Gartner trims worldwide IT spending growth forecast to 3.9 percent for 2010

STAMFORD, USA: Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total $3.350 trillion in 2010, an increase of 3.9 percent from 2009 spending of $3.225 trillion, according to the latest outlook by Gartner Inc.

Gartner has lowered its outlook for the IT industry from the first quarter of this year when it forecast worldwide IT spending to grow 5.3 percent, primarily due to the devaluation of the euro versus the U.S. dollar since the beginning of the year.

"The European sovereign debt crisis is having an impact on the outlook for IT spending," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner. "The U.S. dollar has strengthened against the euro during the second quarter of 2010, and this trend will likely continue in the second half of 2010, which will put downward pressure on US-dollar-denominated IT spending growth."

"Longer-term, public-sector spending will be curtailed in Europe as governments struggle to bring budget deficits under control during the next five years and to reduce debt during the next 10 years," Gordon said.

"Private-sector economic activity will also likely be hindered because of the direct impact of austerity measures on key government suppliers and the indirect impact caused by the 'ripple effect.' An effective policy response will be critical to stimulate investment in general and in IT in particular."

Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach $365 billion in 2010, up 9.1 percent from 2009 spending (see Table 1). "The computing hardware sector continues to benefit from a healthy PC sector, which accounts for two-thirds of total spending in this area, and we expect PC shipments to remain robust throughout 2010 and 2011," Gordon said.

"Consumer shipments will continue to be powered by strong mobile PC uptake, while professional shipments will be buoyed by a new replacement cycle and migration to Windows 7."

In software, IT services and telecommunications, the appreciation in the value of the US dollar, especially against the euro, has acted to dampen US-dollar-denominated growth in 2010.

Table 1: Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of US Dollars)Source: Gartner (June 2010).

"Our latest IT spending forecast reflects the fact that the global economic outlook is stable but vulnerable to shocks in key regions and industries, which means that IT spending decisions are still scrutinized for value," Gordon said.

"CEOs are targeting 2010 as a 'return to growth' year, and to enable growth strategies, CFOs expect increased IT spending. However, CIOs are seeing only marginal increases in budgets and are constrained to essential enterprise IT spending with discretionary spending still on hold. In the consumer sector, confidence is improving, although consumers are still wary of the threat of unemployment."

Conformiq and Fraunhofer FIRST launch joint initiative

SARATOGA, USA & BERLIN, GERMANY: Conformiq Inc., a worldwide provider of software test design solutions, today announced a partnership with Fraunhofer FIRST. Fraunhofer FIRST is one of 80 Institutes in the Fraunhofer Group, one of the largest research groups in the world with a total staff of over 17,000.

Already firmly established as a leader with its Conformiq Automated Test Design technology in Europe, India and North America, Conformiq has been steadily increasing its German market presence since last year, and the partnership with Fraunhofer FIRST provides an instant boost.

The combination of Conformiq technology and its industry-leading practices with the deep know-how of Fraunhofer FIRST will allow organizations with large R&D operations to more quickly profit from benefits that can be achieved by deploying Conformiq Automated Test Design.

“Our partnership with Fraunhofer FIRST will not only increase the reach of Conformiq to serve our existing and global customers but will also provide the Conformiq solution to companies looking to dramatically change their approach to deliver quality assurance services,” says Michael Mandahl, chairman of the board for Conformiq.

“This initiative is a good way to accelerate the knowledge transfer of our industry-leading methods to the European industry,” says Prof. Dr Jähnichen, Institute Director of Fraunhofer FIRST.

Conformiq Automated Test Design helps software and system testing teams work at a higher level of abstraction, use available resources more effectively, spot more specification defects, shorten testing turn-around time, tackle more of their testing challenges and customize their test sets for different phases of product development.

Customer benchmarks show 5X to 20X productivity improvement in test development while achieving the same or better test coverage as with manual test design. This productivity improvement can be capitalized to improve and extend test coverage, and further shorten the time-to-market of products. Conformiq Automated Test Design is already widely used by equipment vendors in the information and communication technology domain for a wide variety of systems and applications, but is now also starting to establish itself in other domains such as transport, defense and embedded systems.

Fraunhofer FIRST is known for its extensive applied research on model-based testing and facilitating its deployment in German automotive, railway, industrial automation, and medical industries. Innovation is fueled by a team of highly skilled experts, led by Friedrich Schön and Prof. Dr. Holger Schlingloff, with industrial experience in developing modeling methods for discrete and continuous systems, new approaches to test generation, as well as development of testbeds and automated test execution environments.

“Model-based testing is the next logical step in the evolution of software quality assurance,” says Prof. Dr. Holger Schlingloff, professor in informatics at Humboldt University in Berlin.

