Type of Article: MacTech Blog

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

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

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

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

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

Crucially, Ripple concentrates on providing a payments infrastructure, rather than a new currency, in its attempt to overhaul the international payments landscape.

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

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

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