in no small part to a much stronger business case for these types of applications.

Michelin and John Deere, for example, have successfully transitioned their businesses towards being service based companies through the use of IoT, as opposed to their previous incarnations as product vendors. Juniper's new research found that while the number of connected devices already exceeds the number of humans on the planet by...

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Aug 05
91% of back-to-school shoppers find online purchasing...

SOASTA, which specializes in performance analytics, has unveiled the findings of its annual SOASTA Back to School Shopping Report Card, which found that nearly all (91%) of parents who plan to shop online for back to school report there are stressors for them when making online purchases for the new school year.

According to SOASTA’s research, back to school online shoppers cited shipping costs (57 percent), out-of-stock inventory (51%) and not being able to see or test the product before buying (50%) among the top stressors when shopping online for back to school. Additional frustrations they’ve experienced include:
 
° Credit card security – 30%;

° Slow load times – 27%;

° Page crashing in the middle of a transaction – 25%;

Hard-to-navigate websites – 23%;

Out-of-date website and buying process – 19%.
 
While most back to school online shoppers report feeling stressed while making their online purchases, SOASTA’s...

| Read more »
Aug 05
Biometrics industry to generate US$13 billion in...

Biometric technologies are developed constantly, strengthening their position in both existing markets like law enforcement and government applications, but also in emerging high-value segments like the consumer and banking markets.

Near-infrared iris recognition technology is a promising up-and-comer for both smartphone applications and enterprise access control, while ultrasound fingerprint and vein recognition companies are looking to establish their dominance in banking and finance applications, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Shortcomings on facial recognition, solid-state, and optical fingerprint technology are being revisited with companies unveiling new commercial deployments to secure their position in the market but some technical issues keep them from delivering to their full potential, according to the research group. Different end-user markets, however, have specific...

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Aug 04
Brain-to-machine interface market to top US$200...

With the early success of consumer wearables targeting health and fitness and recent advancements in neuroscience research technology, several manufacturers are preparing to launch Brain-to-Machine Interface (BMI) products in advance of the end-of-year holiday buying season.

According to a new market intelligence study by ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com), revenues from both medical-grade and consumer BMI products will approach US$10 million in 2015. Unlike the scenes in science fiction books and film, BMI is not able to read one’s thoughts nor can it be used to program someone to perform nefarious acts. However, tapping into brain activity as a means of understanding human behavior, or controlling an external activity are now possible.

"Hardcore gamers will be the first consumers to buy brain-to-machine interfaces," says ABI Research Director Jeff Orr. "Combining augmented reality, eye-tracking,...

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Aug 03
The Northern Spy: more on Modula-2 R10

By Rick Sutcliffe

In these last three months the Spy has introduced the fully modern dialect of an existing notation he and Telecom engineer Benjamin Kowarsch have developed to address serious software engineering issues of safety, security, reliability, and extensibility. This month he shows how to leverage Blueprints to enforce the rigour involved in planning code before executing it.

Modula-2 R10 allows the programmer to develop Abstract Data Type (ADT) libraries that include binding to language features such as operations (+ - * and /), various reserved words such as FOR, and syntax such as the accessor [] commonly used in programming notations for random access to array elements.

Each such library must conform to a blueprint In the definition module for each of the separate types and IO libraries that contained bindings, the syntax [Proto..] appears immediately after the name of the module, for instance:

DEFINITION MODULE CARD128...

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Jul 31
Established entertainment brands are being outshone by...

New data from the June Application Strategies’ Monthly iPhone Entertainment App Tracker (http://bit.ly/1HLdbbk) – covering 150 individual countries – indicates that established entertainment brands are being outshone by less well known applications potentially creating new media powerhouses across the globe.

Of the top 10 most popular free and grossing apps – based on number of appearances globally in June – only Netflix and Vine make the list as established global brands. This is partially due to the confusion about what the entertainment category actually is. The category includes streaming apps – such as Netflix and HBO Now but also content creation apps such as Action FX and personalization apps such as Wallpapers for iOS8.

For entertainment companies – such as HBO, Cinemax and Starz – seeking a global audience the ability to break through the noise of the category could be challenging and may...

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Jul 30
Public cloud computing to reach nearly $70 billion...

Cloud, as one of the substantial transformative forces, is impacting all areas of IT supply, composition, and consumption and provides the basis for many of the big data, mobile, and social solutions. In fact, the IDC (www.idc.com) research group predicts the number of new cloud-based solutions will triple in the next four to five years. 

