TecTrends

######## Article Apple, in a bid to introduce exclusive features in its devices, plans to design computer chips. A possible motivation behind Apple#;s effort to build chip design capability is to be able to introduce new features prior to

######## Article Currently, many online resume sites claim they can help people to stand out by creating personal websites highlighting their professional experience and capabilities. With very few jobs currently available, the recession economy has forced people looking for jobs

######## Article Russell Meyers, CE of Midland Memorial Hospital in Texas, deployed a free software package to digitize the hospital at reduced costs. This software package was used by the U.S. Department for Veterans Affairs (VA) for its electronic

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### The iPod Touch, just like the iPhone, has an agile web browser, a multitouch screen, a media player, and can run about all of ##,### applications available on

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### Zillow.com, a real estate website, has released a new mobile app for the iPhone that would be useful for people looking to purchase a house. The app, which is available for free on

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Microsoft and Verizon Wireless plan to introduce--by early ####--a touchscreen-based multimedia mobile phone on the Verizon carrier network. The discussions between the companies are part of a plan

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### Sony Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp., has added dozens of movies and an interactive game to its video-viewing website Crackle.com. This move would help Crackle to make its viewers stay on

######## Article Predictions about storms often go wrong. For example, in early ####, forecasters predicted ## to ## storms and seven to eight hurricanes. However, these predictions were way off the mark, as the season witnessed two storms and ##

######## Article Today, companies are running innovative wellness programs for building healthier workforces. For instance, Pittsburgh-based billing services firm, MED####, is guiding its employees through various health-awareness programs. MED#### encourages its employees to complete health risk assessments. Participants

######## Article ###### Harvard biotech pioneer George Church, has proposed--and personally taken the lead in--a radical approach to human genetic research. He is having his genes sequenced, and they will be made publicly available online, along with his

######## Article ###### ###### VMware#;s recently launched vSphere software--called cloud operating system (OS) by the company--looks robust enough to help VMware keep up with competitors such as Citrix and Microsoft in the virtualization market. vSphere, a follow

######## Article ###### ###### Most U.S. computer programmers do not work for technology companies but for banks and other large firms, building and maintaining their corporate data centers. But one bank#;s accounting software is much like another#;s

######## Article ###### A hacker friendship and a clever idea for handling spelling mistakes have left one small firm, OpenDNS, almost uniquely positioned to protect the Internet from one of the most serious security threats it has faced. David Ulevitch

######## Article China is planning to use ultra-high-voltage (UHV) power lines--a proven and time-tested mode for power transmission--to transmit power from the Tibetan plateau to Shanghai, covering over #,### miles. Daniel Assandri, senior VP

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### In an effort to make the basic tools for interacting with computers easier, a Windows add-on named BumpTop makes your PC screen function more like a real desk. When it comes

######## Article ###### ###### Oracle#;s recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems has provided its CEO and founder, Larry Ellison, a stake in the IT hardware market, apart from providing control over software assets of Sun, including Java and other open

######## Article ###### The Wall Street Journal requested architectural design companies William McDonough + Partners, Cook + Fox, Mouzon Design, and Rios Clementi Hale Studios to come up with unique ideas for designing energy-efficient houses of the future. William McDonough + Partners

######## Article Thinking that it can help sectors such as health care improve their productivity, IBM has created a new analytics unit to tap into one area of the tech market that is expected to expand in ####. In ####

######## Article Vestas Wind Systems grew out of a Danish tractor manufacturer that turned to wind power during the oil crisis of the ####s. It soon gained a foothold in the United States, only to fall into bankruptcy in the

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Novell#;s new SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) ## server has incorporated new features that include integrated virtualization and improved management tools. SLES ## has virtualization threaded through most of its

######## Article ###### Social media sites--such as Twitter--add spontaneity and immediacy to corporate communications. However, while using social media tools, companies need to consider a few basic rules and regulations to stay away from problems. Blogs and tweets

######## Article ###### Scotland is relying on wave power to generate one gigawatt of electricity--to power about ###,### homes--by ####, even as technical and other issues related to wave power generation remain unsolved. This shift in energy

######## Article ###### The world has numerous startup companies that are attempting to replace fossil fuels and corn ethanol with better biofuels, most of which will fail as Big Oil may prevail. The bold vision in the U.S. is

######## Article ###### Last year, lawyer Francis Taney, an attorney for law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Philadelphia, represented Kevin Alderman in the first lawsuit involving a virtual world. The lawsuit was filed over the intellectual property violation of a

######## Article Utilities are heavily investing on technologies such as smart meters, which monitor total energy consumed by houses and send the information wirelessly to utility billing departments. CenterPoint Energy Inc., Oncor Electric Delivery, Connecticut Light & Power Co., and PG

