Current Trends

Grace D. Buencamino
BSIT-S7C

1.) E1 – World’s smallest 4K interchangeable lens camera
The E1, two years in the making, is currently running a Kickstarter campaign not to raise funds for manufacturing, but to promote the company (Z Camera), as it is still an unknown startup. The company launched the campaign in advance of its official announcement, and has already shattered its $42,000 goal (as of this writing, it’s currently at more than $147,000). And unlike many Kickstarter projects, the E1 is real and we’ve played with one; its engineer and creator, Jason Zhang, told us that manufacturing has already started and first deliveries are scheduled for later this year.
Zhang was a former engineer with Ambarella, the chipset maker that supplies hardware to GoPro. After branching out on his own, Zhang and a few colleagues saw an “opportunity gap” for a camera that fits between an action cam and a DSLR – small and light enough to fit onto a drone, but more powerful and flexible than an action cam. Built around an Ambarella 4K-capable A9 chipset, Zhang went with a Micro Four Thirds sensor (made by Panasonic) for the E1 because it’s the only open standard option in interchangeable lenses, Zhang says.
The E1’s mount works with most Micro Four Thirds lenses from Olympus and Panasonic, as well as some third-party makers like Sigma. The camera doesn’t have any built-in image stabilization, but you could use one of Panasonic’s O.I.S. lenses. The E1 will autofocus any attached lens, however.
The A9 chipset handles 4K at 30 frames per second (UHD/3,840 x 2,160) or 24 fps (cinema/4,096 x 2,160), but can shoot Full HD 1080 at 60 fps and 720p slo-mo at 120 fps; it captures photos at 16 megapixels. Also onboard are Wi-Fi and low-energy Bluetooth (the former works with a smartphone app for remote operation, while the latter allows for remote on/off while in standby – similar to how GoPro cameras work). When shooting 4K, the battery will last an hour, or 45 minutes with Wi-Fi enabled; longer productions can use a direct power source.
According to Zhang, the camera has exceptional low-light performance, ideal for documentary filming. Advanced noise filtering allows the camera to reach ISOs as high as 102,400 – with the highest quality around 6,400 (Zhang says its noise reduction is better than Panasonic’s) – and reduce ghosting and flaring. The E1 also lets you customize settings, including white balance and coloring. The camera can shoot time-lapse videos (an algorithm helps adjust exposure automatically during a long time-lapse), capture images in RAW (DNG), and work simultaneously with multiple E1 cameras (to capture different perspectives or possibly for creating virtual-reality content).

Summary:
It’s obvious the E1 draws inspiration from the GoPro (it looks like a bigger Hero camera with swappable lenses). It allows videographers to place the camera in places where a traditional camera wouldn’t fit, but gives them the power that action cams aren’t able to deliver. We also see the E1 as an affordable 4K camera that’d be attractive to pro filmmakers. Although the company is a startup, it’s using proven technology (Ambarella and Panasonic).

2.) 5G
The Mobile Industry is on the move again, innovating and inventing its way to new pervasive always-on, always-connected broadband 5G services. Realizing these services is not trivial; challenges to target x1000 higher throughput of 1 Gbps will need new antenna/RF technologies (Massive MIMO, wider bandwidth), deployment of small cells in higher frequencies (mmWave), shorter transmission time intervals, reduced latency, and new modulation methods besides OFDM.
5G will not only be about a new air interface with faster speeds, it will also address network congestion, energy efficiency, cost, reliability, and connection to billions of people and devices. In 2014 we saw 5G activity around securing funding for R&D work, gaining influence in the specification process, attracting development partners, and highlighting IPR portfolios. In 2015 we will get more concrete answers about: (1) what is 5G; (2) what disruptive technologies are shaping 5G; (3) how fast is 5G; and (4) what will be different in 5G networks, devices and connections. With a 2020 commercialization horizon, this will be the year when we move from concepts to technology trials and standards development.
Summary:
New Generations usually bring new base technologies, more network capacity for more data per user, and high speed Internet service, for which Internet service providers usually advertise. However, it is believed that the fifth generation (5G Technology) of mobile network will be beyond our thoughts. After 4G, 5G is the next generation of mobile communication technology that aims at offering far greater capacity and be faster, more energy-efficient and more cost-effective than anything that has seen before.

