Posts Tagged ‘trends’

Tech Focus – 10 Predictions on How AI will Shape Technology in 2024

Friday, February 23rd, 2024

Ee Huei Sin shares ten predictions from Keysight Technologies on how AI’s influence will strengthen and impact technologies across industries in 2024.

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) ready to direct physical-world activities in 2024?

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) ready to direct physical-world activities in 2024?

With the introduction of ChatGPT, Dall-e, and many other tools to the public, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hotly debated topic that will continue to dominate headlines throughout the decade.

Engineers are integrating AI into technologies and reaping the benefits to enhance operations, extract and leverage intelligence, and drive organisation-wide benefits across industries.

Here’s ten predictions from Keysight, on how AI’s influence will strengthen and impact technologies across industries in 2024.

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The Growing Need for Third-Party Chargers

Friday, December 3rd, 2021

It used to be that the new phones come with chargers in the box, but phone makers are now beginning to exclude the charger in the box. So we’ll begin to shop more for 3rd-party chargers.

Do you remember these different plugs for different chargers, not to mention different power ratings for each device?

Do you remember these different plugs for different chargers, not to mention different power ratings for each device?

I remember years ago when I was writing for the Straits Times Digital Life about what tech to pack when travelling, I’d lamented that the charger for different phones used proprietary chargers that were not interchangeable – in terms of the plugs and the power ratings.

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tech4xmas Review: Rakuten Kobo Sage & Kobo Libra 2 E-Readers

Thursday, December 2nd, 2021

An e-reader makes a fantastic Christmas present for an avid reader. I’ve gotten my wife the latest Rakuten Kobo Sage for this year’s X’mas. For those who prefer a slightly smaller form-factor (and lower price-tag), the Kobo Libra 2 is also an excellent e-reader.

The Rakuten Kobo Sage (left) and Kobo Libra 2 are both waterproof to IPX8 rating so you can safely read by the pool and in the bath. In this photo, the new Dark Mode is enabled on the Kobo Sage. Notice that the text is clearly legible even under bright sunlight.

The Rakuten Kobo Sage (left) and Kobo Libra 2 are both waterproof to IPX8 rating so you can safely read by the pool and in the bath. In this photo, the new Dark Mode is enabled on the Kobo Sage. Notice that the text is clearly legible even under bright sunlight.

The Kobo Sage (S$399.90) and Kobo Libra 2 (S$289.90) are the two latest e-readers that Rakuten Kobo launched in October.

The Kobo Sage is slightly cheaper than Amazon’s flagship Kindle Oasis, while the Kobo Libra 2 is similarly priced to the latest Kindle Paperwhite.

 

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Christmas prezzies for the wife and son who are avid readers. The 8″ Kobo Sage (left, in Dark Mode) and 7″ Kobo Libra 2 (with an audiobook) in their sleepcovers which protects them and doubles up as a stand.

The 8-inch Kobo Sage is the new flagship of Kobo’s e-reader line-up, taking over the baton from the Kobo Forma (S$349.90) which is still available.

The 7-inch Kobo Libra 2 is the new version that succeeds the Libra H2O that my wife has been using, with great satisfaction, for the past year – it was her Christmas present for last X’mas.

So what are the key improvements of the two new e-readers?

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tech4xmas Review: Rakuten Kobo Libra H2O E-Reader

Saturday, December 5th, 2020

The Rakuten Kobo Libra H2O is the Christmas present for my wife who is an avid reader. I chose it because it offers all the features that she needs and uses at a reasonable price. Looks good, works well and value-for-money.

The Rakuten Kobo Libra H2O e-reader (S$279.90) and the optional sleep cover (S$59) is available online (https://sg.kobobooks.com/products/kobo-libra-h2o) as well as at key retailers such as Challenger, Courts, and Sprint-cass.

The Rakuten Kobo Libra H2O e-reader (S$279.90) and the optional sleep cover (S$59) is available online as well as at key retailers such as Challenger, Courts, and Sprint-cass.

So the two flagship e-readers that I started out looking at were the Kindle Oasis 3 and the Kobo Forma.

Eventually, I decided on the Libra H2O because it offers almost the same set of features but at a much lower price.

 

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Borrowing books from the public library and discovery of books from the Kobo eBookstore is easy and intuitive. I like the recommendations of similar books based on the books that I have read.

