Here is my collection of trends and predictions for year 2014:
It seems that PC market is not recovering in 2014. IDC is forecasting that the technology channel will buy in around 34 million fewer PCs this year than last. It seem that things aren’t going to improve any time soon (down, down, down until 2017?). There will be no let-up on any front, with desktops and portables predicted to decline in both the mature and emerging markets. Perhaps the chief concern for future PC demand is a lack of reasons to replace an older system: PC usage has not moved significantly beyond consumption and productivity tasks to differentiate PCs from other devices. As a result, PC lifespan continue to increase. Death of the Desktop article says that sadly for the traditional desktop, this is only a matter of time before its purpose expires and that it would be inevitable it will happen within this decade. (I expect that it will not completely disappear).
When the PC business is slowly decreasing, smartphone and table business will increase quickly. Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. This shouldn’t really surprise anyone: the mobile business is much bigger than the computer industry. There are now perhaps 3.5-4 billion mobile phones, replaced every two years, versus 1.7-1.8 billion PCs replaced every 5 years. Smartphones broke down that wall between those industries few years ago – suddenly tech companies could sell to an industry with $1.2 trillion annual revenue. Now you can sell more phones in a quarter than the PC industry sells in a year.
After some years we will end up with somewhere over 3bn smartphones in use on earth, almost double the number of PCs. There are perhaps 900m consumer PCs on earth, and maybe 800m corporate PCs. The consumer PCs are mostly shared and the corporate PCs locked down, and neither are really mobile. Those 3 billion smartphones will all be personal, and all mobile. Mobile browsing is set to overtake traditional desktop browsing in 2015. The smartphone revolution is changing how consumers use the Internet. This will influence web design.
The only PC sector that seems to have some growth is server side. Microservers & Cloud Computing to Drive Server Growth article says that increased demand for cloud computing and high-density microserver systems has brought the server market back from a state of decline. We’re seeing fairly significant change in the server market. According to the 2014 IC Market Drivers report, server unit shipment growth will increase in the next several years, thanks to purchases of new, cheaper microservers. The total server IC market is projected to rise by 3% in 2014 to $14.4 billion: multicore MPU segment for microservers and NAND flash memories for solid state drives are expected to see better numbers.
Spinning rust and tape are DEAD. The future’s flash, cache and cloud article tells that the flash is the tier for primary data; the stuff christened tier 0. Data that needs to be written out to a slower response store goes across a local network link to a cloud storage gateway and that holds the tier 1 nearline data in its cache. Never mind software-defined HYPE, 2014 will be the year of storage FRANKENPLIANCES article tells that more hype around Software-Defined-Everything will keep the marketeers and the marchitecture specialists well employed for the next twelve months but don’t expect anything radical. The only innovation is going to be around pricing and consumption models as vendors try to maintain margins. FCoE will continue to be a side-show and FC, like tape, will soldier on happily. NAS will continue to eat away at the block storage market and perhaps 2014 will be the year that object storage finally takes off.
IT managers are increasingly replacing servers with SaaS article says that cloud providers take on a bigger share of the servers as overall market starts declining. An in-house system is no longer the default for many companies. IT managers want to cut the number of servers they manage, or at least slow the growth, and they may be succeeding. IDC expects that anywhere from 25% to 30% of all the servers shipped next year will be delivered to cloud services providers. In three years, 2017, nearly 45% of all the servers leaving manufacturers will be bought by cloud providers. The shift will slow the purchase of server sales to enterprise IT. Big cloud providers are more and more using their own designs instead of servers from big manufacturers. Data center consolidations are eliminating servers as well. For sure, IT managers are going to be managing physical servers for years to come. But, the number will be declining.
I hope that the IT business will start to grow this year as predicted. Information technology spends to increase next financial year according to N Chandrasekaran, chief executive and managing director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India’s largest information technology (IT) services company. IDC predicts that IT consumption will increase next year to 5 per cent worldwide to $ 2.14 trillion. It is expected that the biggest opportunity will lie in the digital space: social, mobility, cloud and analytics. The gradual recovery of the economy in Europe will restore faith in business. Companies are re-imaging their business, keeping in mind changing digital trends.
