Bullish Forecast for Hadoop Services

Despite major market inroads being made by Apache Spark, a new forecast estimates the global market for the Hadoop big data framework will continue to grow at a healthy clip through 2021, fueled in part by growing enterprise demand for Hadoop services.

According to a market forecast released this week by Allied Market Research, the Hadoop market is expected to grow at a 63.4 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years, reaching $84.6 billion by 2021. The sustained growth is attributed in part to accelerated Hadoop adoption in Europe, where annual growth rates are expected to top 65 percent.

The sustained growth of the Hadoop market stems largely from higher rates of adoption in North America, especially in the IT, banking and government sectors as enterprise big data strategies have been rolled out.

Read More@ https://www.datanami.com/2016/08/25/bullish-forecast-hadoop-services/

Infotainment test: best in-car entertainment systems reviewed

Who makes the best in-car entertainment and sat-nav systems? Our top 10 includes verdicts on Audi, Ford and Vauxhall systems

Digital technology has transformed the way in-car entertainment and information is delivered, and for many drivers nowadays their car’s ‘infotainment’ system is as important as its performance on the road.

Is Hadoop losing its spark?

A 2015 survey by Gartner Inc. revealed that only 18 percent of respondents expressed their desire to either try out or adopt Hadoop in the next few years. However, this report is not the only one which suggested that Hadoop’s star is fading.

Newer big data frameworks such as Spark have started to gain momentum and, according to the Apache Software foundation, companies are running Spark on clusters of thousands of nodes, which the biggest cluster encompassing nearly 8,000 nodes. Although many people rushed into writing Hadoop’s obituary, market research firm MarketAnalysis.com announced in its June 2015 report that the Hadoop market was projected to grow at an annual rate of 58 percent, surpassing $1 billion by the year 2020.

Infotainment upgrade takes center stage with 2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport

In the two years that have progressed since Land Rover launched the Discovery Sport line in the US (replacing the aging LR2), plenty of advancements have been made in terms of in-car technology. Thus, in updating its midsize utility vehicle for 2017, Land Rover's focused nearly entirely on technology.

BlackBerry offers lawful interception for devices, but no backdoors

Wants to differentiate from rivals offering end-to-end encryption.

Mobile device maker BlackBerry is taking a different tack in the encryption debate, saying its smartphones have lawful interception capabilities for government surveillance purposes.

BlackBerry chief operating officer Marty Beard told the FedTalks government information technology summit in the United States that the company takes a balanced approach on interception.

According to Fedscoop, which first reported Beard's remarks, this approach differentiates Blackberry from its competitors, who are "all about encryption all the way."

Best infotainment systems - ultimate guide to in-car tech

We rate 10 of the top infotainment set-ups on the market

Around 73 per cent of British adults don’t understand how to use all of their car's features, according to research by BookMyGarage.com. That may sound like a case of ‘don’t know, don’t care’, but at the same time 54 per cent bought their particular vehicle because of the systems it offered.

So, if people are tempted by hassle-saving gadgets but can’t work out how to use them, what's the point? We teamed up with tech site Alphr.com to put the kit to the test to establish whether it's user-unfriendly or simply that owners have all the gear but no idea.

Encryption: A Matter of Human Rights

Government attacks on the encryption of online communication threaten human rights around the world, warned Amnesty International in a briefing published today as tech giant Apple challenges the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in court over an order to provide software to bypass iPhone encryption.

The briefing, Encryption: A Matter of Human Rights, which is Amnesty International’s first official stance on encryption and human rights, says that people everywhere should be able to encrypt their communications and personal data as an essential protection of their rights to privacy and free speech.

Robots That Teach Each Other

Many of the jobs humans would like robots to perform, such as packing items in warehouses, assisting bedridden patients, or aiding soldiers on the front lines, aren’t yet possible because robots still don’t recognize and easily handle common objects. People generally have no trouble folding socks or picking up water glasses, because we’ve gone through “a big data collection process” called childhood, says Stefanie Tellex, a computer science professor at Brown University. For robots to do the same types of routine tasks, they also need access to reams of data on how to grasp and manipulate objects. Where does that data come from? Typically it has come from painstaking programming. But ideally, robots could get some information from each other.

The Multi-Billion Dollar Robotics Market Is About to Boom

Here’s another sign that the robotics industry is poised to see big gains in the future.

On Wednesday, a report by International Data Corporation said worldwide spending on robotics and related services will hit $135.4 billion in 2019. The research firm said that global robotics spending in 2015 was $71 billion, and is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17%.

Lumping together everything from robot software to hardware components to robot services (like robotic hotel receptionists) in its tally of robotic spending, the report’s authors explain that the total spend on robot services, business consulting, education, and training will eventually eclipse sales of the robots themselves by 2019.

“Robotics as a technology has really reached its tipping point,” said IDC Manufacturing Insights research manager John Santagate in a statement. “Robotic capabilities continue to expand while increasing investment in robot development is driving competition and helping to bring down the costs associated with robots.”

