Welcome to this week’s Technology Updates, a vibrant mix of hot topics and future trends.
The future is here…. RIP Nokia?
Microsoft is killing Nokia. The brand that is. Microsoft announced that it is changing the phone name from Nokia Lumia to Microsoft Lumia. Rebranding will take some time, but with this move, it is evident that the brand is dead.
Nokia was the synonym for mobile phones. However, not many people know that the company was named after village in Finland. Another lesser known fact is that Nokia started as a pulp mill and maker of rubber boots in the 19th century.
Nokia, at one point, was manufacturing electrical cables, electric generators, paper products, consumer electronics, computers, robotics, plastics, aluminium and chemicals.
Nokia became famous for their mobile phones around the world. Nokia was the major developer of the GSM standard, the technology which allowed for voice and data communication at the same time. GSM became so popular among mobile operators in over 200 countries that 15 new device were connected every second. Nokia was the largest mobile phone manufacturer until 2012.
There is so much history and so many ‘firsts’. Nokia, you will be missed.
If you are interested about Nokia’s history, you can read more here -> http://g3t.ca/uhAjhv
Trending this week…
This week brought us some interesting, note-worthy articles and news:
- Planetary Resources (mentioned in the previous newsletters) has launched a test satellite. This one won’t mine asteroids, simply they want to prove that they can do it and test the software systems. –> http://g3t.ca/HuFJv8
- Space, the final frontier, is also hot topic during US Senate mid-term elections. Politicians are competing who is more space friendly. Space industry is a big business and politicians want to bring that business to their constituency. Reportedly, they are also receiving donations from ReMax. It wants to secure exclusive rights to sell homes on asteroids. –> http://g3t.ca/UTxb33
- 3D printing is not only cool, it allows you to ‘build’ objects, which can’t be made by any traditional manufacturing method. Now, thanks to researchers at Purdue University, you can reduce the material requirements by up to 65%. All possible, thanks to new printing algorithms. —> http://g3t.ca/StH2Q6
- Your health can be threatened by hackers. That’s right. There are now so many devices (heart implants, drug infusion pumps, etc.) which can be remotely controlled and which have very little of security build in. The risk didn’t get unnoticed by the Department of Homeland Security. It brings a new meaning to the saying: ‘It was killing him bit by bit.’ –> http://g3t.ca/OgmRK3
- China is denying that it was behind iCloud hack attack. One has to wonder, why you would still go and asked them. –> http://g3t.ca/Tw1LGV
- IBM is selling its computer chip manufacturing division. Perhaps the word ‘selling’ is not accurate. They will pay $1.4 billion to Globalfoundries to take it over. –> http://g3t.ca/pVYby1
- There is a new report by KPMG showing that Canadian companies are increasing their spending on IT security. Here is one gem from the report: ‘Gestur Kristjansson, president of Winnipeg-based mining firm San Gold Corp., said recent high-profile security breaches made his company sit up and take notice, even though it has no retail customers.’ I wonder what newspaper, TV or radio Gestur is exposed to. It is 2014 and you can’t go a day without a news about a security breach and commercial espionage. His company sits on data, which points where the gold is and he just recently sat up and took notice? What was he doing until then? Yoga meditation, the tortoise pose? –> http://g3t.ca/d2h6vI
- Check out even more trending topics here –> http://g3t.ca/CgcHZF
The past future is here…
In case you missed any of the past issues. Here is the complete archive: http://g3t.ca/GB1jPs