The death of Windows XP will be on the new many times on the spring. There will be companies try to cash in with death of Windows XP: Microsoft’s plan for Windows XP support to end next spring, has received IT services providers as well as competitors to invest in their own services marketing. HP is peddling their customers Connected Backup 8.8 service to prevent data loss during migration. VMware is selling cloud desktop service. Google is wooing users to switch to ChromeOS system by making Chrome’s user interface familiar to wider audiences. The most effective way XP exploiting is the European defense giant EADS subsidiary of Arkoon, which promises support for XP users who do not want to or can not upgrade their systems.
There will be talk on what will be coming from Microsoft next year. Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch a series of updates in 2015 that could see major revisions for the Windows, Xbox, and Windows RT platforms. Microsoft’s wave of spring 2015 updates to its various Windows-based platforms has a codename: Threshold. If all goes according to early plans, Threshold will include updates to all three OS platforms (Xbox One, Windows and Windows Phone).
Amateur programmers are becoming increasingly more prevalent in the IT landscape. A new IDC study has found that of the 18.5 million software developers in the world, about 7.5 million (roughly 40 percent) are “hobbyist developers,” which is what IDC calls people who write code even though it is not their primary occupation. The boom in hobbyist programmers should cheer computer literacy advocates.IDC estimates there are almost 29 million ICT-skilled workers in the world as we enter 2014, including 11 million professional developers.
The Challenge of Cross-language Interoperability will be more and more talked. Interfacing between languages will be increasingly important. You can no longer expect a nontrivial application to be written in a single language. With software becoming ever more complex and hardware less homogeneous, the likelihood of a single language being the correct tool for an entire program is lower than ever. The trend toward increased complexity in software shows no sign of abating, and modern hardware creates new challenges. Now, mobile phones are starting to appear with eight cores with the same ISA (instruction set architecture) but different speeds, some other streaming processors optimized for different workloads (DSPs, GPUs), and other specialized cores.
Just another new USB connector type will be pushed to market. Lightning strikes USB bosses: Next-gen ‘type C’ jacks will be reversible article tells that USB is to get a new, smaller connector that, like Apple’s proprietary Lightning jack, will be reversible. Designed to support both USB 3.1 and USB 2.0, the new connector, dubbed “Type C”, will be the same size as an existing micro USB 2.0 plug.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Exclusive: Google close to settling EU antitrust probe – sources
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/29/us-eu-google-antitrust-idUSBREA0S0TE20140129
Google is close to settling a three-year European antitrust probe with “much better” concessions to allay concerns over blocking rivals such as Microsoft from internet search results, two sources said on Wednesday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Web addresses now live: .bike, .guru, others now open
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/new-web-addresses-now-live-bike-guru-others-now-open/2014/01/29/860765e2-88fd-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html
Internet registrar Donuts has opened the door to seven new domains: .bike, .singles, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, and .ventures.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why We Need OpenStreetMap (Video)
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/01/29/2128206/why-we-need-openstreetmap-video
This video is a conversation between Slashdot’s Timothy Lord and informal OpenStreetMap spokesman Serge Wroclawski. Serge stresses the point that OpenStreetMap isn’t a mapping application, but consists of the data behind mapping applications; that there are many apps that use OpenStreetMap data; and that you are free to use OpenStreetMap as the data engine behind a map-based application. You are also welcome, even encouraged, to contribute,
Tomi Engdahl says:
Different digital tools will also bring opportunities for schools to experiment with new ways of learning.
Nordahl Grieg in Bergen, Norway high school students do not use any more paper and pen, but they make all the computers.
School studied the philosophy of The Walking Dead game playing.
In Sweden, Västra Götaland county, in turn, are utilized Wikipedia in teaching the history
Skara municipal Katedralskolan-high school students provide Wikipedia content. The students, according to Wikipedia, article writing is not easy. Teacher Ylva Pettersson says that the students’ motivation increases when they get public to read their texts immediately
Source: Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/eiko+filosofia+kiinnosta+nyt+siitakin+tehtiin+peli/a963112
Tomi Engdahl says:
Self Googling can lead to isolation
Was leaked scandalous photos, text or videos may not be easily recovered. Shame it is possible to get over, advises psychologist.
