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Aug 29
Worldwide IT spending forecast to reach $2.7 trillion...

New data from International Data Corporation (IDC) finds that worldwide revenues for information technology products and services will grow from nearly $2.4 trillion in 2016 to more than $2.7 trillion in 2020. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.3% for the 2015-2020 forecast period.

Among the trends in the forecast is the positive momentum displayed in big industries like financial services and manufacturing, where companies continue to invest in third Platform solutions (e.g. cloud, mobility, and big data) as part of their digital transformation efforts, according to IDC (www.idc.com). The telecommunications industry is forecast to remain relatively sluggish, although spending levels are expected to gradually improve compared to the past several years, according to the research group.

Combined, these four industries (banking, discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and...

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Aug 26
Global digital map market to hit $5.57 billion by 2020

According to the latest market study released by Technavio (www.technavio.com), the global digital map market is expected to reach $5.57 billion by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 14% during the forecast period.

This research group says, that over the years, the adoption of location-based application-enabled smartphones has gained popularity. Previously, mobile devices were merely used as communication devices. However, with the increasing functionalities and processing capabilities of smartphones and tablets, users are able to use their mobile devices to obtain real-time directions to nearby locations, weather forecasts, and traffic updates.

Since location-based advertising is cost-effective, many mobile advertisers are targeting smartphone users in their product and service marketing. All these location-based service applications and devices are built on digital maps,...

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Aug 25
Wireless network problems higher in urban areas

Wireless customers living in urban areas experience the highest number of overall network problems and have lower tolerance of those problems, according to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study—Volume 2. The finding underscores the importance of continued investment by carriers in urban areas as the use of 4G LTE compatible smartphones grows and customers expect faster data speeds.
 
Now in its 14th year, the semiannual study is based on 10 problem areas of the customer experience: dropped calls; calls not connected; audio issues; failed/late voicemails; lost calls; text transmission failures; late text message notifications; Web/app connection errors; slow downloads/apps; and email connection errors. Network performance issues are measured as problems per 100 (PP100) connections, with a lower score reflecting fewer problems and higher overall performance.
 
According to the study, customers living in urban areas experience the...

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Aug 24
Smart speakers are the next battleground for digital...

A new study by Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that revenue from smart audio hardware will more than triple over the next four years, rising from an estimated $1.4 billion this year to over $5.5 billion by 2020.

While the research group expects part of this to be driven by ear-based wearables like the Bragi Dash and HERE Active Listening, the category will be most successful in the smart home space, with Amazon Echo, Google Home and other unit-based smart audio devices vying for popularity as the next platform for smart devices. Juniper found that the reason for the dominance of home-based smart audio is two-fold: consumers are not yet willing to talk to machines in public, and also that smartphones can provide similar functions through simple earphones with a mic. These factors combine to limit the market for people who want a digital assistant device with them on-the-go.

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Aug 23
‘iOS or Android: Which One for App Development?”

APPSPIRE.me has released an infographic dubbed "iOS or Android: Which One for App Development?" that reveals insights to consider when choosing a platform for development. The infographic compares the positives and negatives of both iOS and Android development including development costs, user market, and return on investment.

The infographic lists over 15 pros and cons of development through iOS and Android. It also touches on the importance of target audience and also mentions the issues with fragmentation.

“Thirty-seven percent of mobile app owners are developing their app on both iOS and Android, and that number is continuing to grow," says Carson Barker, founder and CEO of APPSPIRE.me. "However, it is crucial to understand how differently iOS and Android are in developers' perspective. "Before development starts, it's important to research different developers to match what your specific goals are with your app. We wanted to give app owners a start on that...

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Aug 22
Embedded SIM cards to increasingly dominate the M2M...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that embedded SIM cards will increasingly dominate the M2M (Machine to Machine) space, accounting for more than 50% of connections by the end of the decade.
New Opportunities & Business Models

According to the new study, the introduction of the GSMA’s embedded specification is likely to fuel the opportunity for service providers to offer remote provisioning of SIM cards. The study claimed that this in turn would greatly enhance the capabilities of service providers to update and augment offerings and subscriptions.

Additionally, Juniper Research says that migration to OTA (Over The Air) provisioning would facilitate a range of new business models, potentially increasing the lifetime value of M2M subscription while also reducing costs. The report highlighted the increased benefits that embedded SIMs would offer to...

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Aug 17
Most people believe free Wi-Fi networks are dangerous

Free public Wi-Fi stats from American ITRC (Identity Theft Resource Center) show that 78.5% of people who connect to publically available Internet networks believe that using public Wi-Fi can lead to identity theft. Yet only 26.7% percent use VPN, the most reliable tool for personal online protection that encrypts all traffic between Internet and device into a secure tunnel.
 
Research shows that Wi-Fi user fears aren’t unfounded, since public Wi-Fi can be hacked into very easily. Hackers often position themselves as Wi-Fi hotspots and easily steal personal information of each individual that logs in. In addition, identity thieves have lately been using wireless sniffers, a software designed to intercept and decode data when it is transmitted over a network.
 
Anyone who is shopping online or doing online banking by using a wireless network is especially vulnerable to hacking attacks that can steal one’s credit card data or identity. There’s no lack of...

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Aug 16
IoT platform revenues will grow to € 3 billion...