######## Article ###### In ####, Imperium Renewables opened an $## million biodiesel plant in Washington state to a fanfare that included U.S. senators. Now the company is down to a skeleton staff, and is kept afloat only by a

######## Article The recent RSA Conference #### in San Francisco focused on cloud security, with a specific emphasis on reliability, information life cycle management, compliance, information loss, and data integrity. John Chambers, CEO at Cisco, says cloud computing is a

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Oracle could well become a hardware and operating system vendor, having closed its acquisition deal with Sun Microsystems. The deal would enable Oracle to completely integrate operating system, middleware, applications, and database over

######## Article Behrad Khamesee and his team of researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario have built a levitating micro-robot. Reducing the size of engines, mechanical actuators, batteries, and control electronics of robots has been a challenge in

######## Article Computer scientist Andrew Davison and his colleagues at Imperial College in London have made use of the Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) technology for designing single-camera eyes for robots. A robot can autonomously track its environment with

######## Article ###### ###### Oracle#;s acquisition of Sun Microsystems raised shock waves among many companies in the computer industry. Sun was struggling since the dotcom burst and was looking for a buyer. Industry observers expected that Sun, a leader

######## Article Roger Tsien, who shared the #### Nobel prize in chemistry for his research on green fluorescent protein, and his team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have found a way of highlighting cancer cells

######## Article Inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to stimulate students#; interest in technology innovation. Today, FIRST organizes several competitions for enhancing students#; engineering and problem solving skills. In ####, Kamen invited students

######## Article Some bloggers are being compensated by corporate enterprises to write favorable reviews of their products on online retail sites. This trend calls for a scrutiny by regulatory agencies and the public. To monitor and check such activities of

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### Walt Mossberg#;s annual spring computer buyers guide helps average consumers in making a choice while buying a computer. In view of both Microsoft and Apple releasing new operating systems later this year, the

######## Article Software defined radio (SDR) is a technology that uses software, running on a DSP, or with FFGAs, in place of traditional radio hardware circuitry such such as mixers, demodulators, and filters. The challenge is sampling the radio signal

######## Article Alibaba.com, a Chinese Internet trading company, is continuing to offer its service at more affordable rates at a time when the global economic crisis has resulted in declining Chinese exports. Alibaba acts as a virtual intermediary between

######## Article According to a recent statement from News Corp., Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, the two founders of MySpace, are stepping down from the helm. News Corp., the owner of the website, is expected to name Owen Van Natta

######## Article ###### ###### Researchers at the Flexible Display Center (FDC) of Arizona State University have produced what they call the world#;s first flexible active matrix display with a touchscreen. The device, which uses no glass, is said to

######## Article ###### ###### After many years of making its money on big gas-guzzlers, Detroit now faces not only its short term financial struggles but a long term challenge: Can it catch up in the dawning era of electric

######## Article ###### ###### Growing interest in electric cars has not been helping General Motors, with analysts and regulators citing the high development cost and limited appeal of its all-electric Chevy Volt as one of the factors that has

######## Article ###### ###### Recession has forced PC makers like Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. to sell budget model PCs to appeal to customers. This has the boundaries separating laptops and netbooks, in terms of pricing and size. For

######## Article ###### Adam Duberstein, an academic adviser at Ohio Dominican University, and Aryn Karpinski, a doctoral student in education at Ohio State, had last year conducted a survey of Facebook users. These users--### in number-- were students from

######## Article A year ago, when gas prices hit $# per gallon, public attention was focused on the need for alternative power sources for cars. The recession and tumbling gas prices have pushed different concerns to the fore, but Intel

######## Article ###### Warren Buffett#;s rules for investing include never investing in something he doesn#;t understand, but he was willing to bend that rule in order to invest in BYD, a Chinese manufacturer of batteries, cellphones--and now

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### The new Nintendo DSi portable game player, priced at $###, looks deceptively the same as its predecessors DS and DS Lite, though it incorporates several improvements. First, it comes with two

######## Article Carol Bartz, former longtime CEO of Autodesk, was skeptical when Yahoo! cofounder Jerry Yang invited her to come on board as CEO of the troubled Internet giant. She thought Yahoo! needed a media-oriented chief, not her specialty

######## Article ###### ###### Cisco, known for providing employee perks such as on-campus doctors and dry cleaning even in these tough times, is now letting employees choose what type of computer they want to use at work from a

######## Article The initial period of three or four hours after a stroke is crucial for stroke patients. For stroke patients, administering clot-dissolving drug immediately on reaching the hospital would minimize the effects of stroke. However, in some cases

######## Article ###### ###### ###### Oracle Corp. recently acquired Sun Microsystems for about $#.# billion. Established in ####, Sun started offering competitively priced workstations to perform challenging tasks that previously required costly minicomputers and mainframes. Paul Saffo, a Silicon

