In further evidence of the impact the pandemic is having on everyday life, video gaming has seen a significant uptick across allage groups.
With more people staying home and avoiding in-person contact, alternative forms of entertainment and socialization have been on the rise. Video gaming, in particular, has become a popular option. Rather than being a solo experience, modern video games often provide a high level of social interaction.
According to Mat Piscatella, Video Game Industry Analyst, The NPD Group, video games are rising in popularity across age demographics, and specifically among middle-aged and older groups.
From The NPD Group's 2020 Evolution of Entertainment report. Check out the increases in time spent gaming across different age ranges driven by pandemic-driven behavior changes. And pubs and devs, please note the 35+ jumps. pic.twitter.com/7oWBUJDS1b
Interestingly, the biggest jump in video game usage was in the 45 to 54 year-old age group. This impact of the pandemic is sure to open up new opportunities for enterprising companies to better engage with potential customers.
Zoom has reported its Q3 results, beating estimates on strong demand amid a pandemic-fueled transition to remote work.
Zoom quickly became a favorite of companies and individuals as the pandemic forced employees to work from home, children to learn remotely and families to socialize virtually. As a result, the company has seen explosive growth, helping it beat analysts estimates yet again.
The company reported Q3 revenue of $777.2 million, an increase of 367% year-over-year. The number of customers spending more than $100,000 in revenue was up 136% year-over-year. This is an even bigger jump than last quarter, that saw an increase of 112% year-over-year. The number of customers with more than 10 employees reached 433,700, up 485% year-over-year.
“We remain focused on the communication needs of our customers and communities as they navigate the current environment and adapt to a new world of work from anywhere using Zoom. We aspire to provide the most innovative, secure, reliable, and high-quality communications platform to help people connect, collaborate, build and learn on Zoom,” said Zoom founder and CEO, Eric S. Yuan. “Strong demand and execution led to revenue growth of 367% year-over-year with solid growth in non-GAAP operating income and cash flow in our third fiscal quarter. We expect to strengthen our market position as we finish the fiscal year with an increased total revenue outlook of approximately $2.575 billion to $2.580 billion for fiscal year 2021, or approximately 314% increase year-over-year.”
UK has announced carriers must stop installing Huawei equipment by September 2021, as it ramps up its ban.
Despite US pressure, the UK initially resisted calls to ban Chinese firm Huawei from its 5G networks. Eventually, however, the UK government reversed course, ruling that all Huawei equipment must be removed from the country’s 5G networks by the end of 2027. Companies had been prohibited from purchasing new equipment after the end of 2020, however. Despite that, lawmakers were concerned companies would stockpile equipment before the purchasing deadline, allowing them to continue using it until the ban went into full effect at the end of 2027.
To help prevent that from happening, the UK government has now said telecom carriers may not install any new Huawei equipment after September 2021.
“Today I am setting out a clear path for the complete removal of high risk vendors from our 5G networks,” said Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden. “This will be done through new and unprecedented powers to identify and ban telecoms equipment which poses a threat to our national security.”
Secretary Dowden also emphasized the importance of no longer being dependent on just a few vendors.
“We are also publishing a new strategy to make sure we are never again dependent on a handful of telecoms vendors for the smooth and secure running of our networks. Our plans will spark a wave of innovation in the design of our future mobile networks.”
Facebook has reached a deal to acquire Kustomer, the maker of a “customer service CRM platform built for today.”
The deal, rumored to be worth at least $1 billion, would be a departure from Facebook’s traditional acquisitions. The company usually buys companies aligned with its consumer-oriented focus, whereas Kustomer’s software is aimed at businesses.
The move demonstrates Facebook’s interest in monetizing some of its existing businesses, specifically WhatsApp. The company looked at integrating ads in the platform before abandoning the idea due to backlash. Instead, the company has focused on providing businesses with a way to communicate and support their customers via the platform.
Executives Dan Levy, Facebook VP of Ads and Business Products, and Matt Idema, COO, WhatsApp, made it clear Kustomer is integral to those goals:
As businesses adjust to an evolving digital environment, they’re seeking solutions that place people at the center, especially when it comes to communication. Any business knows that when the phone rings, they need to answer it. Increasingly, texts and messages have become just as important as that phone call — and businesses need to adapt.
Kustomer’s platform will help businesses better support and engage with their customers:
Kustomer is an omnichannel CRM platform that brings customer conversations from various channels together into a single-screen view. It helps businesses automate repetitive tasks so their agents can maximize the time and quality of interactions with customers. Facebook plans to support Kustomer’s operations by providing the resources it needs to scale its business, improve and innovate its product offering, and delight its customers. That way, more people will benefit from customer service that is faster, richer and available whenever and however they need it, whether it’s phone, email, web chat or messaging.
Facebook is already under scrutiny over antitrust concerns. It remains to be seen if there will be any obstacles to Facebook’s latest acquisition, especially with the incoming Biden/Harris administration.
Ericsson has released the November 2020 edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report and it contains good news for 5G.
The Ericsson Mobility Report provides a snapshot of the mobile industry and can provide valuable insights into current technology and trends. Not surprisingly, recent reports have been dominated by the rollout of 5G. The November 2020 report(PDF) is no different, signaling that 5G rollout is marching on, impacting a number of industries.
According to Ericsson, some 1 billion people — or 15% of the world’s population — will live within 5G coverage by the end of 2020. Equally impressive, some 3.5 billion 5G subscriptions are forecast by the end of 2026. Despite its slow start, in relation to Asian countries, North America is projected to account for 80% of 5G subscriptions in 2026.
The report also demonstrates the impact 5G will have on related industries. For example, while there are currently 7.9 billion mobile subscriptions, Ericsson expects this to increase to 8.8 billion by the end of 2026. Significantly, some 91% of those will be for mobile broadband — not surprising given the speeds promised by 5G.
