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Nov 02
Global wireless audio devices market worth $39 million...

A new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says that the global wireless audio devices market will be worth $39 million by 2022.

The market is expected to garner $38,807.5 million by 2022, registering a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 24.4% during 2016-2022, according to the research group. The wireless speaker systems segment is expected to dominate the market through 2022. North America is expected to be the leading region in the market during the forecast period.

Research and Markets says that wireless audio devices have emerged as an ideal alternative to traditional wired audio devices, owing to their portability, convenience, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility. Increasing penetration of infotainment devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, automobile infotainment devices, coupled with increasing demand for mobility services drive...

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Nov 01
The Northern Spy: Sierra stumbles out of the gate

By Rick Sutcliffe

Lulled into a false sense of security by Apple's multiple successful OS X upgrades in the past, the Spy confidently installed macOS Sierra, expecting a treat. He wishes he hadn't, and advises anyone still using El Capitan to refrain from changing (he can't call this an upgrade, despite the inclusion of Siri) until Apple fixes some major bugs.

The main issue facing the Spy is Sierra's failure (even after the first update) to run several programs he relies upon big time. See, besides teaching Mathematics and Computing Science at TWU (that's Trinity Western University, not Texas Womens University) and writing assorted books, he also teaches Bible at Aldergrove Baptist Church, and is about half way through mining for diamonds in the book of Romans (ninth year so far, now at 8:31). To this end, he depends greatly on programs such as (listing in order of basic to advanced) Online Bible Macintosh, the Olive Tree Bible Study program, and the...

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Nov 01
Motion, gesture interfaces key to VR, wearables market

A new study by Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that gesture and motion control will become vital for certain forms of human-computer interaction in the coming years. The use of the technology in smartphone-based VR (Virtual Reality) will be particularly important in driving up usage.

Juniper forecasts 128 million devices by the end of 2016, rising to 492 million by 2020 – a growth of over 280%. The research found that great progress has been made in the development of gesture and motion interfaces, from companies such as Leap Motion and Thalmic Labs. Juniper expects nearly 50% of all wearables and almost all VR to use the technology by 2021. However, for more established platforms like PCs and smartphones, Juniper believes that usage will remain low, with less than 5% of such devices using gesture control by that time.

The arrival of motion control for smartphone VR in...

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Oct 31
Video is now a mobile-first experience

According to 3Cinteractive (www.3C.com), video is now a mobile-first experience and will account for 77% of all US mobile data traffic by 2020, up from 61% in 2015.

With this focus on video for user-generated content creation, 3Cinteractive is seeing the big players putting emphasis on the quality and functionality surrounding mobile phone cameras, and even introducing their own alternatives for better quality video. What do brands, retailers and marketers now need to know about their prospects of utilizing video for mobile campaigns?

In its September release event, Apple unveiled updated specs of the iPhone 7 camera, including dual camera functionality that foreshadows upcoming AR/VR plans in the future.
 
Last month, Snapchat released its first hardware product, Spectacles, which are glasses designed to capture short video clips by clicking the button on the device. Instead of being tied to the user’s...

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Oct 28
AI revenues to surge past $47 billion in 2020

Widespread adoption of cognitive systems and artificial intelligence (AI) across a broad range of industries will drive worldwide revenues from nearly $8.0 billion in 2016 to more than $47 billion in 2020. According to a new report from International Data Corporation (www.idc.com), the market for cognitive/AI solutions will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55.1% over the 2016-2020 forecast period.

"Software developers and end user organizations have already begun the process of embedding and deploying cognitive/artificial intelligence into almost every kind of enterprise application or process," said David Schubmehl, research director, C ognitive Systems and Content Analytics at IDC. "Recent announcements by several large technology vendors and the booming venture capital market for AI startups illustrate the need for organizations to be planning and undertaking strategies that incorporate these wide-...

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Oct 27
Streaming media device market to grow at a CAGR of 17....

A new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) forecasts the global streaming media device market — which includes the Apple TV — to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 17.45% during the period 2016-2020. The market is currently in its nascent stage but is witnessing unprecedented growth, according to the research group.

In 2015, Asia-Pacific (APAC) had the highest growth rate in the market. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and the Americas are quite matured markets. According to Research and Markets, one of the key drivers for market growth will be easy connectivity with electronic devices. A major factor driving the sales of streaming devices is the ease with which media content can be streamed and shared between various streaming devices.

With the help of a home network, a streaming device can connect with various devices. The content can...

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Oct 26
Augmented reality app downloads to top 2.3 billion by...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the popularity of Pokémon GO is inspiring app developers to incorporate AR [augmented reality] technologies into their applications.