Many of us from time to time to enter your name in Google’s search box. US-based Pew Research Center last September, according to research by up to 56 percent of U.S. has been looking for themselves the information on Google or any other search engine.
City of Turku psychology of the head of Pentti Tuimala Googling by itself can have a variety of consequences.
- Effects are unique. Man has the normal need to get feedback from other people, and Google is one of the tools here.
Unpleasant discoveries of the internet can cause negative reactions.
- Negative effects also bring up feelings of shame and emotional questions about how this has happened.
Self Googling can also increase or to feed the pathological narcissism.
Source: YLE
http://yle.fi/uutiset/itsensa_googlettaminen_voi_johtaa_eristaytymiseen/7056811
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM and Partners Deliver First ARM Server Platform Standard
by Johan De Gelas on January 29, 2014 1:05 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7721/arm-and-partners-deliver-first-arm-server-platform-standard
The demise of innovator Calxeda and the excellent performance per watt of the new Intel Avoton server were certainly not good omens for the ARM server market. However, there are still quite a few vendors that are aspiring to break into the micro server market.
at this point in time, the ARM server platform simply does not exist. It is a mix of very different hardware running their own very customized OS kernels.
So the first hurdle to take is to develop a platform standard.
standard for ARMv8-A based (64-bit) servers, known as the ARM ‘Server Base System Architecture’ (SBSA) specification.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Big Data? Yeah, nice buzzword. Give us the nuts and bolts this time
Our Vulture flutters into Amsterdam conference, finds it refreshingly calm
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/30/big_data_loses_high_tech_glamour_buzz/
Big Data has crossed the chasm from hype to everyday reality remarkably quickly. Its adoption has been accelerated by hungry data warehousers using big data techniques to get better answers from their data mining activities.
Attending the TM Big Data InFocus 2014 conference in Amsterdam, it became abundantly clear that hype and promise-laden claims by vendors of big data software and storage were simply not there. The language and the approach has changed about face in just a couple of years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lenovo and IBM’s System x biz: It’ll be just like 2005′s PC buyout
Successes? Oh, we’ve had a few…
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/30/ibm_trades_system_x_to_lenovo/
Rather than part out System x like a tired old jitney, IBM opted to sell the entire division – including the high-end, differentiated boxes that they’ve spent poured money into since the turn of the century.
In addition to the products, Lenovo will also get the development, sales and marketing, service/support, operations, manufacturing, and all the other departments that enable and support the division.
Initial estimates are that 7,500 IBM employees will be turning in their badges for shiny new Lenovo tags
Tomi Engdahl says:
Without a keyboard, Apple iPad Air and iPad Mini 2 fail business users
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/opinion/2302568/without-a-keyboard-apple-ipad-air-and-ipad-mini-2-fail-business-users
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft was inspired by the arm-servers
Microsoft has joined the project, whose goal is to develop industry standards for ARM processors based servers.
Other Open Compute Project, a project associated companies include Citrix, Linux developers Red Hat, Suse and Canonical, server manufacturers, HP and Dell, as well as chip manufacturers AMD, AppliedMicro, Cavium, and Texas Instruments.
Microsoft’s move is interesting, as it has not been previously shown an interest in an arm-servers.
Source: Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/microsoft+innostui+armpalvelimista/a963737
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Ecosystem Collaborates to Deliver Initial Server Platform Standard
http://www.arm.com/about/newsroom/arm-ecosystem-collaborates-to-deliver-initial-server-platform-standard.php
Cambridge, UK – 29 January 2014 – ARM® today announced the collaborative development and immediate availability of a platform standard for ARMv8-A based (64-bit) servers, known as the ARM ‘Server Base System Architecture’ (SBSA) specification. This effort included input and support from software companies such as Canonical, Citrix, Linaro, Microsoft, Red Hat and SUSE, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Dell and HP along with a broad set of silicon partners.
Releasing the SBSA specification marks the beginning of a broader standardization activity
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linux Game Sales Statistics From Multiple Developers
http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/linux-game-sales-statistics-from-multiple-developers.2963
The numbers don’t look very good overall if you directly compare it to Windows, but like with everything Linux I am personally pinning my hopes on Steam Machines & SteamOS giving us the boost we so deserve. We aren’t that far off Mac numbers which is encouraging at least.