It’s no secret companies are looking to 5G as the next evolution of broadband, providing fast speed, security and the possibility of high-speed connections in areas where traditional wired connections are prohibitive. According to Ericsson, “fixed wireless access (FWA) connections are forecast to grow more than threefold and reach over 180 million by the end of 2026, accounting for around 25 percent of total mobile network data traffic globally.”
Ericsson emphasizes that 5G is no longer a novelty, and is beginning to live up to the transformational potential it has promised.
“The fundamental need for good connectivity is a cornerstone for this change, clearly visible in this edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report as the demand for capacity and coverage of cellular networks continues to grow. 5G is no longer just a novelty. Instead it is entering the next phase, when many new devices and end-user applications make the most out of the technological benefits it provides, while communications service providers worldwide continue the build-out of 5G.”
Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has announced he will step down on January 20.
Chairman Pai has presided over the FCC for the last four years, enacting a number of controversial changes. Most notably, Pai oversaw the repeal of the Obama-era net neutrality rules, as well as pursued efforts to block states from implementing their own. At the same time, under Pai’s oversight, the FCC focused on closing the digital divide and paving the way for faster 5G adoption.
Given the incoming Biden/Harris administration’s stand on net neutrality, and tech in general, it is not surprising that Chairman Pai is planning to resign. In is statement announcing his departure Pai highlighted his accomplishments, both personal and professional:
It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve at the Federal Communications Commission, including as Chairman of the FCC over the past four years. I am grateful to President Trump for giving me the opportunity to lead the agency in 2017, to President Obama for appointing me as a Commissioner in 2012, and to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate for twice confirming me. To be the first Asian-American to chair the FCC has been a particular privilege. As I often say: only in America.
I also deeply appreciate the chance to have worked alongside the FCC’s talented staff. They are the agency’s best assets, and they have performed heroically, especially during the pandemic. It’s also been an honor to work with my fellow Commissioners to execute a strong and broad agenda. Together, we’ve delivered for the American people over the past four years: closing the digital divide; promoting innovation and competition, from 5G on the ground to broadband from space; protecting consumers; and advancing public safety. And this FCC has not shied away from making tough choices. As a result, our nation’s communications networks are now faster, stronger, and more widely deployed than ever before.
Although it seems likely the incoming administration will reinstate net neutrality rules, it remains to be seen what other changes or rollbacks may be in store for current FCC policies.
Salesforce and Slack are expected to announce a sales agreement Tuesday, in what would be Salesforce’s biggest acquisition to date.
The two companies made headlines Wednesday with news that Salesforce was looking to purchase the iconic corporate messaging app. At the time, talks were thought to still be in the preliminary stages, with no indication a deal was in sight. Within hours, however, outlets starting reporting the talks were in the advanced stages.
Things have progressed quickly, as a new report from the Wall Street Journal says a deal could be announced as early as Tuesday after market close. CNBC’s David Faber reports the deal will be roughly half cash and half stock, although it may be slightly weighted toward the cash side.
Similarly, while initial reports valued Slack at $17 billion, it appears Salesforce will be paying a significant premium. Faber said the deal is not expected to reach $30 billion, but may come close.
Experts believe the acquisition will help Slack, as well as Salesforce, fend off Microsoft. Slack has been hurt by a number of factors, most significantly Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with Office. Microsoft’s tactics prompted Slack to file an antitrust claim with the EU, a claim Jim Cramer calls “strong.”
At the same time, Microsoft continues to go after Salesforce’s core CRM market. Its most recent inroad was a partnership with C3.ai and Adobe to create AI-driven CRM.
The combination of the two companies may ultimately help both compete with Microsoft more effectively.
Security firm Sophos has informed customers it suffered a data breach as a result of a misconfigured database.
According to ZDNet, customers’ personal information was exposed, including names, emails and phone numbers. The company informed impacted customers via email, which ZDNet got a copy of.
On November 24, 2020, Sophos was advised of an access permission issue in a tool used to store information on customers who have contacted Sophos Support.
The company confirmed the breach to ZDNet, saying that only a “small subset” of its customers were impacted. Nonetheless, this is the second major security issue this year for Sophos, a major source of embarrassment for a company in the business of providing computer security to its customers.
The company tried to assure customers it was doing everything it could to address the issue.
At Sophos, customer privacy and security are always our top priority. We are contacting all affected customers,” the company said. “Additionally, we are implementing additional measures to ensure access permission settings are continuously secure.
The Tasmanian government has announced it has made the transition to 100% renewable electricity.
Guy Barnett, Minister for Energy, issued a statement heralding the milestone achievement for the Australian state:
Every Tasmanian should be proud that our State is the first in Australia and one of only a handful of jurisdictions in the world to achieve this target, delivering on a key Liberal Government commitment from the 2018 election.
We have reached 100 per cent thanks to our commitment to realising Tasmania’s renewable energy potential through our nation-leading energy policies and making Tasmania attractive for industry investment, which in turn is creating jobs across the State, particularly in our regions.
Barnett says the state plans to double its renewable energy generation by 2040, and says the state’s renewable energy projects will help it rebuild its economy post-pandemic.
Amid increased antitrust scrutiny, at least one expert is predicting Jeff Bezos and Amazon may spin off AWS.
AWS is currently the dominant cloud provider, with 31% of the cloud computing market. At the same time, Amazon is a major force in the e-commerce market, and several of its acquisitions have helped it became a significant player in other industries. Whole Foods, Ring and Twitch are just a few of the acquisitions that have made Amazon a powerhouse far beyond its original form.
The company’s expansion into other markets has drawn the attention of the government, as it looks closely at Big Tech in general. While the current scrutiny has come under a Republican administration, Democrats traditionally come down even harder on big business, raising the stakes with an incoming Biden/Harris administration.
Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern School of Business, spoke with CNN’s Michael Smerconish about the antitrust challenges facing tech companies.
