Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » octobre 31, 2013

BetaNews.Com (14 non lus)

Bing scares up a Halloween treat

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 9:00pm CET par Alan Buckingham

While Google is known for its "doodles", Bing remains more stately, opting for beautiful photography, but Halloween is about, not just treats, but also tricks. It's a time for scary movies, ghost stories and children working the neighborhood streets in search of candy hand-outs.

Today, Microsoft's search engine goes the extra mile, opting for an interactive background image, as opposed to the usual high-resolution image that appears each day.

For October 31, when you visit the search site, you will enter Microsoft's version of a haunted house, and the company promises "Friday the 13th Part 2, Psycho, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist and Halloween" integrated into this one spooky location. Beyond that, the software company tells us it has "pulled together the top five most searched horror movies to see what films still give people nightmares. Paranormal Activity 5 topped the list as the most-searched horror movie, along with scary classics like Jaws and The Silence of the Lambs".

Head over to bing.com today to give the interactive background a try and see what happens. But don't come running to us if something jumps out and says "boo".
Android 4.4 alert! Google takes the wrapper off KitKat

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 8:29pm CET par Mark Wilson

Just in time for Hallowe'en, Google takes us all out of our misery and officially launches Android 4.4 -- or KitKat as it is rather sweetly known. As with the Nexus 5, we have known pretty much what to expect from KitKat for a little while now. Google's blog post heralding the arrival of the latest version of the OS is a little understated and doesn't give much away.

One thing is particularly interesting. Rather than blowing its own trumpet and boasting about rafts of new features -- although this will probably follow -- Google has chosen to highlight the fact that Android 4.4 can run comfortably on devices with as little as 512MB RAM. The blog post points out that it is not just the operating system that has been put on a diet (ironic when you consider the origins of the name) but all Google services such as YouTube and Chrome.

We'll have a full look at KitKat as soon as we can, but for now we can look forward to the immersive mode that removes distractions when watching a movie, a global contact search feature and a new launcher for Nexus 5. KitKat also features an updated version of Hangouts which includes support for SMS and MMS in addition to chat and video calling.

KitKat will come preloaded on the new Nexus 5, but will also be made available for Nexus 4, 7, 10, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play edition devices over the coming weeks. Notable by its absence from this list is the Galaxy Nexus -- it looks as though this device is entering its twilight years.

But for everyone with a compatible smartphone or tablet, expect to receive an OTA update in the near future. Unlike the Nexus 5, there's going to be no shortage of KitKat to go around.
Google officially announces the Nexus 5 -- launch date: now!

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 7:33pm CET par Mark Wilson
Ending months of rumors and speculation, Google puts all of our minds at rest and announces that the Nexus 5 not only exists (as if we didn’t already know following all of the leaked images!) but is launching now.

It does seem like an age since we first (apparently) caught a glimpse of this phone in a Nexus 7 video, but now we know it to be true. The Nexus 5 is here, and it looks like it's everything we could have hoped it would be.

So many leaks have sprung over the past few weeks that there is little we don’t already know about Google's latest phone. As the name suggests, this is a device sporting a 5 inch screen (well 4.95 inches, but it's as near as damn it) in-keeping with the naming convention used for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10.

As expected, there are 16 and 32GB versions, and they'll be priced from $349 and available to buy in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea. The smartphone will be sold through Google Play, Sprint, T-Mobile, Amazon, Best Buy and RadioShack. Black and white models are available, but here are those all-important specs in full -- this time entirely confirmed!
- 2.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor
- Adreno 330, 450 MHz GPU
- 5 inch full HD screen complete with Gorilla Glass 3
- Android 4.4 KitKat
- 1.3MP front camera
- 8MP rear camera
- 2,300 mAH battery with up to 17 hour talk time
- Weighs in at 130g or 4.59oz
You can find out more at Google Play -- hit the link to view the new Nexus 5.

I hate to sound like an Apple apologist, but...

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 7:03pm CET par Joe Wilcox

Google groupies make too much of third quarter tablet shipment estimates released yesterday. By IDC's reckoning, Apple's global share fell from 40.2 percent to 29.6 percent year over year. Meanwhile, Samsung soared from 12.4 percent to 20.4 percent share. The whole Android market grew at iPad's expense -- that's the popular contention smirked across the InterWebs. Yeah, right.