3.) The EmployeeApp
A corporate intranet may make sense for a sprawling organization, but mobile small business workers often lack the time and, frankly, the enthusiasm, to log in and catch up on what's going on back at the office. On-the-go employees need important notices, updates, and workplace communications to come to them in a timely manner.
New York City-based software firm, AppRise Mobile, has cracked the mobile intranet code with its platform, TheEmployeeApp, said its CEO and founder, Jeff Corbin. The secret, in part, is to wholeheartedly embrace smartphones and tablets instead of attempting to shoehorn PC-based software solutions into mobile experiences.
"The user experience of legacy PC solutions is going to be lousy in a mobile environment," Corbin told Small Business Computing during a recent interview. AppRise Mobile's approach to business software aligns with both the consumerization of IT trend and the explosive growth of mobile device use in the workplace, which is increasingly defined by an employee's current location, not where her physical office is located. "I really believe that in the near term, people aren't going to use PCs as we know them anymore," he said.
The TheEmployeeApp, like AppRise's other offerings, were developed to deliver a "native, mobile-first" experience that lets workers get caught up in mere moments from anywhere—on the bus, the train or while awaiting a flight—just by tapping their devices' touchscreens. No more cracking open a laptop or rushing to a desktop PC.
Summary:
Given the fact that almost everyone has a mobile device, a solution for the vexing problem facing internal communications professionals now exists with theEMPLOYEEapp. No matter where an employee is located, a company can instantaneously and simultaneously push information into the palm of their hand.

4.) Cisco releases Cisco Packet Tracer for an iPhone and iPad
When it comes to CCNA Routing & Switching or even CCNA Security Cisco Packet Tracer proves to be very handy. This tool is widely used by Cisco Networking Academy students. Packet Tracer provides simulation, visualization, and authoring, assessment, and collaboration capabilities and facilitates the teaching and learning of complex technology concepts.
The good news is now Packet Tracers is available on iPhone and iPad running iOS version 8 with the following features: * Simulation engine is based on Packet Tracer 6.2 * Allows users to build “.pkt” configuration files from scratch * Supports both 32bit and 64bit devices * Reference topologies included * Tip of Day displayed when loading application
Features exclusive to NetAcad.com users: * Open file from NetSpace class * Share files via Email * Share topology to Facebook
This application requires Android 4.2 to Android 5.0 on ARMv7 CPU tablets and is optimized for screens with a minimum size of 7 inches. Some devices with x86 CPUs contain binary translation which will allow this application to run at a reduced speed. A Cisco Networking Academy Netspace account is required to use full features of this application.
Summary:
Cisco Packet Tracer is a network-capable and simulation-based learning environment for networking students to design, configure, and troubleshoot computer networks at the CCNA-level of complexity. This version is currently compatible with Cisco Packet Tracer 6.2. A good initiative from Cisco, it’s going to help lot networking professionals who are at their early stage of career and aiming for big in their life.

5.) Smarter Smartphones, connected sensors
The race to connect the world is creating a device revolution that impacts our lifestyles, businesses, institutions and even the environment. The indisputable rock-start of devices is the smartphone, and its future can’t be brighter. In 2014 we saw that only a few days after the iPhone 6 was released, there are already articles being written about the next-generation iPhone 7. This situation, similar in Android and in other major smartphone platforms, is set to continue in 2015 and beyond.
There is no question that size, shape, and capabilities of these ever-present ubiquitous communication devices are evolving in numerous and different directions. Inside every smartphone resides a large number of sophisticated components such as application processors, modems, sensors, chipsets, radios, and battery. All of them are growing in complexity and numbers; at the same time, their prices – driven by cost and performance improvements in digital technologies – are falling rapidly. 2014 was the first year where the average selling price of the smartphone went down. This trend is to continue in 2015 with low-cost OEMs Xiaomi and Lenovo in the lead.
Disruptive device trends in 2015 will not be limited to the smartphone. Mobile tablets, connected sensors and body-worn wearables will also be disrupted. Google glass, Apple’s Smartwatch and Virtual Reality devices are just some examples. Devices will also continue to find their way into our vehicles (smartcards), into our urban areas (smartcity) and, into our infrastructure (smartgrid). Proof of concept and initial commercialization is expected in areas such as autonomous vehicles, advanced robots, remote infrastructure management and virtual personal assistants.
Summary:
As the market for these solutions grows, suppliers must remain vigilant in keeping in mind the end-user and IoT in their design and development process. The focus can no longer be solely on connecting things, for instance, a car, to the internet. Instead it's now about enhancing experiences to make these networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before.