“It’s a real concern for all of them. There’s already a case against Google, which I think the Biden/Harris administration will pick up. The shadow of the Biden/Harris administration has already resulted in more change at Facebook and Twitter than we’ve seen in a long time. [They’ve] made huge efforts to try and stop the spread of misinformation around the COVID-19. And I would argue that it’s tantamount to teens who have held a great party and their parents are coming home, and they’re trying to clean up their act.”
Professor Galloway then spoke specifically about the lengths Amazon may go to avoid antitrust issues.
“As it relates to Amazon, it will be Google, then likely Facebook for antitrust action. I do think it will happen to Amazon, but not until those two are done. I personally think Jeff Bezos, who’s the smartest businessperson in the world, will likely spin AWS prophylactically. And my prediction, Michael, is that in the year 2025, the most valuable company in the world will be a recently spun, independent AWS. The largest, most profitable cloud company in the world would be a stock that everyone would own.”
IBM is preparing for a massive round of layoffs in Europe, impacting some 10,000 employees.
According to Bloomberg, IBM announced the layoffs earlier in November in a meeting with labor representatives. The source remained anonymous, as the talks are still private.
“Our staffing decisions are made to provide the best support to our customers in adopting an open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities,” an IBM spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. “We also continue to make significant investments in training and skills development for IBMers to best meet the needs of our customers.”
The bulk of the cuts are in IBM’s legacy business. The company announced in October it is planning on splitting the company in two. The core will continue under the IBM name and focus on hybrid cloud and AI, while the legacy business will be spun off into a separate company.
It appears the UK and Germany will be hardest hit, with Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovakia also slated to experience some layoffs as well.
The European Union is poised to introduce the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), with everything from fines to breakups on the table for tech companies.
The EU is widely seen as more consumer friendly than the US and takes a tougher stance against corporations. The proposed legislation is no different, with stiff penalties ranging from fines to potential breakups, according to Reuters.
The DSA is focused on making tech companies be more transparent about their algorithms, advertising and efforts to fight harmful content, hate speech and counterfeit products on their platforms.
The DMA, in contrast, focuses on online gatekeepers and will help ensure a level playing field. Gatekeeper companies, such as those that operate app stores, will not be allowed to favor their own services. Gatekeepers will also be required to share specific data with competitors, as well as regulators.
“We start with a fine, then you have a bigger fine, then you may have a temporary remedy, specific remedies, then you may have at the end of the day, what we have also in the competition rules, structural separation,” Digital Chief Thierry Breton told reporters during an online briefing.
“So from fines to separations, but of course only on the European market,” he said.
Comcast is not winning any popularity contests this week as it announces internet and TV price hikes on the heels of expanding data caps.
Comcast sent out notice to customers that, effective January 2021, the price of “Broadcast TV” will go up by as much as $4.50 per month. Similarly, the Regional Sports Network (RSN) will go up by as much as $2 per month.
Unfortunately, the pain doesn’t stop there. Comcast told Ars Technica that “six Internet-only packages that cost $53 to $113 a month will all rise $3 a month, and the price for professional installations or in-home service visits is rising from $70 to $100.”
A copy of the notice was shared on Reddit, with a breakdown of the various packages.
The news comes at the same time that Comcast is extending its data cap policy to the rest of its region. Customers will be capped at 1.2 TB per month, with fees of $10 per 50GB after that. Although the overage fees will be capped at $100 per month, many critics are calling the company out for making it harder on individuals and families at a time when internet access is more important than ever.
Salesforce may be looking to make its largest acquisition to date, possibly snapping up Slack, the popular corporate message platform.
Slack helped define the corporate messaging market and is used by organizations of all sizes. Recently, the company has faced increasing competition from Microsoft Teams, which has eclipsed Slack’s user base.
Nonetheless, Slack is still wildly popular and continues to strike deals with major companies. In February, IBM announced it was deploying Slack to all 350,000 of its employees. Similarly, in June AWS announced it was deploying Slack to all of its employees. In return, Slack migrated its voice and video calling services to Amazon’s Chime platform.
The AWS deal also spurred talk that Amazon might be interested in acquiring Slack. Despite Microsoft Teams’ larger market share, Slack is seen as the safe choice for companies that compete with Microsoft and don’t want to rely on a rival for their corporate communication. Given that AWS and Microsoft are the first and second-largest cloud providers, Slack seemed like a natural choice for AWS.
It appears Salesforce may be interested in purchasing the message platform, however, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The talks appear to be preliminary, and therefore may ultimately come to nothing. Should the a deal be struck, however, it would be the largest in Salesforce history, since Slack is currently valued at $17 billion.
Salesforce and Slack already integrate with each other. Given that both companies are locked in heated competition with Microsoft, joining forces may make sense. Salesforce, in particular, has been under increased pressure lately, with some analysts believing Microsoft’s open approach to data gives it a significant advantage over Salesforce. Microsoft has also partnered with C3.ai and Adobe to target Salesforce’s core CRM business.
It remains to be seen if the talks will bear fruit, but it is also possible Saleforce’s interest could spark renewed interest from other parties, such as AWS. Larger companies content to partner with an independent Slack may not want to see it come under the control of a possible competitor. This, in turn, may motivate them to make a move of their own.
Walmart is taking aim at one of Amazon’s biggest benefits, fast shipping, by using its stores to speed up delivery.
Amazon Prime is one of the biggest advantages Amazon has, providing free two-day shipping on many products. Many of its competitors have struggled to match its ability to get products in customers’ hands so quickly.
Walmart is preparing to just do that, however, with plans to use its stores to speed up delivery for online shoppers. The company’s decision comes amid one of the most unique holiday seasons, as many shoppers turn to online shopping as a result of COVID-19.
The overall experience should be relatively seamless for most customers, while shipping times may be reduced to as little as same day.