Apple apologists are quick to give the money rebuttal whenever market share tides turn against the products -- that the fruit-logo company earns more per device than rivals, sometimes all of them combined. The revenue rebuttal is exhausting for being so predictable but often also it's right and no truer than the tablet market. Q3 share numbers make lots of sense behind CEO Tim Cook's shocking decision to raise iPad mini 2 prices by $70 over the original -- that's about 22 percent. Profit share is his priority.

Price Hikes

"While some undoubtedly hoped for more aggressive pricing from Apple, the current prices clearly reflect Apple's ongoing strategy to maintain its premium status", Jitesh Ubrani, IDC research analyst, says. "It's worth noting that Apple wasn't the only one to increase the price of its small-sized tablet during this product cycle: Both Google and Amazon increased the price of their newest 7-inch tablets from $199 to $229 to cover the higher costs associated with high resolution screens and better processors".

Samsung and ASUS made commendable share gains, but their tablet shipments increased while Apple's largely remained flat but strong -- 14.1 million units versus 14 million a year earlier. The point: iPad didn't decline, rather the market grew larger. The more significant number isn't Android tablet makers' share gains, but iPad's revenue decline -- from $7.1 billion to $6.19 billion, for fiscal fourth quarter to fiscal fourth quarter (essentially synonymous with calendar Q3) -- while selling about the same number of units.

Apple's smaller tablet pulls down average selling prices and margins with them. By dividing fiscal Q4 revenue by number of units shipped you get:

2011: $611.58 (only 9.7-inch iPad available)
2012: $508.19 (Lower-cost iPad 2 sells alongside costlier models)
2013: $439.37 (iPad mini, starting at $329, available for 11 months)

These ASPs don't take into account channel inventory versus sell-through, which would be the same for comparing competitors. Clearly Apple prices iPad mini to increase margins and with them profit share.

"We continue to view the tablet market as huge", Cook said this week during Apple's quarterly conference call. "We see it as a large opportunity for us. We are not solely focused on unit share as I’ve said many times, but we’re focused on usage in customer’s side, the loyalty and other things that are very important to us".

Android vs. iOS

But the company doesn't abandon the low-end of the market, where share climbs fastest and ASPs decline nearly as quick, reducing the original mini to $299, according to NPD. Using the U.S. market as one measure, retail unit sales rose 38 percent in September, year over year, but revenue fell 3 percent, with ASPs down 30 percent -- from $453 to $318. For the largest growth segment -- 7-inch to 8.9-inch tabs, up 550 percent year over year -- ASPs rose to $229 from $190, according to NPD.

Android and iOS tablet sales were near even, 47 percent and 48 percent, respectively. NPD puts Android share of 7-inch to 8.9-inch tabs at 64 percent -- 35 percent for iOS. For 9-inchers and larger, iOS share was 68 percent and Android 20 percent.

Globally, Android handily leads iOS, according to IDC. The Android army of fanboys claims increased market share dooms iOS, because developers follow the money, which the more popular platforms deliver. But the logic is flawed. If you assess the range and quality of apps available for iPad, Android still trails. Rather, increased Android popularity means better tablet apps for the platform, not necessarily fewer for the other.

Still, developers' preferences make a difference which platform gets apps first. Globally, preferences vary -- often dramatically -- by region, according to Vision Mobile's Developer Economics. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Russia and the United States are iOS strongholds, for example. Android rules in China, India and much of Eastern Europe.

"In almost all countries there are a significant fraction of developers who treat Android as their primary platform and overall the number of developers with iOS and Android as primary platform is almost exactly even", explains analyst Mark Wilcox (we're not related, that I know of).

Something else: There is the platform's robustness to consider. Lower-cost tablets largely account for Android share gains, making "tablets available to a wider market of consumers, which is good", Tom Mainelli, IDC research director, says. "However, many use cheap parts and non Google-approved versions of Android that can result in an unsatisfactory customer experience, limited usage, and very little engagement with the ecosystem".

He emphasizes: "Android's growth in tablets has been stunning to watch, but shipments alone won't guarantee long-term success. For that you need a sustainable hardware business model, a healthy ecosystem for developers, and happy end users".