According to a new research report from the M2M/IoT analyst firm Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), the global third party Internet of Things (IoT) platform market increased 36% to € 610 million in 2015.

Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.8 percent, revenues are forecasted to reach € 3.05 billion in 2021. There is a wide range of software platforms available, intended to reduce cost and development time for IoT solutions by offering standardized components that can be shared across many industry verticals to integrate devices, networks and applications.

Most IoT platforms available on the market today can be categorized as being a connectivity management platform, a device management platform or an application enablement platform, although there are many products that offer overlapping functionality or other unique features.
 
Many enterprises and organizations have...

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Aug 15
OTT content users to surpass 189 million globally by...

New data from Juniper Research has found that 4K OTT (over-the-top) content will finally see mass-market appeal, with adoption set to soar over the next five years.

The research group found that 4K OTT services will attract over 189 million unique users globally by 2021, up from just 2.3 million this year, driven by greater content availability and compatible devices. In the U.S., this means that 1 in 10 residents will be watching 4K online compared with just 1one in 500 this year. While connected TV will be the dominant channel, viewership will take place through a range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and PCs.

The new research found that although YouTube, Netflix and Amazon already offer some 4K video, network providers have been waiting for a critical mass of content to become available before launching their own 4K offer. However, 2016 has seen roll-out of a number of new 4K offerings, such as the launch of the Sky Q 4K service in the UK, coupled with...

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Aug 15
Worldwide info security spending to grow 7.9% this year

Worldwide spending on information security products and services will reach $81.6 billion in 2016, an increase of 7.9% over 2015, according to the latest forecast from Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Consulting and IT outsourcing are currently the largest categories of spending on information security. Until the end of 2020, the highest growth is expected to come from security testing, IT outsourcing and data loss prevention (DLP), according to the research group.

Preventive security will continue to show strong growth, as many security practitioners continue to have a buying preference for preventive measures. However, solutions such as security information and event management (SIEM) and secure web gateways (SWGs) are evolving to support detection-and-response approaches. Gartner expects the SWG market will maintain its growth of 5 to 10 percent through 2020 as organizations focus on detection and...

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Aug 12
Contactless POS Terminal Retail Transactions to...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the global value of contactless POS (point of sale) terminal transactions, conducted in-store via cards, mobile and wearables, will approach $500 billion annually by 2017; this is up from an estimated $321 billion this year.

However, the low value nature of contactless payments means that it will only represent just 5% of the total value of all POS transactions in 2017. According to the research group, the surge in contactless-enabled POS terminals in 2015, allied to retailer obligations to card companies in many markets to ensure that all terminals will be contactless ready by 2020, is likely to prompt an upsurge in migration to contactless payment. For example, Visa announced more than 3.2 million contactless terminals in Europe as of April 2016, up 23% from 2.6 million at the end of April 2015.

Contactless terminals...

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Aug 11
Survey: traditional media more important than ever

Survey findings released today from Ogilvy Media Influence's first-ever global survey of over 200 reporters and editors found that 72% of respondents agree that traditional media outlets are the most trusted news sources.

Carried out by Ogilvy Media Influence team members in 23 offices across North America, APAC and EMEA, the survey uncovered the growing importance of new platforms [54%] in managing newsrooms today.

"Our survey showed how the emergence of new platforms is the biggest trend effecting newsrooms, as consumers are increasingly reading news on apps, and social media platforms," said Jennifer Risi, managing director, Ogilvy Media Influence and Head of Media Relations.  "The source of a news story still matters, especially in North America and EMEA, where traditional media outlets remain the most trusted. It will be key for PR professionals to adapt to new platforms (such as Snapchat) and find new ways to reach consumers in the places where they live and...

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Aug 10
United States is number one for film/TV piracy

MUSO (www.muso.com) — a content protection, data-analytics and piracy audience reconnection solutions provider — reveals nearly three-quarter of all visits to film and TV specific piracy sites in 2015 used web streaming as their method of consuming illegal content, highlighting a clear piracy audience trend change away from content 'ownership' using P2P/Torrents or web downloads.

These findings are from MUSO's “Global Film & TV Piracy Market Insight Report 2016,” which saw the company analyze global traffic from 14,000 of the largest global piracy websites, comprising of over 141 billion visits to these sites, and across 200m measured devices.

Out of a total 78.49 billion film and television piracy site visits, 73.69% (57.84 billion) were visits to streaming sites, with 72.07% of visits via desktop devices, indicating consumption of infringing video content via mobile devices remains low. With over 12% (9.86...

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Aug 09
38% of U.S. broadband households likely to buy a smart...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com)p says 51% of U.S. broadband households find an IoT [Internet of Things] device that alerts them to smoke and fire highly appealing, and 41% find a device that alerts them to a water leak to be highly appealing.

The research group notes these smart home use cases would benefit insurance companies in both saving costs and adding value to their customers. lso, 38% of U.S. broadband households have very strong intentions to buy a smart home device in 2016.

"The insurance industry is quickly emerging as a key player in multiple smart home ecosystems," said Tom Kerber, director, Research, Home Controls & Energy, Parks Associates. "The advanced detection and alert capabilities in smart home devices give insurance companies new and innovative ways to avoid risks and reduce fire or water damage. State Farm and Liberty Mutual have both...

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Aug 08
Canalys: smartphone shipments returned to growth in...