“While our customers won’t see a change in the app or a new service they need to select, they will notice that they aren’t finding themselves checking for shipping updates or sweating arrival times of gifts,” writes Tom Ward, Senior Vice President, Customer Product. “They simply notice their orders are arriving super-fast, even the same day, and maybe in a Walmart bag from a store rather than a Walmart box from Walmart.com.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased the possibility of a compact model or a hatchback, in a big departure from Tesla’s standard designs.
Tesla has largely been known for sedans, as well as one SUV and its upcoming Cybertruck. While larger cars are the norm in the US, smaller cars are favored in Europe. Speaking to a European conference on batteries that was hosted by Germany, Musk recounted struggling to find a parking spot in Berlin when driving a Model X.
“I was driving a Model X around Berlin and we had quite a bit of trouble finding a parking space where we could fit,” he said, according to Reuters.
As a result, Musk has said a compact or hatchback style car makes sense for the European market.
“Possibly in Europe it would make sense to do, I guess, a compact car, perhaps a hatchback or something like that,” said Musk.
Should Tesla move forward with a compact design, given the success of the Civic and Corolla, it’s a safe bet it would be popular in the US as well.
The Federal Communications Commission has denied ZTE’s request to reconsider the decision to label it a national security threat.
ZTE, along with Huawei, has been labeled a threat to national security over security and espionage concerns. ZTE and Huawei are believed to open the door for Beijing’s spying efforts, through their telecom equipment.
“We cannot treat Huawei and ZTE as anything less than a threat to our collective security,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr stated when the FCC initially labeled the two companies. As a result of the decision, companies are unable to use federal funds to buy, maintain or support equipment from ZTE or Huawei, providing a major incentive to use equipment from other companies.
There appears to be no relief in sight for ZTE, as the FCC has upheld its initial decision after the its Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau found no sound basis to reconsider.
“With today’s order, we are taking another important step in our ongoing efforts to protect U.S. communications networks from security risks,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “At the next Open Meeting on December 10, the Commission will vote on rules to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement program to help carriers remove and replace untrusted equipment from their networks, months before the statutory deadline. Now it is more vital than ever that Congress appropriate funds so that our communications networks are protected from vendors that threaten our national security.”
As electric and hybrid vehicles become standard, the EU is working to become self-sufficient in the batteries powering them by 2025.
According to Reuters, China currently is responsible for 80% of the world’s lithium-ion production. European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic would like to ensure Europe’s ability to be self-sufficient in the critical tech.
“I am confident that by 2025, the EU will be able to produce enough battery cells to meet the needs of the European automotive industry, and even to build our export capacity,” Sefcovic told the online European Conference on Batteries, according to Reuters. This would equal enough batteries to power 6 million electric vehicles.
The news comes on the heals of the VW Group’s announcement it will be increasing its investment in future tech, including electric vehicle technology, to $86 billion over the next five years. In addition, Bentley announced its entire lineup would be electric-only by 2030.
Being self-sufficient in electric batteries would help the EU and its automakers remain competitive as the industry adopts the new technology.
Dell Technologies’ VMware posted its third-quarter results, beating estimates on strong subscription and SaaS growth.
VMware is a leading virtualization software company, with its software in use by many of the biggest organizations in the world. The company’s software is also seeing widespread use in cloud infrastructure, with many telcos relying on it to help speed up 5G deployment.
The company has reported its Q3 results, beating consensus estimates on $2.86 billion in revenue. Subscription, SaaS and license revenue accounted for $1.32 billion, an increase of 10% from the year-ago quarter. The subscription and SaaS revenue alone was $676 million, a 44% increase over the year-ago quarter.
“Q3 was another good quarter for VMware, and we’re pleased with our results,” commented Pat Gelsinger, CEO, VMware. “As customers navigate through these unprecedented times, our focus remains on delivering the digital foundation for an unpredictable world. We continue to shape the future in areas that are top priority for every business–from app development to multi-cloud to security and digital workspaces.”
“Subscription and SaaS revenue increased 44% year-over-year in Q3 and surpassed license revenue for the first time,” said Zane Rowe, executive vice president and CFO, VMware. “VMware will continue to invest in and focus on further expanding our Subscription and SaaS portfolio, which we believe will drive company growth, customer satisfaction and shareholder value.”
Amazon has a complicated relationship with its employees and the latest reports are not likely to help the situation.
With an employee base closing in on 1.2 million, Amazon has been a source of reliable employment for many during the pandemic. At the same time, the company has often been criticized for its climate policies and for not doing enough to protect its workers from COVID.
Now employees have another reason to be angry at the company, as a report from Motherboard shows the company has used Pinkerton detectives to counter unionization efforts, as well as monitor environmental and social groups.
The documents show Amazon analysts closely monitor the labor and union-organizing activity of their workers throughout Europe, as well as environmentalist and social justice groups on Facebook and Instagram. They also indicate, and an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, that Amazon has hired Pinkerton operatives—from the notorious spy agency known for its union-busting activities—to gather intelligence on warehouse workers.
At a time when Amazon is already under scrutiny, this latest revelation is not likely to do the company any favors.
At a time when Americans are relying on internet access more than ever, Comcast Xfinity is rolling out data caps across its market.
Comcast currently serves a 39-state region. While data caps were already in effect in much of its market, the company is now bringing them to the remaining states, primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. The specific states are Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia.
The company will cap users at 1.2 TB of monthly data usage beginning January 2021, although the company will offer a couple of months of grace period. Beginning in April, however, Comcast Xfinity customers will be charged $10 per 50 GB over the cap, although the company says overages will be capped at $100 per month. To make matters even worse, there is currently no provision to save up data from lighter months and roll it over to heavier months.
Needless to say, customers have been outraged at the announcement, pointing out that families and individuals are relying on their internet connection more than ever due to the pandemic. Individuals are working remotely, children are learning remotely, and families are relying on videoconferencing for socializing, worship and entertainment. As a result, Comcast’s announcement is being labeled an example of “unlimited greed.”
