Smart Devices to Provide Growth Opportunities for Gesture Identification Technologies

The user-friendliness, the human-machine interaction and security promised by the gesture recognition technology are helping it in registering a robust growth. This has led to costumer preference for gesture enabled electronics, including tablets, laptops, and mobile phones. The increasing application of gesture control technology in healthcare, banks, and retail sector are some of the key factors contributing to the rise in global gesture recognition market.

Gesture Technology Makes the Handling of Complex Machines Easier

The market shall witness a major change in the operation and handling of complex machinery with the introduction of gesture control solutions. The complex and bulky machines can be operated remotely with the help of gesture recognition applications. The technology can also help in managing hazardous machines, like reactors from a distance, ensuring safety. The gesture control will also enable automation in the places wherever manual settings were required. 

Automation in the automobile industry through gesture technology will ensure onboard safety and also lift its technology quotient. After the success of touch and voice control, companies are working on the gesture controlled central console of the vehicle.

Research Report: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/gesture-recognition-market.html

Gesture Technology Gains Popularity in Gaming Industry

Recent development in the gesture tracking technology and 3D Vision has fueled the demand for gesture technology in the gaming industry. The tracking enabled gaming console coupled with 2D gesture identification technology in smart devices such as PCs, TVs, and tablets are propelling the demand for non-touch, non-voice gesture recognition technology.

Although, limited numbers of recognizable gestures saved in the system is causing a hindrance for the gesture technology to take over the gaming industry. Yet, technological advancements in the gesture recognition market coupled with rising demand for altogether more realistic gaming experience are offering excellent opportunities for the key companies in the gesture recognition market.

e-Skin Could Change the Way We Communicate with the World

A new development reported by the University of Tokyo could help integrate electronics with the human skin in an unprecedented manner. The concept, being called the ‘e-skin’, essentially helps convert one’s skin into a digital screen. The researchers are trying to do so by using an ultrathin layer that will act as ‘electronic skin’ and display information about key health and fitness parameters. Athletes, for instance, can monitor their heart rate and blood oxygen levels using the device.

The team that has developed the e-skin demonstrated its use with an OLED display. With the integration of electronic devices with the body several new biomedical applications could now emerge. Researchers across the world are looking to go a step ahead of electronic wearables and embed electronics in the human body to enable better interaction between machines and humans.

However, that’s not an easy task considering that wearable electronics need to be extremely flexible, thin, and not be rejected by the body. Moreover, it is imperative that such electronics are attached to the body with minimal impact. 

Safe materials with millimeter-scale thickness have thus become the focus of researchers. In this regard, the key challenge faced by researchers has cropped up during the development of plastic substrates or glass that has thickness in the millimeter range but is still flexible enough and demonstrates stability when exposed to air.

What Can e-Skin Do?

The e-skin has been created using a protective film, which was developed by Professors Tomoyuki Yokota and Takao Someya, measures less than two micrometers in thickness and is ultraflexible. Besides the e-skin, the material can also be used in next-generation electronic devices and displays.

With the e-skin, it would be possible to display your emotions or your current stress levels via the flexible display that adheres to the body. The e-skin could also mean that people will have to carry fewer electronic devices and help improve the way we interact with the world. In short, it could create a whole new of communicating with people.

Cybersecurity Industry in India Could Create 1 Million Jobs by 2025, says Nasscom

The pressing need to implement countermeasures to keep cyber security risks in check will generate an astonishing number of jobs in India, the country’s IT industry association Nasscom has said. According to a report in the Times of India, efforts to protect data from cyber criminals and the setting up of fortification IT infrastructure across the world will create a US$35-bn revenue opportunity by 2025 for India’s IT sector. This emerging trend will also create about a million job opportunities in the field. Nasscom reckons that the cyber security boom will give the Indian IT industry another opportunity to strengthen its offshore services offerings portfolio.