The worldwide smart phone market grew modestly in the second quarter (Q2 2016) after a disappointing first quarter, according to the Canalys (www.canalys.com) research group.

Global shipments reached over 330 million units, with Samsung leading the market with shipments around 80 million units. A disappointing quarter a year ago led to favorable annual comparisons, while shipments were flat compared with Q1.

“The success of the Galaxy S7 together with a de-emphasis on the low end of its portfolio has led to a rise in handset ASP [average sales price],” says Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Coulling. ‘“Samsung’s VR move has proved a wise one, with Gear VR bundles helping boost flagship handset sales.”

Apple shipped 40 million iPhones in Q2, a second consecutive annual decline in shipments.

“The launch of the iPhone SE has done little to improve Apple’s fortunes,” said Canalys Analyst Rushabh Doshi...

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Aug 05
Smart home growth to create opportunities for...

The Technavio research group (www.technavio.com) forecasts that the Bluetooth speaker market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 33% through 2020.

One of the major factors driving the sale of Bluetooth speakers globally is its ability to stream audio content wirelessly and easily. Modern devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets are equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity enabling impressive streaming of content, which is another driving factor supporting the growth of the Bluetooth speaker market.

“Bluetooth speakers offer a multitude of benefits making them popular among consumers. These devices need no wiring, consume less space when compared to home theaters, and run on batteries, thus making them suitable for outdoor purposes. They promise durability, hassle-free maintenance, and faster functionalities. All these factors are propelling the demand for Bluetooth speakers, which...

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Aug 04
Less than 5% of U.S. broadband households own a smart...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) finds that less than 5% of U.S. broadband households own a smart appliance such as a full-sized refrigerator, oven, dishwasher, or washer/dryer that can be monitored or controlled using a smartphone, tablet, or computer. However, the research shows 18% of consumers plan to buy a smart appliance in the next 12 months.

"Smart appliances have generated lots of attention, but market adoption is low due to low product availability, higher costs, and use cases that do not address customer needs," said Tom Kerber, director, Research, Home Controls & Energy, Parks Associates. Purchase intentions of major appliances that can be connected to the Internet have grown from 9% in early 2014 to 18% in late 2015. However, the fact that actual adoption rates are far lower reflects a disconnect in the industry.”

Recipe apps and features get lots of...

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Aug 03
55% of OTT services in the U.S. are subscription only

New data from Parks Associates shows that 55% of OTT services in the U.S. have a subscription-only business model, such as Netflix or Hulu. In Canada, 50% of OTT services offer subscription-only services.

"There is an enormous amount of change going on in the OTT space right now, with new OTT video services entering the market each month. Many of these services have subscription as at least part of their business model," said Brett Sappington, senior director of Research, Parks Associates. "The recent ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is not likely to affect OTT video service business models. An OTT video service is unlikely to pursue legal action against someone who pays less than $10 per month unless they are doing something that disrupts the service.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that sharing passwords without the authorization of the system's owner is a crime that can be prosecuted under the U.S....

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Aug 02
The Northern Spy: Close Encounters

By Rick Sutcliffe

The Spy is late again with this column. His reason is the first encounter.

Some time back a tree trunk some seventy-five centimetres thick broke off a big leaf maple some 10 metres up and fell across his neighbour's barbed wire fence. Fortunately cattle no longer graze there, so nothing escaped. His tree, his responsibility, so after recovering from painkillers following dental surgery (another encounter with technology), he cranked up his Stihl 261 chain saw (yet another) and bucked the part that was over the fence.

Over the August long weekend he was moving some of that wood in preparation for stocking his woodshed when he had a close encounter with a band of hornets, several of which got into his hardhat and pin cushioned his scalp. Others chased him until out of the woods, the orchard and nearly back to the house, where he opened the door, asked wife Joyce (of 47 years) for Advil and water, fetched a chair to the driveway...

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Aug 02
Old smartphones pose identity theft and fraud risk

Global Risk Technologies (http://globalrisktechnologies.com) is warning consumers to avoid falling victim to identify theft and other types of fraud exposed by cybercriminals harvesting personal data unwittingly left on old smartphones when they are resold or recycled.

According to the latest estimates, 62% of Western Europeans (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) own a smartphone and users typically look to replace their device approximately every 20 months.1 However, evidence from AVAST shows that people often leave behind personal data and files, with half of the twenty random smartphones analysed leaving over 1,200 photos, over 300 emails/texts, the identities of two previous owners, three invoices, one work contract and one explicit video.

Global Risk’s tips for avoiding identify theft and fraud:

° Deleting files or conducting a factory reset doesn’t necessarily remove...

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Jul 29
More than 50% of U.S. broadband households will have a...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) says that controller and 26% will have a home security system.

"Companies such as Samsung are beginning to embed smart home controllers into their consumer entertainment products, meaning consumers who buy a smart TV or smart appliance will be bringing these solutions into their homes, often without understanding the full extent of their capabilities," said Tom Kerber, Director, Research, Home Controls & Energy, Parks Associates. "These smart home capabilities will come into play as consumers adopt other smart home devices, such as smart lighting and IP cameras." 

Parks Associates research shows:

° Unit sales of IP cameras will reach nearly 6 million in 2016, including 3.2 million first-time sales.

° By 2017, the number of replacement or additional IP camera sales will exceed the number of first-time sales.

° ...

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Jul 28
External cyber attacks cost enterprises $3.5 million a...