Rather than rethinking their strategy, Comcast is hitting back, pointing out that the data caps won’t impact 95% of users.
Hi Sean. About 95 percent of our customers use less than 1.2TB and are not impacted by this plan – even with the spike in usage as customers are educating and working from home during COVID-19. (1/2)
Some are already pointing to Comcast’s announcement as the latest example of why critics say internet providers should be regulated like utilities. While internet access may have been a luxury at one time, it has now become an important lifeline for the majority of Americans.
Informally, Industrial Revolutions are referred to as Industry “Points O’s.” The First Industrial Revolution, or Industry 1.0, took place between 1760 and 1830, the second following up shortly after between 1870-1914. Between 1950-2002, the world underwent “digitalization” as a result of the Third Industrial Revolution, or Industry 3.0; and since 2011, we have been undergoing the Fourth Industrial Revolution, more commonly known as Industry 4.0. As a result of digitalization, data intelligence has been a primary driver in prospective industry revolutions.
As a result of Industry 1.0, machines and tools were able to replace animal and human labor. This was especially monumental for its time (1760-1830). How? The use of iron and steel for machinery began to skyrocket. As a result, working class citizens were able to create new resources, such as steam and internal combustion engines – which went on to drive a sector of the economy in itself.
Under Industry 2.0 (1870-1914), workers of the mass production industry saw many days of sunshine. For the first time, assembly line efficiency and productivity was lightened and shipping was made easier due to the invention of railways and telegraphs – another product of Industry 2.0. More along, new materials such as stainless steel and plastics were introduced as societal benefits.
Things got more technological under Industry 3.0 (1950-2002). The Third Industrial Revolution introduced electronics and IT, as well integrated them into manufacturing procedures. As a result, society saw a massive rise in telecommunications, computers, and even nuclear power. There was also a noteworthy widespread in factory automation, such as the incorporation of robots and PLCs to contribute to the general workflow.
Since 2011, interconnectivity has been the key focus. Already, Industry 4.0 is set to provide higher-level automation driven by artificial intelligence, as well as optimized manufacturing using real-time data and sensors. Additionally, this Industrial Revolution is focusing on a way to integrate cyber-physical systems throughout the supply chain.
In its outcome, Industry 4.0 will have used big data and machine learning to automate plants, warehouses, machines, and more. Furthermore, Industry 4.0 will have created smart machines that will be capable of collecting and analyzing data, as well as communicating the right information at the right time.
In other words, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will lay improvements across 3 new sectors: smart communication, data quality, and smart devices.
Smart communication allows manufacturers to rapidly respond to changing demand, inventory shortfalls, or equipment faults. Data Quality helps companies quickly locate problems so they can respond to them quicker. Additionally, data quality can be refined through organization-wide networks. Smart Devices create increasingly autonomous ecosystems that act as a catalyst for the future of the industry. Examples of these include driverless vehicles and drones. Driverless vehicles can navigate factories and warehouses, and drones can be used for maintenance and inventory management.
With that being said, business owners should seek insights on the ways they’re being impacted by Industry 4.0 In other words, this is a great time to prepare an effective data structure, focus on high-fidelity data creation and communication, standardardized business and data process, and understand your business’ use case. If even one important portion of the data is missing, it can break the digital thread – causing the flow of data to stop.
Is your data ready for Industry 4.0? Find out in the infographic below.
T-Mobile has said it is “the only adult in the room on 5G” as it takes Verizon, and to a lesser extent AT&T, to task over 5G claims.
T-Mobile and Verizon have taken drastically different paths to their 5G rollout. T-Mobile has emphasized a multi-layered approach, initially focused on its low-band, nationwide 5G network, based on the company’s 600 MHz spectrum. Low-band 5G provides broad coverage, comparable to 4G LTE, although its speed is only marginally better.
T-Mobile also started deploying its high-band, mmWave spectrum in cities. mmWave offers speeds measured in gigabits, although it’s hampered by extremely poor range and building penetration. Since its merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has also been deploying Sprint’s 2.6 GHz spectrum for its mid-band 5G network, offering speeds in excess of 1 Gbps. Most experts believe mid-band is the sweet spot for 5G, providing the best combination of speed, range and penetration. Thanks to the merger, T-Mobile has an unrivaled wealth of this spectrum.
In contrast, Verizon initially focused almost exclusively on its mmWave deployment. This was largely because the company lacked the low or mid-band spectrum to roll out a network with broader coverage. As a result, at least initially, Verizon had bragging rights on having the fastest 5G network in the country, although its mmWave network only offers coverage 0.6% of the time.
Coinciding with the iPhone 12 release, Verizon unveiled its nationwide 5G network. The company still does not have the spectrum to roll out a dedicated low-band network, as T-Mobile did, forcing Verizon to rely on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to share its spectrum between 4G and 5G. The company still does not have the mid-band spectrum to take advantage of 5G’s sweet spot, although the company is expected to be the biggest bidder at the mid-band FCC auction in December.
We’ve always considered ourselves to be the adult in the room on 5G. Our goal is to build 5G the right way and do right by our customers. And from what I’ve seen, that isn’t as true for our competitors. From AT&T’s misleading “5G E” that wasn’t even real 5G to Verizon claiming they have “5G Built Right”, it’s time to shed some light on the truth.
Ray also highlighted the toll Verizon’s lack of spectrum and reliance on DSS has taken on the network’s speed.
As of the beginning of October, Verizon still had incredibly fast speeds on mmwave but that changed when they launched their broader 5G footprint. While the speeds of Verizon’s millimeter wave (or “Ultra Wideband” as they market it) look impressive these speeds aren’t useful if they aren’t broadly available to customers. Round a corner or move a few feet putting an obstacle between you and the tower and the millimeter wave speed is gone. How useful is that – yep – not very useful at all!