Top Five Tablet Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Third Quarter 2013 (Shipments in millions)

Vendor	3Q13 Unit Shipments	3Q13 Market Share	3Q12 Unit Shipments	3Q12 Market Share	Year-over-Year Growth
Apple	14.1	29.6%	14.0	40.2%	0.6%
Samsung	9.7	20.4%	4.3	12.4%	123.0%
Asus	3.5	7.4%	2.3	6.6%	53.9%
Lenovo	2.3	4.8%	0.4	1.1%	420.7%
Acer	1.2	2.5%	0.3	0.9%	346.3%
Others	16.8	35.3%	13.5	38.8%	25.0%
Total	47.6	100.0%	34.8	100.0%	36.7%

Source: IDC Worldwide Tablet Tracker, October 30, 2013

Mac Metaphor

The Mac is excellent measure, often ignored, where Cook leads iPad. Customer satisfaction/retention and preserving margins are top priorities. Apple's PC shipment market is less than 10 percent in most countries -- 11.6 percent in the United States, according to IDC. Nevertheless, there is a vital, robust Mac app ecosystem. In fact, there are in many categories better "native" apps selection than Windows 8.1, because of radical changes Modern UI introduces.

Endpoint analyst Roger Kay argues that for PCs, shipment share obsession ignores the more vital metric: Revenue. By shipments, Lenovo is No. 1, using IDC data. But by revenue, Apple is global PC leader, Kay contends.

"Apple enjoys an operating margin that hovers around 20 percent, while Dell, HP, and Lenovo have to content themselves with operating margins in the low single digits (1-3 percent)", Kay says. "Acer’s earnings have hovered around the zero mark in recent quarters".

Absolutely, Android makes stunning share gains -- and that's good for bringing more affordable tablets to more people and bolstering the larger app ecosystem. But Android's success isn't iPad's doom, and Cook wisely looks to preserve margins and brand equity over gaining market share.

Be honest, would you rather have more pumpkin pie or tastier?

FAA allows electronic devices during all stages of flight -- Delta to start tomorrow

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 6:43pm CET par Brian Fagioli

When Alec Baldwin was kicked off of an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his smartphone, he became the fodder for many jokes. After all, his love for the game Words With Friends was a rather trivial thing to let escalate to the point of being removed from an airplane. However, many of us have faced the same situation -- being told to turn off our electronic devices while on a plane. This was frustrating because, to speak frankly, we all knew it was stupid.

Today, the stupidity ends. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, "airlines can safely expand passenger use of Portable Electronic Devices during all phases of flight, and is immediately providing the airlines with guidance. Expanded use will not happen overnight. The process will vary among airlines, but the agency expects airlines to allow passengers to safely use their devices in airplane mode, gate-to-gate, by the end of 2013".

However, some passengers will be able to use their devices sooner rather than later. Delta Airlines passengers may be able to use electronic devices as early as tomorrow.

According to Delta, the airline "is ready to allow its customers to be the first to use their portable electronic devices below 10,000 feet as early as November 1, 2013 pending Federal Aviation Administration approval. All Delta aircraft have completed carrier-defined PED tolerance testing to ensure the safe operation of passenger portable electronic devices during all phases of flight and Delta's plan has been submitted to the FAA for approval".

This is wonderful news for travelers, especially right before the big holiday travel season. Crying and annoying children can now be distracted with a Nintendo 3DS or their mom's smartphone. Most importantly though, it is the vindication of Alec Baldwin -- he can now play any game he wants at any stage of flight. God speed, Mr. Baldwin.

Photo Credit: Pressmaster/Shutterstock
Pandora adds Chromecast support

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 6:27pm CET par Alan Buckingham

It has been less than 24 hours since music streaming service Pandora took the wraps off version 5.0 of its mobile app for Android, giving users a new tablet-friendly look and improved features. Now the company adds yet another update to the list, this time in the form of support for Google Chromecast.

"Today, we’re excited to share that Pandora is now available on Chromecast, Google’s new TV-connected device that wirelessly delivers online audio and video entertainment to the biggest screen in the home", announces Pandora's Tom Conrad.

If you are in possession of the little $35 dongle, then you will be able to 'cast' the music service to the TV and use a smartphone or tablet as a remote control. "Core Pandora functionality, such as Play, Pause, Thumb and Skip are all easily controlled via your mobile device for a seamless listening experience", the company explains.

Once the setup is complete then all further action takes place directly from the cloud and your mobile device is no longer required to keep the music going.

With this announcement, the company further strengthens its tv.pandora.com brand, which it thinks is the model of the future. "We believe the model of web standards-based apps running on the TV, controlled by a smartphone or tablet, is the winning formula for powering second screen experiences", Conrad explains.