• The industry body estimates that the Indian IT sector will value about US$350 bn by the end of 2025, and about 10% of this will be represented by cybersecurity.
• Spokespersons for Nasscom further added that currently, cybersecurity in India represents a US$3-bn opportunity in India, which translates to 2% of the Indian IT sector, which is valued at US$150 bn.
• The start-up scenario is also expected to remain dynamic as far as the cybersecurity market in India is concerned. The industry body reckons that about 1,000 startups will crop up in this space.
• It is expected that startups will help the IT industry to demonstrate more agility in responding to emergent cyber security threats because of these companies being more “light footed” and boasting world-class technologies, said the Rajendra Pawar, Chair of the Cyber Security Task Force at Nasscom.
• Investments in cybersecurity have seen a surge in recent years because enterprises are taking their data security very seriously and are willing to spend more on securing their customers’ and stakeholders’ data.

Anticipating a massive surge in both the number of cyber attacks and the need to protect against them, Nasscom had set up a cyber security task force in 2015. With this, the Indian IT industry hopes to position itself as a leading player in the global cyber security industry.

Researchers Develop Browser-agnostic System that Cuts Page Load Times by 34%

Waiting for pages to load when browsing the internet can be agonizing. It’s a concern not just for web users but also search giants such as Google, who are taking page load time into consideration when ranking websites. This led researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) together with their counterparts at Harvard to devise a system that makes page load times faster.

The teams from the two hallowed universities have come up with a system called Polaris, which overlaps downloading objects on a page so that the time taken to download the entire page is reduced.

Each time a browser has to fetch a piece of data by crossing to a mobile network, the process takes 100 milliseconds. The more complex a page, the higher is the number of trips required to fetch the required pieces of data. According to the report’s first author, Ravi Netravali, a PhD student, the complexity of a page can substantially add to its loading times.

To work out a solution to this issue, the researchers realized that they could reduce the time taken to load pages by reducing the number of trips to fetch data. The process becomes especially convoluted when the browser needs to fetch pieces known as ‘dependencies,’ which are essentially supporting objects required to a load an object on a webpage.

Polaris addresses this long-winded approach by giving the browser a list of objects that it needs to fetch beforehand – this enables the browser to calculate the fastest route in order to fetch the pre-decided list of objects. This is a departure from the conventional method in which the browser doesn’t know which objects it needs to fetch and in what order.

The team of researchers now hopes that Polaris will be integrated into web browsers sometime soon in the future so internet users can enjoy faster webpage loading times.

Could New Technology that Edits Genes Help Wipe Out Malaria?

The call for eradicating malaria continues to intensify, with the WHO estimating that 2015 saw 214 million malaria cases worldwide, with most fatalities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, a new gene-editing technology could give the drive to eradicate malaria a further push as a team of scientists has identified techniques to prevent mosquitoes from transmitting the disease. The technology, developed by researchers from London’s Imperial College, essentially entails effecting genetic changes in a common breed of mosquito that’s known to be a carrier of the deadly disease. These changes would ultimately lead to a drop in the population of the mosquito breed, thereby preventing the transmission of malaria.

Recently, a team of scientists in Southern California also altered a different mosquito breed to assess if the technique could curtail the spread of the malaria parasite. While these two projects were conducted by separate teams, what’s common to their approach is that they both used a genetic engineering technology called Crispr/Cas9. This technology is creating waves in the genetic engineering world because it makes it possible for genetics experts to precisely cut and paste genes.

Besides this, the new technology also helps scientists to develop a gene drive, a revolutionary technique via which they can create a DNA sequence that allows genetic traits to be inherited rapidly by populations.

While this technology could bring with it a revolutionary approach to eradicating various diseases, those arguing about the ethics of such a technique are still not convinced. Their concerns are centered on the fact that allowing such a step would concentrate the power to effect inheritable changes in humans and animals in the hands of a few individuals.