“After the automation of test execution, we next automate the design of tests. This is especially beneficial when the software to be tested is still under development, since changes to models are easier to propagate across entire test suites. In model-based testing, product architects, software programmers and test developers can work closely together. This avoids communication problems and enables a truly joint product development,” continues Professor Schlingloff.

“The use of models in testing, especially in early development phases, allows us to achieve the earliest possible detection of defects and to significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of test activities. The result is a clearly higher product quality which, at least in the mid-term, reduces costs as compared to a manual approach.”

At the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), Conformiq has been driving the development of a first set of standards on model-based testing in the Technical Committee Methods for Testing and Specification (TC MTS). This initiative, led by Conformiq, is strongly supported by the key international players in the market including major tool vendors, service providers, research institutes and telecom equipment vendors such as Microsoft, Ericsson and Fraunhofer.

The goal of the first phase of standardization is to define a terminology and a common feature set that all model-based testing tools have to adhere to in order to be useful for automated test design.

Toshiba, Intel to jointly launch tablet PC for education

TOKYO, JAPAN: Toshiba Corp. and Intel KK will jointly commercialize an educational-use tablet PC designed to facilitate learning in compulsory education.

Toshiba will launch the new CM1 tablet PC for educational use in the beginning of August, 2010 in the Japanese market. Going forward, the two companies plan to collaborate in various ways to foster ICT environments in schools.

The CM1 has been specially developed to be commercialized for educational purposes by Intel, which promotes ICT[1] education on a global basis, and by Toshiba, which has technologies and expertise for notebook PCs. The monitor rotates 180 degrees and has a touch screen LCD that supports pen input, allowing students to practice handwriting. The PC also has a handle to make it easy to carry around at school.

With the launch of their new product, Toshiba and Intel plan to promote ICT-supported education in elementary and junior high schools. Intel will use the CM1 tablet PC for its educational programs and demonstrations at schools, for example, to foster such ICT environments.

World Cup kicks off US mobile video market

EL SEGUNDO, USA: American sports fans’ new-found enthusiasm for FIFA World Cup soccer, fueled by the inspiring performance of their home team, helped to kick off the US market for video service on cell phones, spurring a 12.7 percent increase in subscriptions in 2010, according to iSuppli Corp.’s market research partner Screen Digest
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US mobile Video On Demand (VOD) and mobile TV active subscribers are set to rise to 3.5 million in 2010, up from 3.1 million in 2009. Subscribers are expected to continue to expand during the following years, reaching 5 million by 2014.

“Roused by the success of the American team, US consumers are paying more attention to the World Cup in 2010 than ever before,” said Ronan de Renesse, senior analyst for Screen Digest. “This enthusiasm has extended into the mobile realm, where sports fans are eagerly following the action on their smart phones and other wireless devices.

“The main reason why mobile video is so appealing for viewing World Cup events is that many of the games taking place during the U.S. work day. At the same time, the ubiquity of mobile video makes it perfectly suited to capture the US audience that is unable to watch the games at home.” Driven by World Cup interest, US subscribers will consume 178.8 million mobile VOD items in 2010, up 31.5 percent from 135.9 million in 2009.

Attached is Screen Digest’s forecast of US mobile VOD items consumed and mobile television and VOD subscribers.Source: iSuppli, USA.

ESPN has cashed in on US World Cup fever, with the sports broadcaster reporting 8.2 million visits to its World Cup mobile web app and content. The company also reported generating more than 50.4 million page views and 550,000 video streams related to the World Cup.

ESPN is streaming 56 World Cup matches to its US mobile TV subscribers. In addition, the games are available from each of the major US operators: Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. In particular, AT&T customers have access to the eight concurrent matches via a dedicated World Cup channel.

The success of mobile video World Cup coverage in the United States is reflected in other countries, including the United Kingdom.

For example, UK broadcaster ITV has launched an iPhone application and web app that offers live streams of all its World Cup broadcasts, news, schedule information, podcasts and video highlights. The BBC has also made live games available via its iPlayer, which is available on a variety of portable devices, including the Apple iPad.

French telco Orange said it expects the World Cup to lead to at least a 74 percent jump in viewership among its UK mobile TV audience. Orange UK customers can watch all of ITV's World Cup games as part of the operator's £5-per-month mobile TV service.

Sports content long has been a major driver in the adoption of mobile TV. For instance, Orange's April 2010 Digital Media Index reported that dedicated sports channels commanded 51 percent of its mobile TV audience.

The success of free sports content on mobile is not in doubt, and it is increasingly likely that ad-funded services will enjoy the strongest uptake in the future, but mobile advertising is still in its infancy and corresponding revenues are currently insufficient to offset content rights costs. Paid subscriptions that offer bundled multi-platform access will fare better than stand-alone mobile services.

