The number of job opportunities for cloud-computing professionals is increasing at a rapid rate, and the current talent pool may not be large enough to meet the demand.
According to Wanted Analytics, there has been a 92 percent rise in cloud-related job postings compared with a year ago and more than four times the level in 2010.
Job listings with the highest demand include software engineers, systems engineers and network administrators. Companies advertising the highest number of postings include VMware, Microsoft, Amazon.com, URS Corp. and Google.
Leading locations for cloud-based jobs: San Jose, Seattle, Washington DC, San Francisco and New York City.
“With the demand for cloud skills growing so quickly, the gap between hiring demand and talent supply across the United States is getting larger and causing more difficulties in sourcing candidates,” the report states.
“Microsoft has been working on ‘Lifebrowser,’ a software akin to an intelligent search engine that collects, organizes and curates your virtual life,” reports Digital Trends.
The prototype curation software is essentially a “scaled down and personal solution” of the approach companies are taking with their “big data.”
“You can think of it as a smart search engine of your virtual proclivities,” adds Digital Trends. “Lifebrowser’s machine-learning algorithm will crawl through all of your online and offline activities, find only what it discerns as significant events in your life, and save the information in chronological order for later perusal.”
The software is designed to emulate how humans recall information. “You always think that machine learning is kind of cold,” explains Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz. “This is showing that a model is not only learning about how I think, it’s also very warmly understanding what it means to capture humanity.”
No word on when the algorithm and timeline design may go public, although Digital Trends suggests it would be a nice addition to Windows 9.
DirecTV announced this week that it plans to adopt Ultra HDTV in the future and is already working on its spectrum needs.
According to Philip Goswitz, SVP Space and Communications R&D: “At DirecTV we see a couple of things happening. First, our subscribers are migrating away from Ku-band, and upgrading themselves to Ka-band and its HDTV services. In four or five years, our Ku-band [transmissions] could end. We are also developing the so-called Reverse Band for DBS services, and these are on our Road Map for future international services. 4000-line is exciting to us because of its image quality, and the potential for glasses-free 3D.”
Advanced Television reports that Japan’s introduction of Ultra HDTV is slated for 2020 and will use Ka-band. DirecTV is already using Ka-band in North America.
“But Ka-band doesn’t just mean broadband. To us it means broadcasting. The truth is that as our Ku-band transmissions end, then increasingly every dollar in revenue is attributable to Ka-band. We’ll be entirely Ka-band in about five years. Currently, of our total $27 billion in annual revenues, about $20 billion comes from Ka-band,” said Goswitz.
Chinese manufacturer TCL Corporation has developed an LCD TV screen that measures 110 inches and features 4,096 x 2,160 resolution and 3D with active-shutter glasses.
According to the press release, additional specifications of the China Stardisplay include “multi-touch technology, intelligent and dynamic backlight technology, ultra-high brightness of 800nits, and 92 percent NTSC color gamut.”
The company has donated two of the giant HDTV screens to the Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
However, it has not been announced whether or when TCL may market the screens.
“China will replace Japan and South Korea as the world leader in TV display screens in terms of manufacturing and R&D in three to five years, and will provide a higher level of quality and more cost-effective products to the global community,” says Gu Zhihua, director of the flat panel display center at Fudan University.
As noted in our ETCentric CES coverage, the cost of 3D printing is coming down and may soon be entering mainstream adoption.
For example: “The price has come down enough that Ted Griffiths offers 3D printing services at his Buckley mailroom business, one of the first examples of a retail 3D printing,” reports the Bonney Lake-Sumner Courier Herald in Washington.
“I’m working very closely with (printer manufacturer) 3D Systems,” said Griffiths, the owner of Diane’s Mailroom. “They have equipment that costs in the millions of dollars. I’m networked with them, so if anyone comes in with a really big 3D modeling job, I can just upload it to them and they’ll ship it out.”
Griffiths has an in-house 3D printer in the back corner of the store, and maintains a computer station with 3D modeling programs (including Blender and AutoCAD). Customers can rent time at the station for $15 an hour.
“I think what we’re going to see here is some Do-It-Yourself engineers who come in to work on their designs on our station,” Griffith said. “And they can build the prototype right here from our printer.”
ETCentric staffer Philip Lelyveld predicts that there will soon be a Kinkos-like national service for 3D printing.
A team of scientists led by the University of Rochester and North Carolina State University have achieved a first in particle transmission.
The scientists “sent a message using a beam of neutrinos — nearly massless particles that travel at almost the speed of light. The message was sent through 240 meters of stone and said simply, ‘Neutrino,'” reports ScienceBlog.com.
