David Needle

From wearable devices to computer sensors that monitor the manufacture of products and water accumulation for farmers, the era of the Internet of Things is here. Consumers want their FitBit, Apple Watch or other device to capture the most accurate and timely results, but effectively deploying enterprise IoT devices in business is a whole other […]

Virtual Reality took center stage at a recent San Jose Convention Center trade show, where several thousand attendees checked out the latest in VR hardware, virtual worlds and other immersive experiences. The numbers don’t measure up as a major trade show, but it’s plenty impressive when you look at how far the Silicon Valley Virtual […]

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Mapping is one of our oldest activities and remains key to many recent innovations and those still to come. A panel of experts here recently discussed advances in geospatial  technology and its connection to such things as driverless cars and even augmented reality. Brian MClendon, former head of Google Maps and […]

Enterprises are getting the message when it comes to cloud computing – get on board. While few may be engaging in an outright full move away from a traditional on-premise datacenter to off-premise cloud computing, the so-called hybrid cloud strategy is gaining in popularity. A recent survey by cloud management company Rightscale of organizations with […]

Microsoft may have been late to the cloud party, but steady investment and improvements to its Azure cloud have made it a worthy competitor to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Yet like most cloud platforms, Azure pricing is filled with potential complexity. Among the many advantages of moving to the cloud for cash-strapped IT departments is […]

Call it a perfect storm. Cheap storage and a huge influx of structured and unstructured data have led to the development of numerous Big Data tools designed to help companies ‘unlock the value’ of the giant stores of data they’ve accumulated, from customer records and product performance results to social media feeds and more. Like […]

IBM has traveled a long path to make artificial intelligence (AI) more accessible. Its Big Blue supercomputer famously beat world chess champion Gary Kasparov and Watson captured the public’s attention when it beat the reigning Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings. And a recent and amusing ad for Watson features Bob Dylan with Watson telling the iconic […]

Nate Silver knows a thing or two about the value of Big Data. He famously predicted who would win 49 out of 50 states in the 2008 Presidential election and the following year was named by Time one of The World’s 100 Most Influential People. Silver’s Five Thirty Eight site focuses on “data journalism.” But […]

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Is cloud computing misunderstood? In some ways it’s hard to think there’d be much confusion about the widely-hyped technology that receives no shortage of coverage in the trade and mainstream business media. And even at the consumer level, ecommerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has helped popularize understanding of “the cloud” via […]

Desktop PCs stopped being the hub of much innovation over the past several years. Notable improvements include the addition of Windows 7-based models, sleeker designs, speed improvements and lower prices, but that’s been about it. PCs, including notebooks, have become commodity items on the CIO’s shopping list. But computer giant HP, a leading provider of […]