######## Article ###### Apple Inc. is shortly launching a new iPhone operating system (OS), along with a toolkit that would help developers to create new applications for the iPhones. The new iPhone OS would itself include more than about ###

######## Article Some common-sense precautions need to be used if government leaders are to participate in social networking, and Facebook is making social networking easier to use for everyone. This author was apprehensive to start social networking because she

######## Article In order to improve broadband infrastructures in the U.S., the Obama administration has planned to invest about $# billion from the federal stimulus package on broadband expansion programs. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently assessing the

######## Article The emergence of e-commerce applications have made Internet retailers to focus on adding glamour to their retail sites. For this purpose, online retailers are utilizing a range of new tools that would help them to strengthen their

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Microsoft Internet Explorer # is a substantial advance over its predecessor, and while it still lacks some features found it its competitors, it comes with powerful support for business customization. This

######## Article ###### Although ###.#ba standard compliant ##/###G Ethernet products are expected to be available only in June ####, pre-standard products will be available in the market much earlier. The IEEE, which works on the standard, is

######## Article ###### Online social network Twitter#;s user base is rapidly growing. Meanwhile, some Twitter adopters are wondering how the social network could monetize its innovative micro messaging service, which is offered free to millions of users. People use

######## Article ###### In the last two years, since software as a service (SaaS) emerged as a major force, the enterprise technology marketplace has been transformed. Major vendors such as IBM, Dell, and Microsoft are expanding into cloud computing, but

######## Article ###### ###### E-books or digital books may eventually change the way people read, write, and buy books. Digitizing books would offer publishers and writers better opportunities to sell even obscure books online. Despite the promise and opportunity

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Cisco#;s Project California launch into the blade server market, IBM#;s now-abandoned bid to buy Sun, and Dell#;s effort to reconfigure for a growth strategy all point toward a coming

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Microsoft has come up with a new ad campaign and a competitive pricing strategy for boosting the sales of its Windows-based PCs. Microsoft#;s latest TV ads highlight the cost benefits of

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Samsung SPH-P#### is a mobile device that combines the capabilities of a Windows XP-based PC with a smartphone like design. The SPH-P#### has a folding keyboard and

######## Article ING Financial Services is exploring the possibilities of using cloud computing. Typically, large user organizations like ING are targeted by cloud vendors. Despite the immense potential of cloud computing, a few issues need to be addressed before utilizing

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### Just in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the National Hockey League (NHL) started up a new mobile WAP site to allow hockey fans to keep up with the action wherever they are. Sports

######## Article ###### ###### ###### The Open Handset Alliance (OHA) has released the upgraded version of its Android mobile operating system. An early version of the new software developer#;s kit released by OHA for the mobile operating system comes

######## Article ###### ###### Android is all set to extend its reach to set-tops, televisions, VoIP phones, karaoke boxes, and digital frames by early ####. According to Open Embedded Software Foundation (OESF) chairman Masataka Miura, the Android set-top

######## Article ###### ###### ###### Marvell Technology Group CEO Sehat Sutardja has set out on a mission to equip the next one billion connected devices with ARM-based Sheeva processors. These processors would be used in the non-PC and

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### XenDesktop #.# is a desktop virtualization product recently launched by Citrix. Built-in multimedia enhancements and support for three-dimensional (#-D) apps are the key features of the latest version of desktop

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### For some time, Novell has been advertising its Linux platform with the catchphrase #;Your Linux is Ready.#; This tagline has been apt, given that rival Red Hat has regarded the desktop

######## Article ###### ###### ###### Traditionally Apple has had no place in enterprise computing beyond graphic arts departments and the occasional #;rogue#; Mac enthusiast#;s desktop or laptop. But Apple is now moving into the enterprise space, and the author

######## Article ###### Some problems now encountered by the federal government--such as climate change, cybersecurity, terrorism, and other complex challenges--defy traditional solutions and therefore demand a new way of thinking. These challenges cannot be tackled by just a

######## Article ###### ###### Sports marketers are paying growing attention to tweets on Twitter. The microblogging and social networking site now has more than nine million users, making it a growing presence in the social networking world. While Twitter has

######## Article According to a report sponsored by the National Defense University (NDU), the Department of Defense (DOD) has a good deal to gain from the use of social-networking technology provided that it first develops a departmentwide Web #

######## Article Software as a service (SaaS) is growing rapidly, moving from niche to mainstream status. While it has not surmounted all barriers, it has gained broader acceptance than most observers imagined even two or three years ago when SaaS

######## Article The new Patent Reform Act of ####, which is currently being deliberated in the U.S. Congress, is expected to solve at least a few of the critical issues related to patents. Many organizations acquire cheap patents and