To take advantage of this feature, users will need to have version 5.0 of the mobile app, which was pushed out to Android and iOS yesterday, and is free to download from the respective app stores.
Eliminate pop-ups and pop-unders with Chrome’s JavaScript Popup Blocker

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 6:14pm CET par Mike Williams

Web pop-ups are annoying, intrusive, and potentially dangerous, which is why all the top browsers make at least some attempt to block them. Google’s Chrome is no exception, but it won’t stop everything, and so you might want to add a little extra protection in the shape of JavaScript Popup Blocker.

As you’ll guess from the name, this free extension aims to block all JavaScript-generated pop-up and pop-under windows. You don’t have to worry about configuration, at least initially, as it starts working right away: just carry on browsing as normal.

You should hopefully notice a difference immediately in the lack of irritating pop-ups. But if you need more details, the JavaScript Popup Blocker icon displays a count which increases whenever a pop-up is blocked, and clicking the icon will list any pop-up URLs.

This worked well enough for us, but we’ve also seen complaints that the extension can interfere with some legitimate sites. If this happens to you then there are a couple of steps you can take.

For example, by default JavaScript Popup Blocker works in "Whitelist" mode, which means it tries to eliminate popups on all but the sites you specify. If you find this causes problems on one or two domains, open the extension settings, add those sites to the whitelist, and their pop-ups won’t be blocked in future.

If this still isn’t enough then you might alternatively switch the JavaScript Popup Blocker to "Blacklist" mode, where it only blocks pop-ups on the sites you specify, when you know it’s safe to do so. This is very much a last resort -- the main point of pop-up blockers is to protect you on sites you’ve not visited before -- but it also worked for us, and could be useful if there’s no other way of eliminating pop-ups on one or two of your favourite sites.
Fantastical 2 for iPhone gets bold iOS 7 redesign, many new features

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 6:02pm CET par Nick Peers

Flexibits has released Fantastical 2 for iPhone, a major new update for its popular calendar app (which, despite its moniker, also works natively on the iPad). Fantastical 2, which is also available for Mac, is designed to work with existing calendar services -- including iCloud and Google -- but adds a more powerful front end for managing and viewing reminders.

Version 2.0 has been redesigned from the ground up to blend in with the new flatter look of iOS 7, but also ships with a number of major new features.

The Reminders tool has been revamped to allow users to view both events and dated reminders together in a single list. It also now supports adding reminders directly from either the main Reminders list or new event screen.

Reminders also now supports dates, times and geofences, which allows users to trigger alerts when they arrive at or leave a particular location.

Fantastical uses a natural language parser to help users more easily create new appointments, supporting both voice dictation and typed text. Version 2 introduces an extended keyboard with numbers and symbols on 4-inch screens for easier data entry.

Version 2 also adds support for new commands, such as trigger words for creating reminders (including "reminder", "todo", "task" or "remind me to"), recurring events ("second Friday of every month", "every weekend" and "last weekday of the month") and alerts ("alert 1 hour before" and "alarm 7AM").

Fantastical 2 also adds new event details for recording extra information such as a map of the event location and wider options for setting up recurring events. Similarly, users can now tap on a birthday for contact information or to send a quick greeting.

The new version also adds a weekly view, accessible simply by rotating your iOS device to landscape orientation, plus includes a new background app updater that pushes events, reminders and alerts to Fantastical from cloud-based services even if it’s not opened frequently. Support for TextExpander has also been implemented.

Fantastical 2 for iPhone (and iPad) is available as a paid-for purchase through the App Store. For a limited time only, it’s on special offer at $2.99. Mac users can also download a 14-day trial of Fantastical 1.3.10 – the full version costs $14.99.
Q&A about sales CRM software Pipedrive

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 1:31pm CET par Mihaita Bamburic

Cloud, cloud, cloud. This is a word that is prevalent when describing modern services, and one that we hear all too often nowadays. The premise is simple: move stuff somewhere you cannot control and leave it to someone (or some company) to do the backend work for you. For CRM software this approach appears to be ideal, as both the developing companies and their clients seem to embrace it.

CRM software used to be associated with on-premise solutions, but this approach has failed to integrate well into the new computing landscape where mobile devices are used increasingly around the office and on the go. A mobile-friendly philosophy is key. I chatted with Pipedrive, a company that makes cloud-based CRM software, about how it leverages the cloud and what the benefits are for its 30,000 users.

BN: What can you tell us about Pipedrive?

