Thanks for the memory

There was once a time where microSD cards were the first choice for removable storage. Small and portable, they could be moved from one device to another with ease, allowing for the downloading of photos, video files and more in mere minutes.

But as time marches on, tech companies are thinking smaller and faster when it comes to file storage. Samsung has found a way to combine those two elements, and the result of that fusion is the creation of the world’s first Universal Flash Storage (UFS) memory cards.

Compared to their predecessors, the UFS cards have sequential reading speeds of up to 530 MB per second, making them five times faster than even the most powerful microSD cards. According to official Samsung specs, UFS cards can read a 5 GB high-definition movie within 10 seconds. A standard UHS-1 card can accomplish the same feat in 50 seconds. 

Although not yet available on the market for standalone purchases, UFS cards are already embedded within some newer Samsung offerings, such as the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones. When they are officially released, the cards will be available with up to 256 GB of storage capacity.

Read more here:
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/7/7/12115616/samsung-ufs-removable-memory-cards

Official Samsung news release:
https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-introduces-worlds-first-universal-flash-storage-ufs-removable-memory-card-line-up-offering-up-to-256-gigabyte-gb-capacity

Dell steps up storage

The Dell PowerVault MD3460.

Data storage space within the business sphere often comes at a premium. It’s common for companies to store terabytes of corporate data on their servers, but in environments that rely on high-performance computing (HPC), that space gets filled up fast.

Microsoft Links up

If there is one thing that is a guarantee in the vast world of technology, it’s that dominance is fleeting. At any given moment, a company can be considered as a force in the industry, only to be overtaken by a competitor or newcomer shortly afterwards.

Microsoft understands this position all too well. For years, the personal computing juggernaut has wrestled with the competition. Sometimes, it achieved dominance; other times, it was Microsoft who was dominated instead. But the company could be well on its way to domination once again, as it announced a major acquisition recently.

Considered by many experts as its most ambitious move to date, Microsoft announced the acquisition of professional networking service LinkedIn. The price tag: a colossal $26.2 billion. The deal, reports The New York Times, is among the largest in Microsoft’s history, and it seeks to add a second dimension to the company’s offerings. Microsoft is widely known as a purveyor of computers and software, but the addition of LinkedIn will add the world’s largest professional networking site to its portfolio.

LinkedIn, which boasts more than 400 million users worldwide, represents Microsoft’s desire to move away from being solely a traditional software developer. The evolution of cloud computing – an area that Microsoft itself is a leader in, thanks to its Azure platform and related services – is making software development less viable for some corporations. Although it’s highly unlikely that Microsoft will ever stop producing staples like Windows and the Office suite, the future appears to be in the cloud, so to speak.

Read more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/business/dealbook/microsoft-to-buy-linkedin-for-26-2-billion.html?_r=0

BlackBerry and the law

Personal data is a sensitive subject, and issues involving it are constantly making headlines. Most notably, there was the recent battle between Apple and the FBI over the unlocking of the iPhone 5C of the shooter responsible for the San Bernardino attacks in 2015. 

The FBI eventually dropped their request, but not without a bitter war of the words that caused widespread debate among Apple users, politicians and government officials alike.

However, one mobile phone developer has an entirely different stance when it comes to device unlocking or data requests from the authorities. A CBC report reveals that BlackBerry actively cooperates with the police, providing them with access to user data and BBM messages for use in their investigations.

Within the confines of their Waterloo, Ontario headquarters, there exists a highly secretive unit that carries out these requests. While their intentions for allowing law enforcement to have this access are certainly good, their reasoning might not sit well with BlackBerry users.

Read more here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/blackberry-taps-user-messages-1.3620186

Clouds over Canada

When most people think of a cloudy day, bad weather and feelings of gloominess come to mind. When Microsoft thinks of a cloudy day, they see an opportunity for expansion.

Ringing it in

In the critically acclaimed novel and movie series The Lord of the Rings, there is much discussion about the One Ring, a small, yet powerful ring that possesses unprecedented power. Bearing this in mind, Visa has created a powerful ring of its own, but it won’t exactly let its wearer rule the world.

Visa’s ring is not only a nice-looking accessory; it’s also a payment device. Much like the way credit cards can be tapped on certain devices to instantly pay for items at stores, this NFC-equipped ring serves a similar function. 

The payment ring, which has yet to receive an inventive name, will be beta-tested at the Rio Olympics, where it will be given to 45 participating athletes. If the athletes like it, Visa hopes they’ll literally put a ring on it.

Read more here:
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/6/2/11846194/visa-payments-ring-nfc-olympics

Devouring mobile data

Human being are natural-born consumers. We consume food, natural resources and money at a rapid rate. But those aren't the only things we’re devouring.

The results of Ericsson’s Mobility Report show that humans are also huge consumers of mobile data. According to the study, worldwide mobile data traffic increased by 60 per cent between the first quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. 

The total mobile data usage during this period was estimated to be 5.7 exabytes, which is 5 million times the space on a standard PC hard drive. In addition, the results indicated that between 2015 and 2021, data usage will show a further increase, thanks to 12 times growth of smartphone usage.

North Americans were by far the largest consumers of data overall, accounting for roughly 4GB of data per smartphone per month. Ericsson believes that by 2021, that amount will jump to 22GB.

Read more here:
http://www.cnet.com/news/insatiable-appetite-mobile-data-americans-biggest-pigs-says-ericsson/

The full report from Ericsson can be found here:
http://www.ericsson.com/res/docs/2016/ericsson-mobility-report-2016.pdf