Industry-specific applications will be a driving force as businesses look for solutions that can be easily configured to their unique business and vertical requirements, says IDC. With the huge increase in the number and diversity of services available in the market, organizations across the industries will shift steadily toward cloud-first strategies to enable digital transformation.

The IDC study provides a vertical forecast by 20 industries for the United States and worldwide for 3 public cloud computing technologies — software as a service, platform as a service, and...

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Jul 29
Hardware-based encryption market revenue to reach $36....

There are a variety of ways to secure data, either on the perimeter or within the local area network (LAN), but the most fundamental method in a defense-in-depth model is hardware encryption. ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) expects the global hardware encryption market revenue to reach US$36.4 billion by end of 2015.

The advantage of hardware-based solutions is that they bypass many of the typical drawbacks of software-based solutions like performance degradation or vulnerability to attacks aimed at the encryption key stored in memory. Because encryption is available at drive-level, this solution is not dependent on any software or operating system used, and usually cannot be turned off by users.

Examples of storage products that use hardware based encryption include hard drives, self-encrypting drives and USB flash drives. Players like IronKey (by Imation), WinMagic, Vormetric, SanDisk, Seagate...

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Jul 28
Smartphones, tablets are changing how users print, scan

Driven by an explosion of smartphones and tablets, the landscape for printing, scanning, and document management is in the midst of profound and significant change.

According to new global research covering six countries across three major regions from International Data Corporation (IDC), the mobile opportunity for document solutions continues to grow as organizations adopt mobile devices at a fevered pace. Large and medium companies are leading the charge, accounting for 54% of smartphone and/or tablet users, notes the research group. Additionally, six vertical markets stand out as having a statistically higher percentage of smartphone and tablet users: Information Technology, Wholesale Trade, Banking, Life Sciences, Resource Industries, and Securities.

"The business value for smartphone/tablet printing is enormously clear, and yet support for this is shockingly lacking in 2015. This is a huge missed productivity opportunity for both businesses and print providers...

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Jul 24
Gartner: worldwide semiconductor capital spending to...

Worldwide semiconductor capital spending is projected to grow 2.5 percent in 2015, to US$66.1 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). This is down from the 4.1% growth predicted in the previous quarter's forecast.

"Since the previous quarter's forecast, continued weakness in the euro and yen have created major weaknesses in the overall equipment market picture," says Bob Johnson, research vice president at Gartner. "With over half of all equipment being produced by either Japanese or European suppliers, the weakness in their currencies has been the primary factor in our reducing our overall outlook for 2015. Longer term, we expect modest growth throughout the semiconductor cycle, with just a pause in the equipment market growth expected in 2016, as DRAM goes through a typical cyclical downturn."

Foundries will continue to outspend the logic integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) in 2015, says...

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Jul 23
Mobile entertainment continues to be for quick...

Consumers are motivated to play video games because they relieve boredom, provide a challenge, create a more social atmosphere and help to escape reality. A recent study by Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanaltyics.com) has found that mobile gaming continues to primarily be for quick entertainment in downtime; in an average week, more time is spent playing mobile games outside of the home.
 
The Media and Services UX (MSX) group at Strategy Analytics investigated mobile gaming behaviors and identified four motivators that are making the mobile gaming experience more compelling. These include daily incentives for accessing and playing the game, game incentives for viewing advertisements, daily timeouts for game play and frequent game updates.

"Daily incentives for accessing and playing a game give users a progressive series of incentives," says Christopher Dodge, report author and...

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Jul 22
ABI Research: LTE-Unlicensed angst roils Wi-Fi markets

Operating in the unlicensed 5GHz band, LTE-U’s coexistence with Wi-Fi has become a primary concern for the Wi-Fi industry which anticipates disruption on both the technical and business levels, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Unlike Wi-Fi, LTE-U, as a propriety solution does not sense the channel activity before transmitting. Instead, it applies a form of time sharing using periodic time slots, according to the research group. Such scheduled transmission of LTE-U not only adds interference and increases collisions for Wi-Fi’s opportunistic transmission, but also defies the concept of fair sharing as it seizes complete control over the channel and Wi-Fi’s transmission window.

LTE-U provides clear advantages for mobile operators. It uses the free unlicensed spectrum to expand network capacity and does so without having to integrate another network, like Wi-Fi, within the cellular core...