So Verizon turned to Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to add some kind of meaningful coverage to its 5G footprint. It allows both 4G and 5G to share the same spectrum and splits the capacity so each technology gets part of it, which can make things slower for everyone. Without adding new spectrum, Verizon’s nationwide 5G is going to perform very similar to LTE. If you don’t believe me, just ask Verizon’s CTO who said their nationwide 5G speeds are “most of the time, on par” with 4G. DSS has its place in 5G, but it should be used in limited scenarios — not to provide an entire nationwide footprint. Our analysis of the Ookla data shows this: Verizon now has the slowest median 5G download speeds in the industry since October 2020.
Ray then pointed out how T-Mobile is doing things differently.
Our 5G strategy couldn’t be more different, and we’ve been clear and transparent about it from the start. In early 2018, I first talked about the spectrum “layer cake” and how 5G requires dedicated spectrum across all three layers to deliver the best 5G experience — low band for broad coverage indoors and outside, mid band for coverage and blazing fast speed and high band for super-fast speeds in defined spaces, like campuses and stadiums. This “layered” approach, using multiple dedicated – not shared – spectrum bands, is the key to unlocking the transformational power of 5G with both coverage AND speed. Customers want fast and reliable speeds on the go, everywhere they go. Not just 0.6% of the time. And right now, T-Mobile is the only one in the US building 5G with both broad coverage and fast speeds.
It’s clear that, at least for the foreseeable future, T-Mobile is the US company to beat in the 5G wars. Its investment in 600 MHz spectrum and its merger with Sprint have given it a competitive advantage that won’t soon be overcome.
Only 2.62% of recipients click links for “more information” in marketing emails; however, we will send a collective of 361 billion emails per day by 2024. More along, 90% of marketing professionals say email engagement is the number one metric that can help them measure content performance. Similarly, 87% of marketing professionals say email is one of their top free, and organic, channels for content distribution, and 81% say email newsletters are their most used form of content marketing.
Email newsletters can lend a great deal of help in client retention, communication, and revenue-building. Many newsletters provide readers with coupons, exclusive offers and products, as well as membership perks and discounts. As a result, experts have found shoppers to spend nearly 137% more with a business after receiving email offers. To the benefit of the brand, a $45 return is seen for every $1 spent on email marketing.
In other words, the key to successful email marketing is getting your content seen and engaged with without getting flagged as spam. Luckily, this is achievable in various ways.
One of the easiest things you can do to raise your email open rates is to replace any irrelevant text or uninteresting subject lines. When crafting an email, be personal. Feel free to use the recipient’s name or location as a conversation-builder. Continuing on, be brief. As a general rule of thumb, keep email subject lines under 10 words – and/or 60 characters. However, remember to keep your subject line friendly, as this personable method also increases email open rates. With this, be sure to use no more than 3 punctuation marks and 1 emoji.
Of course, there are many methods to messaging targeted recipients. A/B comparison methods can assist as they allow for testing across various subject lines. With its results, you can learn which outreach variant your customers prefer.
You can also categorize your contacts into interest groups and geolocation to ensure content is relevant to all receivers. Geolocations can be as specific as time zones or regions.
On the other hand, you can increase your click-through rates using hacks just as easy. For example, change your hyperlink’s text, and avoid using “click here.” Remember: not many email recipients click for more. Instead, take the opportunity to embed multiple links to the same content, and create descriptive and concise link text when doing so. You can also use A/B style testing here to test out content blocks.
When conducting outreach, one of the most important keys to remember is not getting marked as spam. Recipients rarely flag marketing emails as spam; but when they do, it’s because they’ve grown stale of the marketer’s content, their contact information has been purchased, they have been contacted without permission, or something else along these lines.
As a human courtesy, ask customers to opt-in to receiving your emails before auto-blasting them with content. In fact, take the time to explain the benefits such as coupons or other exclusive offers when asking them to op-tin. Regardless of what you, never purchase email addresses. Similarly, never hide the unsubscribe link from your emails. It’s always important to keep emails and campaigns professional – so stick to any email frequency expectations you have set for your team.
Overall, all marketers want consumers to engage with their content. The best way in doing so may be through email marketing. Do you know the best tactics for engaging with the public?
AWS has unveiled the AWS Network Firewall in an effort to help customers protect their cloud-based virtual networks.
AWS is currently the top cloud platform, with 31% of the cloud computing market. One of AWS’ biggest strengths is the breadth and depth of services the platform offers.
The company is building on that with its latest announcement, AWS Network Firewall, “a high availability, managed network firewall service” for virtual private clouds (VPC). The new service complements the other firewall capabilities AWS currently provides, such as “Security Groups to protect Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances, Network ACLs to protect Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) subnets, AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect web applications running on Amazon CloudFront, Application Load Balancer (ALB) or Amazon API Gateway, and AWS Shield to protect against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.”
The AWS Network Firewall can be setup with just a few clicks, and the company touts its ability to scale as needed, eliminating the need to manage additional infrastructure.
“With AWS Network Firewall, you can implement customized rules to prevent your VPCs from accessing unauthorized domains, to block thousands of known-bad IP addresses, or identify malicious activity using signature-based detection,” writes Channy Yun is a Principal Developer Advocate for AWS. “AWS Network Firewall makes firewall activity visible in real-time via CloudWatch metrics and offers increased visibility of network traffic by sending logs to S3, CloudWatch and Kinesis Firehose. Network Firewall is integrated with AWS Firewall Manager, giving customers who use AWS Organizations a single place to enable and monitor firewall activity across all your VPCs and AWS accounts. Network Firewall is interoperable with your existing security ecosystem, including AWS partners such as CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Splunk. You can also import existing rules from community maintained Suricata rulesets.”
The news is a welcome addition to AWS’ cybersecurity services and will help customers keep their VPCs even safer.
The Solomon Islands Government is preparing to ban Facebook to protect “national unity” and crack down on cyberbullying.