In the context of malaria, specifically, this technology is still reportedly about a year away from actually causing any genetic modifications to malaria-transmitting mosquitos. However, if the ethics argument does reach a consensus, the way diseases are treated will never be the same.

Startup Makes Headway into Indian Smart Home Market with Smart Bulb

The Indian smart homes industry is yet to gather steam but that could change soon if the number of smart-home-friendly products entering the market is any indication. The latest product ready to be deployed in smart homes in India is a ‘smart bulb’ launched by Indian start-up, Cube26. The bulb, which the company claims will last about 15,000 hours, can be controlled via a mobile app. The other features of the bulb are enticing as well; it offers a choice of 16 million colors, has a brightness of 500 lumens, and is rated at 7W.

Although these features position the smart bulb, called IOTA Lite, as a novel product in the Indian market, what might be a dampener is the product’s price tag. At INR 1,499 apiece, the smart bulb might be considered as being heavy on the pocket by more than a few Indian households. Prices of LED bulbs with a 9W rating average INR 350 in the Indian market.

Saurav Kumar, the CEO and co-founder of Cube26, told Indian media persons at an event this week that smart bulbs are poised to be a pivotal feature of smart homes, given that lighting is an indispensable part of any residential or commercial property. IoT is making a headway into every major industrial vertical worldwide and this is expected to be no different in the Indian context.

The start-up, which has been funded by Tiger Global, has started selling its smart bulb via Indian e-commerce site Flipkart last week. The home automation market is growing by leaps and bounds, and is expected to sustain its momentum steadily over the next few years. Smart lighting is poised to be one of the leading segments of the global home automation market, and early movers in this space will have a greater chance of asserting their dominance in sales.

Li-Fi Breakthrough in China could Turn every LED Bulb into Internet Hotspot

China may have just made the biggest technology breakthrough yet in visible light communication (VLC) technology. The new technology, which offers mind bogglingly high real-time speed, makes use of a very ubiquitous resource – light from a lamp. If all goes according to plan with this milestone development, people in China could download a high-definition (HD) Hollywood movie in just a 0.3 second. The Li-Fi system, developed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Information Engineering University, has now entered the design integration and micromation phase.

In order to assess the feasibility of this technology being deployed on commercial scale, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently conducted a few tests, which returned encouraging results. According to officials from the Ministry, the real-time traffic rate of the VLC system developed by Chinese researchers stands at about 50 gigabytes per second (Gbps). This also marks the highest real-time speed that China has ever had access to.

The Chinese technology is reportedly decidedly superior to the one developed by a team of scientists from Mexico in August 2014. The Mexican scientists had broken a new record with technology that could transmit data at 10 Gbps.

However, with the Chinese breakthrough firmly on course to creating a new internet reality in the world’s second largest economy, scientists and ISPs alike are eager to explore this technology further. Recent media reports quoted Wu Jiangxing, an IT expert, as saying that the USP of the VLC network is that it will make use of the billions of LED lamps and bulbs already in use not just in China, but across the world.

The technology empowers every light bulb to function as an access point for high-speed internet. In simple terms, each bulb will serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot. This possibility further establishes the limitless applications of the new VLC technology, especially in areas where internet access still remains tardy. According to the Chinese scientists behind the breakthrough, the technology consumes only a fraction of the energy that’s needed to power radio.

As India’s Hunger for Business Spaces Grows, Singapore-based IT-park Specialist Announces Expansion in India

Ascendas, a Singapore-based firm that specializes in setting up IT parks, has announced that it plans to expand its existing facilities in India. Currently, the firm manages IT-park assets of nearly US$1 bn in India. The plans were articulated by Manohar Khiatani, group CEO and president of Ascendas. Speaking to media persons about the company’s future in India, Khiatani said that his company sees India as a lucrative investment destination and is exploring various opportunities to expand in the country.