6.) 7 nanometre chips enable Moore's Law to continue
IBM Research has announced the semiconductor industry's first 7nm (nanometre) node test chips with functioning transistors. The breakthrough was accomplished in partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung at SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE) and could result in the ability to place more than 20 billion tiny switches – transistors – on the fingernail-sized chips that power everything from smartphones to spacecraft.
To achieve the higher performance, lower power and scaling benefits promised by 7nm technology, researchers had to bypass conventional semiconductor manufacturing approaches. Among the novel processes and techniques pioneered in this collaboration were a number of industry-first innovations, most notably Silicon Germanium (SiGe) channel transistors and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography integration at multiple levels.
Industry experts consider 7nm technology crucial to meeting the anticipated demands of future cloud computing and Big Data systems, cognitive computing, mobile products and other emerging "exponential" technologies. This accomplishment was part of IBM's $3 billion, five-year investment in chip R&D announced last year.
Microprocessors utilising 22nm and 14nm technology power today's servers, cloud data centres and mobile devices, and 10nm technology is well on the way to becoming a mature technology. The IBM Research-led alliance achieved close to 50 percent area scaling improvements over today's most advanced technology, introduced SiGe channel material for transistor performance enhancement at 7nm node geometries, process innovations to stack them below 30nm pitch and full integration of EUV lithography at multiple levels. These techniques and scaling could result in at least a 50 percent power/performance improvement for next generation systems that will power the Big Data, cloud and mobile era. These new 7nm chips are expected to start appearing in computers and other gadgets in 2017-18.
Summary:
These are not working commercial parts or even prototypes of them. They are purely experimental parts to demonstrate fundamental process and material innovations. But they are working parts with functional 7nm transistors well before they were expected. The product of a partnership between IBM, Samsung, GlobalFoundaries and SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, these are the semiconductor industry’s first 7 nanometer (nm) node test chips with functional transistors. 7.) The world's first 2TB consumer SSDs
Samsung has announced two new SSDs – the 850 Pro and 850 EVO – both offering double the capacity of the previous generation. The 2.5" form factor drives can greatly boost performance for desktops and laptops. They will be especially useful in the accessing and storage of 4K video, which can often require enormous file sizes. The available capacities include 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB, all the way up to 2TB.
The 850 Pro is designed for power users needing the maximum possible speed, while the 850 EVO is less powerful but somewhat cheaper. The 850 Pro features up to 550MBps sequential read and 520MBps sequential write rates and 100,000 random I/Os per second (IOPS). The 850 EVO has 540MBps sequential read and 520MBps write rates, with up to 90,000 random IOPS. Both models feature 3D V-NAND technology, which stacks 32 layers of transistors on top of each other. The drives also use multi-level cell (MLC) and triple-level cell (TLC) (2- and 3-bit per cell) technology for even greater memory density.
Until recently, consumers were forced to choose between speed or size when it came to upgrading their hard drives. For pure speed, a solid state drive was the best option, while larger sizes were typically catered for with slower and clunkier spinning drives. These new terabyte-scale SSDs are going to change that – combining both high speed and high capacity. Price may still be an issue, as Samsung's new product line doesn't come cheap. The 2TB version of the 850 Pro will retail for $999.99 and the 850 EVO is $799.99. However, given the trend in price performance witnessed in earlier generations of data storage, it is likely these high capacity SSDs will soon be a lot cheaper.
"Samsung experienced a surge in demand for 500 gigabyte (GB) and higher capacity SSDs with the introduction of our V-NAND SSDs," says Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Branded Product Marketing, Memory Business, in a press release from Samsung. "The release of the 2TB SSD is a strong driver into the era of multi-terabyte SSD solutions. We will continue to expand our ultra-high performance and large density SSD product portfolio and provide a new computing experience to users around the globe."
Summary:
Again, Samsung are riding the wave with the recent announcement of the next iteration of their successful lineup of PRO and EVO SSDs. The new 850 PRO and 850 EVO solid state drives double the maximum capacity of their predecessors and come with the impressive 2TB of storage space. The industry-leading performance and power efficiency of Samsung SSDs remain unbeaten and now the company deservedly boasts some of the fastest and largest consumer solid state drive available on the market thus far.