The research group forecasts that the AR market will rise to 2.3 billion apps by 2021, representing a 380% increase from an estimated 482 million in 2016. The launch of the AR game sparked a worldwide phenomenon that has created a greater interest in the technology, leaving developers ‘champing at the bit’ to recreate its global success.

According to Juniper Research, AR content has now evolved past its ‘gimmicky’ reputation, and consumer attitudes have become more positive towards the technology. The report found that despite smartphones already being capable of this level of AR, the success of applications were down to desirable content, such as Pokémon GO and Snapchat.

“The...

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Oct 25
Personalization to spur digital coupon growth by 60%

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the number of coupons issued via mobile and online channels will grow by more than 60% over the next five years, increasing from 224 billion in 2016 to 362 billion in 2021.

Juniper’s latest research found that the growth in digital coupon volumes can in large part be attributed to a greater retailer emphasis on the provision of highly targeted, personalized offers to consumers. According to the research group, brands will increasingly deploy bots, artificial intelligence applications which can interact with consumers via social media and messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger.

The research cited Domino’s Pizza and Iceland Air as companies which have already utilized this strategy. Meanwhile, mass adoption of social media has spawned a number of dedicated coupon aggregators operating within that space,...

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Oct 24
BatchOutput for Microsoft Word Now Supports macOS...

Zevrix Solutions has announced BatchOutput DOC 2.4.7, a compatibility update to its output automation solution for Microsoft Word on macOS.

BatchOutput automates printing and exporting of multiple documents to PDF, and allows to carry out professional PDF production directly from Word bringing PDF creation options right to the user's fingertips. The new version makes BatchOutput DOC compatible with the recently released macOS 10.12 Sierra.

BatchOutput DOC can be purchased for US $39.95 from the Zevrix Solutions website (www.zevrix.com), as well as from authorized resellers and the Mac App Store. A demo is available for download. The update is free for users of version 2 and $20 from version 1. BatchOutput DOC requires Mac OS X 10.6-10.12 and Microsoft Word 2008, 2011 or 2016.

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Oct 24
In-flight Wi-Fi is a unique space for cyber theft

The dangers of public Wi-Fi are already well known, but the security issues of in-flight Internet connection are still somewhat obscure. In 2015, there were already 52 airlines worldwide offering in-flight Internet, and the prevalence of U.S. in-flight Wi-Fi alone has grown 1,600-fold since 2013.
 
Security is an issue with in-flight Internet - dominated by Gogo provider, while its two main competitors, ViaSat and GEE, use satellites exclusively for airlines such as JetBlue and Southwest. First, there's no password protection on the Wi-Fi connection, so anyone can intercept all data that¹s being transmitted on the wireless network.
 
Thus, while it¹s great to go online while you are in the sky, connecting to Gogo or other provider might mean you are giving your private data away to cybercriminals. Airplanes are unique hacking grounds ­ more dangerous than airports or coffee shops, as they cram passengers in one small space for hours. This gives plenty of...

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Oct 21
Simba report shows Google’s rising impact in schools

A growing number of students are doing their schoolwork on Chromebooks, and an increasing number of teachers are managing their work with free tools from Google, according to “K-12 Classroom Technology Survey Report 2016,” a new report from Simba Information (www.simbainformation.com).

Chromebooks, which represented less than 2% of education market device sales a few years ago, now are found in more than one-quarter of classrooms. Chromebooks follow the legacy classroom desktop computer as the available device having the biggest impact on student achievement. Chromebooks follow iPads as the device teachers would most like to add for student use.

"The percentage of teachers using Google Classroom, a free platform for managing assignments and communicating with students, was more than three times that of any other learning management system when Simba Information and MCH Strategic Data...

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Oct 20
61% of shoppers expect to spend more this holiday...

While it may be an election year often signaling uncertainty when it comes to shopping and spending, a new survey conducted by Kelton Global on behalf of savings destination RetailMeNot (www.retailmenot.com) reports that 61% of shoppers plan to spend more this holiday season than last. In fact, nearly one in three shoppers plan to spend at least $200 more.

Despite the increase in spending, consumers will be taking advantage of deals and offers by seeking out savings prior to shopping either in-store or online, especially on the bigger ticket items like electronics that are on many wish lists. Seven out of ten consumers look for deals on holiday gifts year round, but 40% still feel they will find the best discounts on Black Friday. 

Searching for deals year round is certainly a successful strategy, but shoppers should reconsider making all purchases at one time, as category deals ebb and flow between...

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Oct 19
The market is bright for power amps in phones

LTE smartphones led to a bump in sales of RF power amplifiers in 2015 and the first half of 2016, according to Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) Over the next five years, highly integrated multiband PA modules that include switch and filter content similar to the PAs used today in the flagship Apple iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 will ship in increasing numbers into lower-tier smartphones.