Like many other firms looking to invest in India, Ascendas, too, looks at India’s investment in smart cities and infrastructure reform as engines that will drive growth in the coming years. About his company’s plans across Indian cities, Ascendas’ head honcho said that the company will continue to look at opportunities that exist or are being created in Indian cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

The key strategy of the company is to leverage the mounting demand for business spaces. On what makes India a lucrative market for his company, Khiatani said that the qualified labor force will continue to attract foreign companies to India, thus creating a strong demand for IT parks and technology parks in the country.

According to Nasscom, the IT-BPM industry in India generates about US$150 bn in revenue annually. Of these, exports constitute nearly a share of 67% in revenue. India’s domestic IT industry is expected to reach a new high thanks to national programs such as ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India’.

Moreover, a number of ecommerce startups mushrooming across the country – many of whom have found enormous success – continue to fuel the demand for business spaces. From a broader perspective, all of these factors are expected to create a sizeable market for IT parks and technology spaces.

Could Artificial Intelligence Help Launch New Generation of Antivirus Software?

The more our dependence on gadgets increases, the more it becomes imperative to make use of updated antivirus versions. However, antivirus programs, with their limitations, typically cannot offer failsafe security. An Israeli startup firm has found a business opportunity in this gap, prompting it to come up with sophisticated algorithms that could help create more effective antivirus systems in the next few years. According to a report in the MIT Technology Review, Deep Instinct, a startup based in Tel Aviv, is developing deep learning solutions that can give antivirus programs more teeth.

Currently, the problem with antivirus updates is that they are introduced as a defense against malware after it has affected an appreciable number of computers. While that does provide a certain layer of security, it doesn’t make for an effective first layer of defense.

The program that Deep Instinct is working on, however, makes use of artificial intelligence neural networks that function like a human brain in that they continue to learn and identify change. By endowing antivirus programs with this attribute, the firm expects that the antivirus product can recognize fresh malware as and when it emerges. This also eliminates the need to keep defining new updates in response to new malware. Based on its current set of results, Deep Instinct has said that it has already been successful in improving malware detection rates by 20%.

Assuming the company is successful in developing intelligent antivirus programs, this could herald a defining trend in tracking and identifying changes in malware. Early recognition could be the difference between the emerging and the current generation of antivirus, which can be modified only after a malicious code has been identified.

Experts opine that AI-based antivirus programs could prove useful in the case of existing malware strains that are only slightly tweaked so that antivirus programs cannot detect them. With consistent improvements to the concept of AI-based antivirus, it might only be a matter of years before we are able to see a new generation of commercial antivirus software.

Diebold and Citi Testing New ATM that Scans Eyes to Dispense Cash

If a new technology being tested by Citibank and Diebold is successful, customers of the former could soon be able to enjoy cardless cash withdrawals at ATMs. Diebold, a company that specializes in ATM design and marketing, has come up with a novel technology that simply scans a person’s eyes to authenticate transaction requests. If this idea does take off as expected, it could well herald a whole new way of ATM banking, which would essentially make cards obsolete.

The new machine, called the ‘Irving model’, is slated to be unveiled at a trade show for financial services providers in New York this week, even as Citigroup is conducting tests to assess the viability of the machine in the same city. That biometrics is becoming the norm is becoming evident with such new initiatives.

This ATM banking concept also brings into focus the growing importance of biometrics in our everyday lives – from banking to vehicle and home automation. At this point, though, Citi is trying to assess if consumers would be willing to accept this technology, not just in the U.S. but also across other major global markets.

The machine’s design makes a conscious move away from touchpad-based interaction seen at conventional ATMs. Instead of a boxy screen, the user’s interface will be his or her own smartphone. Once a customer has signed in through a mobile phone or tablet, their account balance will be displayed on their own handheld device. The customer will then determine the amount to be withdrawn and key in into mobile or tablet. The ATM machine will then authenticate the transaction by scanning the customer’s iris and verify the identity. Once the identity is verified, the machine will automatically dispense the requested amount of cash.