Facebook may be experiencing record growth, thanks to the pandemic, but the Solomon Islands government is not a fan. The government has criticized the social media platform for its role in cyberbullying and online defamation.
“Cyberbullying on Facebook is widespread, people have been defamed by users who use fake names, and people’s reputations that have been built up over the years [are destroyed] in a matter of minutes,” Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said, according to ABC News.
The proposed ban is being called a temporary one while the government drafts laws to legislate online behavior. Temporary or not, the move has drawn intense criticism from the government’s opponents, as well as from Solomon Islanders abroad.
“My mum was very sick, and she went downhill very quickly, within like 10 days, and then we lost her,” Nurse Margaret Tadokata told ABC News. “My last goodbyes with my mum were on a video call on Facebook, on Messenger … Without it, I wouldn’t have seen her or heard her for the last time.”
“Even though I’ve been in Australia for more than 20 years, my connection and my culture and family are very important to me, and Facebook has made that easy for me,” continued Ms Tadokata.
The backlash the Solomon Islands Government is experiencing illustrates the challenges governments around the world face in their efforts to regulate Facebook. On the one hand, there is no denying the damage the social media platform has done to the fabric of human society and societal norms. On the other hand, the platform has become a nearly irreplaceable method of communication for many across the globe.
Mozilla’s latest Firefox release, version 83.0, boosts a major increase to JavaScript performance.
JavaScript, once mainly used for animations and menus, is one of the most important languages of the web. Thanks to JavaScript, developers are able to create complex web applications, many of which rival desktop applications for functionality.
Unfortunately, running JavaScript-heavy websites is one of the most challenging aspects of a web browser’s duties. Every major browser manufacturer constantly works to increase JavaScript performance and responsiveness.
Mozilla’s latest version of Firefox significantly boosts the browser’s performance thanks to a major update to its SpiderMonkey JavaScript engine. The new update, called Warp or WarpBuilder, makes changes to the Just-In-Time (JIT) compilers.
With Warp (also called WarpBuilder) we’re making big changes to our JIT (just-in-time) compilers, resulting in improved responsiveness, faster page loads and better memory usage. The new architecture is also more maintainable and unlocks additional SpiderMonkey improvements.
Traditionally, JavaScript is an interpreted language. That means the code is interpreted on the fly as it is executed. This can result in major performance issues, especially when code must be executed repeatedly, such as code loops. JIT compilers help solve this problem by compiling and storing frequently used code, speeding up operations.
Firefox’s latest boost comes from significantly optimizing those JIT compilers, resulting in significant real-world gains over Warp’s predecessor Ion.
Warp is faster than Ion on many workloads. The picture below shows a couple examples: we had a 20% improvement on Google Docs load time, and we are about 10-12% faster on the Speedometer benchmark.
We’ve seen similar page load and responsiveness improvements on other JS-intensive websites such as Reddit and Netflix. Feedback from Nightly users has been positive as well.
Although Firefox is no longer the leading browser, in terms of market share, it continues to be a major player. Its improved performance, not to mention emphasis on privacy, will hopefully help it gain some ground against its larger rivals.
GoDaddy is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons after employees were tricked into helping hackers take over domains.
This latest attack targeted a number of cryptocurrency services, and relied on “social engineering” to convince GoDaddy employees to hand over control of the target companies’ domain names. Mike Kayamori, CEO of Liquid, described the attack:
On the 13th of November 2020, a domain hosting provider “GoDaddy” that manages one of our core domain names incorrectly transferred control of the account and domain to a malicious actor. This gave the actor the ability to change DNS records and in turn, take control of a number of internal email accounts. In due course, the malicious actor was able to partially compromise our infrastructure, and gain access to document storage.
Kayamori said the company believes all client funds and digital wallets are secure, although personal information was compromised, including names, emails and encrypted passwords.
Although there does not appear to be any statement on GoDaddy’s website acknowledging the breach, the company issued a statement to Engadget, confirming that a “limited number” of its employees had fallen for “social engineering” tactics resulting in unauthorized changes to customers accounts and domains.
This is a huge embarrassment for GoDaddy, especially since the company was victim of a similar attack that impacted Escrow.com back in March.
A bug appears to be preventing Twitter’s new Fleets from disappearing after 24 hours as they’re supposed to.
Twitter introduced Fleets on Tuesday, as a way for users to send tweets that disappear after 24 hours. The goal was to lower the barrier-to-entry, making it easier for individuals to start conversations and share their thoughts without the pressure of it being permanent
Unfortunately, it appears a bug is preventing Fleets from disappearing as they’re supposed to. The bug allows anyone to download a person’s Fleets, without them being notified.
TechCrunch reached out to Twitter for comment and was told the company is aware of the problem and is working on a fix. In the meantime, anyone counting on Fleets disappearing may want to hold off before using the new feature.
Dropbox has unveiled an update to Spaces, one aimed at helping remote workers collaborate and remain productive.
Dropbox Spaces is a service currently in beta that helps small teams work together and stay productive. Dropbox describes the service as “the virtual workspace that brings together teams and projects. Spaces is a new experience from Dropbox, and is designed so small teams can streamline their work, prioritize their day, and stay connected from anywhere.”
As the pandemic has transformed the workplace, Dropbox has gone all-in on remote work. The company announced it was transitioning to a “virtual first” company, even releasing the Virtual First Toolkit to help other companies do the same.
Dropbox has introduced Spaces 2, making it even easier for remote teams to work together.
The new Dropbox Spaces is a virtual workspace that brings teams and projects together. With Spaces, teams have one easy-to-use place where they can collaborate on content, communicate with their team, and coordinate projects from start to finish.
Streamline your work. When information is spread across tools and channels, projects are harder to kick off and manage. Spaces makes it easier by bringing together files, cloud content, tasks, comments, and timelines into a single Space for teams.