The Libra H2O has a seven-inch Carta E Ink HD touchscreen with 1690 x 1264 pixels at 300ppi.

The display is sharp and the content is clearly readable in dim light or in bright sunlight.

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Trends: Singaporeans Reading More in Surge during Pandemic

Sunday, November 15th, 2020

Singapore readers spent an equivalent of 28 years reading this year – 8 years more than 2019. The pandemic has seen a 270% increase in reading minutes, with nonfiction, romance and fiction topping the list for most popular genres of the year.

Reading a book on an e-book reader while enjoying a cup of tea.

Reading a book on an e-reader while enjoying a cup of tea.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has been a tumultuous year full of change and uncertainties.

As the nation grapples with an ongoing pandemic, reading has been an escape from the present to disconnect from current worries.

As we near the end of 2020, data from Toronto-based digital reading company Rakuten Kobo provides a snapshot of what and how Kobo users in Singapore read.

According to Rakuten Kobo’s data, Singaporeans spent at least 10,409 days reading this year – which is the equivalent of 28 years.

This is an increase of 8 years more time spent reading compared to 2019.

Additionally, with readers spending more time at home, they also clocked 270% more reading minutes this year as compared to 2019.

While familiar genres like romance and nonfiction remain mainstays, books focused on kids are rising in popularity.

Despite being known as busy individuals (ranked 32 out of 40 for work-life balance in 2019), Singaporeans are still able to allocate time for reading first thing in the morning at 7.00am and before bed at 12:00am, the first and second most popular times of day for reading respectively.

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Trends: COVID-19 Gives Impetus to Hybrid Working

Thursday, July 23rd, 2020

One of the impacts from the global COVID-19 pandemic is the rise of hybrid working, the new normal for businesses and organisations around the world.

* The slides in this article are extracted from Poly’s new report on how hybrid working will be the new collaborative imperative.

What to expect in the new normal of hybrid working.

What to expect in the new normal of hybrid working. Click on image to enlarge.

Working from home had always languished as the catch phrase for businesses aspiring to provide employees with a better work-life balance whilst maintaining a high level of performance.

Even though the requisite technology has been around and available for years now, the main stumbling block to greater adoption of working from home has been predominantly a cultural issue.

Four technology trends enabling hybrid working. Click on image to enlarge.

Four technology trends enabling hybrid working. Click on image to enlarge.

Companies are concerned that employees may not work as hard when left to their own devices at home, while employees worry that it is more difficult to get things done if they’re not physically working at the office.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella During Build 2020 (19-21 May)

Friday, May 22nd, 2020

Microsoft Build 2020 was the first time the annual developers’ event was held completely online, because of COVID-19. Here are some interesting snippets from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during his keynote address for the conference.

“Already, we've seen something like two years' worth of digital transformation in just two months. And we've seen how critical digital technology is in the three phases of this crisis, from emergency response to the recovery phase to the reimagining the world going forward,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO at Build 2020.

“Already, we’ve seen something like two years’ worth of digital transformation in just two months. And we’ve seen how critical digital technology is in the three phases of this crisis, from emergency response to the recovery phase to the reimagining the world going forward,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO at Build 2020.

How has developers come together with those on the frontlines in the fight against COVID-19?

Here were some examples that Nadella highlighted.

  • At Johns Hopkins University, epidemiologists and software developers created a canonical dashboard to track the spread of COVID-19.
  • Adaptive Biotechnologies is using cloud compute and AI to decode the immune system’s response to the virus.
  • In the United Kingdom, a cross-section of manufacturers adjusted their production lines to build ventilators for the NHS, using mixed reality to guide workers through the process.
  • The NBA is using the power of the cloud and Xbox to engage fans and maintain the joy of the game.

What would developers need to be capable of going forward?

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Tech Focus: Watching Parasite & Its Search Trends On Google

Saturday, February 22nd, 2020

I just watched the Oscar-winning Parasite during the week with the family. It was entertaining as a comedy and thought-provoking as a satire. Great movie. Here’s some data on how people searched about the movie during Oscar season.

A refreshing treatment of the age-old dichotomy between the haves and the have-nots.

A refreshing treatment of the age-old dichotomy between the haves and the have-nots.

My family and I watched the movie over dinner time and thoroughly enjoyed the dark but refreshingly directed satire, including my teenage son, although he did express a desire to take a hiatus from the genre in the coming months.