While that might sound like a complex process, Diebold says that the entire transaction takes no more than 10 seconds. Using the optimal camera for iris scanning is vital to the success of this technology, and Diebold says that they are working with different vendors to attain the perfect solution.

Apple Music has 6.5 million paying subscribers in Three Months of Launch, says CEO Tim Cook

In just over three months of its launch, Apple Music claims to have 6.5 million paying subscribers on board. And about 8.5 million potential users are opting for the free three-month trial of the music streaming service, which was launched by the tech giant on June 30, 2015. The service, which features playlists curated by leading DJs and musicians, also has a live round-the-clock radio station. When it launched, the service was in direct competition with as Spotify, the leader in the music streaming space with 20 million paying subscribers.

During interactions with members of the press at the Wall Street Journal technology conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Music’s strong point was that the playlists were curated by humans, and the service carried the ability to recommend new tunes on a per-user basis.

Besides Apple Music, Cook also spoke extensively on other hot topics such as the future of autonomous cars, the much-awaited launch of Apple TV, and data privacy concerns. Cook, however, could not be made to divulge much about sales of the Apple Watch and the company’s rumored plans of launching an entire range of next-generation hardware. He also stepped around specific questions pertaining to the Apple Car, but did say that the auto industry was at an “inflection point” and would go through a change that was not merely of an evolutionary nature.

Anticipation around the launch of the upgraded version of Apple TV is building up rapidly, and Cook confirmed during the interview that Apple will start accepting orders for the updated version starting Monday, October 26. Last month, the company unveiled an updated version of the Apple TV video streaming box, which now brings features such as an app store to its consumers. A touch-enabled remote control is yet another distinguishing feature of the updated version of the Apple TV.

Tech Deal-making Frenzy Reaches New High as Dell Shells Out US$67 bn for EMC

Dell Inc. has signed what is the one of the biggest deals in the technology industry by acquiring EMC Corp for US$67 bn. EMC is a leading provider of data storage products and solutions. This move by Dell reiterates its ambitions of becoming a tech giant who not only dominates the cloud computing domain, but also competes more fiercely with other global rivals. The demand for data storage and management has never been higher in the corporate sector and this is the reason Dell hopes to tap into this opportunity early on.

Besides going down in history as one of the largest acquisitions in the technology industry, the Dell-EMC deal is the third-largest this year across all industries. Besides underscoring the extent of competition in the technology products and services industry, this deal also reveals the bullishness of companies in pouring in billions of dollars into mergers and acquisitions. This trend is defined by large, mature companies taking advantage of the low interest rates that currently prevail in U.S. economy. The implications of these multimillion mergers and acquisitions will only become clear in the next few years, when the dust settles.

Dell currently ranks as the third-largest computer maker in the world, and is struggling to break free from its conventional business model based on PCs. The company views the services sector – especially the cloud data services space – as holding much lucrative potential. The company’s bosses expect that the EMC deal could help Dell acquire the competitive advantage it has been missing in recent years.

The merger has been approved by EMC’s board, and a nod of approval from shareholders is expected to come through soon. Dell’s server business, now supplemented with EMC’s visualization and storage capabilities, will now boast a substantial product and services portfolio. With this, the company will be directly able to challenge larger, more successful rivals such as IBM, Cisco Systems, and Hewlett-Packard.

With Eye Firmly on Google Glass, Samsung Files Patent for its own Futuristic Gadget

A recent patent filed by Samsung reveals that the tech giants is keeping a close watch on the way the Google Glass project is developing. The former plans to counter Google Glass with its own futuristic technological product – one that is a step ahead of its rival’s product.

It will be interesting to see how Samsung develops its soon-to-be patented technology considering that Google Glass couldn’t live up to the expectations of consumers despite being launched in the midst of much hype. Curiously, Google Glass’ high price tag is not the only thing impeding its popularity. Consumers continue to remain unclear about the uses of the gadget, and this has deterred them from making the purchase decision.