Nonetheless, because the World Cup only lasts one month, it is also likely that many new paid subscribers of mobile video will churn after the tournament—unless service providers continue to offer compelling content.

Source: iSuppli, USA.

Vinnie Mehta is ACMA's new executive director

NEW DElHI, INIDA: The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) announced the appointment of Vinnie Mehta as its new Executive Director with effect from 1 July 2010. The announcement was made by Jayant Davar, president ACMA after the Executive Committee Meeting held in Delhi on 5 June 2010.
 
Vinnie Mehta, an Electrical Engineer from IT-BHU, an MBA from FMS, University of Delhi and a Masters in International Trade from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)n has been involved in the promotion of the Information Technology Industry in India since 1992.

He has been heading the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT), the apex body of the IT Industry in India, for over 11 years and has been actively involved in setting the direction and the policy framework for the growth and development of the IT Industry in the country.
 
Mehta has worked on a number of assignments with international agencies and his inputs are also frequently sought by consulting agencies, foreign firms and multinationals entering India. He also represented the Indian IT industry at international forums such as the WTO and the World Electronics Forum (WEF). In discharge of his duties he has traveled extensively to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Europe, the US and Singapore. He has also contributed significantly to most State Governments in formulating their IT policies.
 
Welcoming Vinnie Mehta, Jayant Davar, president, ACMA said: "The wide diversity of background that Vinnie brings to ACMA would help the Association in meeting the growing challenges being faced by the automotive component industry in the highly competitive global environment. I am confident that he will add immense value towards augmenting and furthering the auto component industry eco-system in the country."

Vinnie Mehta said: “I am grateful to the automotive component industry for reposing faith in me. For India to emerge globally competitive in the automotive arena, apart from creating a vibrant domestic market we need to create a stable policy regime. A robust and encouraging ecosystem covering all aspects of the downstream industry will enable us emerge as a strong auto manufacturing nation.” 
 
Vinnie Mehta takes office at ACMA on 1 July 2010.

FUJIFILM Dimatix expands Spectra Polaris PQ-512 printhead line with 85 Picoliter model

SANTA CLARA, USA: FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc. has launched the third in a series of Spectra Polaris 512-jet printheads based on the company’s advanced Q-Class platform.

The new Polaris PQ-512/85 AAA expands the Polaris PQ-512 product line with a high performance 512-jet printhead capable of supporting aqueous, UV-curable and solvent ink formulations at drop sizes from 85 to 150 picoliters.

The new Spectra Polaris PQ-512/85 AAA printhead is equipped with a flexible fluid interface allowing single or two-color operation at resolutions to 400 dpi and frequencies up to 20 kHz. Its large range of drop sizes, broad fluids compatibility, 8 meters/second drop velocity and remarkable jet straightness make the Polaris PQ-512/85 AAA a perfect choice to address a growing range of commercial and industrial printing applications, from grand-format graphics to a wide array of colorful textiles and precision industrial coatings.

The new Polaris PQ-512/85 AAA takes its place alongside the 15-picoliter Polaris PQ-512/15 AAA capable of jetting 15 to 50 picoliter drop volumes, and the recently launched 35-picoliter Polaris PQ-512/35 AAA printhead delivering drop sizes of 35 to 80 picoliters.

All products in the Spectra Polaris PQ-512 series are general-purpose drop-on-demand printheads that utilize the binary operating capability of Dimatix’ VersaDrop jetting technology and Q-Class hybrid construction to deliver adjustable ink drop sizes from 512 individually addressable nozzles.

The Q-Class platform has enabled Fujifilm Dimatix to develop new product lines of high-performance printhead assemblies that deliver the largest range of drop sizes, broadest ink compatibility, and higher packing density than previously possible. Shared physical features allow printer designs to be easily migrated across different model types and printing applications.

The common design and interface of Polaris PQ-512 printheads gives systems builders and OEMs access to a line of advanced printheads with drop sizes from 15 to 150 picoliters – the broadest range available.

Interchangeability of printhead assemblies in the PQ-512 product line makes it easy for systems builders to “mix and match” models within the same product line in order to design systems built for a broad range of applications demanding extraordinary speed, superb quality and exceptional versatility.

An integral mounting bezel designed with precision registration points enables drop-in alignment – a unique feature that allows each 256-channel jetting module to be exchanged and accurately registered in the field without the need for special tools or recalibration. Each 256-channel module is also dual-ported to facilitate ink flushing and recirculation. Heaters and temperature sensors allow precise control of ink viscosity at jetting temperatures up to 60°C.

“The new Polaris PQ-512/85 AAA dramatically extends the range of applications that can be addressed by inkjet technology, giving systems builders and OEMs design options for speed, quality and versatility not previously possible – and providing further evidence of the power of the Q-Class platform,” said Marc Torrey, Vice President, Marketing, FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc.