DALLAS, Aug. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Amid the proliferation of real time data from sources such as mobile devices, web, social media, sensors, log files and transactional applications, Big Data has found a host of vertical market applications, ranging from fraud detection to R&D. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140821/138541 "Big Data Market: 2014 – 2020 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies, Industry Verticals & Forecasts" Key Findings: In 2014 Big Data vendors will pocket nearly $30 Billion from hardware, software and professional services revenues Big Data investments are further expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 17% over the next 6 years, eventually accounting for $76 Billion by the end of 2020 The market is ripe for acquisitions of pure-play Big Data startups, as competition heats up between IT incumbents Nearly every large scale IT ven... (more)

Although Yahoo! Looks Pretty Boxed In by Microsoft, It Could Try For More Money

Microsoft this morning made a $44.6 billion hostile bid for the floundering Yahoo, striking at a point when it has become evident to all and sundry that Yahoo doesn’t have a pray of turning things around on its own let alone getting competitive. Yahoo’s first official reaction was basically to say it’ll think about it. It said it would evaluate the offer “carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo’s strategic plans.” It did not give a timeframe for a response. Although it looks pretty boxed in, it could of course try for more money. Microsoft’s move throws open the door to rival bids, but Microsoft thinks Google’s hands are tied. Its market share would raise insuperable antitrust issues, Microsoft said, to a counter-offer. Yahoo is the most visited site on the Internet, though it has failed to monetize its popularity a... (more)

Google Giant Has Feet of Clay

Google’s stock dropped 7% this morning – down to the $450s – after comScore sprung the lever on the trapdoor under its feet and reported that US paid-click growth in January was flat year-over-year and down 7.5% sequentially. Google derives most of its revenue from paid-clicks. ComScore said Yahoo’s paid-clicks were up 15% and cut 8 points off of Google’s market share. The conclusion is Google has hit the economy’s headwinds, raising doubts about how it, basically an advertising company, will fare in a slowdown and whether it can meet first-quarter expectations. In the fourth quarter Google admitted to a drop in paid-clicks but attributed it to new widgetry meant to cut the number of accidental clicks. Google stock, near $750 not that long ago, is down 30 some odd percent since October and analysts are pulling in their price targets. UB... (more)

In Search of the Human Element

George Orwell didn't specifically mention enterprise search in his visionary book 1984, but he made a statement that still resonates today. When it comes to relevant search query results, "it's not about the statistics." Sanity comes from the human element. Until recently, this concept was mostly ignored by enterprise search solutions. Instead, search was based on text-matching algorithms and models that methodically sifted through link structures or categorization schemes. After analysis and compilation, a surge of search results (all quantifiably correct) were released. While a statistician might be impressed by the outcome, the user who initiated the search simply drowned in a sea of homogenous data. The question became, "Is it possible to produce a set of meaningful search results that will help people, rather than inundate them?" In response, enterprise search... (more)

Do We Really Need Twitter or Not?

Do you need it or not? Most socialites using twitter would quickly tell you that repeated messages from the same user is quite annoying. The average business person is thinking, How do i get one and which one is the best for my company. To fully understand the answer you would have to define your objectives. Twitter has a nifty search feature which allows you to not only search for basic market segments but further allows for an advance target demographic down to a particular city, country, person. If you're business needs to find out if a product could be sold in london england, Twitter allows you to search for a specific keyword, term in that city at a specific date or time to see if anyone is talking about your market segment giving the CEO more insight to whats really happening in real time. Softwares such as Tweep software, a Twitter Marketing Software allows ju... (more)

Right-Size IT Budgets with Windows Server 2012 "Storage Spaces"

What is the Largest Single Cost Category in Your IT Hardware Budget? If you're like most of the enterprise customer organizations that were surveyed when we were designing Windows Server 2012, your answer is probably the same as theirs: STORAGE! For the organizations we surveyed, we found that as much as 60% of their annual hardware budgets were allocated to expensive hardware SAN solutions due to ever-increasing storage requirements. Wouldn't it be nice to have some of that budget back for other IT projects? YES! We agree too ... that's why the server team included "Storage Spaces" in Windows Server 2012! Get Ready for "Storage Spaces"! "Storage Spaces" is a new storage virtualization technology that's included in Windows Server 2012 and our FREE Hyper-V Server 2012 to provide SAN-like storage capabilities and performance using commodity hardware components, such as ... (more)

Just Get an iPhone? These Are the Best Alternatives to Its Pre-Loaded Apps

The iPhone comes with a bunch of apps you never use. Some of them are poorly implemented. Others are lacking important features. Fortunately, there’s a whole world of developers offering some very viable third-party alternatives. Unfortunately you can’t delete the apps your iPhone comes with, but here are some alternatives that will free you from their boring grips. Phone – Google Voice: Do all your calling through your Google account, with added benefits like free text messaging and voicemail transcription. (Free) Messages – GroupMe: This is hands down one of the best ways to text, especially amongst different groups of friends or colleagues. The best part is it’s totally free, on any platform you can think of, and compatible with SMS. (Free) Mail – Mailbox: Mailbox totally rethinks your relationship with email, teaching you better habits through its unique interfa... (more)

Google Play Movies finally in India

It launched last week in fact, but missed it somehow. Prices seem pretty competitive with the India iTunes store, though HD seems to be missing from many for now. Rental is also available for the latest movies including “The Hobbit”. So, all we have to do now is wait for the Nexus 4 on the Google front and iBooks from Apple. Movies on Google Play. Tagged: Digital Store, Google , Google Play, Movies ... (more)

Everything You Need to Know About Facebook Home

After months of speculation – and just about a week of more accurate guesses – Facebook finally unveiled its ‘Facebook phone.’ Except it’s not a phone. “We’re not building a phone and we’re not building an operating system,” Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at Facebook’s event on Thursday, “but we are building something that’s a whole lot deeper than an app.” So, What Is It? It’s the next version of Facebook. What Facebook unveiled was ‘Facebook Home,’ which will hit select Samsung and HTC phones on April 12. Rather than creating a piece of hardware for the smartphone market that was built around the social networking site, Facebook opted to go with a piece of software that does the same basic thing. Home is a series of customizations that replaces the look and feel of an Android phone with a set of Facebook apps, screens, messages and notificatio... (more)

WhatsApp: We’re Not Being Sold to Google

Yesterday’s news that Google was rumored to be preparing a $1 billion bid for WhatsApp has been refuted by an executive of the messaging service. Neeraj Arora, Business Development head of WhatsApp told AllThingsD that there were no sales talks going on between his firm and Mountain View. Acquiring the service, which allows users to send messages, files and photos for free to other users, would give Google a seat at the messages-any-which-way table, alongside Facebook and Apple. Read the full story at Fast Company. ... (more)

Grammar Guru App is Like Carrying a Stack of Reference Books in Your Pocket

San Anselmo, CA, April 17, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Redwood Publishing Group is pleased to announce the launch of Grammar Guru, the mobile app that helps students and businesspeople write correctly and communicate clearly. Today’s world demands ever-increasing levels of clear written communication. Job descriptions, operating instructions for computers or machinery, business contracts, reports, almost every job one can think of demands clear if not elegant writing—all this at a time when writing skills seem to be disappearing. Knowing the mechanics of writing offers access to the new culture of power, and helps everyone become more engaged, thoughtful writers; it makes people comfortable and competent with language. The business world relies increasingly on email and other instant forms of communication. And, especially with the decrease of traditional bricks-and-mortar, a s... (more)