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Jul 21
Hardware-based 4K content protection a growing concern

High resolution premium video, including 4K and UHD content, is a fast-growing market and therefore content protection services must follow suit with adaptability and preparedness for the expanding space, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

"UHD TV penetration is expected to reach 61% in North America by 2020, which is higher than expected," says Eric Abbruzzese, analyst with the research group. "Along with TVs, browser and application based streaming services will continue to roll out 4K content at a quickening rate, creating an expanding marketplace filled with premium content from studios that demand strong content protection.”

Guidelines for proper 4K content protection rely on deep hardware-level integration of security measures in combination with software security, creating an end-to-end secure system from publishing to consumption. This involves dedicated space on a SoC; Hardware...

| Read more »
Jul 20
Mobile app gaming companies poised for record second...

According to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com), mobile gaming apps continue to show strength globally with smaller second quarter (Q2) declines in the US and UK than last year.

However, emerging categories such as Travel and Health & Fitness need to find revenue through alternative business models, says the research group. Mobile gaming continued to experience seasonal Q2 declines but in the U.S. specifically those declines still placed gaming at a higher percentage of top grossing apps than in the year ago quarter.

While the gaming category continues to decline as a percentage of the top free and paid apps its strength is clearly being driven by in-app purchasing of virtual goods – a revenue model that gaming companies have exploited and others have failed to truly benefit from. Strategy Analytics says the following combination of factors will see mobile gaming grow in...

| Read more »
Jul 17
OTT video service credential sharing will cost the...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) finds that OTT [over-the-top] video service credential sharing will cost the industry US$500 million in direct revenues worldwide in 2015. The report shows 6% of U.S. broadband households use an OTT video service that is paid by a person living outside of the household.

"Live-streaming usage has garnered media attention recently, but credential sharing is also a popular form of piracy in the connected world, one that has received varying responses from service providers and content owners," says Glenn Hower, research analyst, Parks Associates. "Credential sharing has a measurable impact on video services, particularly in the OTT video service area, where young subscribers are active. The impact on OTT video revenues is especially troublesome as OTT providers are investing large sums of money to boost their original content offerings."

...

| Read more »
Jul 16
Wearable medical devices market to be worth $5.8...

In its latest report, Transparency Market Research (www.transparencymarketresearch.com) states that the global wearable medical devices market was worth US$2 billion in 2012, and is estimated to be worth $5.8 billion by 2019. The research group's study also indicates that the global wearable medical devices market will register a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 16.4% during the forecast period of 2013 to 2019.

Geographically, the wearable medical devices market has been dominated by North America, leading the overall market in 2012 with a global industry share of 44%. Asia-Pacific, on the other hand, is anticipated to be the fastest-growing regional market for wearable medical devices, presenting a more than 18% CAGR from 2013 to 2019.

Emerging economies such as India and China have been witnessing an increase in medical investments and an improvement in...

| Read more »
Jul 15
Over 40% of thermostats sold in 2015 will be smart...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) finds smart thermostats taking a larger portion of the market this year, accounting for over 40% of the nearly 10 million thermostats sold in the U.S. The research group estimates smart thermostats will account for over 50% of the total market by 2017.

"Smart thermostats already account for more than one-half of the smart home devices in U.S. broadband households," says Tom Kerber, director, Research, Home Controls & Energy, Parks Associates. "Many utilities have promoted smart thermostats as part of their home energy management initiatives; however, the retail channel accounts for the most units sold last year, nearly 45% of the total market, so opening utility programs to include the variety of different types and brands of devices is an important consideration."

Retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy are working to...

| Read more »
Jul 15
Worldwide semiconductor sales predicted to reach $348...

Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to reach $348 billion in 2015, a 2.2% increase from 2014, but down from the previous quarter's forecast of 4.0 percent growth, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

"The outlook for the major applications that drive the semiconductor market, including PCs, smartphones, and tablets, have all been revised downward. This, combined with the impact of the strong dollar on demand in key markets, has resulted in a lower semiconductor forecast for 2015," says Jon Erensen, research director at Gartner. "The typical second-quarter bounce did not materialize this year, and as a result, the semiconductor industry is more back-end loaded and dependent on a strong third-quarter rebound, driven by Windows 10 and the ramp-up to the holiday season."

From an application point of view, smartphones and solid-state drives (SSDs) will continue to drive semiconductor market...

| Read more »
Jul 14
Mobile is key to fulfilling the promise of Internet...

The Internet Society today released its 2015 Global Internet Report (http://tinyurl.com/oq8zx9c) , the organization’s second annual report on the global state of the Internet. Focused on the impact of the mobile Internet, this year’s report shows that mobile has fundamentally transformed Internet access and use, and holds the key to fulfilling the promise of Internet connectivity for the next billion people.