Despite acute awareness of the millions of dollars in annual costs, and the business risks posed by external internet threats, security leaders highlight the lack of staff expertise and technology as a key reason that these attacks are unchecked, according to results from a new Ponemon Institute study.

Seventy-nine percent of the IT and IT security practitioners polled indicated their defensive infrastructure to identify and mitigate those threats are either non-existent, ad hoc or inconsistently applied throughout the enterprise. The findings reveal that the companies represented in this research averaged more than one cyber attack per month and incurred annual costs of approximately $3.5 million because of these attacks.

The report “Security Beyond the Traditional Perimeter,” (http://tinyurl.com/hkl97x9) sponsored by internet risk detection and mitigation expert BrandProtect, examined the...

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Jul 27
Security software market grew 3.7% in 2015

Worldwide security software revenue totaled $22.1 billion in 2015, a 3.7% increase in from 2014, according to Gartner, Inc.

Security information and event management (SIEM) remained the fastest-growing segment in 2015, with 15.8 % growth, while consumer security software showed the sharpest decline at 5.9% year-on-year. In 2015, the top five vendors together accounted for 37.6% of the security software revenue market share, down 3.1 percentage points from 2014. These vendors also displayed a collective decline of 4.2% in 2015, while the rest of the market (Others) grew strongly at 9.2% year-on-year.

"The below-market growth seen by these large vendors with complex product portfolios is in contrast to the market growth and disruption being introduced by smaller, more specialized security software vendors," said Sid Deshpande, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Symantec maintained the No. 1 position despite the company suffering its third consecutive year of...

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Jul 26
Consumer NAS market to grow 11.01% by 2020

New data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says that the global consumer NAS market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.01% during the period 2016-2020.

The research group says a trend that’s positively impacting the market is the reduction in prices of individual consumer NAS devices. The cost of devices such as computers, tablets, smartphones, and hard drives is reduced on a YoY basis or when a powerful alternative to a device is released by vendors. Few individual consumers are unaware of NAS appliances being an alternative to external hard drives and DAS.

According to the Research and Markets report, a key growth driver is the increase in the number of connected home devices. Many individuals use Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, to communicate for personal and professional purposes on a global scale.

These...

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Jul 25
Two-fifths of IT pros: our organization is ready for...

A recent Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) survey found that 41% of surveyed IT professionals believe their IT organization to be ready for the digital business of the next two years. Twenty nine percent of those surveyed said that engagement with the demands of digital business would be their primary duty or a significant part of their duties.

In the first quarter of 2016, Gartner surveyed 948 Gartner clients across 30 countries. Those surveyed were IT professionals representing many job categories and technology disciplines and were asked about their role in their organization’s efforts to transform itself in order to meet the challenges of digital business.

"IT professionals indicate that their investment priorities, infrastructure changes, skills development and business-IT interactions are in flux, and that they are unsure how their IT organization will make it through any digital transformation," said...

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Jul 22
Index AR Solutions: AR market for U.S. enterprise to...

Augmented reality is projected to be a $105 billion market for U.S.enterprise within 15 years, with early adopters of the disruptive technology gaining a competitive advantage in their industries, according to a market perspective released by Index AR Solutions (www.indexarsolutions.com). The projected $105 billion in revenue includes $49 billion in hardware, $11 billion in software and $45 billion in services.

These are among the key findings of an Index AR Solutions market perspective researched and written by the firm's executive team and released today. Authors of the market perspective are Index AR Solutions President and CEO Dan Arczynski, Executive Vice President and COO Dexter Lilley and Director of Operations John Arczynski.

"This market perspective is a must read for companies and organizations considering augmented reality," Arczynski said. "Augmented reality is an investment in...

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Jul 21
Global mobile data revenues to reach $630 billion by...

A new report from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) estimates global mobile data revenue will increase from $386 billion in 2015 to $630 billion in 2020, with most of the revenue growth in the Asia & Pacific region and the rest of the world.

The research group says North America and Western Europe will see only minimal growth, and in the U.S. especially, alternatives such as Wi-Fi have drawn consumer interest to reduce their mobile data bills. Cable operators are promoting Wi-Fi hotspots, and roughly 70% of U.S. mobile consumers are interested in Wi-Fi-only data plans.

"The IoT [Internet of Things] market represents significant revenue potential for mobile operators, who are looking to the IoT to complement traditional smartphone-driven mobile data revenues," said Harry Wang, senior director of Research, Parks Associates. "5G data service ARPU has limited room for expansion from...

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Jul 20
Content billing opportunity to reach $47 billion by...

A new study by Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) as found that the value of digital content transactions paid for by carrier billing is expected to reach $47 billion by 2020, more than 4 times 2015’s figure of just under $11.3 billion.

According to the new research Apple’s decision to test carrier billing in Germany and Russia is likely to herald a substantial number of further deployments in the medium term. Juniper says the move will be essential if Apple is to monetize unbanked owners of refurbished devices in emerging markets, who would otherwise be limited to paying for content via iTunes gift cards.

The report also says that carrier billing solutions could be a key means of monetizing content purchased within an array of environments, including connected cars and for in-flight infotainment. However, the research found that the operator practice of setting daily or monthly...

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Jul 19
IT spending to be flat in 2016

Worldwide IT spending is forecast to be flat in 2016, totaling $3.41 trillion, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). This is up from last quarter's forecast of negative 0.5 percent growth. The change in the forecast is mainly due to currency fluctuations, notes the research group.

