Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says the future of the tablet market depends on how it evolves. And that evolution is expected to involve the business world.

With the introduction of the first modern tablet -- that would be the iPad -- the tablet market in the U.S. begun to surface and gain ground. It created competition among the major desktop and laptop manufacturers who set out to obtain advantage of early movers in the U.S. market.

Initially, Apple with its iOS dominated the U.S. tablet PCs market; however, Android based tablet PCs are expected to take over Apple's share in the coming years, according to Research and Markets. The research group says the world has seen aggressive competition among tablet manufacturers after the launch of the Apple tablet.

Within five months of the release of the iPad, Samsung launched its Samsung Galaxy Tab to compete with...

Informa Telecoms & Media (www.informa.com) estimates that the LatAm mobile market will grow 7.1% this year, ending 2013 with 742 million mobile subscriptions. While many developed mobile markets are struggling to continue growing, because of the deterioration of economic conditions, Latin America’s mobile market will prosper in 2013

"There is a big appetite for mobile data services in the region, and such services will be the growth engine for the sector," says Marceli Passoni, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Although voice will remain the main revenue stream for operators, accounting for 76% of service revenues, data revenues will increase 18% year-on-year, topping US$27.7 billion, according to Informa. The low PC and fixed-broadband penetrations in Latin America, combined with a reduction in smartphone prices and greater affordability of mobile data plans, contribute to the increasing...

The first significant shipments of the HomePlug AV2 and MoCA 2.0 standards will be seen in 2013, offering higher speeds as well as more robustness under different line conditions, predicts ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). Not all devices shipped using the new standards will support the full set of features, so many will not offer gigabit speeds.

ABI Research expects North American MoCA households to exceed 25 million by 2014 with similar numbers in Western Europe for Homeplug. While no new wires home networking solutions have gained significant traction from pay-TV operators, the pathway to stronger consumer mindshare will come through hybrid networking solutions, consumer education, and the retail market -- which is increasingly becoming the focus of many companies operating in the market, according to the research group.

"Entropic leads the market share in unit shipments within the Home...

At the close of 2012, market intelligence firm ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) estimates nearly 200 million tablets will have shipped worldwide since 2009 and an additional onebillion tablets are forecasted to ship over the next five years.

New research that explores the impact a tablet has on the daily life of a U.S. consumer shows that 22% of users spend US$50 or more per month and 9% spend $100 or more; much higher than spending levels observed by smartphone owners.

Spending on-device of physical and virtual goods hasn't yet impacted retail storefronts that are already concerned about their venues turning into showrooms for eventual e-commerce purchases. Logistics, such as price checking, using a coupon and location-based searches, consistently rank as the most common activities (each performed by more than 50% of tablet shoppers in the previous 90 days) while shopping.

The actual...

The first significant shipments of the HomePlug AV2 and MoCA 2.0 standards will be seen in 2013, offering higher speeds as well as more robustness under different line conditions. Not all devices shipped using the new standards will support the full set of features, so many will not offer gigabit speeds.

ABI Research expects North American MoCA households to exceed 25 million by 2014 with similar numbers in Western Europe for Homeplug. While no new wires home networking solutions have gained significant traction from pay-TV operators, the pathway to stronger consumer mindshare will come through hybrid networking solutions, consumer education, and the retail market -- which is increasingly becoming the focus of many companies operating in the market, according to the research group.

"Entropic leads the market share in unit shipments within the Home Networking market, with a portfolio currently extending from MoCA only solutions to SoCs for client devices based on its...

With the imminent launch of BlackBerry 10 (BB10), Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum (www.ovum.com) believes "the new software platform will provide a temporary boost in performance but no salvation for RIM."

"RIM continues to face the twin demons of consumer-driven buying power and a chronic inability to appeal to mature market consumers. There is nothing in what we’ve seen so far of BB10 that suggests it will conquer the second of these demons, and the first is utterly out of RIM’s control," he says. "We don’t expect a speedy exit from the market; with no debt, 80 million subscribers and profitability in the black in at least some recent quarters, the company can continue in this vein for years. But its glory days are past, and it is only a matter of time before it reaches a natural end."

Two major factors have worked against RIM in the past two years: companies are no longer buying the majority of...