According to Christopher Taylor, author of the report and director, RF & Wireless Components, Strategy Analytics: ”The need for smartphones with more LTE bands has led to multiband PAs that contain more RF filters and switches, capturing more front-end phone content for the suppliers, contributing to a growth of the PA market that will continue at least until 2020 and 5G."

Eric Higham, Director of Advance Semiconductor Applications at Strategy Analytics, adds: "Gallium arsenide forms...

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Oct 18
Mobile developer population reaches 12 million...

The number of developers involved with development of mobile apps reached 12 million in 2016, according to Evans Data Corp’s (www.evansdata.com) “Global Development Population and Demographics Study.”

It also found that the number of developers writing for mobile devices has increased by more than five times since Evans began measuring developer participation in mobile development in 2006, when just slightly less than two million developers were targeting mobile. At 12 million, the population of developers targeting mobile is more than half of the total worldwide population of 21 million developers.
The study, which is now in its 20th edition, estimates not only current software developer populations across four major regions and 40 different countries, but also overlays global primary research onto the population numbers to show numbers of developers forecast to adopt technologies now and in the future....

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Oct 18
Shipments of 3D printers to grow 108% in 2016

Worldwide shipments of 3D printers will reach 455,772 units in 2016, more than doubling the 219,168 units shipped in 2015, according to Gartner, Inc.'s latest forecast. Despite slowing growth rates after the market's initial growth spurt, the increase in 3D printer shipments over the next four years will see the number of units shipped in 2020 total more than 6.7 million.

"Once a niche market, 3D printing has continued its rapid transformation into a broad-based mainstream technology embraced by consumers and enterprises around the world," said Pete Basiliere, research vice president at Gartner (www.gartner.com). "The evolution of hardware and software along with an ever-expanding collection of usable materials has driven growth in both the consumer and enterprise 3D printing markets.”

3D printing is now experiencing widespread acceptance beyond its application in specialist industries. Today, 3D printing is...

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Oct 17
Service robots replacing human workers globally

As technology improves and as prices fall, professional service robots are increasingly doing jobs formerly handled by human workers. Revenue from professional service robots reached $2.6 billion, with around 20,000 units shipped in 2015, according to a new report from IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com),which specializes in critical information, analytics and solutions.

The emerging market for professional service robots is forecast to increase very quickly, with a unit-shipment compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46%, from 2015 to 2020, the report says. After 2020, the global market for professional service robot markets will grow even faster, with more robots moving from prototype to commercialization in various applications.

“The various demands on the professional service applications are multi-billion dollar opportunity for the professional service robot markets,” said Wilmer Zhou, senior analyst,...

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Oct 14
Bots, natural language interfaces to drive mobile...

New findings from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) claim that merchant integration of technologies such as bots and natural language interfaces will lead to remote goods purchases by mobile totaling $2.1 trillion by 2021. This represents a 100% increase from this year’s projection for spend on physical and digital goods.

The research found that rising smartphone use in digital retail was the underlying cause for stakeholder development in Bots, natural language processing, and disruption at the payment gateway. The new study found that shoppers would be driven away from merchants where keyword search and menu-driven systems were in place.

It suggested that where merchants deployed conversational interfaces, such as bots and natural language search, they would be able to far better understand the consumer’s intent. The North Face, for example, has developed an intelligent digital...

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Oct 13
Security tech revenue to surpass $100 billion in 2020

The first Worldwide Semiannual Security Spending Guide from International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts worldwide revenues for security-related hardware, software, and services will grow from $73.7 billion in 2016 to $101.6 billion in 2020.

This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3%, more than twice the rate of overall IT spending growth, over the five-year forecast period. The new spending guide expands on IDC's previous security forecasts by offering greater detail on spending by geography, industry, and technology.

"Today's security climate is such that enterprises fear becoming victims of the next major cyberattack or cyber extortion," said Sean Pike, program vice president, Security Products, IDC (www.idc.com). "As a result, security has become heavily scrutinized by boards of directors demanding that security budgets are used wisely and solutions operate at peak efficiency.”

The...

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Oct 12
Devices with wireless charging forecast to jump 40%...

The number of devices enabled with wireless charging will exceed 200 million units a year for the first time in 2016, according to the latest IHS Markit (www.ihs.com) forecast.  Driven by shipments in mobile phones and wearables, this represents a 40% increase over 2015 levels as more consumers experience wireless charging for the first time, according to the research group.

Earlier this year, the IHS Markit consumer survey showed that one in four people has now used wireless charging and more than 98% of those would choose the feature again on their next phone. Both consumer demand for the feature and the volume of enabled devices are growing each year.