"The current Gartner Worldwide IT Spending Forecast assumes that the U.K. would not exit the European Union. With the U.K.'s exit, there will likely be an erosion in business confidence and price increases which will impact U.K., Western Europe and worldwide IT spending," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner.

While the U.K. has embarked on a process to change, that change is yet to be defined. The "leave" vote will quickly affect IT spending in the U.K. and in Europe while other changes will take longer. Staff may be the largest immediate issue. The long-term uncertainty in work status will make the...

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Jul 18
Federal government IT pros are overconfident in...

Tripwire (www.tripwire.com), a global provider of endpoint detection and response, security and compliance solutions, has announced the results of a study conducted for Tripwire by Dimensional Research.

The Tripwire study evaluated the confidence of IT professionals regarding the efficacy of seven key security controls, which must be in place to quickly detect a cyber attack in progress. Study respondents included 763 IT professionals from various industries, including 103 participants from federal government organizations.

Despite the persistent issues surrounding privileged access, almost one-third (thirty percent) of federal government respondents in Tripwire’s survey disclosed they are not able to detect every non-privileged user’s attempt to access files. In addition, seventy-three percent of federal government respondents assume their system would generate an alert or email within hours if a user...

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Jul 15
IT infrastructure spending by cloud environments to be...

According to the latest forecast from IDC (www.idc.com), total spending on IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switches) for deployment in cloud environments will increase by 15.5% in 2016 to reach $37.1 billion. This amount excludes double counting between storage and servers, according to the research group.

In comparison, spending on enterprise IT infrastructure deployed in traditional, non-cloud, environments will decline by 4.4% in 2016, but will still account for the largest share, 63.4%, of end user spending. Spending on private cloud IT infrastructure will grow by 10.3% year over year to $13.8 billion with more than 60% of this amount contributed by on-premises private cloud environments. Spending on public cloud IT infrastructure will increase by 18.8% in 2016 to $23.3 billion.

All regions are expected to increase spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 2016 with investments...

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Jul 14
Bitcoin transaction values to triple this year

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the total value of Bitcoin transactions is expected to exceed $92 billion this year, up from less than $27 billion in 2015. The research found that transaction volumes continued to be concentrated overwhelmingly on the exchanges, with Bitcoin now trading at values almost 50% higher than at the beginning of the year.

According to the new research, the rise in values could be attributed to three key factors:
 
° Uncertainty over Brexit – the research argued that Bitcoin’s value is to a significant extent dependent upon economic uncertainty and political instability as investors seek safe havens for their assets. Bitcoin’s price rose in the weeks leading up to the referendum, dipped briefly but sharply when it appeared that Britain would vote to remain in the EU, before recovering when the true result became apparent...

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Jul 13
Installed base of wireless IoT devices in industrial...

According to a new research report from the analyst firm of Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), the installed base of wireless IoT [Internet of Things] devices in industrial automation reached 14.3 million in 2015.

The number of wireless IoT devices in automation networks is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.7% to reach 62.0 million by 2021. There is a wide range of wireless technologies used in industrial automation with different characteristics and use cases. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the most widespread technologies in factory automation while cellular connectivity typically is used for remote monitoring and backhaul communication between plants.

The increasing popularity of Ethernet based networks in factory automation is one of the key drivers for the popularity of Wi-Fi in such applications. 802.15.4 based standards such as WirelessHART and ISA100.11a are major...

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Jul 12
One-third of smart home device owners experience...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that approximately one-third of smart home device owners experience problems with their smart home devices and nearly 10% report problems connecting a smart home device to the home network router. Consumers encounter these issues more often when setting up smart sprinkler systems, networked security cameras, and water leak detectors compared to other smart home devices.

"Smart home devices utilize nascent technologies, which increases the likelihood of problems with setup, product interoperability, and user error," said Patrice Samuels, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Until emerging devices evolve to a point where they are reliable and intuitive, support providers must implement solid support strategies that ensure customers have good experiences during product onboarding and get the full benefits of their new products.”

The...

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Jul 11
Smart cities to ease traffic congestion

Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that smart traffic management and smart parking initiatives, will save some 4.2 billion man-hours annually by 2021 — equivalent to each city driver saving nearly an entire working day per year.

Juniper found that while the “smart city” remains a relatively young concept, many cities are beginning to recognize the need to improve in terms of competitiveness and quality of life. Increasing urban populations are creating pressure on city resources, driving the need for new and efficient solutions. Indeed, Juniper notes that the smart city concept is now a global phenomenon.

Juniper’s study found that traffic easing measures are at the forefront of many smart cities’ efforts. Key to those considerations are the establishment of viable public transport networks to replace private vehicle use.

Meanwhile other measures, such as the twi...

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Jul 08
Enterprises that undervalue search marketing risk...

Search marketing takes a back seat to other marketing channels used by large enterprise companies, as indicated by a new survey released today. Of 500 companies surveyed, a modest 5% rank paid search ads as their top marketing priority, while only 4% prioritize 'organic' search engine optimization (SEO) – targeting unpaid listings at the top of Google search results pages. The survey was a collaboration of the B2B research firm Clutch, and R2integrated (R2i), a digital agency.

