Category Archives: Technology

Web Use Doesn’t Encourage Belief in Poltical Rumors, But E-mail Does

By Guest PostMarch 9, 2011Culture, Politics, Technologyalaska, Barack Obama, e mail, Facebook, factcheck, harmful consequences, internet communication, kelly garrett, mayor, mccain-palin, muslim, obama-biden, online sources, political information, political rumors, presidential election, rumor-mongering, Sarah Palin, telephone survey, Twitter, use of the internet, vicious feedback loop, wasilla

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite the fears of some, a new study suggests that use of the internet in general does not make people more likely to believe political rumors.

However, one form of internet communication – e-mail – does seem to have troubling consequences for the spread and belief of rumors.

“I think a lot of people will be surprised to learn that using the internet doesn’t necessarily promote belief in rumors. Many people seem to think that’s self-evident,” said R. Kelly Garrett, author of the study and assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University. (more…)

IBM Invests US$38M in Cloud Computing Data Centre to Address Asia Pacific Growth

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2011Technologyasia pacific cloud computing data centre, canada, China, chris morris, environments, flexibility and agility, Germany, global cloud labs, global delivery centres, globally integrated cloud, high value economic clusters, iaas, ibm, independent software vendors, infrastructure as a service, isvs, it transformation, paul moung, public cloud, singapore, teresa lim, united states, vibrant cloud computing ecosystem

*New facility based in Singapore extends IBM’s global cloud delivery capabilities to meet growth market cloud needs of businesses in Asia Pacific*

SINGAPORE, – 07 Mar 2011: IBM today announced a US$38M investment in a new IBM Asia Pacific Cloud Computing Data Centre in Singapore, which will provide businesses with solutions and services to harness the potential of cloud computing. The new facility will extend IBM’s globally-integrated cloud delivery network with centres in Germany, Canada and the United States; and 13 global cloud labs, of which seven are based in Asia Pacific – China, India, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.

Scheduled to launch in April, the Centre will make available IBM’s comprehensive cloud services and technology portfolio via the company’s cloud delivery infrastructure. These services are designed to enable clients to reap the benefits of business and IT transformation; increase flexibility and agility; accelerate time to market; reduce costs; and increase security and compliance of public cloud environments. (more…)

comScore Reports January 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2011Technologyamerican, comscore mobilens, comscore reports, mobile audience, smartphone market

Google Android Captures #1 Position in Smartphone Market

RESTON, VA, March 7, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending January 2011. The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.9 percent market share. Google Android took the lead among smartphone platforms with 31.2 percent market share, after two short months in second place. (more…)

Just Like Me: Online Training Helpers More Effective When They Resemble Students

By Guest PostMarch 5, 2011Education, Technologygeorge washington, giving feedback, north carolina state university, online training programs, similarity effects, specific aspect, teaching children

Opposites don’t always attract. A study from North Carolina State University shows that participants are happier – and perform better – when the electronic helpers used in online training programs resemble the participants themselves.

“It is important that the people who design online training programs understand that one size does not fit all,” says Dr. Lori Foster Thompson, an associate professor of psychology at NC State and co-author of the study. “Efforts to program helper agents that may be tailored to individuals can yield very positive results for the people taking the training.” (more…)

Cloud Computing: Making Rain From Blue-Sky Thinking

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2011Technologyalgorithms, businessweek, city of miami, cloud computing, cloud portfolio, computer desktop, computing power, economic gains, federal agencies, garbage collection, it management, james osteen, jim graham, Microsoft, microsoft cloud solutions, minnesota 3m, software code, terry collier, tim o’brien, vas, visual attention service, windows azure

*Microsoft cloud solutions help customers cut costs, generate new revenue streams and provide added services to end users*

REDMOND, Wash. — March 3, 2011 — This week’s edition of Businessweek includes a story about the shift taking place in the development and deployment of applications and services by using cloud computing to cut costs, streamline IT management and respond more quickly to changes in end-user demand. Microsoft is cited as one of the companies taking the lead in this area and in moving organizations from their existing operations and services to the cloud and taking advantage of increased efficiency and new opportunities along the way.

To be sure, the economic gains that are possible through cloud computing are significant – one customer saw a reduction in IT management costs by three-quarters, in part from moving to Windows Azure. But cloud computing has the potential to expand beyond the realm of budget line items to that of lines of software code, creating new tools and services that lead to new computing experiences, expanded business opportunities, better services for customers, and, ultimately, new jobs and economic growth. (more…)

Emerging Auto Insurance and Aggregator Sites Attracting Meaningful Share of Online Auto Insurance Market

By Guest PostMarch 4, 20112 commentsTechnologyall web leads, american family, amica, Comscore, farmers, geico, insurance policies, mercury insurance, online auto insurance benchmarker, online market, susan kleinman, usaa, usinsuranceonline

*comScore Releases Expanded Online Auto Insurance Benchmarker Covering More Insurers and Aggregator Sites*

RESTON, VA, March 4, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the availability of an expanded competitive set of insurers and aggregator sites for its online auto insurance benchmarker. In Q4 2010, these additional sites accounted for 724,000 submitted quotes, making up 8 percent of quotes submitted online.

“The online auto insurance market has been dominated by only a handful of insurers over the past few years, with GEICO and Progressive comprising over 50 percent of all quotes submitted online,” said comScore director Susan Kleinman. “But as more consumers look to the Internet to shop for insurance policies, there is an opportunity for more insurers to break into the online market.” (more…)

Online Banking on the Rise in Southeast Asia

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2011Technologybank mandiri, citigroup, Comscore, Europe, global banking brands, hong kong, internet growth, joe nguyen, malaysia, North America, southeast asia, vietcombank, Vietnam

*Brands with Strong Local Presence Top List as Most-Visited Online Banking Destinations*

*comScore Presents ‘The State of the Internet Southeast Asia’ *

Singapore, March 4, 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the latest results from a study of Internet usage in Southeast Asia. The report found that an increasing number of consumers across the region turned to online banking throughout 2010. In each of the six markets included in the study (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines), visitation to the online banking category grew by double-digits percentages, outpacing overall Internet growth by a factor of two in most cases. These results will be presented along with other key online trends via a complimentary, live webinar The State of the Internet Southeast Asia on Wednesday, March 9. For more information and to register, please visit: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/302171344 (more…)

Century Payments Chooses Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Over Salesforce.com

By Guest PostMarch 3, 2011Technology500 fastest growing companies, automation enabled forms, built in feature, century payments, electronic payments, Microsoft, microsoft dynamics, microsoft dynamics crm, scott harlow, workflows

*Company saves more than $300,000 and increases overall productivity*

REDMOND, Wash. — March 3, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) today highlighted how Century Payments Inc., an emerging leader in the electronic payments industry and recently ranked 11th on the Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Companies list, has saved more than $300,000 and counting since switching from Salesforce.com to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online in 2009. Century Payments also helped increase end-user adoption and overall company productivity as a result of the switch.

“Given our exponential growth, we needed a solution flexible enough to both provide immediate short-term results and adapt to our growing business needs without the high licensing or development costs,” said Scott Harlow, vice president of information technologies and security at Century Payments. “We got that with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. We now have the freedom to change aspects of our solution quickly and on the fly, without the added time and expense of external developers and resources.” (more…)