######## Article #;Behaviorial targeting#; is an industry phrase for online ads that reach consumers most likely to purchase a product or service. Advertising networks have sprung up to connect advertisers with online publishers, selling access across multiple Web sites with

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Redfly is a new smartphone display terminal, which would make it easy for mobile workers to connect to the Web. The Redfly device has been launched by Salt Lake City-based

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Research In Motion (RIM) has launched its new online application store called App World. RIM is hoping to increase its customer base through its new online application store that is modeled around Apple

######## Article ###### ###### As Skype prepares to be spun off next year, it remains to be seen whether it can sustain its impressive growth rate witnessed ever since the company was bought by eBay in ####. Garner analyst Elroy

######## Article ###### Sales of laptop or notebook computers surpassed desktop sales for the first time last year, accounting for ## percent of sales in the third quarter of ####. But for consumers, looking for the right laptop to buy

######## Article ###### ###### ###### A mashup is a Web application that draws on information from multiple sources and combines it to create a new item of information. This new technology is now being applied by the U.S. Defense

######## Article Characters generated by computer graphics for movies are sometimes not realistic, a problem termed by special-effects geeks as the #;uncanny valley.#; Such non-realistic images are more noticeable when these characters are expressing emotions. In this context

######## Article Amazon.com is popular for its excellent usability that greatly helps online shoppers visiting its web store. However, the online retailer keeps analysts guessing about its latest sales statistics. Unlike some of the other popular online retailers such

######## Article General Services Administration (GSA) officials are preparing to combine the smart-meter data with reports from other systems, as IT leaders start getting ready for their new role in building a smart energy grid. The federal government is

######## Article Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Acer has planned to launch a wide range of devices, including gaming consoles, smartphones, and PCs. Gianfranco Lanci, the company#;s president and CEO, was instrumental in turning Acer into a major player in

######## Article ###### ###### ###### One advantage of not being first in the market with a new technology is the opportunity to gauge the pioneer#;s shortcomings, then take advantage of those shortcomings to offer greater value to the customer

######## Article Researchers from Portland State University and Oregon State University (OSU) have found that diatoms (microscopic algae) can be used for tripling the electricity conversion efficiency of solar cells. According to the researchers, more incident photons can be trapped

######## Article ###### ###### As tech firms merge and others fail, the scope of competition in the technology industry is narrowing, argues this commentary piece, and more firms are gaining monopoly status. Monopolies are defined by either of two characteristics

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### Earlier this year Skype promised to deliver its application on a broad range of mobile smartphones. Now it is making good on its pledge by releasing Skype #.#.# for

######## Article ###### ###### The General Services Administration has reached an agreement with Facebook, the tremendously popular social-networking tool, clearing the way for agencies to use it as they desire because of its vast potential. The utility of Facebook

######## Article ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### ###### The email environment has changed considerably over the last three years with the growth of cloud services and Web-based messaging. In particular, Google Gmail has transformed messaging for small businesses. Larger

######## Article ###### The U.S. Congress has approved this year a fiscal stimulus package of about $## billion to develop a national information network for healthcare and provide incentives to doctors and hospitals for implementing electronic health records (EHRs

######## Article ###### ###### ###### Over ###m units of the Nintendo DS, the Japanese handheld gaming device, have been sold. Despite the games console being the bestseller currently, worrying times are ahead for Nintendo. While Nintendo#;s sales stay strong

######## Article ###### Developing nations, such as South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya, are using mobile phones for personalized medicine applications. For example, #;iTeach,#; an outreach program based in a hospital in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, has launched Project Masiluleke

######## Article ###### Whole genome sequencing could serve many medical diagnostic applications, but it is currently expensive. It would take about a decade for the current cost of $###,### per genome scan to drop to below $#,###. Until

######## Article ###### ###### An increasing number of patients are sharing information on medical treatments through blogs today. PatientsLikeMe is one such site that allows members across the globe to exchange stories about their illnesses and other related topics. Health

######## Article ###### Zappos.com is an e-commerce site with an ambitious business model. As per the model, the company will provide top class customer service, regardless of the business segment in which customers operate. Zappos was started in

######## Article Twitter, a small company with about ## employees, is growing rapidly with a traffic growth rate that is doubling every month. Twitter applications are currently being used by about ## million Americans on a daily or minute-by

######## Article ###### Digital medicine, supported by health information technology (HIT), electronic health records (EHRs), and smart medical grids, would enhance medical care and drug discovery processes. Currently, health treatments and their outcomes vary enormously both within and among medical

######## Article New age methods that incorporate advanced electronics and communication technologies are fast replacing conventional methods of diagnosis and medical treatment. By collaborating with the Dutch electronics company Philips, Harald Kuhl, a professor of cardiology at the university hospital