With the release of its 2012 "Annual Roundup and Mobile Security" reports, Trend Micro (www.trendmicro.com) documents how cybercriminals have moved beyond the PC, targeting Android, social media and even the Mac OS X with new attacks.

"2012 Annual Security Roundup - Evolved Threats in a Post-PC World
Trend Micro's Annual Security Roundup' shows that most of Trend Micro's predictions for 2012 came true, and the company encapsulated 2012 as the year where threats launched the beginning of the "Post-PC" Era. Threats have now escalated past the desktop environment.

2012 ended with 350,000 threats for Android as detected by Trend Micro. Malware growth reached 14-3 for Android versus PC, and it only took Android three years to achieve the PC volume of malware threats achieved within fourteen years.

2012 is also the year that Java supplanted pure Windows-based threats in the attackers' cross-hairs...

A new year brings new opportunities for small businesses to be successful. Offers.com, a coupon and deal website, has announced its top five services and tips small business can use to be more efficient in 2013. They are:


° Save on travel costs -- Travel can be expensive, especially on a small business budget. Businesses can save by buying items for their company with business rewards cards like Gold Delta SkyMiles, where companies can earn miles on every purchase. GoToMeeting is also a great solution that allows for virtual collaboration for up to 25 participants to screenshare and video conference.

° Use online services instead of professionals -- To run a smart business, companies can reduce expenses associated with specialized skilled jobs by taking advantage of the right low cost tools and services. Using LegalZoom for straightforward legal services is far cheaper than hiring an attorney. And just about anyone can master dynamic accounting software like...

Ovum Software (www.ovum.com) has published three "Trends to watch reports" on cloud computing and reveals that 2013 will see cloud computing continue to grow rapidly. 

In the report, Laurent Lachal, senior analyst, Ovum Software notes that  "Cloud computing promises to tackles two hitherto irreconcilable IT challenges: the need to reduce costs and the need to boost innovation."

"It takes a lot of effort from vendors and enterprises to actually make it work, and they will succeed in making it work in 2013, both on their own and as part of increasingly complex ecosystems," he says.

Indeed, cloud computing in all its guises (public, private, and hybrid) is building momentum, evolving fast and becoming increasingly "enterprise-grade." But it's in its early days for vendors and enterprises.

"Cloud computing has barely reached the adolescence phase and it will take at least another five years for cloud...

Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 34 would consider replacing their television cable/satellite provider with a streaming media subscription service in 2013, according to the results of a new survey released today by Belkin (www.belkin.com), a provider of technology products for today’s connected home.

Comparatively, 31% of those ages 35 to 54 and 20% of those over 55 would consider replacing their television cable/satellite provider with a streaming media subscription service, such as Netflix or Hulu Plus, this year. Additionally, Americans who have children under 18 in their households (37%) are more likely to consider replacing their cable/satellite subscription than Americans with no children in their households (27%).

The survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Belkin among more than 2,100 U.S. adults, also revealed that 38% of U.S. adults between the ages of...

Perforce Software (www.perforce.com) has released six resolutions for software companies to consider when managing their development environments. The resolutions encourage companies to maintain well organized codebases and development processes to foster their growth.

"The new year is an ideal time for every organization to take an inventory of what is working well and find ways to improve -- and there’s no better place to start than at the very foundation of the code," says Randy DeFauw, technical marketing manager at Perforce. "In my experience with our customers, employing these software practices not only results in fewer issues down the road, but a more manageable codebase."

Perforce’s six recommendations for 2013:

° Deliver like Facebook: Facebook leads its industry because it delivers improvements to its site daily. Replicating this strategy is recommended, and easier to do now that the...

MicroStrategy, a worldwide provider of enterprise software, has announced the results of a recent survey of over 500 U.S. organizations on the use of tablet computers to support sales activities across many industries. Results of the survey reveal that:

° Nearly one in two salespeople cite limited mobile access to key sales systems -- i.e. Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management, Order Management -- as a challenge.

° C-level executives point to their respective salesforces' lack of understanding of customer needs as a major barrier to selling (75%), along with failure to keep product knowledge current (50%).

° The top five desired activities to perform on a mobile device include: create or update opportunities, view sales collateral, view CRM records, view sales analytics, and collaborate and share ideas with other sales team members.

° Most sales organizations (72%) grade themselves at a B-level or below on sales meeting quality....