Prioritize your day. Competing priorities make it difficult to work efficiently and finish what needs to get done. With Spaces, you can create tasks for yourself and the team, add project milestones, and manage your schedule so you never miss a deadline.
Stay connected to move projects forward. Connecting with people and keeping tabs on work-in-progress is more challenging than ever. With Spaces, you can share project updates, reply to feedback, and feel the human connection of working together from anywhere.
It’s a safe bet Dropbox will have a big hit on their hands with Spaces, as the company leverages their own “virtual first” experience to help other companies maximize remote productivity.
Facebook moderators are protesting the company’s decision to require them to come back to the office amid the pandemic.
For months, Facebook allowed content moderators to work from home. Recently, however, the company required them to come back into the office. Moderators have penned an open letter, criticizing executives for not taking their safety seriously, and not paying them enough to take risks Facebook requires.
After months of allowing content moderators to work from home, faced with intense pressure to keep Facebook free of hate and disinformation, you have forced us back to the office. Moderators who secure a doctors’ note about a personal COVID risk have been excused from attending in person. Moderators with vulnerable relatives, who might die were they to contract COVID from us, have not.
The moderators take Zuckerberg to task for benefiting significantly from the pandemic, with his fortune nearly doubling during it, but not passing on any benefits to the people making Facebook’s success possible. While Zuckerberg is worth over $100 billion, the moderators are only paid roughly $18/hour.
The letter also addresses the toxic nature of the job, something that has become intolerable when the pressure of the pandemic is added on.
Before the pandemic, content moderation was easily Facebook’s most brutal job. We waded through violence and child abuse for hours on end. Moderators working on child abuse content had targets increased during the pandemic, with no additional support.
Now, on top of work that is psychologically toxic, holding onto the job means walking into a hot zone. In several offices, multiple COVID cases have occurred on the floor. Workers have asked Facebook leadership, and the leadership of your outsourcing firms like Accenture and CPL, to take urgent steps to protect us and value our work. You refused. We are publishing this letter because we are left with no choice.
The moderators highlight how Facebook’s artificial intelligence algorithms have so far failed to replace the human element, making the moderators more important than ever. It remains to be seen if Facebook will address the moderators’ concerns.
T-Mobile informed TVision subscribers they will be receiving 30+ channels, normally part of the Vibe plan, for free.
At the end of October, T-Mobile unveiled its TVision streaming service, designed to compete with the likes of YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling and fuboTV. The company unveiled four packages, including Vibe, Live TV, Live TV+ and Live Zone.
The Vibe plan, in particular, was seen as a high-value option, providing 30+ entertainment and lifestyle channels for just $10. It was a good option for customers who were not interested in local channels or sports. Now, T-Mobile is giving away the Vibe plan for free to customers that have one of the TVision Live subscriptions.
T-Mobile Free Channels Email
Behind the scenes, industry experts say the promotion is a result of the legal issues and carriage disputes T-Mobile is facing over TVision. Despite the cable TV industry being one of the most hated industries in America, media companies continue to hold to the very business practices that made them so hated.
One of those practices is channel stuffing, requiring certain packages to contain certain channels, and then forcing customers to pay for channels they don’t want. T-Mobile’s willingness to separate their channel lineup in a way that allowed customers to choose what they wanted to pay for was one of its big selling points.
According to Variety, however, T-Mobile has had to make adjustments to prevent legal action from the media companies. For example, many media companies specify that any of their channels included in a cheaper tier must also be included in more expensive tiers. While T-Mobile viewed their Vibe plan as a standalone option, the media companies are clearly viewing it as the entry-level tier. As a result, because it has channels not included in any TVision Live plans, the media companies are crying foul.
To T-Mobile’s credit—in the same week that Hulu and DirecTV announced price hikes—the company’s solution is simply to include the 30+ Vibe channels for free in the more expensive TVision Live plans. While the company has portrayed it as a limited-time holiday event, given its Un-carrier reputation, it’s hard to imagine T-Mobile will do anything that will be a burden to customers on the other side of its holiday deal.
From the outset, CEO Mike Sievert characterized TVision as a loss-leader to help drive more customers to its cellular and home internet options. Hopefully the company’s holiday deal will become a permanent option, or replaced by some equally value-driven option.
Five companies have been awarded a multibillion-dollar cloud computing contract by the Central Intelligence Agency.
The CIA has awarded its Commercial Cloud Enterprise (C2E) contract to AWS, Microsoft, Google, IBM and Oracle. The goal of the contract to provide “foundational cloud services, including infrastructure-, platform- and software-as-a-service capabilities, as well as professional services,” according to Nextgov.
As Nextgov points out, awarding the contract to multiple firms opens the way for multiple companies to serve the intelligence community in mission-critical ways. At the time, AWS has the highest clearance levels, with Microsoft coming in at second place. As the other companies continue working on the contract however, it stands to reason they will eventually qualify for top-secret clearances as well.
The contract award is also a big win for IBM and Oracle, both of whom are working to establish themselves as top competitors to the Big Three.
Microsoft is ramping up its competition with Zoom by offering 24-hour meetings with its free Teams plan.
Zoom quickly emerged at the outset of the pandemic as one of the top choices for virtual work, remote learning, worship and socializing. Although Microsoft’s Skype is one of the oldest video conferencing platforms, it has not enjoyed nearly as much popularity or use.
As a result, Microsoft has pivoted to promoting its Teams platform. Although originally more of a Slack competitor, Microsoft has increasingly been positioning Teams as an alternative to Zoom.
Zoom made headlines Tuesday when it announced it was lifting the 40-minute limit on meetings with its free account, in an effort to help families remain safe and still be able to visit during Thanksgiving.
Microsoft has followed suit, announcing it is extending the time limit on meetings made with a free Teams account to 24-hours. In addition, only the person hosting the meeting needs a Teams account, making it even easier for others to join.
Microsoft’s announcement is good news for consumers and highlights the benefits of healthy competition in the video conferencing market.