With over 90% of enterprise companies surveyed indicating the low priority they place on search marketing, the potential result is that enterprises that neglect search marketing as part of their multichannel strategy are unlikely to capture the full extent of customer demand, in the view of industry analysts.

"SEO is inextricably linked to other channels like social media, content marketing, and even email and TV," said Kara Alcamo, vice president, Digital Activation at R2i. "Many studies show...

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Jul 07
IDC: there’s solid year-over-year growth in PC monitor...

The total worldwide PC monitor market shipped more than 29 million units in the first quarter of 2016 (1Q16), up 0.5% year over year but a decrease of 5.7% compared to the previous quarter, according to new data from IDC (www.idc.com).


The research group expects the global monitor market will continue to decline at rates around 3% year over year from 2018 through 2020. However, there should be some pockets of growth along the way, as illustrated by the Middle East and Africa region, which experienced its second sequential gain in a row, recording 3.8% quarter-over-quarter growth in 1Q16, said Maura Fitzgerald, senior research analyst.

IDC currently forecasts 114 million PC monitor units will be shipped for full year 2016 and expects to see a year-over-year decline of 7.4% in worldwide shipments to 27.1 million units in the first quarter of 2017. By 2020, worldwide shipments are expected to be less than 100 million...

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Jul 06
U.S. broadband households watch nearly four hours of...

New research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that U.S. broadband households watch an average of 3.8 hours of Internet video on TV screens each week, accounting for 20% of all video viewed on this device.


The research group warns that consumers might increasingly use ad-blocking solutions while streaming video if the digital advertising methods disrupt their viewing experience. Parks Associates' digital media analysts advise service providers and media companies that the best defense against these ad blockers is to develop digital advertising models that are integrated and non-disruptive to the viewing experience.

"Many content creators rely on advertising revenue to monetize video, especially as newly launched digital services seek revenue. As digital video viewership increases on all screens, use of ad-blocking technologies is a concern for content owners and...

| Read more »
Jul 05
The Northern Spy: Of typewriters, steering wheels, and...

By Rick Sutcliffe

The Spy is a wee bit late with this column. Too many birthdays in the last few days--Canada's on the first, the Excited States on the fourth and his own on the third. "How old?" his reader asks. It is a number in like class as the year 1961.

WWDC was somewhat a yawner, pretty much in accord the Spy's own predictions in his last column--no new products ready to sell, many software advances, and none of his maybe long shots became a reality--yet. Speaking of which, perhaps he will attend next year. Things then might be more interesting then.

Brexit was a surprise to some people. Perhaps with the polls indicating a remain side win, too many chose not to vote. Lots of consequences: accusations of fascism and racism, petitions for reconsidering, a hard negotiating stance from the EU (which holds all the cards), some flight of money that now gooses North American stock markets, political careers...

| Read more »
Jul 05
Brands not only have to keep up with competitors, but...

More than nine in 10 companies are struggling to deliver digital customer experiences that exceed their customers’ expectations, according to a new study from Accenture Interactive (www.accenture.com). The finding reflects the huge challenge brands are facing as customer expectations are becoming “liquid” and changing at a lightning pace.

The study is based on a survey of 702 customer experience decision-makers from companies in 14 countries. While 52% of all respondents said that they’re ahead of their competitors at providing digital customer experiences, only 7% said their company exceeds the expectations of their actual customers. Another 67% stated they ‘meet’ these expectations.

“Meeting customer expectations is by no means a small achievement,” said Anatoly Roytman, managing director, Accenture Interactive Europe, Africa, Middle East, Latin America. “However, it’s not enough anymore. Customer...

| Read more »
Jul 01
Gartner: by 2020, ‘no cloud’ policies will be obsolete

By 2020, a corporate "no-cloud" policy will be as rare as a "no-internet" policy is today, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Cloud-first, and even cloud-only, is replacing the defensive no-cloud stance that dominated many large providers in recent years. Today, most provider technology innovation is cloud-centric, with the stated intent of retrofitting the technology to on-premises.

"Aside from the fact that many organizations with a no-cloud policy actually have some under-the-radar or unavoidable cloud usage, we believe that this position will become increasingly untenable," said Jeffrey Mann, research vice president at Gartner. "Cloud will increasingly be the default option for software deployment.
The same is true for custom software, which increasingly is designed for some variation of public or private cloud.”

This does not mean that everything will be cloud-based, and concern...

| Read more »
Jun 30
Most U.S. broadband households not aware of tax...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows only 19% of consumers are very familiar with programs that offer tax rebates or other incentives in return for energy-efficiency initiatives such as home remodeling or home energy management.

The research also shows only 15% of U.S. broadband households are very familiar with time-of-use (TOU) programs, but 36% of U.S. broadband households would participate in a program where they receive a payment for not using energy during a specific time of the day.

"Despite considerably low awareness of energy-efficiency programs, consumers are willing to take action to save energy-84% of U.S. broadband households took some kind of energy-savings action in 2015," said Eddie Accomando, research analyst, Parks Associates. "Utilities need to find better ways to get engaging information to their consumers.”

The study also shows...

| Read more »
Jun 29
Gartner: enterprise spending on mobil app development...

Forty-two percent of organizations expect to increase spending on mobile app development by an average of 31% in 2016, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Despite this, the average proportion of the overall application development budget allocated to mobile is only 10%, a 2% decrease from 2015, notes the research group.