The authors said that the two fastest growing industries for robotics are healthcare and process manufacturing, which is a branch of manufacturing that involves developing products based on recipes or formulas, like sodas or drugs.

Currently, the manufacturing sector is purchasing the most robots and related services. But the report explained that the healthcare sector is expected to see a bump in robotics purchases, with spending expected to double by 2019.

Read More: http://fortune.com/2016/02/24/robotics-market-multi-billion-boom/

5 Massive Trends Firing Up Technology Stocks In 2016

Technology stocks outperformed the stock market this year. Some massive trends should continue firing up the tech sector in 2016 and beyond.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLK) and Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) — the two largest tech ETFs — both returned about 3% in this year while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) lost 0.7%, according to Morningstar. The biggest drivers in both ETFs were Microsoft (MSFT), +19% gain year to date; Facebook (FB), +33%; and Alphabet (GOOGL), +43%. Apple (AAPL), the biggest holding in both ETFs, shed 2%.

First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN) rallied an eye-popping 21% this year. In addition to Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL), it has to thank Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) for its outsized pop. The online retailer and video streaming service rocketed a mind-blowing 114% and 142%, respectively, in 2015.

iShares North American Tech-Software (IGV) surged 10% this year. Microsoft (MSFT), +19% year to date; Adobe (ADBE), + 26%; and Salesfore.com (CFM), +30%, led the charge.

Based on fourth-quarter estimates and actual results earlier this year, the technology sector’s sales growth was almost nonexistent at +0.1%, according to FactSet. But it was superior to the S&P 500 (SPY)’s, 3.4% dip. The tech sector is on track to grow earnings by 3.5% for 2015 while S&P 500 (SPY) earnings fall 0.5% .

Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2015/12/20/5-massive-trends-firing-up-technology-stocks-in-2016/

Robotics teams compete in first ever league play

Learning a new language between the start of term and Dec. 12 can be daunting, but the Midland High School’s robotics teams are confident it’s not out of their league. Teams from both Midland High and Lee High are competing today in the First Tech Challenge with robots programmed using Java, a change-up from last year.

“The competition changed platforms for both electronics hardware and software this year requiring teams to use Java as a new language as they build apps (applications),” said Cory Callaway, Midland High’s robotics adviser. “Midland High’s teams have been working furiously to design, build, test, redesign, and modify our robots to meet the challenges of this year’s competition.”

Teams compete from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum.

Java is considered mainstream in the tech and programming world because of its user-friendly language. The apps act as software pieces for Android phones, which are the “"brains” of the students’ robots, according to Callaway.

“We’re an engineering community, and ... engineering is continuing to incorporate more robotics technology,” he said. “College students are learning programming and coding when they’re not exposed in high school, so those exposed in high school are ahead. It’s a competition that fits the academic side of the growth in the industry right now.”

It marks the first time for the Panhandle and Plains Region to incorporate “league play,” which lets teams compete in events and accumulate points that determine the seeding for invitational qualifier matches. It also marks a first for the Petroleum Museum hosting a robotics event.

“While working with the Petroleum Museum over the past couple of years, our conversation took a natural turn toward working together to help provide more opportunities to the students of Midland,” Callaway said.

Stacie Hanna, the museum’s director of education, said it was a step toward the museum’s desire to incorporate more science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) into its education curriculum.

Read More: http://www.mrt.com/news/education/article_8eabd836-a08e-11e5-9fe3-df1e4eb1ee2e.html

The security risks of IoT devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t a new concept, but it has gained momentum especially within the last year, as more and more connected devices have come to market. While connecting everything brings added convenience to our everyday lives, it’s crucial to understand what we may be compromising from a security perspective, and importantly, which devices could pose a threat either now or in the future.

With so many connected devices we decided to take a look at those that have made the headlines so far this year. Cars, for instance, have only recently become connected, although they have long been computerized. However, with poor Internet security expertise some manufacturers are being caught out.

In April, Cyber security experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek revealed a software flaw that allowed them to take control of a Jeep Cherokee on the move -- all from a laptop computer at home. Hacking into the Jeep’s electronics through the entertainment system, they were able to change the vehicle’s speed, alter its braking capability, and manipulate the radio and windscreen wipers. The two described the hack as "fairly easy" and "a weekend project".

A few months later, news broke that researchers had hacked a Tesla Model S, once again via the car’s entertainment system. Although it took closer to a year to pull this hack off, the researchers were able to apply the hand brake, lock and unlock the car, and control the touch screen displays. Tesla quickly developed a fix, which has been sent to all of the affected vehicles.

Hacked vehicles are an obvious cause for concern, but the hazards presented by apparently innocuous devices such as the "smart fridge" or "connected toaster" also warrant equal consideration. The thought of a hacker gaining control of your refrigerator may be less daunting than them taking control of your steering wheel on the motorway, but these products can act as a gateway to much more sensitive information.

Read More: http://betanews.com/2015/11/30/the-security-risks-of-iot-devices/