When you consider that just over a year ago Linux sales for developers on Steam would have officially been 0%, it’s actually quite encouraging that after such a short time we are already making up 5% of sales for some of them.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dell’s new Android HDMI dongle turns screens into virtualized desktop computers for $130
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/dell-wyse-cloud-connect-android-hdmi-dongle/
$130 dollar Wyse Cloud Connect dongle (formerly known as Project Ophelia)
It connects to any TV or display with an HDMI or MHL port, and hooks up to mice and keyboards via Bluetooth or mini-USB. Tyou can access your desktop using yours or your company’s choice of virtualization technologies: Citrix, Microsoft or VMWare.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tablet Growth Slowing, Says IDC
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320818&
Although tablet sales are still rising, their heady rate of growth is expected to slow significantly especially as markets saturate in developed countries such as the US, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that markets such as the US are reaching high levels of consumer saturation and while emerging markets continue to show strong growth this has not been enough to sustain the dramatic worldwide growth rates of years past,”
“It took many years in the PC market to see saturation which we’ve seen in the tablet market very rapidly,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft testing Windows 8.1 update that hides tile interface by default
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/30/5362156/windows-8-1-update-1-boot-to-desktop-by-default
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Said to Be Preparing to Make Satya Nadella CEO
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-30/microsoft-said-to-be-preparing-to-make-satya-nadella-ceo.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Turns 10: The Mark Zuckerberg Interview
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-30/facebook-turns-10-the-mark-zuckerberg-interview
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eterni.me founders on their digital afterlife plans: It’s not if, but when (Oh, and they just met each other Sunday)
http://www.boston.com/business/innovation/blogs/inside-the-hive/2014/01/30/eterni-founders-their-digital-afterlife-plans-not-but-when-and-they-just-met-each-other-sunday/ynXKRHIYiEnW9CahUWGGsM/blog.html
The team behind Eterni.me, which promises to let you chat, see, and interact with the digitized dearly departed, is fine with the haters. It also wants to help them connect with future generations.
“Everybody we talk to says yes, this technology is going to happen at some point,” said Marius Ursache, the startup’s chief executive. “It’s just a question of when.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
LibreOffice 4.2 Busts Out GPU Mantle Support and Corporate IT Integration
http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/01/30/1654234/libreoffice-42-busts-out-gpu-mantle-support-and-corporate-it-integration
Tomi Engdahl says:
Computer programming would satisfy foreign-language requirement under Kentucky bill
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20140123/NEWS0101/301230033/Computer-programming-would-satisfy-foreign-language-requirement-under-Kentucky-bill?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1
Legislation that would let students use computer programming courses to satisfy foreign-language requirements in public schools moved forward in the Kentucky Senate on Thursday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t go away, IBM and SAP – Larry’s not finished with you yet
What Oracle CEO’s obsession with Amazon means to the old rivalry
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/31/oracle_versus_ibm_sap_cloud/
“We just swapped a bunch of big guys – IBM and SAP – for a hunch of other guys; small bug agile.”
Ellison spoke just ahead of Amazon announcing continued and accelerating growth in its cloud business.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Lenovo Built a Chinese Tech Giant
CEO Started Out Delivering PCs on Bicycles, Now ‘We Want to Be a Global Player’
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303973704579352263128996836-lMyQjAxMTA0MDMwMDEzNDAyWj
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Tomi Engdahl says:
KDE Desktop vs. GNOME Apps: The Great Paradox
http://www.datamation.com/open-source/kde-desktop-vs.-gnome-apps-the-great-paradox-1.html
Polls show that KDE is the most popular Linux desktop. Yet more users prefer desktops that use GNOME technology. What’s the explanation?
The philosophies are distinct, with GNOME tending towards minimalism and KDE towards what might be called “completism,” and an argument might be made that GNOME’s minimalism is less confusing to new users.