P: Pipedrive is a simple-to-use but powerful app for managing sales and other important deals. We've been around for 3.5 years, have more than 30,000 paying users around the world including the likes of Mixergy, TechStars and Fortumo -- and Marshall Kirkpatrick tweets good things about us every now and then. We've graduated from AngelPad and raised $3.4M. Pipedrive is originally from Estonia but we're currently busy growing our Palo Alto office; between 2 offices we are at 27 staff and will hit 35 by the end of the year.

BN: What's the ethos behind it?

P: Our roots are in direct sales. As salespeople selling sales management programs we had created ourselves, we've had to understand and live the pain of our customers. There simply was no good solution for managing sales pipelines. After we had found out that our $50,000 investment into a customized big name CRM platform had been a waste of money, we decided to try to build a better tool. So in 2010 we teamed up with talented developers to create Pipedrive.

A lot of CRM focuses on "utility" over fixing actual problems. In real life, sales is about juggling balls while riding on a unicycle in the city, and thus focus is easy to lose. We believe that there is a place for software that helps you keep focus, and be the best version of you every day. Sales is an emotional career, and we want to help people control and understand what they're doing to help them not give up.

BN: Why go after small teams and not big ones?

P: Starting from small teams was a pragmatic decision -- at the very early stages we simply could not have provided the features and sales support that large companies require. And while most of our customers today are small and medium businesses, we have a growing number of customers with 100+ seats and there are several things on our company roadmap that will make Pipedrive an attractive proposition for large organizations in the future. Having said that, a salesperson and a small group of them will always be our main customer.

BN: Are features offered in packages or individually (and why)?

P: We've kept our offering simple -- all users get access to the same functionality. It's worth pointing out that out-of-the-box almost all advanced features are "under the hood", and companies with advanced sales setup and requirements can easily turn on the power-user features.

BN: Do clients get their own server or is the data stored on the same one for everyone?

P: Our infrastructure is such that we have our dedicated servers with a leading hosting provider, and data of each user is stored in a separate database. This combination gives us maximum speed and uptime while minimizing the risk for accidental data leaks.

BN: Can data be shared among clients?

P: It's easy to move data between different pipelines of the same customer and it's easy to exchange data with other applications via our API.

BN: On how many clients do you test the product?

P: We test each feature extensively internally and our tech setup allows turning the feature on to individual customers before rolling out a public release. The number of testers ranges from dozens to hundreds depending on the feature.

BN: Is the throughput scalable?

P: We recently completed migrating over to a new infrastructure setup on the one hand and rebuilding the product from ground up on the other. So while we’ve seen our share of growing pains we’re scalable enough to be able to grow fast.

BN: How often do you add new features?

P: Because we're web-based we've been able to add minor features and improvements almost every week. And each quarter we come up with something that makes the product better or more accessible, such as new mobile apps or reporting features. But we haven't made radical changes too often. In fact, the first major update to the product in our 3.5-year history is this week. We're introducing something called Timeline View which gives every salesperson the oversight and knowledge of a sales manager. To our knowledge we're the first sales software maker that has made this available in an easy way and needless to say I'm quite excited about the Timeline View.

BN: What can Pipedrive do, that competing products can't?

P: There are hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of sales software available, and each feature you can imagine is available in some shape or form. We have salesperson in mind when we design and build Pipedrive, and our main goal is not just to simplify the data entry, but help the salesperson be more focused on what needs to be done to close more sales. It shows in our product, and I think because of that salespeople fall in love with Pipedrive. So if you're a small business owner just getting started with sales management, Pipedrive helps you adopt effective processes in a really easy way. And if you’re a seasoned sales manager, you have access to the power-user approaches and workflows that make it easy to close more deals. I’m biased, of course.

Photo Credit: Franck Boston/Shutterstock
You are dead! Papa Sangre II arrives in time to scare up Halloween [Review]

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 12:49pm CET par Wayne Williams

I like unusual games, and the original Papa Sangre really appealed to me. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s essentially a sound-only game for iOS in which you listen for 3D audio clues as to where you are and the direction you need to be going in. The follow up, The Nightjar (featuring the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch), added more of a story to the proceedings, and now in time for Halloween, Papa Sangre returns.

I was one of the beta testers for the new game, and I’m pleased to report Papa Sangre II is a massive improvement over the original. The rebuilt binaural processing Papa Engine does an amazing job of recreating a 3D soundscape in your mind and the addition of actor Sean Bean’s vocal talents, a choice of control systems and some inspired levels -- one moment you’re escaping a burning house, the next shooting ducks in the dark -- combine to create a very rewarding experience.