The Gartner survey of IT and business leaders responsible for mobile strategy and/or custom mobile app development within their organizations was conducted in September 2015 across the United States, EMEA, Latin America and Asia/Pacific. The survey focused on understanding organizations' activities in mobile app development, covering both business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) apps.

"Demand for mobile apps in the enterprise is growing, but the urgency to scale up mobile app development doesn't yet appear to be a priority for most organizations...

| Read more »
Jun 28
Digital ad revenues to double by 2020

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that global digital advertising spend across mobile, wearable and online devices will exceed $285 billion by 2020, up from an estimated $160 billion in 2016. This will be driven by an average annual growth of 22% in mobile and wearable advertising spend, as brands and retailers continue to invest in mobile consumer engagement.

The new research found that despite the rising adoption of ad blockers, better audience targeting will drive higher click through rates and increase publisher revenues. Research author Sam Barker said: “Publishers, such as Facebook, are utilising their unprecedented audience knowledge to offer advertisers highly accurate targeting, thereby increasing the click through rates that advertisers are witnessing now.”

He added that publishers who are able to offer the most efficient targeting are set to...

| Read more »
Jun 27
More consumers gaming on streaming media devices

New research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that consumers are steadily increasing their gaming activities on streaming media players, which includes form factors such as streaming sticks and boxes.

The research firm reveals that among U.S. broadband households with at least one Internet-connected device, 26% use their streaming media player as their primary device to access online video content. These households spend an average of 1.3 hours per week gaming on their streaming media players.

"Gaming consoles were once the dominant platform for accessing online content, but today, only 32% of U.S. broadband households with at least one Internet-connected CE device use their gaming console as their primary platform," said Barbara Kraus, director of Research, Parks Associates. "Gaming consoles are still in the lead, but smart TVs are a close second at 28%, with streaming...

| Read more »
Jun 24
IDC: 3D printer shipments grew nearly 20% in 2015

New data from IDC (www.idc.com) says that 3D printer shipments in the United States grew by almost 20% in 2015 compared to 2014. What’s more, total 3D printer shipments in the U.S. are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16% through 2020.

"People and companies that are adopting 3D printers are routinely realizing tremendous time and cost savings in their product creation and development cycles. As printer speeds increase and the range of materials expands, a growing number of products and parts, and therefore markets, will be impacted by 3D printing/additive manufacturing," said Tim Greene, research director, Hardcopy Solutions. "Already the 3D printer mix in the U.S. has changed over the last 12-24 months. While there are still a lot of shipments into the DIY/consumer market, tremendous growth remains in the segments with a more professional and manufacturing orientation. Leading 3D...

| Read more »
Jun 23
23% of Millennials are OTT-only broadband households

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) finds that 23% of Millennial heads of household are OTT-only households, higher than the national average of 15% among all U.S broadband households.

The firm's analysts also note that 61% of Millennials subscribe to both pay-TV and OTT services, also higher than the national average of 52%. Other key points from the Parks Associates OTT research:

° Nearly 60% of OTT video services in the North American market are subscription-based.

° 64% of U.S. broadband households subscribe to an OTT video service, up from 59% in 2015.

° Average monthly spending on Internet-based subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services among U.S. broadband households increased from $3.71 per month in 2012 to $6.19 per month in 2015.

° Approximately 20% of U.S. broadband households cancelled at least one OTT video service in 2015.

° 5...

| Read more »
Jun 21
Online fraud detection spending to reach $9.2 billion...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that eCommerce merchants and financial institutions will be investing heavily in online fraud detection solutions over the next five years, with annual spending reaching $9.2 billion by 2020, up by 30% on current levels..

According to the research, fraudsters now perceive mobile payment channels to be particularly vulnerable (and therefore attractive targets) as many organisations have yet to apply the same levels of protection to mobile as they have to desktop transactions.

Digital security companies regard the mitigation of mobile fraud as a key revenue generator in the medium term,” according to report author Gareth Owen. He says this was driving the development and implementation of advanced biometric authentication technologies which the companies claim can make mobile purchases as secure as any other web-based...

| Read more »
Jun 20
Business smartphone sales flat year-over-year

Over 110 million enterprise smartphones and tablets were shipped worldwide in the first quarter [Q1] 2016, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com). W

Worldwide business smartphone shipments for Q1 2016 fell to 92.2 million units, down 21.0% from the previous quarter and up 0.5% annually from 91.8 million in Q1 2015; while the worldwide business tablet market fell to 17.3 million unit shipments in Q1 2016, down 34.5% sequentially from 26.4 million units in Q4 2015 and down 9.8% annually from 19.1 million in Q1 2015, according to the research group. Weakening global smartphone and tablet demand, slowing economy, and piling-up inventory were hammering the growth of both BYOD and corporate-liable markets in the first quarter of the year.

"Many enterprises withheld from investing in new deployments of smartphones in Q1 2016 and inventory built-up due to large volume...

| Read more »
Jun 17
Survey: U.S. app developers turning to Latin markets

A new survey from One Hour Translation (http://tinyurl.com/z2dc859), the world’s largest online translation agency, maps the leading languages into which English-language are translated by app developers from the United States and United Kingdom.

According to data from the first quarter of 2016, about 28% of all mobile applications written in English by U.S. developers are intended for localization in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. In the United Kingdom, the rate is even higher: 55%.