The difference in design philosophies is evidently such a fundamental one that neither approach is likely to win many converts from the other, and nothing seems to have happened recently to change that.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The rise and rise of JavaScript
JavaScript as a platform becoming more popular, says ThoughtWorks
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/536950/rise_rise_javascript/
There is no end in sight to the rise of JavaScript according to the latest edition of ThoughtWorks’ Technology Radar. The January 2014 edition notes that “the ecosystem around JavaScript as a serious application platform continues to evolve”.
“I think JavaScript has been seen as a serious language for the last two or three years; I think now increasingly we’re seeing JavaScript as a platform,” said Sam Newman, ThoughtWorks’ Global Innovation Lead.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finding the Right Modular Platforms to Satisfy Ongoing Digital Signage Deployment Requirements
http://www.rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103450?utm_source=Pubpress&utm_medium=email&utm_term=+Finding+the+Right+Modular+Platforms+to+Satisfy+Ongoing+Digital+Signage+Deployment+Requirements+&utm_content=RTC+E-Newsletter+-+January+2013&utm_campaign=1401_enewsletter_rtc_dmp
Developers of digital signage and advertisers alike must consider the importance of standardized solutions. As technology features and capabilities advance, they must be easily integrated in new selections of modular hardware platforms designed to address specific digital signage deployments.
Digital Signage Open Pluggable Specification
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/intelligent-systems/digital-signage/open-pluggable-specification-simplify-digital-signage-development.html
The open pluggable specification (OPS) helps standardize the design and development of digital signage devices and pluggable media players.
OPS enables digital signage manufacturers to deploy interchangeable systems faster and in higher volumes, while lowering costs for development and implementation.
based on Intel® architecture
Kontron open pluggable specification (OPS)-compliant media players
http://emea.kontron.com/products/systems+and+platforms/digital+signage+opscompliant+platforms/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Altera Announces Quad-Core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 for Stratix 10 SoCs
http://www.rtcmagazine.com/articles/view/103454?utm_source=Pubpress&utm_medium=email&utm_term=+Altera+Announces+Quad-Core+64-bit+ARM+Cortex-A53+for+Stratix+10+SoCs+&utm_content=RTC+E-Newsletter+-+January+2013&utm_campaign=1401_enewsletter_rtc_dmp
Altera’s Stratix 10 SoC devices, manufactured on Intel’s 14nm Tri-Gate process, will now incorporate a high-performance, quad-core 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 processor system, complementing the device’s floating-point digital signal processing (DSP) blocks and high-performance FPGA fabric. Coupled with Altera’s system-level design tools, including OpenCL, this versatile heterogeneous computing platform will offer exceptional adaptability, performance, power efficiency and design productivity for a broad range of applications, including data center computing acceleration, radar systems and communications infrastructure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Gigaom Interview: A chat with Microsoft’s Satya Nadella from before he was the (likely) next CEO
http://gigaom.com/2014/01/31/the-gigaom-interview-a-chat-with-microsofts-satya-nadella-from-before-he-was-the-likely-next-ceo/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows 8.1 Update 1 leaks on the web ahead of its March release
http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/2/5372662/windows-8-1-update-1-leaks-ahead-of-release
Tomi Engdahl says:
China Bets on Homegrown OS
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320848&
A recently announced operating system in China could have disruptive influences felt worldwide. Developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai-based Liantong Network Communications Technology, the China Operating System (COS) is designed for use in smartphones, tablets, TV set top boxes, and personal computers.
Rumors abound about which OEMs and carriers will support COS, and several analysts have cited Huawei, HTC, Mediatek, Lenovo, and ZTE as prime movers.
“It’s difficult to determine who the other initial adopters might be, but I would venture to say it is likely the larger Chinese smartphone vendors”
COS has been strategically designed for national security following revelations about United States surveillance and Microsoft Windows ending further support of its XP system, Xhinhua, China’s official state news agency, reported. COS can run Java applications, supports HTML 5 web applications and games, and claims to be compatible with over 100,000 applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why IBM’s server sell-off is a lightbulb moment
How would you power a data centre 10 years from now?
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2014/02/03/what_lenovo_ibm_buy_really_means/
We’re not even out of January yet and already the UK’s tech channel has possibly seen its biggest story of 2014 after IBM sold its low-end server business to Lenovo.