“Using neutrinos, it would be possible to communicate between any two points on Earth without using satellites or cables,” notes Dan Stancil, professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and lead author of the research paper. “Neutrino communication systems would be much more complicated than today’s systems, but may have important strategic uses.”
Neutrinos have the potential to dramatically impact modes of communication since “they can penetrate almost anything they encounter.” The article sites examples such as possible advances for submarine communication over long distances through water, and even communication “with something in outer space that was on the far side of a moon or a planet, our message could travel straight through without impediment.”
The experiments are costly and require a great deal of equipment. However, this research may be the first step toward practical applications.
As George Gerba noted when he submitted this article: “Next — video anywhere… Really anywhere…”
The latest Apple rumor suggests the company is gearing up to release a smaller version of its popular iPad.
A Samsung official has reportedly told the Korea Times that Apple plans to release an iPad mini with 7.85-inch screen. The official claims the smaller version will use Samsung-made displays.
“Despite its ongoing patent battles with Samsung, Apple will reportedly buy $11 billion worth of parts from the South Korean electronics giant this year,” reports Digital Trends. “Part of that $11 billion will go toward the purchase of smaller touch-screen displays.”
“The contract is expected to rise to $11 billion by the end of this year as Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, probably with a 7.85-inch screen, and to sell more of its MacBook Air PCs using Samsung’s faster solid state drive (SSD) storage,” the official said.
Sony has announced the Alpha a57 DSLR as a replacement for its Alpha a55 intended to compete with the Nikon D5100, Canon EOS Rebel T3i and other mid-range cameras.
“Using a 16.1MP CMOS sensor, the Alpha a57 shoots 10 frames-per-second at the full 16-megapixel resolution and 12 frames-per-second at an 8-megapixel resolution,” reports Digital Trends. “When using manual aperture control, the a57 can shoot 8 frames-per-second at the full resolution.”
“The Alpha a57 also captures full HD 1080p video (AVCHD) at 60fps or 24fps and the camera offers object tracking to make sure moving subjects stay in focus,” notes the post. “Utilizing LCD technology, the Alpha a57 uses a 1,440,000 dot electronic viewfinder rather than a ‘through-the-lens’ optical viewfinder. The camera operator can also utilize the 3-inch, bottom-hinged LCD screen on the back of the a57.”
The interchangeable lens camera will be available by April for $700 (body only). Sony also plans to offer the SLT-A57K, an $800 version that includes a 18-55mm zoom lens.
At the National Association of Broadcasting conference, International Research Park (IRP) will debut a 200-inch glasses-free projection TV from Japan.
“The first U.S. demonstration of a 200-inch, glasses-free 3D projection system will be presented by the Japanese national research lab, National Institute for Information and Communication Technology (NICT),” reports TVNewsCheck. “As the world’s largest display of its kind, the viewing zone for the demonstration is large enough for 30 people to optimally view 3D images without eyewear.”
“IRP, presented by NAB Labs, is a venue designed to highlight advanced projects underway in academic, government and commercial research laboratories worldwide,” notes the article.
IRP will be in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center during the NAB Show, April 16-19.
Other IRP demos scheduled: “hybrid TV broadcasting proposals (including converged broadcast/wireless-telecom systems), multi-sensory media presentations, 4K video streaming, high-dynamic range and multi-spectral video, enhanced media accessibility for visually and aurally impaired users, 2D and 3D multi-viewpoint video, advanced file-based workflows, advanced interactive gesture control and data visualization technologies.”
Double Fine was seeking $400,000 on Kickstarter for its new adventure game, but met with some surprising results.
“After raking in the first million within 24 hours of the announcement of the project on Kickstarter, game developer Double Fine and Tim Schafer have just closed out the funding round on the crowd-sourced fundraising tool and collected exactly $3,336,371 over a 35-day period,” reports Digital Trends.
The new funds will allow the company to release the game on more platforms and multiple languages.
Originally intended only as a PC game, current plans now include Mac, Linux, iOS and Android versions.
“Since Double Fine has proven that a game can be completely financed by fans, other game developers are likely going to flock to the fundraising platform with new projects,” notes the post. “Phil Fish, designer of the upcoming XBLA-exclusive release ‘Fez,’ is contemplating a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a new game that won’t be headed to the Xbox platform… Since Fish won’t be able to collect revenue from sales of ‘Fez’ until the game is approved and released on the Xbox 360, he can raise the money required for the new project within a month on Kickstarter rather than wait three to five months to get paid by Microsoft.”