However, the market will still fall short of original expectations that it could have reached 250 million receivers shipped this year.  A combination of reasons drove this, in particular the exclusion of wireless charging on flagship mobile phones (such as the...

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Oct 11
VR gambling to grow 800% by 2021

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that gross wagers from VR (Virtual Reality) gambling will grow from just over $58.5 million this year, to just under $520 million by 2021, representing an increase of 800%.

Juniper’s latest research found that VR gambling deployments over the next five years will be concentrated in the casino space, which will potentially offer immersive, real-world VR locations. However, the research group cautioned that the high cost of VR devices would inhibit the extent of user adoption, with the addressable base in the short and medium term largely limited to early adopters.

Nevertheless, research author Lauren Foye argued that the initial user base would primarily comprise of smartphone VR players, alongside users of top-end personal computers seeking the highest fidelity experience. According to Foye, “These will be coupled with a niche...

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Oct 10
Easy passwords and free Wi-Fi can cost you plenty

There are many ways to ensure your safety and prevent becoming an unwitting victim of cybercrime that could cost you thousands of dollars, according to security experts and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

Using a weak password while on a free Wi-Fi network can make your device more susceptible to cyber theft. You can strengthen your password by including a variety of symbols, letters and numbers. Try a minimum length of eight characters and use a combination of upper and lower case letters and at least one number. You should also commit your passwords to memory and don't store them on your computer or mobile devices.

Wi-Fi connections present risks at home and on the road. Wi-Fi hotspots are common targets for identity thieves as they are often unsecure and accessible to anyone. Unless you are using a secure web page, you should never send or receive private information when using public Wi-Fi. Avoid conducting financial or corporate transactions on these...

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Oct 07
IHS: spending on VR entertainment to hit $3.3 billion...

Aggressive promotional activity from smartphone vendors and the launch of premium smartphone VR solutions, including Google’s Daydream View, will help drive the installed base of VR headsets from 4 million in 2015 to 81 million in 2020, according to IHS Market (www.ihs.com). That same year, consumer spending on VR headsets will reach $7.9 billion and spending on VR entertainment will hit $3.3 billion, adds the research group.

“While the VR headset installed base will escalate significantly to 81 million by 2020, we predict that expensive, higher-end headsets will dominate content monetisation,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, director of games analysis at IHS Technology. “There will be a polarization of the VR market between lower volume premium VR headsets, which will have strong paid content conversion rates, and higher-volume cheaper smartphone VR headsets, which will monetise content at a lower rate.”

Smartphone VR...

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Oct 06
ON World: LPWAN Services Will Reach $75 Billion by 2020

At a pivotal time for the Internet of Things, Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies are blindsiding existing wireless sensor network technologies with multi-kilometer network ranges, multi-year battery lifetimes and cloud-integrated network stacks, according to a recently published report by global IoT research firm ON World (www.onworld.com).

"After a decade of technology advances such as low power wireless radios, MEMS and cloud platforms, LPWANs represent a new gold rush for Internet of Things investors and developers," says Mareca Hatler, ON World's research director. "The simplicity and accessibility of LPWANs is drawing new entrants and innovative IoT services that will contribute billions of dollars to the global economy.”

ON World's interviews and surveys with 150+ IoT market leaders found that 1-in- 3 are planning or currently offer LPWAN products and services with the majority of these...

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Oct 05
Gartner: spending on VPA-enabled speakers speakers to...

End-user spending for the worldwide virtual personal assistant (VPA)-enabled wireless speaker market will reach $2.1 billion by 2020, up from $360 million in 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). By 2020, 3.3% of global households are forecast to have adopted a VPA-enabled wireless speaker.

"Last year, the VPA speaker market essentially consisted of end-user spending focused entirely on Amazon Echo, a wireless speaker with an array of embedded microphones to capture and respond to users' far-field voice commands for Amazon's VPA — Alexa. Later, Amazon introduced the Tap and Echo Dot," said Werner Goertz, research director at Gartner. "By 2020, competitors' products and third-party implementations of leading VPAs (Google Assistant, Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana) will likely have ramped up.”

VPA speakers, especially those that are wall-powered, allow for multiple devices to be owned by a...

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Oct 04
iOS and macOS Updates: What VPN Users Need to Know

Recently, Apple rolled out its newest operating system updates – iOS 10 and macOS Sierra. The new updates brought about a lot of exciting new features and upgrades. Apple’s mobile and Mac software is now more integrated: for example, Siri assistant has arrived on the computer. Users are also excited about the Universal Clipboard that allows to choose photos from iPhone and directly paste them on a computer.
 
However, there might be some frustrating news for those who had VPN apps installed on their Mac or iPhone. The latest version of the software doesn’t support point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP) connections, meaning that a VPN that is using PPTP protocol will no longer work with devices that have iOS 10 and macOS Sierra.
 
PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) was one of the first security protocols introduced. However, it is considered very weak nowadays and therefore PPTP isn’t a recommended option anymore. Most likely, this was the reason for...

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Oct 04
Domestic money mobile transfer market to exceed $500...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the value of domestic money transfers, including operator money and social media money services, will reach $520 billion in mobile transactions by 2018, up nearly 200% from an estimated $178 billion last year.

According to the new research by 2018 the share of domestic money transfer services, by mobile transaction values are forecast to be: domestic P2P: 45%; Cash-In: 21%; Cash-Out: 17%; Bulk Disbursement (G2P): 14%; and Domestic Airtime Top-Up: 2%. Typically P2P (person to person) domestic transfers show higher usage in developing markets, including M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Orange Money and MTN Mobile Money, supplemented by users making social transfers in developed markets via services such as Venmo and WeChat.

However, the bulk of activity is currently occurring via WeChat and Alipay within China, with growth...

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Oct 03
The Northern Spy: more than one kind of bug

By Rick Sutcliffe

The Spy described himself last month as "still breathing.” In view of the worst cold to afflict him in many years, that is not a quality statement, just a bare fact. Good thing he isn't trying to dictate this column.

VCON-41 was this past weekend (why he delayed writing this) and the Spy was scheduled for four panels and a reading. After struggling through Friday afternoon and evening, he awoke Saturday with no voice at all, and had to cancel out of two panels plus a reading of his work on Saturday.

Too bad, because Friday night's panel on Minions (that he moderated) had a large and vigorously opinionated audience and provoked extensive discussions back-and-forth with the panel--the ideal outcome for such a venue. Some panelists and audience members were convinced that the very word "minion" is pejorative, so only applies to the flunkies of the Big Bad. The Spy differs--the protagonist may have minions too, not just sidekicks...

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Oct 03
Technavio: global smart wearable market to grow ‘...

Technavio (www.technavio.com) analysts forecast that the global smart wearable lifestyle devices and services market will grow immensely and post a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of almost 16% during the forecast period of 2016-2020

The smart wearable lifestyle services market in North America was valued at $0.84 billion in 2015 and will reach $2.37 billion by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 23.05%, according to the research group. The market is driven by the early adoption of wearable devices in these regions. The key revenue contributors of this region are US, Canada, and Mexico.

The largest contributor to the market in this region is the U.S. because of the early adoption of lifestyle devices among adults and youth. The key reason for this high adoption is affordability. The decline in the average selling price of wearable devices will boost the growth of the market during the forecast period.

...

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Sep 30
Gartner: connected car production to grow rapidly

Connected car production is growing rapidly in both mature and emerging automobile markets, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). The production of new automobiles equipped with data connectivity, either through a built-in communications module or by a tether to a mobile device, is forecast to reach 12.4 million in 2016 and increase to 61 million in 2020, notes the research group.

Gartner defines the connected car as an automobile that is capable of bidirectional wireless communication with an external network for the purpose of delivering digital content and services, transmitting telemetry data from the vehicle, enabling remote monitoring and control, or managing in-vehicle systems.

"The connected vehicle is the foundation for fundamental opportunities and disruptions in the automotive industry and many other vertical industries," said James Hines, research director at...

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Sep 29
Gartner: organizations need to master two dimensions...

With the convergence of devices, bots, things and people, organizations will need to master two dimensions of mobility, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) CIOs and IT leaders will need to excel at mainstream mobility and to prepare for the post-app era, adds the research group.

"The future of mobile will provide ubiquitous services delivered anywhere, by any person or thing, to any person or thing," said David Willis vice president and analyst at Gartner. "While users are constantly looking for new and compelling app experiences, the importance of apps in delivering services will diminish and the emergence of virtual personal assistants (VPAs) and bots will replace some of the functions performed by apps today. Alternative approaches to interaction and service delivery will arise, and code will move from traditional mobile devices and apps to the cloud.”

In 2016, Gartner forecasts the shipment of 2...

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Sep 27
The Shortage of Cybersecurity Experts is a National...

It’s estimated that the global cybersecurity job postings is around one million and more than 200,000 cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. alone were unfilled in 2015 which was up 74% over the previous five years.  The cybersecurity market is expected to grow from $75 billion in 2015 to $170 billion by 2020 according to recent industry reports and it is estimated that the global cybersecurity workforce will have 1.5 million jobs unfilled by 2019, according to Identity Management Institute (http://www.identitymanagementinstitute.org).

Cybersecurity is a new buzz name for computer and network security which has existed for many years. However, due to the increasing connectivity of many devices and networks, the computer security risk landscape is expanding and is frequently referred to as cybersecurity.

One of the main objectives of cybersecurity is to protect data but...

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Sep 26
Global PCIe SSD market to grow 33.24% by 2020

A new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) report forecasts that the global peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) SSD market to grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 33.24% during the period 2016-2020.

The report has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The research group says the need for managed service data centers will be a key driver for market growth. It is advantageous for an enterprise to operate a colocation facility rather than to build a data center. Data center colocation allows enterprises to rent computing storage, servers, and network. It enables minimal utilization of power and bandwidth and enhances the security of enterprise IT equipment.

Further, Research and Markets states that the lack of availability of constant low latency is a major challenge. Write latency can be...

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Sep 23
Cyber attacks against smart city services may pose...

Tripwire (www.tripwire.com), a provider of security and compliance solutions for enterprises and industrial organizations, has announced the results of a survey conducted on behalf of Tripwire by Dimensional Research.

The June survey assessed cyber security challenges associated with smart city technologies. Survey respondents included over 200 IT professionals working for state and local governments.

When asked if a cyber attack targeting critical city infrastructure posed a threat to public safety, 83% of the respondents said, “yes.” In addition, 78% percent of the respondents stated there would likely be a cyber attack against smart city services in 2016.

Smart cities use IT solutions to manage a wide range of city services, including smart grids, transportation, surveillance cameras, wastewater treatment and more. Navigant Research anticipates that global smart city technology revenue will...

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Sep 22
Contactless POS terminal retail transactions to boom

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 new research 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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Sep 21
Nearly half of U.S. consumers look forward to...

As the race for self-driving cars accelerates, new data shows that 43% of U.S. consumers would buy or ride in autonomous vehicles (AV) if they were broadly available today, according to the survey released today by Altman Vilandrie & Company (http://www.altvil.com). However, the survey reveals widespread concerns about the safety of self-driving cars: 64% of consumers say they would not buy an AV because they believe AVs are dangerous.

As part of the survey, Altman Vilandrie & Company also interviewed more than 20 industry experts, including those in auto manufacturing, car technology and mobile communications, who on the whole are very bullish on the future of AVs. The survey comes as activity related to autonomous cars has reached an inflection point, with leading carmakers (Audi, GM, Tesla), technology titans (Google, Apple), numerous startups, and ride sharing companies like Uber announcing plans...

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Sep 20
More than 30% of Application to Person (A2P) traffic...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that global operator revenue loss from “grey route” A2P traffic will amount to $62 billion over the next 6six years, despite the increased deployment of firewalls and other security measures.

The research argued that in part the high levels of grey route traffic – essentially A2P messages masquerading as P2P (Person to Person) messages and delivered via non-interconnected routes – could be attributed by the scale of the price differential between A2P and P2P. It pointed out that the trend has become more pronounced as operators have offered high-volume, low cost SMS bundles to cope with the challenge of OTT (Over The Top) messaging services, with grey route traffic now accounting for more than 30% of all A2P messages.

According to the research, the typical cost of an A2P message using grey routes was often just 25% of a...

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Sep 19
Users rush to migrate from Linear TV Services

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that revenues from SVOD (subscription video on demand) services, such as Netflix and Amazon, are set to more than double from $14.6 billion this year, to $34.6 billion in 2021. Netflix now sees US subscriber numbers level with leading network providers DirecTV & Comcast (47 million and 47.7 million respectively).

Juniper’s latest research found that SVOD providers can expect to see substantial returns on their expansion and growth strategies, as more countries and markets move to this method of video consumption, in a continual move away from linear, scheduled TV.

Whilst SVOD continues to draw customers away from traditional providers, networks are now seeking to diversify and adapt through “cord shaving,” with services such as YouTube and Hulu seeking to offer some linear cable streaming as part of subscription packages...

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Sep 16
Worldwide WLAN Market sees robust growth in quarter two

The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments increased 6.7% year over year in the second quarter of 2016 (2Q16), and increased 6.7% on a sequential basis.

According to new data from the IDC research group (www.idc.com), the enterprise segment grew 9.4% year over year in 2Q16, representing its strongest growth in over two years. The sustained growth observed so far in 2016 can be attributed to refresh cycles and the funding of digital transformation initiatives in many enterprises.

The 802.11ac standard has achieved market dominance and now accounts for 59.9% of dependent access point unit shipments and 77.4% of dependent access point revenues, representing a noticeably faster adoption rate from 802.11n than what we saw with the 802.11a/b/g to 802.11n transition several years ago.