IBM’s rationale in offloading the low-end server business makes complete sense on paper – after all, Big Blue has been moving more into software and services for some time. Cloud and big data may be spurring massive investment in servers, but IBM was finding it increasingly difficult to sell in big enough volumes that would keep its lower margin business profitable and competitive against HP and Dell.
IBM was also up against the server ODMs including Quanta and Wistron in Asia.
At the current rate of increasing demands and projections, there won’t be enough power to switch on our data centres in the next decade.
I suspect that IBM not only saw that but also didn’t want to keep hold of a business doomed to suffer massive change because of these escalating power needs. Low-end server vendors will have to get used selling fewer boxes or find other ways to sustain their business
HP is also very much aware of this
Tomi Engdahl says:
CGI chief says reputation intact despite ‘Obamacare’ woes Add to …
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/cgi-profit-soars-despite-obamacare-woes/article16567250/
CGI Group Inc.’s role in building the problem-plagued U.S. health-insurance website known as Obamacare has not had any impact on the company’s reputation, says the company’s chief.
Montreal-based CGI was a key contractor in the roll-out of the U.S. Affordable Care Act’s healthcare.gov site, which was plagued by delays, errors and slow speeds for weeks after its launch and proved to be a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama and a field day for political opponents.
CGI’s contract with the federal government has not been renewed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CES: Plastic Logic shows off Papertab, a tablet as thin and flexible as paper
Touts a 10.7in plastic touchscreen display
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2234602/ces-plastic-logic-shows-off-papertab-a-tablet-as-thin-and-flexible-as-paper
Developed by Plastic Logic, which has worked with Intel Labs and Queens University to develop the technology, the tablet is powered by a second generation Intel Core i5 processor and aims to replace the need for paper.
it can bend and flex while in use like a magazine and is robust against drops
The Papertab can file and display thousands of paper documents
Paper Logic maintained that other applications are currently being worked on
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows 8.1 becomes world’s fourth-most-popular desktop OS
Take that Windows Vista!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/03/windows_81_becomes_worlds_fourthmostpopular_desktop_os/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linux Will Probably Force Microsoft to Offer Future Windows OSes for Free
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Linux-Will-Probably-Force-Microsoft-to-Offer-Future-Windows-OSes-for-Free-423014.shtml
Microsoft is preparing its community for the arrival of Windows 9, probably sometime in 2015, but that will probably be the last operating system that Microsoft will sell. The Linux systems are evolving quickly and the there’s no stopping them.
Maybe not everyone has noticed, but the Linux platform has evolved in the last couple of years more than it has done so in the last decade.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Autonomy made 80% less UK profit than stated, Hewlett-Packard finds
American firm investigated irregularities in accounting at British software company it bought for more than $10bn
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/03/autonomy-profits-overstated-hewlett-packard
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reinventing The Printer With Rewriteable Paper And Water For Ink
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/01/reinventing-the-printer-with-rewriteable-paper-and-water-for-ink/
But given that up to 40 per cent of office documents are printed for one-time use, the desire to take in paper-based words versus ink’s relatively high cost and the waste that is generated is an area ripe for change.
Chinese researchers say they may have come up with just the thing to ease the conscience and lower the cost of reading documents on paper. They’ve created a jet printer that uses water instead of ink and a complimentary reusable paper that changes colour while it’s moist.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Flash Dominates Awards at Storage Visions 2014
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320872&
Memory architectures, SSDs, and flash technology were well represented at this year’s Storage Visions conference, including the show’s awards that highlighted visionary companies and products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eclipse Foundation Celebrates 10 Years
http://developers.slashdot.org/story/14/02/04/0056208/eclipse-foundation-celebrates-10-years
Although Eclipse was released in 2001, development was controlled by IBM until the creation of the independent Eclipse Foundation in 2004.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linus Torvalds gives ‘thumbs up’ to Nvidia for Nouveau project
http://www.muktware.com/2014/02/linus-torvalds-gives-thumbs-nvidia-nouveau-project/20415
Linus Torvalds has had some harsh words for Nvidia in the past. Their failure to work constructively with the Linux community is especially disappointing
Torvalds publicly gave a thumbs-up to Nvidia for posting early open source drivers for the recently released Nvidia K1 processor; something that was totally unexpected but received with open arms.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How in-app purchase is not really destroying the games industry
http://sealedabstract.com/iphone/how-in-app-purchase-is-not-really-destroying-the-games-industry/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adobe to Require New Epub DRM in July, Expects to Abandon Existing Users
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2014/02/03/adobe-require-new-epub-drm-july-expects-abandon-existing-users/#.UvCHLLRM0ik
If you look hard enough you can still buy many of the ebook readers released in 2010, 2011, and 2012 as new, and you can also find them as refurbs or used. They work just fine today (albeit a little slowly by today’s standards) but when July rolls around they will be little more than junk.
