Spinning magnetic Disc-based storage mostly sold by HP, EMC, NetApp and many others are faced with a competition from flash. Toshiba invented the flash technology back in 1984. Chips stored data when the device even turned off and uses less energy, works faster and require less space. Memory cards and USB memory sticks started to use the technology first and around year 2000 much more uses were added to the roster. New chip technology allowed it to produce cheaper chips and allow it to store more data. This paved the way for flash chips to be used even in data centers. Sales of flash chips are expected to rise to $1.6 billion a year by 2016.

Some data centers faced with disc-storage limitations are switching over to flash. The popularity of data centers within last few years creates a steady demand for flash chip makers. This may be why traditional storage makers are acquiring startup flash chip manufacturers to get into the game. The disc-based storage leader EMC acquired three startups within last few years. With the number of flash makers entering the competition, prices of flash are seen lot of pressure and expected to go even further down.

Digital-image sensors converts optical image into an electronic image. Today’s most used technology types include semiconductor charge-coupled devices (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) or N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS). As smartphones and other mobile devices become more popular demand for digital-image sensors are expected to increase. CMOS is widely used in smartphones, tablets and other devices that uses installed cameras. Smartphones alone is expected to demand 1.7 billion units by 2017.

Santa Clara, California based OmniVision Technologies is the world’s largest maker of digital-image sensors. It has helped Apple until iPhone 4S which came out in 2011, supplying with sensors. Today it is helping Apple with their iPads and other makers of smartphone and other device to compete with mainstream stand-alone cameras with tiny cameras embedded in smartphones and other devices such as GoPro cameras. Sony is becoming its main competitor accounting for more than 34 percent of the market share and now supply tiny sensors to Apple for its iPhone 4S and others. Samsung claims it has 13 percent of the market share and another viable main player in the field.

OmniVision makes tiny image sensors for smartphones and other devices that range in cost from 40 cents to about $4 a piece.

Remember the megabyte and the gigabyte era? That was not too long ago. Megabytes and gigabytes may not be enough to count storage capacities by 2016 and the technology world is getting ready for zettabyte as informed by Cisco Systems. What is a zettabyte? It is one trillion gigabytes of data.

Global data traffic is increasing by about 21 percent a year according to a recently published report by Cisco Systems. In 2007, according to the same source global data traffic was around one Exabyte, equal to one billion gigabytes. The next step will be to reach one zettabyte by 2016. What’s after that and when will we reach the next level? According to Cisco Systems beyond zettabyte will be yottabyte, which is 1,000 zettabytes. In other words this equals to 250 trillion DVDs. Cisco estimates that we will reach that capacity soon after 2016. What is fueling this crazy expansion? According to Cisco System it is video. It estimates that video streaming will occupy more than 79 percent of data traffic by 2018, from the current 66 percent. Netflix and YouTube combined are responsible for more than 50 percent of downloads in North America.

Smart surface glass such as Google Glass is in news lately and expected to make a limited release of its wearable eye glass. It is not only Google who is going to benefit from it; glass manufacturers such as Corning that makes Willow Glass can also benefit from the new technology. Corning also makes popular Gorilla Glass 3 used in Apple’s iPhone.

Introduced in June 2013, the bendable thin (0.1 millimeter) and light Willow Glass allows operations such as displays more cost-effectively. Thinness, strength and flexibility allow the glass to be used in wearable such as Google Glass. It also allows the glass to resist high temperatures. It is capable of handling liquid crystal displays (LCD) as well as Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) displays making it more suitable for smartphones, laptops and tablets. Curving flexibility will allow it to be used in non-flat surfaces. Willow Glass is capable of protecting sensitive electronics parts from moisture and heat. This allows it to be rolled and potentially used in solar panels. Commercial manufacturing of Willow Glass is expected this year. It could define entirely new products such as displays that fit the curve of your wrist.

Search for the missing Malaysian Airline jet is getting much needed help from satellites covering the globe 24/7. NASA’s dominance of the orbit is fading due to budget issues of the US government and handfuls of private companies are hurrying to fill the gap. Two big companies in the field of imaging the globe for commercial purposes are DigitalGlobe and Airbus Defence & Space (ADS). The infamous Google, Microsoft and many governments worldwide use their services for imaging. While most satellite data are somewhat old, two new companies, California based Skybox Imaging and Planet Labs, are attempting to provide real-time data. They can provide higher as well as lower-resolution images. Their satellites are less costly than those are currently orbiting the planet. Launching their satellites on rockets also cost less due to the smaller size.

Most pictures you find on the Internet are few years old. Real-time pictures may take few more years to come. It will require a network of satellites covering the entire globe at any given time, but the data could be invaluable for many including the missing airliner. Imagine using satellite images to find best planting and harvesting times to maximize profits for farmers?

