For the ninth year in a row, CEOs rate Texas as the #1 state in which to do business, according to Chief Executive Magazine's annual Best & Worst States Survey.

Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana also made the top five. The states rated worst for business are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The Best & Worst States Survey measures the sentiments of CEOs on a range of issues, including regulations, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living and infrastructure. For the 2013 survey, 736 CEOs from across the country evaluated the states between Jan. 16 and Feb. 14, 2013. Ohio was the biggest gainer in this year's survey, rising 13 spots from #35 to #22. \

CEOs say California's poor ranking is the result of a perceived hostility to business, high state taxes and onerous regulations, all of which drive investment, companies and jobs to other states. According to the California...

Worldwide service revenue, year-on-year (YoY) for 4Q-2012 grew 2.8% to US$240.5 billion, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Western Europe and Africa’s mobile operator actually demonstrated a contraction in service revenue YoY of 8.2% and 6.9%, respectively, according to the research group. Middle East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific are still showing reasonably robust rates of growth of 7% to 11%. Eastern Europe and North America, however, are only barely keeping their service revenue growth in positive territory.

"As the underlying lift from accumulating subscribers has matured, carriers are starting to cast around for additional revenue streams that don’t just boost revenues but also profitability," says Jake Saunders, vice president for core forecasting at ABI Research. "There is still tremendous income to be generated from mobile services; the Top 10 Mobile Carriers...

Forty-seven percent of home entertainment devices (Internet-capable TVs, Blu-ray disc players, video game consoles, and streaming media devices) are currently connected and being used for their online capabilities. But the degree to which these devices are used online varies significantly, according to global information company, The NPD Group (www.npd.com).

Internet capable TVs and Blu-ray disc players are the least likely to actually be connected to the Internet and used for their online features, while streaming media players and video game consoles are connected and used the most.

"While there are more Blu-ray disc players installed and connected to the Internet than streaming media players such as Apple TV and Roku, we expect that to change in the next year," says John Buffone, director, devices, NPD Connected Intelligence. "Streaming media players will exceed the number of installed and Internet connected Blu...

Global macroeconomic developments and technological advances, personal computers, and memory markets are expected to drive demand for the global semiconductor market at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 4.3% over hte next five years and reach an estimated US$394 billion in 2017, according to new data from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

The global semiconductor industry is a fragmented market. The Asia Pacific (APAC) region dominates this market and represents approximately three-fourths of the global market. Some of the major players include Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba Corporation. The combination of factors such as continuing transfer of worldwide electronic equipment production to China and the above-average semiconductor content of that equipment influences market dynamics tremendously, says Research...

This summer, a number of new domain names will likely start appearing on the Web. Generic names such as .apple, .home, .app, .vegas or .music could join such stalwarts as .com, .net and .org.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization charged with administering the system, has been considering the expansion for several years. University of Houston Law Center professor Jacqueline D. Lipton recently spoke on the topic at the Second Annual International Intellectual Property Law Scholar’s Roundtable at the University of San Diego. Lipton sees the new system as a significant test in the development of innovative systems for global governance of commerce and free speech.

"The new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) process is unique in legal and political terms in several respects," she said. "It is the first time ever that words and phrases have been auctioned off to those with the financial wherewithal to pay large sums for...

By Rick Sutcliffe

A sudden spate of email from last October last week should have been a clue that not all was well with the Spy's own company virtual server, where he has most of his mail accounts and the billing system for Arjay Web Services (WebNameHost and WebNameSource). Unfortunately, he failed to investigate until the following day, after customers complained about receiving bills they had already paid, even having their accounts suspended (all they on his big dedicated production server).

A few minutes examining the server revealed it had been rolled back to October 19, 2012. Relying on the actual date and the old database, his WHMCS billing system had dispatched a flock (or is that a gaggle or a murder) of overdue notices (including two customers no longer with the company) and suspended all the accounts it deemed in arrears. Following a herd of trouble tickets, his own ticket to the Atjeu data centre yielded a "yes, we had an outage and...