People are increasingly accessing the Internet through mobile devices. Today there are more than 3 billion people online and the mobile Internet offers hundreds of millions around the world their primary, if not only, means of accessing the Internet. In addition to providing access, benefits of the mobile Internet arise from using all the features embedded into smart devices, which are typically accessed via convenient apps.

"We applaud this global shift in the Internet dynamic, with...

| Read more »
Jul 13
Worldwide devices shipments to grow 1.5% this year

Worldwide combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) are expected to reach 2.5 billion units in 2015, a 1.5% increase from 2014 and down from the previous quarter's forecast of 2.8% growth, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). 

End-user spending on devices will total $606 billion in 2015 and will show, for the first time since 2010, a 5.7% decline in current U.S. dollars, according to the research group.

"Our forecast for unit shipment growth for all devices in 2015 has dropped by 1.3 percentage points from last quarter's estimate," says Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "This was partly due to a continued slowdown in PC purchases in Western Europe, Russia and Japan in particular, largely due to price increases resulting from local currency devaluation against the dollar." 
The only market that continues to show growth is the mobile phone market...

| Read more »
Jul 10
Cloud IT infrastructure spending to grow 26% year-over...

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), total cloud IT infrastructure spending (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) will grow by 26.4% in 2015 and will reach US$33.4 billion, accounting for a third of all IT infrastructure spending, up from 28.1% in 2014.

Private cloud IT infrastructure spending will grow by 16.8% year over year to $11.7 billion, while public cloud IT infrastructure spending will grow by 32.2% in 2015 to $21.7 billion, says the research group. In comparison, spending on non-cloud IT infrastructure will remain flat at $67 billion.

IDC expects that spending on cloud IT infrastructure will grow across all regions and all technologies. In most regions, growth in public cloud IT infrastructure spending will exceed growth in spending on private cloud IT infrastructure as public cloud service providers will continue to invest in expansion of their datacenters and service offerings.

For the five-year forecast period, IDC expects that...

| Read more »
Jul 09
IDC: tablets drive business transformation in...

According to a IDC research group (www.idc.com) study n tablets in enterprises, a large and increasing share of tablets deployed across U.K., French, and German companies are the only devices that employees are equipped with to perform their business activities.

"The majority of tablet users in enterprises currently have at least another device to perform their business activities," says Marta Fiorentini, senior research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal Computing. Additional devices are usually desktop or portable PCs, smartphones, workstations, or, depending on the employee's role, specialized handheld or point of sale (POS) devices. "However, a large share of tablets is already used by employees as their only work tool, either replacing traditional client devices or for functions previously not supported by any computing device. As digitalization transforms business processes and tablets are optimized for business functions...

| Read more »
Jul 08
Over 10% of U.S. households have a smart home product

In a survey of smart home use cases, the Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) research group found that over 40% of U.S. broadband households are interested in the ability to receive medical alerts via a smartphone or other connected platform. And about 10% have some type of smart home product, service, or both.

"By 2019 the number of U.S. homes with a smart home controller will exceed 26 million," says Harry Wang, director, Mobile and Health Products Research, Parks Associates. "The smart home industry is looking for new growth opportunities, and the Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell has provided stability to the healthcare industry, making it an attractive market for smart home players. The smart home could enable new value propositions in home-based health and wellness solutions and independent living products and services."

He notes that the Supreme Court ruling, which...

| Read more »
Jul 07
Gartner: worldwide IT spending to decline 5.5% in 2015

Worldwide IT spending is on pace to total US$3.5 trillion in 2015, a 5.5%decline from 2014, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Analysts at the research group attribute the decline to the rising U.S. dollar. In constant-currency terms, the market is projected to grow 2.5%. In Gartner's previous forecast in April, it had forecast IT spending to decline 1.3% in U.S. dollars and grow 3.1% in constant currency. 

"We want to stress that this is not a market crash. Such are the illusions that large swings in the value of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies can create," says John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "However, there are secondary effects to the rising U.S. dollar. Vendors do have to raise prices to protect costs and margins of their products, and enterprises and consumers will have to make new purchase decisions in light of the new prices." 

... | Read more »
Jul 06
Pay TV penetration to exceed 50% in next two years

The worldwide pay-TV market surpassed more than 900 million subscribers in 1Q 2015, representing 48% penetration—the market is likely to grow steadily over the next 5 years, mainly boosted by emerging markets, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). Half of the world’s households will have access to pay-TV service by 2017, representing 1 billion subscribers, notes the research group.