Using Wi-Fi for mobile calls and data are becoming increasingly popular and save money for users. Big wireless carriers have spent billions of dollars building networks and spend billions more to upgrade the service. It requires expensive and scare electromagnetic spectrum to send signals. However, Wi-Fi is already a router based network that one can access without costing too much money. Almost every home in the U.S. now has a router at home creating a web of Wi-Fi. Since Wi-Fi does not require a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) service can be provided at much cheaper rate.

According to Cisco Systems more than one-third of data traffic in 2012 used Wi-Fi or went through a router and it is expected to grow to more than 50 percent by 2017. More and more are relying on Wi-Fi to avoid expensive data fees charged by carriers. AT&T is the only U.S. carrier that widely uses Wi-Fi saving money for its customers and it has more than 32,000 hotspots under agreements. Cable providers in the US are sitting on a readily available vast Wi-Fi network if they chose to enter into voice and data services.

The Korean behemoth, Samsung Electronics has found a way to kill a smartphone or tablet remotely. Smartphones such as iPhone grabs are on the rise and last year alone device users lost more than 1.6 million mobile units. The technology would have given some comfort to phone and other mobile device owners in the event their phone or device is lost or stolen. Unfortunately, U.S. wireless carriers are refusing to sell mobile devices containing kill switches from Samsung.

Law enforcement officials and consumer advocates are promoting the idea of a kill switch. Then why wireless carriers are objecting to it? Wireless carriers argue that it will add an additional burden on its customer service staff. Reinstalling a kill switch after an accidental mistake of a use is not a task for a lay person. Instead, wireless carriers and their trade group, CTIA, are working with law enforcement and others to implement other measures to prevent or reduce mobile device thefts. CTIA is launching a nationwide effort to create a tracking database and advocating heavy fines for convicted traffickers. Carriers are looking for technological innovations other than kill switches. However, Apple has succeeded introducing software to remotely deactivate iPhones.

Article submitted by Space Friender.

Traditional computing giants including Hewlett-Packard (HP) are under attacked by newcomers equipped with new technologies for storage, networking and servers. Due to the enormous pressure from newcomers such as Open Computing from Facebook, traditional computing giants like HP are fighting back. Recognizing the threat from Facebook, HP is introducing a new server and networking system known as Moonshot.

Moonshot runs on extremely low-power consuming chips in a small server. HP claims that it consumes 89 percent less power to operate and takes up 94 percent less space than traditional servers. Many think that it is the company’s answer to competition from newcomers and take the company in a new direction in regard to chip efficiency for data center operations. It is also introducing new water cooling technologies for servers and it is less complex to operate. HP is relying on Project Moonshot for turnaround in computing. Three new ARM-based Moonshot cartridges will be made by Applied Micro, Texas Instrument and Calxeda next year and many others are waiting to hear from HP. The new modules open new ways to do cloud computing and social networking based on ARM-based servers. Dell is more critical of Moonshot and coming up with its own to fight back.

Traditional corporate data centers are moving out of expensive data storage and computing and moving into much cheaper and efficient subscription based clouds. Companies that are benefitting from the new trend includes cloud based storage behemoth Google and Amazon.com, chip makers for cloud based storage Advanced Micro Devices and Applied Micro Circuit, networkers Ciena that provide fast connecting fiber-optic equipment and Splunk, and service providers such as Verizon Communications. Biggest losers will be those enterprise software companies such as SAP, Microsoft and Oracle.

Verizon Communications and Amazon Web Service are making new programming tools that make it easier to transition software from old school company data centers onto clouds. Companies such as Advance Micro Devices are also helping Verizon Cloud by providing them with processors. Verizon Cloud expected to be in operation by 2014. Network gear maker and the leader, Cisco will face problems in coming years because its gear doesn’t fit new cloud equipment. That is why Verizon Cloud using switches from the newcomer Arista Networks that run Linux. Data storage specialists such as EMC and NetApp will not be affected by cloud revelations. However, they are under constant threat from new comers such as Violin Memory and Micron Technology.

The world’s most valuable technology company, Apple announced two new smartphones in early September 2013. These new products not only highlight its combative nature with low cost phone manufacturers such as Samsung and Huawei but also capabilities of its new iOS 7 operating system. The iOS originally debuted in 2007 with its iPhone.

The iOS 7 is the seventh version of Apple’s mobile operating system and Apple is incrementally improving its iOS 7 operating system since it was introduced on June 10, 2013. Code named Innsbruck, iOS 7 is the next generation software for iPhone, iPad, iPad Touch and iPod. It reflects a big deviation from its predecessors and focuses on clarity by removing clutter, improve user interface leaving only the most essential. New features of iOS 7 include control center, notification center, multitasking (opens multi apps simultaneously), camera, photos, AirDrop (Wi-Fi sharing feature for iPhone), Safari, Siri (comes with more content from Wikipedia and Bing), iTunes Radio, and iOS in the car. New capabilities to surf the App Store with age based search may become a hit feature with parents. Most of all iOS 7 is free and you can update your mobile gadgets by yourself.