Samsung seems to have realized this drawback and has taken it as a cue to develop a gadget that offers everything that Google Glass does, only more. The patent filed by Samsung reveals that its gadget will allow users to interact with mid-air three-dimensional images. So, by projecting the image of a keypad mid-air, users can dial a number. Likewise, users could even play a virtual piano by projecting it mid-air.

The technology can also be used for projecting images on real-life objects. Thus, by projecting a number pad on their palm, users can use their palm to dial a number to a make a phone call. The patent application shows that Samsung intends to embed its gadget with a pair of cameras capable of projecting 3D images.

By allowing for an advanced input method in its patent-pending technology, Samsung hopes to address the key drawback that stopped Google Glass from achieving the expected level of success. While experts agree that the technology does look superior to Google’s, it remains to be seen if its execution remains as expected.

LG Electronics Aims to Boost Smartphone Sales with new Products and Launch Strategy

LG Electronics is gearing up to expand its portfolio of mobile phone products so as to compete better with other market players. The focus for LG currently remains on boosting sales volume and the results of these efforts are expected to kick in starting from the fourth quarter. Although there was a gap in product launches after LG launched its G4 smartphones, the company has now covered some lost ground with the launch of its new V10 smartphone. In the mobile devices domain, the company competes with players such as Samsung, Apple, Nokia, and Motorola.

The consumer electronics behemoth, headquartered in South Korea, now wants to account for a larger share of the global smartphones market but will stay focused on low- to mid-range mobile phones. However, the company will continue to regularly launch high-end devices in order to sustain its presence in the top-of-the-line mobile phone segment. LG’s smartphones will be even richer on features now as the company wants to aggressively boost sales volumes.

In order to create more revenue streams, LG is also now working on a mobile payment service. The company’s commercial sales of its V10 smartphone will be kicked off in South Korea starting October 8, 2015. However, it’s not just the larger global firms that LG will have to contend with – the company will also have to fight for a share of the smartphone market with Chinese companies such as Xaiomi, Huawei, and Lenovo. Since these companies primarily compete in the low- and mid-range smartphones space, which sees higher volume sales, the competition for LG is expected to be intense.

The second quarter of 2015 saw LG Electronics report flat sales, prompting it to look toward the smartphone market in a bid to enhance both its market presence and revenue. This also marks a departure from the company’s earlier strategy where it would launch a new model every year. The frequency of new models being launched by LG will now see an increase.

European Semiconductor Shipments Show Uptick in July 2015: ESIA

The European Semiconductor Industry Association (ESIA) has reported that the July 2015 shipments of semiconductors saw a marginal spike over June 2015 numbers. The shipments of semiconductors in July approximated US$2.837 billion in July 2015 – a 0.4% hike over the previous month. Market analysts are expecting this upward graph in semiconductor shipments in Europe to continue as the electronics and semiconductor technology finds its footing anew.

Although the shipments, when expressed in U.S. dollars, show a marginal increase in value, the same doesn’t hold true when the shipments are stated in euros. In euros, semiconductor shipments were pegged at €2.55bn in July 2015 which marks a 0.3% decline as compared to the previous month. On the bright side, the sales of semiconductors have risen 7.1% over July 2014, the ESIA says.

The increased demand for semiconductors and microprocessors is being attributed to the positive scenario that’s currently being observed in the logic semiconductor segment. The European IT industry is now also showing an increased demand for memory products, which continue to find uses in novel applications.

The last three months have looked good for the European technology industry, with both consumer and investor sentiment recovering. However, the European technology sector will continue to joust against other factors over the next few years until a full and more stable recovery is reported.

According to the ESIA, the last three months have been particularly positive for the electronics and semiconductor segment. Demand was seen to be strongest for semiconductor devices that are used in computing devices, consumer goods, and communications. There has also been a reported rise in the demand for wire communication applications, which have indirectly augured pushed up sales of semiconductors in Europe. Although 2015 is far from coming to a close, the year has already brought in much dynamism to the semiconductor sector in Europe – a trend that will likely continue into the next year as well.

