Category Archives: Technology

Tablets Reinvent Americans’ Relationship with Print

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012TechnologyComscore, comscore tablens, consumption dynamics, digital world, kindle fire, magazine readership, mark donovan, mobile, newspaper audience, nook tablet, online newspaper, owner, pcs, publisher, smartphones, tablet newspaper, tablets, user

Nearly 2 in 5 Tablet Owners Read Newspapers and Magazines on Their Device in August

Kindle Fire Owners Most Likely to Consume News According to comScore TabLens

RESTON, VA, October 17, 2012 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of tablet newspaper and magazine readership based on data from its comScore TabLens service. The study found that nearly 2 in 5 U.S. tablet owners read newspapers and/or magazines on their device in August, with 1 in 10 reading publications almost daily. Analysis of readership activities across platforms revealed that Kindle Fire users displayed the strongest propensity for reading newspapers and magazines on their device.

“Tablets are fundamentally redefining how people consume news and information, with the format more conducive to reading longer form content than PCs or smartphones,” said Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile. “In the case of online newspapers, tablets are now driving 7 percent of total page views, an impressive figure considering the relative infancy of the tablet space. Publishers that understand how these devices are shifting consumption dynamics will be best positioned to leverage this platform to not only drive incremental engagement among current subscribers but also attract new readers.” (more…)

IBM and Oxford Survey: Getting Closer to Customers Tops Big Data Agenda

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Technologyanalytics, big data, business school, customer experience, data mining, database, Economy, geospatial data, global snapshot, ibm, ibm study, initiative, internal system, it professional, janet smart, michael schroeck, organization, oxford, primary objective, query, reporting, saïd, sensor data, social media, social network, solution, source, structured data, uk, university, unstructured data

Less than half of organizations analyzing external data; only 43 percent looking at social media for deeper understanding about consumer preferences
Lack of advanced analytics skills for tackling unstructured data biggest challenge

ARMONK, N.Y. and OXFORD – 17 Oct 2012: A new global report released today by IBM and the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford reveals that most Big Data initiatives currently being deployed by organizations are aimed at improving the customer experience. Yet, despite the strong focus on the customer, less than half of the organizations engaged in active Big Data initiatives are currently collecting and analyzing external sources of data, like social media.

One reason is that many organizations are struggling to address and manage the uncertainty inherent within certain types of data, such as the weather, the economy, or the sentiment and truthfulness of people expressed on social networks. In the survey, respondents questioned their ability to trust comments, reviews, tweets and other forms of freely offered opinions online. While uncertain, social media data still contains valuable information. Organizations need to embrace and manage data uncertainty and determine how to use it to their advantage. (more…)

Purpose and Uses of the Relay Board for Electronics Hobbyists and Enthusiasts

By Guest PostOctober 17, 2012Technologyand function, application, audio signal, boolean, circuit breaking, circuits, connection protocol, contact sequence, electrical surges, electronics hobbyists, enthusiasts, gold plate, logic function, low voltage, nand, natural state, nc, no, nor function, operating energy, rcd board, relay board, residual current device, switch, telephone relay

A relayboard is effectively a board containing one or more relay switches. A relay switch is often used to switch a large amount of power on for a small operating energy; or to turn specific circuits on and off within an application.

Often the relay becomes the breaker point between a low and high voltage, or a low and high current, part of an application. The most obvious version of this usage is the RCD board used to insulate your home against electrical surges. The trip switches on the board are all relays – in effect making the RCD (otherwise known as a residual current device) one of the largest and most obvious relay boards in the country. (more…)

Meet Xbox Music, Microsoft’s New All-in-One Music Service

By Guest PostOctober 15, 2012TechnologyAmazon, android, beautiful, cd, digital, entertainment business, free streaming, internet, ios, iTunes, launch, madonna, Microsoft, mp3, music catalog, music experience, music life, music pass, music service, music subscription, pandora, pc, personal collection, phone, platform, playlist, radio, radio station, scott porter, smart dj, tablet, windows 8, xbox 360, xbox live, xbox music, yusuf mehdi

Xbox Music is Microsoft’s brand new all-in-one music service that enables users to listen to music how, when, where and on what device they want. It is included in a rolling update to Xbox LIVE that starts Tuesday and will be expanded when Windows 8 launches.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 14, 2012 — If music makes the people come together, as Madonna says, the new Xbox Music gives people all the music they love, every way they want it.

