Technology

Just in time for Spring. A review of the Blossom 8 Smart Watering Controller.

Barry Mattacott, marketing director at security specialist Wick Hill Group, looks at the security risks of linking more and more smart devices to our networks. Are we just creating ever more vulnerable endpoints in today’s world of the Internet of Things?

Back in the good old days, we nailed the front door up tight with a firewall and we knew, that with good security on our gateway, our network was safe from the nasties of the outside world. But those pesky kids in their bedrooms, not to mention state sponsored cybercriminals, worked out that they could circumnavigate our state-of- the-art firewall by looking for a way in at the opposite end of our network - the endpoint.

Every day there are technological breakthroughs that occur behind the closed doors of research labs (and house garages where some startups begin), and then there are the breakthroughs that “go mainstream” with consumers. 2015 saw so many that it is difficult to condense the list to five. The following impressive technologies made the cut because they improve convenience, productivity, and efficiency (in addition to having that barely definable “wow” factor).

1. Wearable Smart Devices

With many file formats and software popular in 1993 now obsolete and unreadable, company compliance and information governance teams are warned against losing critical digital information forever

As 90s hit television series The X-Files returns to our screens next month after a 13 year hiatus, digital preservation specialist Preservica has launched an awareness campaign to highlight the danger of file format and software obsolescence, and an impending ‘Digital Dark Age’ – warned against by Google’s Vint Cerf last year.

Over two and half years ago, I wrote that wearables would be the next "disruptive innovation" but acknowledged we're not there yet. Once the right company with the right design comes along, this new market will take off just as fast as when Apple introduced their first iPad. Despite Apple introducing their smartwatch, I still sit on the sidelines waiting for the right wearable to convince me the time to buy one is now.

What a great irony it is that we live in a world where there is more than enough food to feed all seven billion people, yet statistics show that 870 million people go hungry every year. One person out of every nine lacks the daily nutritional requirements to “be healthy and lead an active life.” At this point, ending world hunger depends not on getting more food, but on improving technologies that identify where it is needed most, and get it distributed there quickly and efficiently.

Mobile apps are inseparable part of our daily lives now. As per a latest report by BI Intelligence, there has been a 48% increase in purchases made through mobile devices from the previous year. A report by ComScore suggests that more than 60% of web traffic generated by leading nine US retail sites have been mobile users.

Wearable technology has become more advanced than ever in recent years; first came the emergence of smartwatches, then digital eyeglasses, and now even clothing which can monitor your health and stream data to your phone. One has to wonder where wearables are headed, with so many users seeking out the newest and the best, and companies striving to meet this demand. The answer is: only up.

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