Meanwhile, consumer WLAN market revenue saw growth for the first time since...

| Read more »
Sep 15
Study: mobile coupons will be a major focus next year

3Cinteractive.com — a provider of mobile  marketing services — has unveiled its 2017 Mobile Marketing & Planning Report, which identifies key trends where brand marketers are placing their focus on mobile initiatives in 2017.

The report is based largely on an online survey 3C commissioned during July, 2016, which was presented to roughly 3,000 brand marketers across a variety of industries. Survey participants represent retail (29%), restaurants (21%), hospitality/tourism/travel (17%), financial services (14%), and a host of other industries as well.

Among the primary objectives in 2017, brand marketers cite “increase coupon redemption” (19%), and “customer loyalty acquisition” (19%). What’s more, “coupon delivery” (36%) “represent the largest share of tactics marketers plan to deploy to grow their mobile marketing impact.

Mobile coupons have become a focal point for many coupon-friendly industries, such as grocery and retail, because of the ability to...

| Read more »
Sep 14
Gartner: worldwide server revenue dipped 0.8% in...

In the second quarter of 2016, worldwide server revenue declined 0.8% year-over-year while shipments grew 2% from the second quarter of 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

There was some shuffling among the top vendors in the second quarter, as Dell moved into the top spot in shipments, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) remained the worldwide leader in server revenue, notes the research group.

"The second quarter of 2016 produced some continued growth on a global level compared with the first quarter, although there were some varied results regionally," said Jeffrey Hewitt, research vice president at Gartner.

All regions showed a decline in shipments except Asia/Pacific and North America, which posted growth of 5.6% and 3%, respectively. In terms of revenue, all regions except for Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe exhibited a decline. Asia/Pacific grew by 6.1% and Eastern Europe...

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Sep 13
Three quarters of companies feel they are secure from...

Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has released a report into the business attitudes towards and experiences of cyber security and cyber attacks in SMEs and enterprises. The research revealed that three quarters of companies feel they are currently secure, even though half of those businesses also reported having previously experienced a cyber attack.

Increasingly, businesses are moving critical infrastructure online, making them more vulnerable to digital threats. Yet, the study found that despite increased concern and spend on cyber security over the last year, there is a high degree of complacency, with few common practices in response to this threat. Overall, 86% of respondents believe they are doing enough to mitigate the impact of cyber attacks. Most respondents still think it’s enough to have the IT or security department involved in mitigating the effect of cyber attacks, with 33%...

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Sep 12
Opportunity for faster, more secure transactions...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the total value of Venture Capital (VC) investment into blockchain technologies and Bitcoin companies totaled $290 million in the first six months of the year, with more than 30 startups receiving funding in that time.

More than a third of all investment was accounted for by three companies: Circle, the social payment provider; Blockstream, the sidechain developer; and Digital Asset holdings, a distributed ledger solutions provider. The new research report highlights the increasing diversification of nascent blockchain deployments, with applications ranging from identity to asset management. It pinpoints the banking sector as being particularly proactive, with several banks having already adopted the Ripple blockchain protocol and others piloting competing solutions.

Juniper Research says that in areas such as...

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Sep 08
Gartner: organizations must update their network...

By 2020, 21 billion of Internet of Things (IoT) devices will be in use worldwide. Of these, close to 6% will be in use for industrial IoT applications.

However, IT organizations have issues identifying these devices and characterizing them as part of current network access policy, said Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders must therefore update their network access policy to seamlessly address the onslaught of IoT devices, adds the research group.

"Having embraced a bring-your-own-device strategy, organizations must now get employee devices on the enterprise network and start addressing the 21 billion IoT devices that we project will want access to the enterprise network," said Tim Zimmermann, research vice president at Gartner. "Whether a video surveillance camera for a parking lot, a motion detector in a conference room or the HVAC for the entire building, the...

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Sep 08
More than 100 million homes to adopt HDR TVs by 2020

By 2020, 250 million TV viewers around the world will be ready to watch shows using the latest technology known as High Dynamic Range (HDR).

According to a new report from Strategy Analytics’ Intelligent Home Group (www.strategyanalytics.com), annual worldwide sales of HDR-enabled TVs in 2020 will reach 58 million units, bringing the number of homes with at least one HDR-enabled TV to 107 million. Penetration of HDR TVs will reach nearly 25% of homes in the U.S.

High Dynamic Range is one of the most important components of Ultra HD TV, the new standard which is being introduced around the world. It improves TV pictures by increasing the range of colors and brightness. HDR programming has been launched by online video services such as Netflix and Amazon, and is expected to be introduced by leading broadcasters and pay TV companies over the next couple of years.

“TV manufacturers...

| Read more »
Sep 07
Ransomware damages predicted to reach $1 billion...

Robert Herjavec, Founder & CEO of global Managed Services provider Herjavec Group, confirms the 2016 Cybercrime Report prediction that ransomware damages and related costs will reach $1 billion annually by the end of 2016. This staggering statistic, highlighted in Herjavec Group and Cybersecurity Ventures' latest report, “Hackerpocalypse: A Cybercrime Revelation,” (http://tinyurl.com/jqtwmya) reinforces the cybercrime epidemic impacting enterprises and governments worldwide.

Ransomware is a malware that infects computers and restricts their access to files, often threatening permanent data destruction unless a ransom is paid. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) confirmed that in 2015, over $24 million was surrendered to attackers in approximately 2500 ransomware cases. This year, there has been a significant increase in phishing campaigns and ransomware attacks targeting various...

| Read more »
Sep 07
AI learning to drive real time bid advertising

Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that machine learning algorithms used to enable more efficient ad bids over RTB (real-time bidding) networks will generate some $42 billion in annual ad spend by 2021, up from an estimated $3.5 billion in 2016.

Machine learning — a subset of AI — has arrived at a point where it is both accessible as well as affordable to a wide range of stakeholders. Juniper anticipates that the technology will eventually permeate into nearly all industries in the next five years.

In the case of the media industry, machine learning is being used to develop so-called “bots” and digital assistants, as well as maximize returns on digital advertising. In the case of the former, companies such as Facebook and Google are leading the drive, with the likes of Rocket Fuel and Datacratic developing innovative solutions for the latter use case.

Juniper’s study...

| Read more »
Sep 06
Digital assistants to offer new ad opportunities

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) shows that increased use of digital assistants, such as Siri and Cortana, on smart devices will provide new paid search opportunities in the coming years.

The research group forecasts that over $12 billion of ad spend per annum will be made through this rapidly growing medium by 2021, an increase of over 3,000% on estimated spend for 2016. The study found that, besides integration into devices like smartphones and PCs, assistants will be part of many home and automotive devices in future, creating new spaces for human-computer interaction.

These sectors will initially see the highest usage, paving the way for wider adoption of assistants towards the end of the 2010s, according to Juniper Research.
Improvements in artificial intelligence have led to a proliferation of programs, of which Siri, Google Now and Cortana are the best...

| Read more »
Sep 02
IHS: smart home device market to expand rapidly

The smart home market continues to expand, with 47 million connected smart home devices shipped globally in 2015, according to IHS Markit (ihs.com). The market is projected to broaden at a compound annual growth rate of 60%, reaching 477 million devices in 2020, adds the research group.

The American region accounted for 62% of global shipments in 2015; however, Asia-Pacific will gain significant share over the next four years, coming into parity with the American market in 2020. The EMEA region will remain flat, holding steady at 20 percent of the global market for smart devices. This rapid growth will be primarily attributed to appliances and air conditioners, according to recent analysis from the IHS Markit Smart Home Intelligence Service.

“The smart home is organized into the following five primary categories: safety and security, climate control, consumer electronics, energy and water control, and lighting and controls,” said Blake Kozak, principal analyst, IHS...

| Read more »
Sep 01
The Northern Spy: Back to School

By Rick Sutcliffe

The Spy, like everyone else still breathing, is always learning new things--or re-learning old ones--especially so as a new crowd of students (and many more old ones) is about to descend on campus.

El Capitan falls into both categories, for it has a few extremely annoying bugs that he has not had to deal with for several OS X iterations.

One of the worst is the tendency to forget it has ever heard of Bluetooth. The menu bar icon turns greyer and loses its three dots. Any attempt to do things bluetoothy results in an error message. So, one tries resetting the NVRAM (once called parameter RAM) at startup with the old four finger salute (holding down command-option-P-R keys all at once). No joy.

So he tried something more adventuresome--resetting the SMC (System Management Controller), also done at startup with the keys left shift-control-option, also used to correct errant fans gone wild. Best practice: hold for two...

| Read more »
Aug 30
Reduced buyer friction is the key to OS-pay success

New findings from Juniper Research claim that the value of digital and physical goods purchased through mobile “OS-Pay” platforms will increase by 15 times in the next two years. A combination of in-app purchases and website retail payments is projected to drive annual spend via Apple Pay and Android Pay to $8 billion in 2018, up from $540 million this year.

The new study found that the integration of OS-Pay into apps will prove to be a 
“no brainer” for developers looking to reduce buyer friction, where password entry on smartphones remains cumbersome. Staples, for example, has already reported that over 30% of its iOS app users make in-app purchases through Apple Pay. Meanwhile, despite the continued contraction of the consumer tablet market, more than 85% of remote goods payments are forecast to be made using mobile devices in 2021.

“It is clear that even in markets where PCs and laptops have a high installed base that the smartphone is playing an increasingly...

| 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 »

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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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