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the total value of the global real-time mobile location-based advertising and marketing (LBA) market will grow from US$526 million in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65% to $6.5 billion in 2017.

This will then correspond to 32.8% of all mobile advertising and marketing. This means that location-based advertising and marketing will represent around 5% of digital advertising, or more than 1% of the total global ad spend for all media.

SMS, mobile search and coupons are today important high-volume LBA formats. The ability to precisely target prospective customers using real-time location is currently one of the most promising additions to the advertising toolbox. Key drivers for LBA include the growing adoption of both outdoor and indoor location technologies, as well as the increasing consumer acceptance of location-based services in general, says Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that smartphones and tablets are expanding their role in video second-screen experiences, with 22% of U.S. broadband consumers checking or updating their social network on a smartphone or tablet while watching TV.

The research group reports instances of mobile activities while watching TV increases significantly among Millennials, where consumers 18-34 are 70% more likely than other age groups to look up TV listings via a mobile device.

"The mobile device is the implied peripheral in the second-screen concept, but increasingly it is the first screen consumers look at during a video-viewing experience," says Brett Sappington, director, research, Parks Associates. "The growth of OTT (over-the-top) services, pay-TV initiatives such as TV Everywhere, and increases in mobile apps have all contributed to this shift. Eighteen percent of...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) has released data showing traditional promotions, such as offering free or discounted premium channels, are the most-effective tool for pay-TV providers in luring back lost subscribers. The research group's consumer research finds 44% of customers who re-subscribed to pay-TV services in the past 18 months said a promotion was a significant reason for their return.

"Most people leave pay-TV services due to economic factors, and these are the main influencers bringing them back," says John Barrett, director, research, Parks Associates. "They are not dissatisfied with Internet video. In fact, many cited Netflix Watch Instantly as a very satisfying experience. These re-subscribers were simply ready to take advantage of a promotion as their own financial situation improved."

Promotions and/or discounts were the leading factors for re-subscribers with...

Employers continue to be concerned about the risk and liability posed by employee use of mobile devices while driving on the job. Seven in 10 companies have adopted written policies designed to curb employee distracted driving, but only 32% are confident that current enforcement methods are effective at achieving compliance.

These are among the new findings from Aegis Mobility’s third-annual survey of 547 fleet safety and risk management professionals. Key findings include:
"Hands-Free" and "Zero Tolerance" are most popular policies. Forty-five percent of existing employer policies prohibit all use, except hands-free. Forty-one percent prohibit all use, no exceptions. Twelve percent prohibit texting, emailing and browsing.

Efforts to enforce distracted driving policies remain steady. Eighty-six percent of companies report taking some steps to enforce distracted driving policies.

Confidence is lacking in current policy enforcement. Confidence in current...

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), the total value of the global real-time mobile location-based advertising and marketing (LBA) market will grow from € 526 million in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65% to € 6.5 billion (approximately US$8.5 billion) in 2017.

This will then correspond to 32.8% of all mobile advertising and marketing. This means that location-based advertising and marketing will represent around 5% of digital advertising, or more than 1 percent of the total global ad spend for all media. SMS, mobile search and coupons are today important high-volume LBA formats. The ability to precisely target prospective customers using real-time location is currently one of the most promising additions to the advertising toolbox.

"Key drivers for LBA include the growing adoption of both outdoor and indoor location...

Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says the global cloud-based gaming market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.9% from now through 2015.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing audience for social media games and mobile games, says the research group. The Global Cloud-based Gaming market has also been witnessing the increasing adoption of next-generation technologies. However, the requirement of high broadband speed could pose a challenge to the growth of this market, according to Research and Markets.

According to their report: ''Cloud-based gaming provides large opportunities to publishers for promotions and marketing. One such opportunity is the free-to-play business model, which is also known as the freemium model. It consists of the consumer playing the core loop of a game for free, but then eventually paying for...