Apple Makes 500k Jobs? Cloud Services Could Help Make 14 Million, With Half In China And India
Much was made of the news last week from Apple that its businesses had effectively created over 500,000 jobs in the U.S. not just directly at its company but at the many that link into the ecosystem it has created. Today, Microsoft teamed up with IDC to publish some research that took that one step (or actually 13.5 million steps) further:
The two say that cloud computing services will generate nearly 14 million jobs worldwide by 2015, and that in 2012 that number is already at 6.7 million. That development, IDC says, could account for $1.1 trillion annually in new business revenues. Read more...
Google’s Schmidt says devices, apps need to be friends
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told an audience at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that the future of technology will be getting all the electronics in our lives to friend each other.
Schmidt, speaking before a standing-room-only crowd at the show in Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon, said devices aren't living up to their full potential unless they're connected. That ecosystem includes devices, operating systems, applications and content.
"Computing devices without a network are lonely," he said. "You really want to be able to walk into your house and, through your Android device, have all the devices in your house adjust because you've walked in. The TV should know that you've come in and turn on to your favorite show."
And the growth of that digital ecosystem is the future that Schmidt envisions.
"Think of these as peer-to-peer devices that talk to each other," he added. "It should become seamless." Read more...
Apple iPad to lead tablet market for next five years
Apple and its iPad dominate the tablet market now - and will still be the dominant player in five years' time, analyst house Gartner is predicting.
Despite mounting competition from other operating systems, including Google's Android OS and RIM's QNX tablet OS - with RIM's first tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, due to launch in the US later this month - Apple's iOS will grab more than half the market share for media tablets in the next three years, according to Gartner.
The analyst defines a media tablet as a touchscreen device with a screen size larger than five inches, predominantly designed for consuming media, and running a lightweight OS. Read more...
Linux Development to Get High Availability Push
The Linux Foundation has formed a new working group to speed development within the Linux ecosystem that would make the operating system kernel more suitable for building high-availability (HA) systems, the Foundation announced Wednesday.
The High Availability Working Group will define a software stack for running Linux in clustered, mission-critical environments. It will also prioritize development work that still needs to be done, based on feedback from developers, vendors and customers. Read more...