As pay-TV service providers experience increasing competition from alternative platforms such as OTT [over-the-top], ARPU [average revenue per user] continues to decline across the various platforms in many markets. Many of the operators have added OTT, multiscreen services, and on demand services in order to compete with OTT service providers. These services have contributed additional revenue to pay-TV operators as well as maintaining customer loyalty.

Competition is higher in more mature markets such as North...

| Read more »
 

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Jump into one of Volkswagen's most...
We spoke about PUBG Mobile yesterday and their Esports development, so it is a little early to revisit them, but we have to because this is just too amusing. Someone needs to tell Krafton that PUBG Mobile is a massive title because out of all the... | Read more »
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Genshin Impact 5.1 launches October 9th...
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Tackle some terrifying bosses in a new g...
Blue Archive has recently released its latest update, packed with quite an arsenal of content. Named Rowdy and Cheery, you will take part in an all-new game mode, recruit two new students, and follow the team's adventures in Hyakkiyako. [Read... | Read more »
Embrace a peaceful life in Middle-Earth...
The Lord of the Rings series shows us what happens to enterprising Hobbits such as Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, Merry and Pippin if they don’t stay in their lane and decide to leave the Shire. It looks bloody dangerous, which is why September 23rd is an... | Read more »
Athena Crisis launches on all platforms...
Athena Crisis is a game I have been following during its development, and not just because of its brilliant marketing genius of letting you play a level on the webpage. Well for me, and I assume many of you, the wait is over as Athena Crisis has... | Read more »
Victrix Pro BFG Tekken 8 Rage Art Editio...
For our last full controller review on TouchArcade, I’ve been using the Victrix Pro BFG Tekken 8 Rage Art Edition for PC and PlayStation across my Steam Deck, PS5, and PS4 Pro for over a month now. | Read more »
Matchday Champions celebrates early acce...
Since colossally shooting themselves in the foot with a bazooka and fumbling their deal with EA Sports, FIFA is no doubt scrambling for other games to plaster its name on to cover the financial blackhole they made themselves. Enter Matchday, with... | Read more »

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Apple Watch Ultra available today at Apple fo...
Apple has several Certified Refurbished Apple Watch Ultra models available in their online store for $589, or $210 off original MSRP. Each Watch includes Apple’s standard one-year warranty, a new... Read more
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Amazon is offering clippable coupons worth up to $109 off MSRP on certain Silver and Blue M3-powered 24″ iMacs, each including free shipping. With the coupons, these iMacs are $150-$200 off Apple’s... Read more
Amazon is offering coupons to take up to $50...
Amazon has Apple’s M2-powered Mac minis in stock and on sale for up to $110 off MSRP, each including free delivery. Prices are valid after free coupons available on each mini’s product page, detailed... Read more
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Need a new Apple iPad? If you’re a student, teacher, or staff member at any educational institution, you can use your .edu email address when ordering at Apple Education to take up to $100 off the... Read more
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Apple has clearance, Certified Refurbished, 15″ M2 MacBook Airs available starting at $1019 and ranging up to $300 off original MSRP. These are the cheapest 15″ MacBook Airs for sale today at Apple.... Read more
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B&H Photo has the standard-configuration Mac Studio model with Apple’s M2 Max CPU in stock today and on sale for $250 off MSRP, now $1749 (12-Core CPU and 32GB RAM/512GB SSD). B&H offers... Read more
Save up to $260 on a 15-inch M3 MacBook Pro w...
Apple has Certified Refurbished 15″ M3 MacBook Airs in stock today starting at only $1099 and ranging up to $260 off MSRP. These are the cheapest M3-powered 15″ MacBook Airs for sale today at Apple.... Read more
Apple has 16-inch M3 Pro MacBook Pro in stock...
Apple has a full line of 16″ M3 Pro MacBook Pros available, Certified Refurbished, starting at $2119 and ranging up to $440 off MSRP. Each model features a new outer case, shipping is free, and an... Read more
Apple M2 Mac minis on sale for $120-$200 off...
Amazon has Apple’s M2-powered Mac minis in stock and on sale for $110-$200 off MSRP this weekend, each including free delivery: – Mac mini M2/256GB SSD: $469, save $130 – Mac mini M2/512GB SSD: $689.... Read more
Clearance 9th-generation iPads are in stock t...
Best Buy has Apple’s 9th generation 10.2″ WiFi iPads on clearance sale for starting at only $199 on their online store for a limited time. Sale prices for online orders only, in-store prices may vary... Read more

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