Type of Article: MacTech Blog

Smart machines will enter mainstream adoption by 2021, with 30% adoption by large companies, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Technologies including cognitive computing, artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent automation, machine learning and deep learning fall under the umbrella term for smart machines.)

Mail carrier, word processor and meter reader are among the jobs that are fading into obscurity, according to CareerCast’s (CareerCast.com) “2016 Most Endangered Jobs Report.”

Disc jockey, jeweler, computer programmer, broadcaster and newspaper reporter, have felt the squeeze of labor market changes in recent years, and face unfavorable hiring forecasts for the years to come. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 28% decline in employment of Mail Carriers by 2024, or a total 136,000-employee loss in the field over the next eight years.

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the number of connected IoT (Internet of Things) devices, sensors and actuators will reach over 46 billion in 2021. This 200% increase, from 2016, will be driven in large part by a reduction in the unit costs of hardware. Juniper forecasts that it will average close to the “magic” $1 throughout the period.

Latin America’s leading eCommerce platform Linio.com, has released the “2016-17 Technology Price Index” (http://tinyurl.com/zu3xuyl) comparing the cost of 14 popular electronic devices and brands, across 71 countries.

With Christmas shopping season already in full swing, Linio undertook the research to better understand the global economic trends in the price of electronics. The Technology Price Index takes into account the cost of smartphones, laptops, games consoles, tablets, smart devices, and other gadgets, ranking the countries on the average cost of all products researched.
 

As more smartphone manufacturers build designs using flexible display technology, shipments of flexible displays are expected to reach 139 million units in 2017, an increase of 135% compared to 2016. According to IHS Markit (www.ihsmarkit.com), which specializes in critical information, analytics and solutions, flexible displays are expected to comprise 3.8 percent of total display unit shipments in 2017.