Samsung has Filed Highest Auto Patents in Last Decade; could be Outpaced by Google Soon

Mobile phone technology is not the only battlefield for Apple and Samsung. Judging by the way things are shaping up, the two giants could be soon fighting it out in the automotive and battery technology arena soon. This is evident from the long list of patents filed by both companies.

Samsung, however, trumps Apple in the number of automotive-related patents owned. Google, not wanting to land at third spot in this race, has upped its ante and is investing feverishly in auto patents. Market analysts believe that if Google’s patent filing spree continues at the current rate, the technology major could soon outpace both Samsung and Apple in the number of auto patents owned. Of all auto patents owned by Samsung, most pertain to battery technology.

In the last ten years, Samsung has filed as many as 510 auto patents, most of which relate to data analytic, battery, and navigation. Samsung has already made some headway with its battery technology, with its battery division supplying power cells to BMW. The latter uses power cells from Samsung in electric engine vehicle models, the i8 and i3.

Google, on the other hand, reportedly owns 308 automotive technology patents – all amassed over the last decade. While Samsung’s interest areas lie in battery technology, Google is bullish on navigation technologies. This is not surprising considering that the tech giant has a massive maps business.

Surprisingly, in third place (by number of auto patents owned) is Microsoft with about 220 patents during the last decade. A quick analysis of all auto patents filed by Microsoft reveals that infotainment is the strong suit of the company. This make Apple the laggard in the auto patents race, with just 83 automotive-related patents to its credit. Most of Apple’s patents relate to interface technology.

This indicates that while the battle lines are indeed being drawn, it will be a while before the automotive sector sees any intense competition from the technology majors.

Scotland-Based Smart Tech Company’s Solution for Golfers Gets £415,000 Investment

Smart technology solutions designed especially for sportspersons have been making waves of late, but for the most part, golf has remained out of the focus.  Spotting this gap, Shot Scope, a Scotland-based startup is cashing in on its patent pending technology to track the performance of golf players. The firm has just closed a round of funding from Equity Gap, an angel syndicate group for the manufacture of wearable technology especially for golfers, in what is being termed as the “world’s first” such technology. The investment is valued at £415,000.

This round of funding was also backed by the Scottish Investment Bank and the Old College Capital. Shot Scope was established in 2013 by David Hunter, an electrics design engineer – his technology is designed to track the vital statistics of golfers automatically. It doesn’t merely collect scores of golfers; the technology has been designed such that it presents statistics based on these scores to help golfers analyze their weak points and improve their score. 

The device, which is smaller than the average wristwatch, is designed to ensure that a golfer doesn’t have to push too many buttons or provide inputs that would interrupt the course of his or game. The data from the device is directly sent to a mobile application, which is the graphical interface for the sportsperson. 

The product is slated to launch in the US and UK markets in January 2016. With this additional funding boost, the company will now focus on product development as well as the manufacturing process.

Elaborating on the opportunity that he spotted in the smart wearable devices space for golfing, Hunter says that golfers are known to be obsessed with the finer nuances of their performance. The fact that several golfers still use pen and paper to track and analyze their sporting performance was surprising—Hunter thus decided to fill in this gap with smart technology.

Integration of Virtual and Physical Security to Dominate Data Center Security Market Landscape

Data center security is a crucial part of any IT company’s operations. Owing to the high volume of data generated in a typical data center, protecting data centers from cyber as well as physical attacks becomes a prime concern. The sensitivity of the data is also often an issue, reinforcing the importance of data center security.

The growing importance of cloud computing in data center security is expected to carry on in the next few years, to become the prime mode of data centers in the coming years. This is expected to shape the data center security market by forcing market players to focus on cloud data center security options.

