Tag Archives: market trends

Tablet shipments decline 10.1% in 2015

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The tablet market is still in decline.

Q4 2015 is the fifth straight quarter in a row to see a decrease year over year: 65.9 million units shipped, down 13.7 percent from the 76.4 million units that shipped the same quarter last year, according to market research firm IDC. For the whole year of 2015, shipments were 206.8 million, down 10.1 percent from the 230.1 million shipped in 2014.

Source: IDC: Tablet shipments decline 10.1% in 2015, leaders Apple and Samsung both lose market share

IDC argues that the biggest trend to watch for in 2016 is the transition towards detachable devices. Indeed, pure slate tablets experienced their greatest annual decline to date of 21.1 percent, while detachable tablets more than doubled their shipments since the fourth quarter of last year.

Streaming Video Is 70 Percent of Broadband Use

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Again, it’s not surprising to learn that broadband is moving from “the thing that brings you websites and email” to “the thing that brings you video.” But change over time drives it home: Sandvine says that five years ago, video/audio represented 35 percent of prime-time usage. Now it has doubled, to 70 percent.

Source: Streaming Video Is 70 Percent of Broadband Use – Sandvine | Re/code

Is the IoT a Tech Bubble for Cities

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But, with more cities joining the Smart City revolution and investing in sensors and other IoT devices, the risk of a new tech bubble is rising. The same technology giants that helped Barcelona become a smart city are now pushing more pilots of newer technologies with little regard for solutions that already work and can be shared without incurring additional expenses.

Let’s consider a few of the most worrisome issues related to IoT today:

Source: Is the IoT a Tech Bubble for Cities

In the long run, we are being faced with a bunch of independent devices that can’t be managed by a single platform or protocol. Manufacturers are now being required to develop different versions for different standards, effectively increasing manufacturing and engineering costs, and reducing their market potential.

Chrome passes 25% market share, IE and Firefox slip

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Between March and April, here is how the browser market changed, according to the latest figures from Net Applications:

  • Internet Explorer: down 0.71 points to 55.83 percent
  • Chrome: up 0.69 points to 25.68 percent
  • Firefox: down 0.19 points to 11.70 percent
  • Safari: up 0.12 points to 5.12
  • Opera: up 0.05 points to 0.48 percent

Source: Chrome passes 25% market share, IE and Firefox slip | VentureBeat | Dev | by Emil Protalinski

Rock Band and Guitar Hero May Be Returning in 2015

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Still, the era of plastic instruments has passed. You can’t find the controllers in stores anymore, but your local Salvation Army or Goodwill probably has a giant pile of them. Even those who love Rock Band have trouble justifying all of the primo living room real estate the full suite of controllers consumes.

via Rock Band and Guitar Hero May Be Returning in 2015 | WIRED.

Web privacy is the newest luxury item in era of pervasive tracking

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Another is Ekko.net, a privacy-focused service that is currently invite-only. It gives users the ability to create policies that govern specific accounts or even communications, explains Ekko.net founder Rick Peters. For example, a user might decide to assign a password to protect a specific e-mail thread, text message, or social media communication. Or they might set a “self destruct” date for a message, causing it to be erased at a predetermined time.

via Web privacy is the newest luxury item in era of pervasive tracking – CSMonitor.com.

Will tools such as Blur and Ekko.net tilt the playing field in favor of consumers and their privacy?

Privacy experts say: Probably not.

The iPod effect: how near limitless storage made content worthless

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As faster bandwidth and bigger storage have become the norm, we’ve become used to the idea of a cornucopia of content. But in the absence of tough decisions about what media to bring with us, we’re losing our appreciation of its value altogether. Without clear opportunity cost, all digital content is becoming worthless.

via The iPod effect: how near limitless storage made content worthless | Media Network | The Guardian.