“Mobile app developers are thinking of ways to reach their target audience beyond the markets they usually work in, and they know that the way to do this is by localizing their apps,” says Yaron Kaufman, One Hour Translation’s co-founder and vice president of Marketing and Sales.
 
The survey examined 2500 Android apps on Google Play and iOS apps on Apple’s App Store developed in the United States...

| Read more »
 

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Zenless Zone Zero opens entries for its...
miHoYo, aka HoYoverse, has become such a big name in mobile gaming that it's hard to believe that arguably their flagship title, Genshin Impact, is only three and a half years old. Now, they continue the road to the next title in their world, with... | Read more »
Live, Playdate, Live! – The TouchArcade...
In this week’s episode of The TouchArcade Show we kick things off by talking about all the games I splurged on during the recent Playdate Catalog one-year anniversary sale, including the new Lucas Pope jam Mars After Midnight. We haven’t played any... | Read more »
TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Vroomies’
So here’s a thing: Vroomies from developer Alex Taber aka Unordered Games is the Game of the Week! Except… Vroomies came out an entire month ago. It wasn’t on my radar until this week, which is why I included it in our weekly new games round-up, but... | Read more »
SwitchArcade Round-Up: ‘MLB The Show 24’...
Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for March 15th, 2024. We’re closing out the week with a bunch of new games, with Sony’s baseball franchise MLB The Show up to bat yet again. There are several other interesting games to... | Read more »
Steam Deck Weekly: WWE 2K24 and Summerho...
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. The busy season has begun with games we’ve been looking forward to playing including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition, and also console exclusives like Rise of the... | Read more »
Steam Spring Sale 2024 – The 10 Best Ste...
The Steam Spring Sale 2024 began last night, and while it isn’t as big of a deal as say the Steam Winter Sale, you may as well take advantage of it to save money on some games you were planning to buy. I obviously recommend checking out your own... | Read more »
New ‘SaGa Emerald Beyond’ Gameplay Showc...
Last month, Square Enix posted a Let’s Play video featuring SaGa Localization Director Neil Broadley who showcased the worlds, companions, and more from the upcoming and highly-anticipated RPG SaGa Emerald Beyond. | Read more »
Choose Your Side in the Latest ‘Marvel S...
Last month, Marvel Snap (Free) held its very first “imbalance" event in honor of Valentine’s Day. For a limited time, certain well-known couples were given special boosts when conditions were right. It must have gone over well, because we’ve got a... | Read more »
Warframe welcomes the arrival of a new s...
As a Warframe player one of the best things about it launching on iOS, despite it being arguably the best way to play the game if you have a controller, is that I can now be paid to talk about it. To whit, we are gearing up to receive the first... | Read more »
Apple Arcade Weekly Round-Up: Updates an...
Following the new releases earlier in the month and April 2024’s games being revealed by Apple, this week has seen some notable game updates and events go live for Apple Arcade. What The Golf? has an April Fool’s Day celebration event going live “... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Apple Education is offering $100 discounts on...
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 $100 off the price of a new M3 MacBook Air.... Read more
Apple Watch Ultra 2 with Blood Oxygen feature...
Best Buy is offering Apple Watch Ultra 2 models for $50 off MSRP on their online store this week. Sale prices available for online orders only, in-store prices may vary. Order online, and choose... Read more
New promo at Sams Club: Apple HomePods for $2...
Sams Club has Apple HomePods on sale for $259 through March 31, 2024. Their price is $40 off Apple’s MSRP, and both Space Gray and White colors are available. Sale price is for online orders only, in... Read more
Get Apple’s 2nd generation Apple Pencil for $...
Apple’s Pencil (2nd generation) works with the 12″ iPad Pro (3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th generation), 11″ iPad Pro (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation), iPad Air (4th and 5th generation), and iPad mini (... Read more
10th generation Apple iPads on sale for $100...
Best Buy has Apple’s 10th-generation WiFi iPads back on sale for $100 off MSRP on their online store, starting at only $349. With the discount, Best Buy’s prices are the lowest currently available... Read more
iPad Airs on sale again starting at $449 on B...
Best Buy has 10.9″ M1 WiFi iPad Airs on record-low sale prices again for $150 off Apple’s MSRP, starting at $449. Sale prices for online orders only, in-store price may vary. Order online, and choose... Read more
Best Buy is blowing out clearance 13-inch M1...
Best Buy is blowing out clearance Apple 13″ M1 MacBook Airs this weekend for only $649.99, or $350 off Apple’s original MSRP. Sale prices for online orders only, in-store prices may vary. Order... Read more
Low price alert! You can now get a 13-inch M1...
Walmart has, for the first time, begun offering new Apple MacBooks for sale on their online store, albeit clearance previous-generation models. They now have the 13″ M1 MacBook Air (8GB RAM, 256GB... Read more
Best Apple MacBook deal this weekend: Get the...
Apple has 13″ M2 MacBook Airs available for only $849 today in their Certified Refurbished store. These are the cheapest M2-powered MacBooks for sale at Apple. Apple’s one-year warranty is included,... Read more
New 15-inch M3 MacBook Air (Midnight) on sale...
Amazon has the new 15″ M3 MacBook Air (8GB RAM/256GB SSD/Midnight) in stock and on sale today for $1249.99 including free shipping. Their price is $50 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest price currently... Read more

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