In Papa Sangre II you are dead. There’s no way to sugar coat it. But by following Sean Bean’s instructions, and collecting memory fragments from dead souls, you might be able to find a way back to the World of the Living.

The improved control systems -- you can choose Gyro (point in the direction you want to go), Swipe (drag your finger on screen to change direction) or Tilt (angle the device where you want to face) -- mean you can play it anywhere. I prefer to use the Gyro mode while seated in a swivel chair in the dark (or with my eyes closed), as I find it’s so much easier to follow the sounds. With the original Papa Sangre it could be difficult sometimes to work out if a sound was in front, or behind. There’s no such confusion in the sequel -- you know exactly where the sounds are coming from (provided you have your headphones on the right way round).

You walk or run by tapping the bottom half of the screen (left, right, left, right) and interact with items or your surroundings using the hand icons at the top of the screen. It’s very intuitive and you don’t need to see the screen to use it.

The biggest complaint I had with the first game was the lack of variety in levels. That’s definitely not an accusation that can be leveled at Papa Sangre II. As well as trying to escape a burning building, or shooting incoming ducks, other challenges have you rescuing a dog from an ice field, using a Geiger counter to avoid radioactive steam blasts, making your way through a thunderstorm, and swimming under water (not all at once, thankfully).

The game is very challenging at times, and it can be frustrating repeating levels that you can’t seem to master, but that just makes it all the more rewarding when you finally make it through.

The fact the game takes place in your mind, means it’s surprisingly scary at times. Inching forward trying not to make a sound while something is growling by your shoulder really does get the blood pumping.

Obviously this is not a game for everyone, but if you fancy trying something different and giving your imagination a workout, I can definitely recommend it. Papa Sangre II is available in the Apple App Store now, priced at $3.99/£2.49.
SeriousBit releases EnhanceMy8, digitally signed, adds Windows 8.1 support

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 12:48pm CET par Mike Williams

SeriousBit has rolled out EnhanceMy8 2.0, the latest edition of its Windows 8 maintenance and tweaking utility.

This release benefits from full Windows 8.1 support (although of course it also runs just fine on Windows 8). EnhanceMy8 2.0 is also the first digitally signed version of the program, which should ensure that it’s properly recognized as a trusted program by your security software.

Registered users of EnhanceMy8 Pro (the commercial edition) can upgrade to this new release with a 30 percent discount by entering their registration code at the upgrade page.

If you have the free version, though, there are no such concerns. EnhanceMy8 2.0 has also been upgraded with Windows 8.1 support and the digital signature, and the program is yours for the time it takes to download.
Technology companies shouldn't neglect the importance of silver surfers

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 12:25pm CET par Ian Barker

Silver surfers are a more important market than generations X and Y yet are often ignored by technology companies according to new research by Gartner. With many markets now having an aging population, technology designers and marketers need to refocus on the opportunities offered by older users.

Speaking at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Australia's Gold Coast, vice president and Gartner Fellow David Furlonger says, "In recent years, technology decision makers have focused their work largely on the perceived wants and needs of younger demographics. They have created and sold products targeted explicitly at an already-saturated market of financially poor 'digital natives' in Generations X and Y. This emphasis on the young is unsurprising, since many technologists are themselves part of these younger age groups. However, it is a very serious mistake, because it neglects the most promising technology market demographic of all: the affluent, increasingly technologically sophisticated older generation we are calling the 'silver surfers'".

Research elsewhere by Australian mobile company Optus shows that the older generation is increasingly active on social media with more than three quarters of silver surfers in the country using Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family.

Technology is able to improve quality of life for the older generation too and research by Gartner and others shows that individuals in this age group are quick to recognize the potential it has to change their lives. This represents an opportunity for companies to design and sell devices specifically for the needs of this market, a step that most have not yet taken.

"The consumerization of technology has made it far more accessible, especially in terms of usability, to people who may find PCs more difficult to manage," says Furlonger. "However, technology designers and manufacturers have largely ignored this huge and growing market, and by doing so, have neglected one of their most important sources of future growth and revenue. The younger market has only linear growth potential and decreasing purchasing power, while the silver surfers offer exponential growth opportunities and growing purchasing potential".

