Cloud computing use rising
Almost half of UK businesses and organisations are already using cloud computing in some manner, new research carried out by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has revealed. The survey of 450 institutions also revealed that one-third of those not currently employing cloud services, (Cloud computing lets you use files and applications over the Internet) anticipate doing so in the next year. The CIF is an industry body that champions and advocates the adoption and use of Cloud-based services by businesses and individuals.
Google signals the end of Labs
Google has announced that it is to close its Google Labs arm in the latest of a string of cutbacks that the company claims represents an attempt at "prioritising our product efforts." When Google announced that it was closing many of its application programming interfaces - including the popular Translate API, which is used to by developers who need to introduce machine translation services into their applications and sites - it caused something of a furore, but this latest announcement looks like being one of Google's least popular yet.
Is Apple's iPod on its way out?
No doubt about it, Apple just announced another stellar quarter. The company sold 9.25 million iPads in Q3, up 183 percent from the same quarter last year. It sold more than 20 million iPhones too, a 142 percent jump. And Apple's profit more than doubled to $7.31 billion. So what's not to like? Well, iPod sales fell a whopping 20 percent to 7.54 million. Nobody's surprised that iPod sales are falling, as the standalone MP3 player is rapidly losing ground to smartphones that play tunes and do a zillion other things as well.
Virgin 100Mb service now available to quarter of the UK
Virgin announced that 100Mb/sec broadband is now available to a quarter of the UK, 6.5 million homes in total. The broadband provider said that it was on track to complete upgrades to the firm's network by the middle of next year. At which point it will cover around half the UK with fibre-based 100Mb broadband.
The rise of ‘social TV’- 4 digital media trends for 2016
Social Participation TV (S P-TV) will drive interactive behaviour to generate $2.9bn globally by 2016, according to a new report looking into the converging worlds of mobile devices, social media and interactive TV platforms. Mobile and digital technology business Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) today released a major research white paper on the trends and opportunities in participation TV (P-TV) services in particular social channels across global markets.
PayPal readying brick & mortar store till trial as Google launches credit card
The competition in the electronic payments market continues to rage, with both Google and eBay looking beyond their current online and mobile payment options in an attempt to coerce more users and vendors to sign up. eBay’s PayPal division, Forbes reports, is readying a trial of offline “point of sale” transaction support for brick and mortar retailers that will kick off later in 2011, while Google is setting up a credit card arm, Reuters reports, which will offer advertisers a way to buy ads now and pay for them later.
High use of phones while driving slowly declining
Although 8 in 10 US motorists say it is never safe to text, email or use their smart phone, a large percentage of drivers use various features of their smart phones when operating their vehicles, according to a survey by car insurance firm, GMAC Insurance.
IT industry news: 'Only some small retailers are using Twitter'
Only a few retailers are standing out from the rest by using Twitter to engage with their customers, according to Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research. "My understanding is that it's a sharply segmented market. Most of the large retailers put a lot of effort into social media," he said. His comments emerged as research from Virgin Media Business into retailer use of Twitter showed that of 500 British retailers surveyed, only nine per cent said they have used it for business purposes.
80% of shoppers say the best deals are found online
The best shopping deals are found online according to 80 percent of people, new research from Shopping.com has revealed. Just 3 percent of the 1360 people surveyed by the leading shopping comparison site said they expected to find the best bargains on the high street. Over of a third of people surveyed said they found it easier to part with money online with 15 percent admitting to parting with more than £1,000 online for a single purchase.
Tablet shipments increase 331 percent as Apple’s share falls
Global tablet shipments have grown 331 percent to reach 15 million units in the second quarter of 2011, according to analyst figures. Research by analyst firm Strategy Analytics shows tablet shipments increased from four million units in the second quarter of 2010 to 15 million units in the same period in 2011 - an increase of 331 percent.
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