Not only will readers be affected, but so will indie ebookstores. They’re going to have to pay to upgrade their servers and their reading apps.
In other words Adobe just gave Amazon a belated Christmas present. After all, everyone might hate Amazon but we also know we can trust them to not break their DRM.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Out in the Open: Man Creates One Programming Language to Rule Them All
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2014/02/julia/
The problem was that in order to build his network simulation tool, he needed four different programming languages. No single language was suited to the task at hand, but using four languages complicated everything from writing the code to debugging it and patching it.
It’s a common problem for programmers as well as mathematicians, researchers and data scientists. So Karpinski set out to solve it. He and several other computer scientists are building a new language they hope will be suited to practically any task. Dubbed Julia, it provides an early glimpse into what programming languages might look like in the not-too-distant future.
“You can startup 100 Julia processes and run them on different machines, and fetch the results from other machines. That kind of thing tends to be tedious work in Java, but in Julia, it’s relatively straight forward.”
The first public version of Julia was released in early 2012. Many were skeptical about the need for yet another programming language, but enough people shared the frustrations of its creators that it has now begun to catch on with scientists.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Search Today and Beyond: Optimizing for the Semantic Web
http://www.wired.com/insights/2014/02/search-today-beyond-optimizing-semantic-web/
Search has changed dramatically over the past year and semantic technology has been at the center of it all. Consumers increasingly expect search engines to understand natural language and perceive the intent behind the words they type in, and search engine algorithms are rising to this challenge.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Private pain: Dell layoff bloodbath to hit over 15,000 staffers – insiders
Downsized depts told to chop ADDITIONAL 15% – source
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/03/dell_layoff_bloodbath/
Two sources have told us Dell is starting the expected huge layoff programme this week, claiming numbers will be north of 15,000.*
The company is returning to private ownership to restructure its operations in the wake of a falling PC market, a commoditisation of the server market and a perceived need to better serve enterprises with their ever-increasing mobile and cloud-focused IT requirements.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Picture of North Korean developed Red Star Linux OS version 3 can be seen at
https://wills.co.tt/1277/redstar#main
It looks quite much like OS X
Apps are packaged using a mac-like folder structure as well
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook celebrates 10-year anniversary with nostalgic ‘Look Back’ video feature
http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/4/5376396/facebook-look-back-video-lets-you-relive-the-last-ten-years-of-your-online-life
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft claims victory over second-hand software broker
Discount-Licensing ignored copyright regs, says MS legal eagle
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/03/microsoft_versus_discount_licensing/
Juan Hardoy, Microsoft EMEA assistant general counsel for the digital crimes unit, talked up the dangers of the used software market:
“Second-hand software buyers are rarely in a position to tell whether or not the transaction is legitimate, but it is they who bear the consequence and the potential liability if it turns out to be illegitimate.”
Some years back, Microsoft changed the terms of its Open agreement so that “resale” of the licence was “expressly prohibited”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Brocade-funded study says Fibre Channel faster than FCoE
It still costs an arm and a leg, but that’s the all-flash array world for you
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/04/fibre_channel_faster_than_fcoe_for_flash_arrays/
They found:
A single 16Gbit/s FC connection outperformed two 10GBitE connections as measured by application latency
Fellows said: ”Our testing found that heavily utilised solid-state storage environments function at their highest levels with Fibre Channel connectivity.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Satya Nadella – new Microsoft CEO
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/ceo/index.html
As Satya Nadella becomes the third CEO of Microsoft