So here’s what Google shared about the interest that global viewers showed in the first non-English language film to win the Oscar for Best Picture – instead of just the traditional Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

As a Best Picture nominee in the week prior to the awards, Parasite was the third-most-searched nominee behind “1917” and “Jojo Rabbit”.

Incidentally, we’ve also watched Jojo Rabbit and found it an excellent movie. We’ll probably watch 1917 after my son’s hiatus.

What does winning the Oscars do for our career and business?

On Oscars day, Parasite searches jumped almost nine-fold to become top-searched.

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Trends: NetApp Predictions For 2020

Friday, January 3rd, 2020

Atish Gude, NetApp’s Chief Strategy Officer shares three predictions for 2020, putting the spotlight on 5G, Blockchain and infrastructure virtualisation solutions.

* This article is contributed by Atish Gude, based on his professional experience and personal opinions.

What does 2020 hold in store?

What does 2020 hold in store?

2019 was a year of rapid innovation – and disruption – for both the IT industry and the broader business community.

With the widespread adoption of hybrid multicloud as the de-facto architecture for enterprise customers, organisations everywhere are under tremendous pressure to modernise their infrastructure and deliver tangible business value around data-intensive applications and workloads.

Multiclouds & Virtualisation

Multiclouds & Virtualisation

As a result, organisations are shifting from on-premises to leverage public cloud services, building private clouds, and moving from disk to flash in data centers – sometimes concurrently.

These transformations open the door to enormous potential, but also introduce the unintended consequence of rising IT complexity.

We predict that a demand for simplicity and customisability will be the number-one factor driving IT purchasing decisions in 2020.

Data-driven transformations

Data-driven transformations

Vendors will need to provide customers modern, flexible technologies with the choice of how to use and consumes these technologies to meet evolving business models.

As IT departments look to de-emphasise maintenance and hardware, reduce overhead, and adopt pay-as-you-go models, simplicity and choice will be key.

Achieving this simplicity will serve as the foundation for companies as they navigate the exciting technological trends we’ve identified below.

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Opinion: Alex Manea (BlackBerry) on 4 Cybersecurity Trends of 2018

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

Based on countless conversations over the past 12 months with customers, partners, government officials, Blackberry’s internal cybersecurity experts, and leaders from both the security and research communities, Alex Manea – Chief Security Officer at BlackBerry – shares what he believes are the Cybersecurity Trends for 2018.

As BlackBerry’s Chief Security Officer, Alex Manea regularly speaks to Fortune 500 C-Suites and leaders representing the world’s top global brands, listening and learning about what security concerns keep them up at night. Alex also tries to spend just as much time speaking with security researchers – ethical hackers devoted to discovering security flaws and vulnerabilities.

As BlackBerry’s Chief Security Officer, Alex Manea regularly speaks to Fortune 500 C-Suites and leaders representing the world’s top global brands, listening and learning about what security concerns keep them up at night. Alex also tries to spend just as much time speaking with security researchers – ethical hackers devoted to discovering security flaws and vulnerabilities.

While many other things will impact the cybersecurity industry this year, I believe those I elaborate below will be some of the biggest trends for 2018.

Though these trends may seem bleak to some, they too present many opportunities and possibilities if we are well prepared.

So here goes…

#1: 2018 will be the worst year to date for cyberattacks

IT departments are being tasked to manage increasingly complex networks, support new types of endpoints, and protect more and more sensitive data.

Legacy systems are still rampant throughout most industries and cannot be easily upgraded or replaced.

“With 2017 being the worst year ever for cyberattacks, it is tempting to think that we have hit rock bottom, but what we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

The fundamental issues that have caused the majority of recent cyberbreaches have not been resolved.”

These systems often contain publicly known software vulnerabilities which can be exploited to penetrate the corporate network.

At the same time, attackers are getting increasingly sophisticated and have more incentives than ever to mount cyberattacks.

From building ransomware or mounting DDoS attacks and demanding bitcoin payments, to working with organised crime and even national governments, malicious hackers have numerous ways to monetise their skills and to protect themselves.

Governments and enterprises are recognising these new threats and deploying modern security solutions, but it will take years to decommission all of the legacy systems.

2018 will be yet another year where the shortcuts of the past come back to haunt us.

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