Marketers can't afford to ignore YouTube stars
YouTube offers businesses the ability to connect meaningfully with their audience and build an engaged base of customers and prospects. The video sharing website has never been more popular. Today, over three billion hours of videos are watched per month, with an additional 300 hours of videos being added each minute. Yet, out of all the videos uploaded to YouTube, only a very small percentage generate more than a few hundred views; and only an elite few of those ultimately end up going viral. However, when done right, uploading videos can be big business. And not just for traditional organizations.
The number of channels earning six figures each year on YouTube is increasing by 50 percent year on year. According to a 2014 Variety survey, the stars of YouTube’s most popular channels, such as Swede Felix Kjellberg’s PewDiePie and Germán Aranis’ HolaSoyGerman, are now more influential and popular than mainstream celebrities among teenagers, so they need to be taken seriously by marketers.
UK businesses will spend £37bn on failing agile projects
Businesses in the UK will waste £37 billion on failed agile IT projects in the next 12 months, according to a new report from 6point6. The report is based on a poll of 300 UK and US CIOs. They were asked about their experiences with agile, and how its principles are being applied and executed.
More than half of CIOs (53 percent) see agile development as "discredited," and three quarters (75 percent) don’t even want to defend it any more. Seventy-three percent of CIOs think agile IT is its own industry now, and 50 percent consider it an "IT fad."
Advertisers need to keep an eye on gamers to reach new audiences
It’s time to stuff the stereotypes. For too long in the minds of too many, gaming has been thought of as a sub-culture populated by teenage boys sitting indoors and playing shoot ‘em ups on either a console or computer.
The statistics to disprove this have been around for a long time -- the average age of a US games buyer was 36 last year and women make up more than 40 percent of gamers. Nearly two-thirds of US households contain at least one frequent gamer. Staggering stats that make it hard to pinpoint who the "typical" gamer is -- because there isn’t one anymore.
OnePlus confirms the OnePlus 5 will be released this summer
OnePlus has confirmed that the successor to the OnePlus 3T is due for release soon. The OnePlus 5 has been rumored and hinted at for a while, but now it is official.
In a slightly unusual move, rather than making a direct announcement about the upcoming flagship killer, OnePlus instead chose to reveal the future launch to the Verge. Beyond "summer," we know nothing about the specifics of the launch but there are plenty of leaks and rumors to go on for the time being.
The Galaxy S7 is the most-popular Samsung smartphone in the world
Samsung is the biggest smartphone vendor in the world, thanks in no small part to the huge success that the Galaxy S series enjoys. Those flagships generate the most sales, and that is expected to continue this year as the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ leave their mark in the consumer space.
But which Galaxy S device is the most popular with smartphone buyers? That is a question that may be tough to answer, as it's rare that the likes of IDC and Gartner reveal anything other than total shipments, but thanks to a ScientiaMobile report we now know that it is the Galaxy S7 that has attracted the most users.
How to lock down Windows 10 Home/Pro like Windows 10 S
Microsoft this week introduced a new version of Windows 10 aimed primarily at users in education, and designed as an alternative to Google’s Chrome OS.
The main difference between Windows 10 S, and Windows 10 Home/Pro is it only runs apps from the Windows Store. You can’t install programs from elsewhere, and this includes Chrome. This mean users can only install Microsoft-verified software which, the software giant says, will result in better security and superior performance. You don’t need to buy or install Windows 10 S to get this feature though, you can simply lock down an existing version of Windows 10.
Is a Google-made Chrome ad-blocker the answer to intrusive advertising?
In case you missed it, rumors are rife that Google will soon introduce an ad blocker in Chrome. Understandably, there's concern about the power that would give Google over the advertising industry and its competition. As a member of said competition, I am equal parts concerned and supportive of an ad blocker in Chrome.
It’s certainly an interesting story. On first thought it’s a little ironic, in that a company which makes a large proportion of its money through advertising revenue is not only giving users of its browser the ability to block ads from appearing, but turning it on by default too. If the rumor is true, the addition of an ad blocker in Chrome could limit the reach of ads to over half of the world’s internet users overnight. That’s a big change, and in many instances it’s needed.
Newton email app now available for Windows, Alexa support arrives
Of all the email apps I have used in recent years, Newton (formerly known as CloudMagic) is my favorite. It is really easy to use, works with all the major email providers, has some pretty cool features, and, most importantly, is available on Android, iOS and macOS. So it nearly covers all the major platforms, except Windows.
CloudMagic, the company behind the app, has been working to change this since December, however, and now we get the first beta version of Newton for Windows. It is rough around the edges at this stage, as you might expect, but it will get the "core emailing" job done.
More than half of people believe using spyware to snoop on family members is legal
A new study shows that almost 5o percent of people believe it's legal to install a program on a family member's phone to snoop on their activity.
The survey of more than 2,000 people in the US and UK by software comparison service Comparitech.com also finds 57 percent would consider spying on their children's phone conversations and messages.
One in four banks struggle to identify customers online
Around a quarter of banks are struggling to identify their customers when delivering digital and online banking services, according to Kaspersky Lab.
The latest findings from its Financial Institutions Security Risks survey show that 38 percent of financial institutions surveyed confirm that balancing prevention techniques and customer convenience is one of their specific concerns.
MediaPortal adds automatic media-scraping, Windows Media Center-inspired skin
Team MediaPortal has released a major update of its open-source media server and center for Windows. MediaPortal 2.1 opens with completely reworked media management tools, with a wide array of content now automatically scraped for metadata and artwork.
Users gain better visual indicators of watched series and individual movies, plus a number of new skins make their debut, including one aimed squarely at Windows Media Center users.
'Fatboy' ransomware uses a location-based charging model
A new ransomware-as-a-service product named 'Fatboy' has been advertised on Russian language forums. What makes it different is the way it uses a sliding scale to charge its victims.
Threat intelligence company Recorded Future has revealed that Fatboy uses the Economist's Big Mac Index -- designed to explain exchange rates -- to ensure victims in areas with a higher cost of living will be charged more to decrypt their data.
Microsoft to make big Surface announcement in Shanghai on May 23
Earlier this week, Microsoft made huge news by announcing both a new operating system (Windows 10 S) and computer (Surface Laptop) for education. Next week, the company will hold its annual Build 2017 developer conference. Surely the company will relax a bit for the rest of the month, right?
Nope. Today, Microsoft shocks the technology community by unveiling yet another event for the month of May. Not only is the timing a surprise, but so too is the location. You see, the company will be making a big Surface announcement in Shanghai! Microsoft says it will "show the world what's next."
Google Photos gets 'Mother's Day Movies' feature
We are finally in the month of May, meaning the holiday of Mother's Day is almost here. If your mom is still living, you should take the opportunity to spend time with her on that day. If traveling to her is not possible, picking up the phone is a good option too. Whatever you can do to make her feel loved and appreciated is a positive thing.
If your mom -- or any mother in your life -- is tech-savvy and uses a computer, Google Photos has a new feature that could really make her day. Called "Mother's Day Movies," it prompts you to select multiple photos of the mom and her children from your Google Photos library. The service then creates a "movie" using the images, which you can share with her.
Sunvell T95X TV box: a web-focused, cloud-based client for those on a budget [Review]
Businesses often envision the modern desktop computer as being a boring piece of kit, one that not only costs a lot of money but also doesn’t offer much in terms of innovation.
The reality is slightly different; between dongle PCs, mini and micro PCs as well as all-in-ones, there’s plenty of innovation around if you know where to look.
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