Integration of Physical Security Driving Data Center Security Market: 

The three main components of data center security are hardware, software, and services. Among these, security hardware consists of detection and authentication devices such as smoke alarms, biometric authentication systems, and surveillance cameras. This is backed up by data center security programs working on access control and compliance, data protection, etc.

Browse Market Research Report of Data Center Security:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/data-center-security-market.html

The importance of data center security hardware, i.e. physical security, is expected to rise in the coming few years. Some of the major recommendations for physical data center security are:

Multi-layered Authentication: Data center operators are increasingly segregating their complex into visitor, employee, and core or ‘data’ areas, entry into each of which would require separate authentication. Preferably, each of the authentication checkpoints should check different biometric parameters, such as iris scanning, fingerprint scanning, etc., to eliminate the chances of mishaps.

Warehouse-like Design: Instead of designing an office space, data centers should be styled like secure warehouses, with thick walls, minimal windows, and effective HVAC systems. The latter should be able to protect the building’s occupants from biological or chemical attacks by effectively circulating the air inside the building in case of environmental contamination.

Increase in Detection Devices: Increasing the number of surveillance cameras, air contamination detectors, and vehicle checks is an effective way of reducing the risk of physical attacks on data centers.

Perimeter Firewalls to Gain in Prominence in Data Center Security: 

In line with the rising trend of “anticipation rather than reaction” in physical data center security, the landscape of data center security software is also expected to be dominated by growing usage of anticipatory measures such as perimeter firewalls.

Perimeter firewalls scan all data in and out of a data center and thus can provide an alert before the suspicious data packet enters the internal network of the data center. Fittingly, it is known colloquially as ‘demilitarized zone networks’ in tech terms.

Browse Press Release of Data Center Security Market: 

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/data-center-security-market.htm

The reluctance of many data center operators to use on-premise services has resulted in the emergence of cloud-based external DNS networks that perform the role of a perimeter firewall. A notable event in the global data center security market, in light of the importance of this trend, is the acquisition by Cisco of OpenDNS. Cisco’s plans to acquire an able distributor of a cloud service that would help companies focus on external DNS servers for data security seem like a move aimed at controlling the future of the data center security market.

Integration of various data center security solutions, both hardware and software, has emerged as a dominant trend in the global data center security market and is expected to become a major influence in the coming years.

China’s Manufacturing Industry on Course to Achieving Robot-Operated Factories

China’s manufacturing sector is rapidly embracing zero-labor factories, as is evident from recent developments in the country. A case in point is the commencement of the construction of a new factory that carries out manufacturing operations using only robots, according to a report by the Xinhua news agency. With construction underway, the factory in China will deploy about 1,000 robots initially, scaling up as demand rises. The factory in question belongs to Shenzhen Evenwin Precision Technology Co.

As part of these ambitious plans, the company aims to bring down its current labor force by at least 90%. According to reports, the company currently employs 1,800 workers and with the planned cutback in manpower, it aims to ultimately retain only about 200 workers in a few months. This information was provided by the company board’s chairman, Chen Xingqi.

While the company did not clearly state the amount being invested in the facility, it did confirm that the production capacity targets were pegged at approximately US$322 million per year.

The trend of robot-operated factories is catching on in other industrial and manufacturing hubs of China, with the Pearl River Delta being an example of the shift. The Pearl River Delta, located in the southern part of China, has earned the sobriquet of the ‘world’s workshop’ thanks to the sheer numbers of export manufacturing facilities here.

Manufacturing has long been the backbone of the Chinese economy, but as labor shortages weigh on the industry, local authorities are increasingly faced with the need to catalyze innovation so as to mitigate the impact of the economic slowdown.

According to the Economy and Information Technology Bureau of Dongguan, an estimated 505 factories in the region have collectively pumped in 4.2 billion yuan for deploying robots since September 2014. This shift will see about 30,000 workers being replaced by robots.

It is also projected that by 2016, at least 1,500 industrial enterprises in the city will substitute human labor with robots.