Social software and microblogging sites such as Twitter will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users, market research firm Gartner warns in a report titled ‘Hype Cycle Special Report for 2009.’
The report tracks the progression of an emerging technology from over enthusiasm through a period of disillusionment to an eventual understanding of the technology’s relevance and role in a market or domain.
“Technologies at the peak of inflated expectations during 2009 include cloud computing, e-books (such as from Amazon and Sony) and Internet TV (for example Hulu), while social software and microblogging sites have tipped over the peak,” vice president and Gartner Fellow Jackie Fenn noted. [click to continue…]
In a bid to combat possible terror attacks, Britain has asked scientists to come up with innovative technology and anti-terror gadgets that could be used against outfits like al Qaeda.
The experts could act like fictional boffin ‘Q’ from the James Bond films and millions of pounds could be available to fund the right product.
The Home Office has launched a three-year science and technology strategy as part of its counter-terror drive to help identify new threats and encourage development and sharing of solutions. [click to continue…]
Sony, in a challenge to Amazon’s Kindle, unveiled plans on Thursday to do away with the proprietary software on its electronic Sony Reader and convert its e-book store to an industry standard format.
The Japanese electronics giant said the move “allows Sony to make its e-book store compatible with multiple devices and its Reader devices open to multiple sources for content.”
Sony said it would convert its e-book store to the open ePub format by the end of the year as part of “an effort to take the confusion out of digital book formats.” [click to continue…]
Microsoft Corp put its new Zune HD digital music and video player on sale on Thursday, pricing it below comparable Apple Inc iPod devices, in an attempt to claw some market share away from the dominant leader.
The devices, which are available for pre-order but won’t hit shelves until September 15, are priced at $219.99 for the 16 gigabyte version and $289.99 for the 32 gigabyte version. [click to continue…]
With the help of GPS measurements, scientists have located soil erosion pathways and thereby identify placement of grassed waterways to reduce soil erosion.
Grassed waterways are placed in agricultural fields where runoff water tends to concentrate because they can substantially reduce soil erosion.
Mapping techniques that help identify where erosion channels will likely form could help farmers and conservation professionals do a better job of designing and locating grassed waterways in agricultural fields.
Tom Mueller, associate professor in the University of Kentucky (UK), College of Agriculture, guided Adam Pike, UK graduate student, on a project that examined whether reliable prediction models could be created to identify eroded waterways from digital terrain information such as landscape curvature and estimates of water flow from upslope areas. [click to continue…]
MIT chemists have devised a new method that would offer drug designers more flexibility and cost efficiency in designing new drugs.
They have found a novel way to add fluorine to a variety of compounds used in many drugs and agricultural chemicals.
Drug developers commonly add fluorine atoms to drugs, such as the cholesterol-lowering rosuvastatin, to keep the body from breaking them down too quickly.
Many of these drugs contain aromatic rings – a type of six-carbon ring – and attaching a fluorine atom to the rings can be a difficult, expensive process. [click to continue…]
A French teenager’s claim that an Apple iPhone shattered in his face is a first involving the device but similar incidents have occurred with the iPod according to a US television station.
Marie-Dominique Kolega, whose 18-year-old son was struck in the eye by a piece of glass when the screen shattered on his girlfriend’s iPhone, has threatened to file a complaint against Apple following the incident.
According to Kolega, the phone began making a hissing noise and the screen suddenly broke, sending pieces flying in the air. “My son was frightened but he did not lose an eye,” Kolega, of Aix-en-Provence in southern France, said.
The report is the first such incident involving an iPhone. [click to continue…]
Social software and microblogging sites such as Twitter will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users, market research firm Gartner warns in a report titled ‘Hype Cycle Special Report for 2009.’
