Seth Robinson's Posts

The annual Consumer Electronics Show draws the eyes of the technology world to Las Vegas as the latest devices are on display and electronics companies try to demonstrate their vision of the future. For 2012, more than 3,100 exhibitors packed the floor to show off more than 20,000 new products. While the focus is clearly on consumers, the “consumerization of IT” over the past few years gives IT departments and solutions providers a reason to keep an eye on the technology that may be making its w ...

As the year comes to a close, two of the most popular activities are looking back at what just happened and looking ahead to what we expect for the New Year. Thinking back on the big IT trends from this year, it’s interesting to look forward at how those will continue to grow and what effect they will have on IT departments and solution providers.Three of the largest trends shaping the IT landscape right now are: Cloud, Mobility and Social solutions.Cloud is changing the way IT approaches infras ...

According to the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) in the U.K., small and medium enterprises represent 99.9 percent of the 4.8 million U.K. private sector enterprises and account for more than 49 percent of the private sector revenue. Clearly these smaller firms form a significant component of the U.K. economy, and recent data from CompTIA’s U.K. Small and Medium Enterprise Technology Trends study shows that they have a dependence on technology as a way of bringing expanded capa ...

The tech world watched yesterday as Apple held a keynote to announce several new products. Most analysts were expecting the iPhone 5 to be revealed, but the major iPhone reveal was an iPhone 4S. Although this device has some significant upgrades—such as the ability to function on either GSM or CDMA networks—most reviewers were disappointed in the lack of a major revision to the product line. However, looking past the specific device that was announced, there are three themes for the near future ...

The social platform wars heated up this week, as both Facebook and Google+ launched new features to their sites. Google+ announced changes to their Hangouts video chat feature, introduced a search function within the platform (which seemed like a late addition from the leader in online search), and dropped the requirement for invitations to join the service. Facebook gave its users Smart Lists to organize their friends, rolled out the ability to subscribe to interesting people they don’t persona ...

Cloud computing has been one of the most hyped IT strategies in recent years, with vendors scrambling to provide cloud-enabled technologies and businesses trying to figure out if this new model can deliver on its promises of cost savings. CompTIA’s 2nd Annual Trends in Cloud Computing study finds that beyond the hype, cloud is indeed a strategy that proves beneficial to end-users, and one that has significant momentum for years ahead.Other firms agree with this assessment. Gartner projects publi ...

TIS & Partners, a structural design firm based in Japan, has developed a construction material that is better than concrete. The new material, called CO2 Structure, hardens in one day whereas concrete takes 28 days to fully cure. CO2 Structure is also more stable than concrete, with a tensile strength at least 2.5 times greater.Why am I writing about concrete on an IT blog? Because I think it highlights the importance of continuing to innovate in areas that might be viewed as basic commoditi ...

It would not be a stretch to say that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) form the backbone of the American economy. According to the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of the six million U.S. employer firms and create more than half of the non-farm private GDP. Clearly these smaller firms are a significant group, even if they do not necessarily generate the biggest headlines.SMBs do not have the same resources for lobbying ...

Last week, two events took place that typically would not draw much channel interest. Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference took place in San Francisco, and without a new device launch, some wondered how exciting the event might be.  Down the coast in Los Angeles was an event even further removed from standard channel scrutiny: the Electronics Entertainment Expo, better known as E3. However, both of these events presented reminders that the way we interface with technology is changing as rapidl ...

The short Day 3 at Interop featured sessions sponsored by InformationWeek Analytics. The first session focused on trends in mobility and mobile security. The stance on mobility was consistent with other sessions throughout the week: more mobile devices are coming, and employees will continue to bring these devices into the workplace. One of the concepts presented was similar to a concept from the cloud security session: individual security is a good starting point for corporate security. Another ...