The BBC is reportedly planning a download-to-own service it hopes will compete with iTunes.
“But the producers, through their umbrella organisation pact, have so far declined to give their outright blessing, citing uncertainty over revenue share, exclusivity and the potential for cannibalising DVD sales,” reports paidContent. “They have asked for more detailed assurances.”
Project Barcelona plans to make more BBC content available on multiple platforms while promising producers a greater share per episode than the iTunes model.
Some independent producers reportedly do not want to provide exclusive rights to Barcelona. If the BBC eventually earns suppliers’ support, it will still require approval from the regulating BBC Trust.
“If approved, Barcelona could lay groundwork for a pay-for BBC in a post-analogue, post-linear world,” suggest the article. “But, so far, it concerns only the download-to-own market — a model that may yet diminish as streaming alternatives, which provide cloud-based access but not ownership, grow in popularity.”
Philip Bloom comments on a Kickstarter project for the Digital Bolex, a modern update to the motion picture camera first launched in 1927.
“Launched at SxSW this is one of most interesting camera concepts I have seen…a Digital Bolex, shooting 2K Raw with a 16mm equivalent sensor recording in DNG, TIFF or JPEG sequences AND with XLR inputs for recording audio,” Bloom writes.
Additional features include: 2048 x 1152 resolution (Super 16mm mode) and 1920 x 1080 pixels (16mm mode); frame rates up to 32fps at 2K, 60fps at 720p, 90fps at 480p; Kodak CCD sensor; 12 bit color depth (4:4:4); lens C-mount standard (optional: PL, EF, B4).
According to the project’s Kickstarter page, more than $287,000 has been raised thus far and 91/100 of the first Digital Bolex D16s sold in less than two days.
Bloom’s post includes a 26-minute audio interview with creators Joe Rubinstein and Elle Schneider.
Initial backers have an opportunity to get the camera for $2,500 (retail is expected to be about $3,300). The target release date is August. For you camera fans out there, this could be worth watching and/or backing.
Only three months after its acquisition by Facebook, location-based app Gowalla is closing its doors.
According to Gowalla’s landing page: “Thank you for going out with Gowalla. It was a pleasure to journey with you around the world. Download your check-ins, photos and lists here soon.”
“This leaves Foursquare to prove that its pivot will keep its location-based services relevant for users,” reports Digital Trends, adding that “Foursquare stands as the lone giant lumbering in location-based check-ins, despite the fact that the majority of its users aren’t in fact using Foursquare for checking-in.”
“There are a lot of people using Foursquare who aren’t checking in. People use the app to consume data. That’s a really important and interesting trend,” says Dennis Crowley, Foursquare’s CEO.
Digital Trends suggests the Gowalla purchase for $3 million in Facebook shares was a talent acquisition: “With plans to expand Facebook’s location-based API for statuses and updates detailing user’s visits on their Timelines, the majority of Gowalla’s team settled in Facebook’s Palo Alto, while the remainder stayed in Austin to work in Facebook’s Austin office.”
The initial wave of Panasonic’s Smart Viera HDTVs unveiled at January’s CES are about to become available.
“Panasonic said models in the ST50, UT50, and XT50 plasma series and the E50, ET5, E5 and X5 LED series will be available this month. Also announced were ship dates on LED LCD TV models, a 47-inch (available this month) and 55-inch (available in April and May),” reports TWICE. “The 2012 LED LCD model line features 16 models this year, up from seven a year ago.”
The line features the cloud-based Viera Connect service that offers access to popular applications including Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. It also includes a fitness app that works with a separate Bluetooth-enabled armband.
The ET5 series will feature Panasonic’s first 3D TVs to make use of passive polarized 3D glasses.
Shipments of some models will begin this month, with others to follow in April and May. The article includes a list of MSRPs.
Toshiba’s glasses-free 3D 55ZL2 will launch this week in the UK for about $11,000. At that price, it may not be the breakout model 3D supporters have been waiting for, but its glasses-free approach is a step in the right direction.
“With a 4K resolution and no need for glasses to view 3D content, could it be the savior of 3D at home?” asks Digital Trends.
The 55-inch TV features 3840 x 2160 resolution, 2D-to-3D conversion and upscaling of 1080p content “beyond Full HD.”
Digital Trends describes the lenticular display: “Combined with a camera which tracks viewer’s faces and a multi-core processor inside the set, different images are projected to the left and right eye, producing a 3D picture.”
Additional features of the ZL2 include: Wi-Fi and DLNA connectivity, USB recording, online video content and social networking features, mobile app, built-in subwoofer and four HDMI ports.