A number of factors are driving technology adoption by older groups, these include increased availability of broadband and Wi-Fi connections, along with social networks and targeted forums. All of this helps meet the need for social interaction as increasing numbers of older people find themselves living apart from their families in a way unknown to past generations.

Gartner says that designers can help by delivering clean, simple, uncluttered user interfaces, without confusing fonts, colors or special effects. Straightforward navigation and simple checkout processes are crucial for older customers too.

Companies also need to recognize that silver surfers select and buy technology in a different way. Trust and reputation are important as are recommendations from family and friends. Perceived value -- the contribution technology can make to a person's life rather than just the price -- is important too.

"The silver surfer demographic is huge and growing, and clearly has both the ability and the desire to spend significant amounts of money on technology," says Furlonger. "However, to date, most technologists and technology manufacturers have failed to deliver products and services that meet the needs of this market and its various sub- or microsegments, and marketers have largely failed to target it effectively. To do so will require fundamental changes in their approach to product and service design, marketing and sales".

The full report is available on Gartner's website and you can see a video of Furlonger introducing the research on YouTube.

Photo Credit: arek_malang/Shutterstock
WinZip extends cloud support, introduces Express Add-Ons

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 10:58am CET par Mike Williams

22 years old and still going strong, veteran archiving tool WinZip has today been updated to version 18. And this time, it’s mostly about the cloud.

This starts with support for more services; you can now directly add files from (or save archives to) your Box, CloudMe, Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, SugarSync or ZipSend accounts.

There’s easier navigation of your online services, too, with Corel claiming you can "access and manage your cloud files as easily as you access the files on your computer".

A new Cloud Links feature makes it easy to share links to your cloud files via email, instant messaging and social media. And WinZip Pro gains new options to back up to any connected cloud account, desktop folder, or even between cloud accounts.

The other big news in this release is the introduction of "WinZip Express Add-Ons", application extensions which bring common WinZip features to Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, Photos and SharePoint. Once installed, right-clicking a file in Explorer, say, opens a WinZip dialog with basic archive, encryption and sharing tools, while the Outlook add-on helps you send large files.

The Explorer add-on is free for a limited time with the purchase of WinZip 18, while the others are currently $9.95 each (click Buy Now > Get More Add-ons within the program for more information).

And if you’re more interested in the archiving basics, Corel also says WinZip 18′s core engine has been optimized to cut file sizes even further. Which works for us. A trial edition is available now.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Hitachi partner to break a record

Publié: octobre 31, 2013, 2:31am CET par Brian Fagioli

There are many records available to be broken -- worlds tallest man, biggest hamburger or loudest crowd, to name a few. However, in the technology sector, there are records to break too; namely benchmarks. A benchmark is a way to test performance of both hardware and software. Red Hat announces that in a partnership with Hitachi, they too have broken a record -- the largest TPC-H database benchmark ever published.

"As a testament to Red Hat's continued innovation, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux team is pleased to announce that longtime Red Hat partner Hitachi, a leading global social innovation company with headquarters in Tokyo, has chosen Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 for the largest TPC-H database benchmark ever published at a scale factor of 100 Terabytes (100,000 Gigabytes)", says Red Hat.

The company further says, "running on Hitachi's BladeSymphony BS2000 hardware and using Hitachi Advanced Data Binder database, Red Hat Enterprise Linux played an integral role in the first ever TPC-H result at the 100TB scale factor. The TPC-H benchmark measures decision support performance using a suite of business-oriented ad hoc queries and concurrent data modifications".

I reached out to Red Hat to better explain what a TPC-H benchmark actually is.

According to Yan Fisher, senior principal product marketing manager for Red Hat, "the TPC-H benchmark is used to evaluate the performance of business intelligence/data warehousing (BIDW) and decision support (DSS) systems for various standard database sizes, referred to as the scale factor (SF). The benchmark measures the combined performance of a particular database manager on a specific computer system at various scale factors".

He further explains, "this is not a transactional benchmark, i.e. the database is not modified in real time; instead a series of batch operations are performed against existing data, which is mostly read and seldom written. From a real world perspective, data warehousing (and the scalability thereof) allows analysts to scour vast repositories of customer and market information to uncover new markets, opportunities and cost-saving measures, a vital capability in a data-heavy world".

Obviously, this is a very important benchmark and it speaks volumes that Hitachi chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux to run it. This can be seen as yet another win for the billion-dollar Linux-focused company and the Linux community overall.