Xbox Music, Microsoft’s new all-in-one music service, specially designed to let users listen to music in exactly the way they want, begins rolling out to millions of people around the world Oct. 16 on the Xbox 360, then to the masses with Windows 8 on Oct. 26. (more…)

UA Study Examines How News Spreads on Twitter

By Guest PostOctober 15, 2012Media, Technologyarizona, arstechnica, bbc, bbcbreaking, bbcworld, bloomberg, delicious, devi bhattacharya, digg, financial news, financial times, fireworks, Forbes, global news, guardian, mashable, microblogging website, network analysis, new york times, news agency, news articles, npr, online content, paulo goes, reddit, retweets, Reuters, social media, sudha ram, technology news, twitter account, twitter activity, twitter effectiveness, twitter feeds, university, us news, washington post, wired

A study of the Twitter activity of 12 major news agencies shows varying levels of success for the social network as a news-sharing tool, based on factors like article lifespan and number of retweets.

Nearly every major news organization has a Twitter account these days, but just how effective is the microblogging website at spreading news? That’s the question University of Arizona professor Sudha Ram set out to answer in a recent study of a dozen major news organizations that use the social media website as one tool for sharing their content.

The answer, according to Ram’s research, varies widely by news agency, and there may not be one universally applicable strategy for maximizing Twitter effectiveness. However, news agencies can learn a lot by looking at how their news diffuses once it is posted on Twitter, said Ram, McClelland Professor of Management Information Systems in the UA’s Eller College of Management. (more…)

Artistry of ‘Contre Jour’ Comes to the Web with Internet Explorer 10

By Guest PostOctober 9, 2012Technologyartistry, atari, black, book, busy summer, children, contre jour, creature, danny elfman, david ari leon, debussy, Environment, feedback, film director, french, gaming experience, html5, internet explorer, le petit prince, maksym hryniv, master composer, mokus games, multitouch, music, one eyed, petit, piano solo, pulse, ravel, satie, sin city, the find, tim burton, ukrainian developer, visual feature, web, white, windows 8

Game’s creator brings his vision to life with Internet Explorer’s immersive multitouch capabilities.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 9, 2012 — After a busy summer with The Find, Pulse and Atari, Internet Explorer 10 today brings another well-known gaming experience to the Web in HTML5. The experience immerses users into a game rich with artistry and music, all while main character Petit – the one-eyed creature – seeks to save his love, The Rose. This world is “Contre Jour,” which is now available to play online as an interactive multitouch experience on the Web with Internet Explorer 10.

“Contre Jour” is not your typical game. Designed by Ukrainian developer Maksym (Max) Hryniv, the game draws many of its visual features, such as the use of black-and-white environment, from modern film noir titles such as “Sin City.” This design aesthetic is at the heart of the game. When making the decision to bring it to the Web, Hryniv was concerned whether it would really be possible. Assuming he could even build it, would any browser be capable of supporting the rich design, visual features and gameplay that requires multiple simultaneous touch gestures (i.e., multitouch)? After seeing Internet Explorer 10, the browser for Windows 8 that is leading the industry in its multitouch capabilities, he was willing to give it a try. (more…)

Microsoft Helps W3C Create Single Site for Web Standards

By Guest PostOctober 8, 2012Technologyadobe, browser, challenge, clarity consulting, css property, developer network, device, director, docs, erik klimczak, Facebook, Google, hp, html5, image, internet explorer, logo, Microsoft, mozilla, multiple browser, nokia, online resource, opera, optimize, pixel lab, rey bango, robby ingebretsen, Technology, uniformly scale, w3c, web developer, web innovation, web platform, web specification, web standard, web technology, website, windows, windows azure, windows phone

A new community-driven site provides a comprehensive and authoritative source for Web developer documentation.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 8, 2012 — Web innovations are emerging at a relentless pace, and Web developers face the daily challenge of finding the accurate information needed to build great websites that work across the gamut of browsers and devices. Too often, their quest can feel like a wild goose chase.

They search numerous online resources, grapple with conflicting information, and cobble together what they hope is all the information they need on the technology or specification. In the worst case, the information they get is incomplete, dated or inaccurate. (more…)

Easy Guider: Intuitive Visual Control Provides Faster Remote Operation of Robots

By Guest PostOctober 5, 2012Science, Technology2d video, 3d video, ai ping hu, complex computation, control device, cycle, data, electronics, flight, gary mcmurray, georgia tech, gtri, harvey lipkin, hazardous, human guidance, ieee, intuitive, matt marshall, matthew marshall, michael matthews, multi jointed, novel method, operation, operator, remote control, remote robot, research institute, robotic arm, robotic device, robotic system, robots, spatial relationship, target object, technique, time, uncalibrated, video monitor, video technology, visual activation, visual servoing, vs, vs guided

Using a novel method of integrating video technology and familiar control devices, a research team from Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is developing a technique to simplify remote control of robotic devices.

The researchers’ aim is to enhance a human operator’s ability to perform precise tasks using a multi-jointed robotic device such as an articulated mechanical arm. The new approach has been shown to be easier and faster than older methods, especially when the robot is controlled by an operator who is watching it in a video monitor. (more…)