8.) Cloud Computing 2020
Today, we are certainly accustomed to cloud computing, but from the technological point of view, we’re still in early days of cloud computing era, and many big companies are still taking baby steps towards accepting cloud computing.
Industry experts say that the cloud industry will grow tremendously from $35 Billion today to around $150B by 2020, because by then, it will be key to most of the big company’s IT infrastructures.
Keeping these changes and developments and growing demand of cloud computing into consideration, here are few ways in which, cloud computing can radically change things around by 2020.
Abstracted Infrastructure
This means software will greatly part away from hardware and more and more of technologies will be consumed rather as a service. Director of HP’s Automated Infrastructure Lab, John Manley says - "Cloud computing is the final means by which computing becomes invisible."
Software will be Social Media Inspired
Merril claims that software will adopt few traits seen in social media apps like Facebook. In other words, software and infrastructure will be managed as per requirement and it won’t be the other way round anymore. In that case, developers will no longer worry about offering provisions like server, switch and storage.
Expo 2020
There are a lot of other exciting things lined up for 2020, including the world’s biggest realty expo 2020 in Middle East, which of course, may not have any direct impact on the hosting industry, but it’s being speculated that it’d drive development throughout all the sectors in that region. And, since real estate industry would also need domains, hosting space, and cloud solutions for IT needs, it’d also indirectly have a positive impact on the hosting industry in Asia Pacific.

Summary:
By 2020, however, things will be far more settled and organized as cloud will become the permanent solution in computing infrastructure world. 6-7 years from now, we would get to see new kinds of low power processors that would crunch massive workloads into the cloud, housed in very sophisticated and highly automated data centers.

9.) Internet of Things
Shawn DuBravac, chief economist of the Consumer Electronics Association and author of "Digital Destiny," kicked things off with a pre-CES presentation highlighting the trends that he believes will shape our world over the next year and beyond.
For DuBravac, the future will be determined by what he calls the "5 Pillars of our Digital Destiny," which include ubiquitous computing, cheap digital storage, constant connectivity, and proliferation of digital devices and the "sensorization" of technology. Those pillars have helped create the smartphone market, which is now bigger than the market for personal computers. But DuBravac sees it spawning an even bigger universe of products that serve what he calls the "Internet of Me," consisting of everything from internet-connected thermostats to smart toothbrushes. Within a few years, he says, the market for such products will reach 50 billion devices, compared to the current smartphone market of 2 billion units.
The Internet of Things (or Everything or Me) so dominated CES that Samsung, which introduced a series of innovative TVs, appliances and more at its main press conference, devoted a second event to arambling speech by CEO B.K. Yoon about IoT, where he pledged $100 million in investments in IoT-related companies. "The Internet of Things is absolutely amazing," Yoon said, while introducing devices such as a sleep monitor that could determine the best time to wake you in the morning based on your sleeping patterns, and relay that data to your smart lighting system or connected alarm app.

Summary:
The "Internet of Things," in which every device is a smart device and they all communicate with you via the internet and your smartphone. And a few gadgets, such as an internet-connected Crock-Pot, attempted to deliver on that promise. This year, however, the Internet of Things (or the "Internet of Everything," depending on who you spoke to), was everywhere, with everything from smart ceiling fans to connected flower pots on display. And some of them actually went beyond the obvious gimmicks and were products you might actually want to own. 10.) 3D Printing
3D printers print 3D models, in a process called Additive Manufacturing or AM. This process uses computer control to lay successive layers of material to build a 3D model.
ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and the more eco friendly PLA (Polylactic acid or polylactide) both plastics, are the most common materials used, but increasingly almost any material can be printed, from food to metal, just not necessarily at home.
The most widely adopted 3D print file format is .stl which can be exported from most 3D modelling and scanning applications. As well as creating 3D models yourself you can download a huge selection from sites such as makerbot's Thingiverse.com.
As with conventional 2D printers resolution and size is all important. A high resolution will produce a higher quality print than a low one, and a large print bed may be more convenient enabling you to print your objects in one go rather than splitting the print over several parts.
Worldwide shipments of 3D printers are expected to grow 98 percent in 2015, followed by a doubling of unit shipments in 2016. 3D printing will reach a tipping point over the next three years as the market for relatively low-cost 3D printing devices continues to grow rapidly and industrial use expands significantly. New industrial, biomedical and consumer applications will continue to demonstrate that 3D printing is a real, viable and cost-effective means to reduce costs through improved designs, streamlined prototyping and short-run manufacturing.
Summary:
3D printing long ago moved from being theoretical to a reality, and in recent years 3D printers have become cheaper to produce; several models are now available for sale, as well as designs for products. Experts predict 3D printers will be common in homes in coming years. Our news and feature articles cover the science and technology behind 3D printers, from how they work to the history, progress and future of the technology and what kinds of things can be made. 3D printing’s uses range from practical objects for everyday use to commercial products and parts used in manufacturing, plus the technology holds promise for bioprinting of human parts for medical purposes.