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Showing posts from April, 2025

Stay with SaaS or move to DaaS? The pros and cons of using emerging data services

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) has become a hot commodity, with companies around the world enjoying access to multiple rapidly-growing, full-spectrum data marketplaces provided by the likes of IBM and Google, as well as S&P Global, Snowflake, and others. What is underpinning their rising popularity is the fact that hedge funds, investors, and financial services companies are increasingly discovering how they can leverage these rich datasets to make informed decisions. Governments around the world have also been quick to adopt DaaS practices, especially when it comes to data monetization drives in such fields as health care and smart city projects. My aim with this article is to explain what DaaS is, what it is packing “under the hood”, and what data collection alternatives are currently available to businesses and organizations. What is DaaS? In a nutshell, Data-as-a-Service is a cloud-based type of software that provides users with multi-sourc...

Escaping PoC purgatory: 5 steps to accelerate industrial agentic AI from pilot to impact

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support In 2024, less than 1% of enterprise software applications incorporated agentic AI but, according to Gartner, that number is expected to reach 33% by 2028. Understandably, industrial enterprises have shown a growing interest in agentic AI, hoping to leverage this transformative technology for real-world business applications. While eager to adopt the next phase of AI innovation, many are facing a dreaded “Proof-of-Concept (PoC) Purgatory,” failing to scale their AI tools beyond pilot stages. For most, the core question isn’t whether agentic AI can improve their operations but how quickly it will deliver tangible value — and PoC Purgatory is holding them back. Let’s explore some of the key reasons for this bottleneck, the barriers to unlocking agentic AI’s full potential and strategies to overcome them. Why are Industrial Enterprises Getting Stuck in PoC Purgatory? The transition from PoC pilots to large-scale deployment is not a straightforwar...

The government’s ransomware payment ban: what are the wider implications?

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support The UK government’s recently announced ban on public sector ransomware payments has received mixed reactions from industry. With the aim of removing the financial incentives that fuel ransomware attacks and making public sector bodies and critical national infrastructure less attractive targets, the policy marks a significant step in the fight against cybercrime. But the introduction of this new policy has not come without criticism. While supporters acknowledge that ransom payments reward criminals and fund more crime, others warn that it could lead to negative consequences such as promoting a secondary black market or impacting ransomware reporting. Cybersecurity is a complex web with no straightforward solution. While it’s positive to see new ideas being explored, industry experts and policy makers must act with caution and consider all possible consequences before implementing measures to address security risks. Loopholes in the ban The ...

Nothing makes sense: why the company's new (3a) Pro is my favorite affordable premium smartphone over the Google Pixel 9a

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support I’ve come around on Nothing. Since its first device in 2022 , the smartphone startup has provided an interesting but limited range of phones, mimicking the Google Pixel catalog in its small but mighty lineup. Nothing’s handsets are led by a strong commitment to aesthetics, both inside and out – and for a long time I thought it was extra and a bit cringe. That’s all changed with the brand’s latest release. I’ve come to love the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro – and consider it a proper Pixel A rival. Let me set the scene for why the (3a) Pro impresses me so much. For the past four years, Google has dominated the affordable-premium segment of the phone market. The company’s Pixel A range of devices, released typically around five to six months after its Pixel flagships, have long been considered so good that they've been worth placing alongside the top end Pixel Pro device. In 2024, with the Pixel 8a, the phone entered the premium segment after a price ...

ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from your LG becoming an Xbox to the new Insta360 X5 camera

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support This week, we celebrated Earth Day with a suite of sustainability-focused pieces, saw our LG TVs morph into Xboxes, and got to experience the new Insta360 X5. To catch up on all that and more from the world of tech, scroll down for recaps of the week's seven biggest tech news stories. When you're done, be sure to check out our picks for the seven new movies and TV shows to watch this weekend (April 25) . 7. We hosted Sustainability Week 2025 (Image credit: Shutterstock / Troyan) To celebrate Earth Day this year, we've put together a suite of stories from across the tech industry to celebrate, challenge, and highlight all things sustainable. With deep dives into sustainability champions like Fairphone , exciting details on breakthroughs in sustainable tech – like how extreme heat could be the answer to our lithium ion battery woes – and guides on how to best shop for secondhand tech , we have you covered with articles that ...

I tried using ChatGPT to restore old photos, here’s how to really do it

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support There’s a new AI image fad spreading on the internet, one that could bring new life to those dusty shoeboxes and family albums. ChatGPT users have discovered that the AI assistant can take old photos and mimic a restored, colorized version. I first saw it discussed on a Reddit thread , one that was initially skeptical of ChatGPT's restoration ability for good reason. The AI was far more likely to take an old headshot and 'restore' it by making a headshot of someone who might be the cousin of the person in the original photo. Thanks to tips shared by others on Reddit and Instagram on how to make it work properly, I cobbled together a prompt that does a pretty good job of it. The prompt I settled on is: “Please upscale and colorize this photo while keeping it faithful to the time period. Do not change the arrangement, expressions, background, or attire; only add period-accurate color and details. The new photo should overlay the origin...

Sustainability Week: Why now is the time to leverage technology and more sustainable practices to optimize business buying

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support The new financial year is the time for businesses to consider any unnecessary expenditure to ensure financial efficiency. However, as budgets reset, it also presents an opportunity to reassess and streamline supply chain operations. Conscious buying is on the agenda for many businesses as consumers look to make more thoughtful purchasing decisions. In fact, research has shown that according to consumers, sustainable procurement results in as much as a 15 to 30% increase in brand value. This is only putting more pressure on businesses to ensure that their suppliers are sustainable and are aligned with their values and own sustainability ambitions. When it comes to meeting socially responsible commitments, for example, procurement can make or break a business’ sustainability trajectory, with up to 90% of a company's carbon footprint linked to its supply chain. With so much pressure on businesses to be more socially responsible, procurement ne...

Perplexity's voice assistant offers a Siri alternative for iPhones

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Perplexity AI has brought a new voice assistant to iOS The assistant can open apps like OpenTable or YouTube and prefill tasks like reservations or video searches Perplexity offers a streamlined alternative to Siri that may beat the native voice assistant in most ways AI conversational search engine Perplexity is coming for Siri in the form of a new iOS voice assistant. Previously limited to Android, Perplexity's voice assistant wants users to turn to it before the native option. Further, there are a few good reasons why iPhone owners might be inclined to do so. Basically, it's more proactive and able to go a few extra steps beyond Siri's abilities. Ask it to find a dinner reservation, and it will dive into the OpenTable app to fill in your reservation requests, including guests, date, and time, without you having to say another word, just leaving the final tap on the Book button. The same goes for hunting for moments in YouTu...

Sustainability Week: Digital twins - the smart route to sustainability

Web Hosting & Remote IT Support Across the globe, 70% of data center facility leaders say their national power grid is being stretched to its limits. Now, the sustainability warning bells aren’t just ringing, they’re deafening. Behind much of this growing concern is the surging energy demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) in data centers. To quantify the use of AI, McKinsey’s latest survey highlights that 78% of respondents say their organizations already use AI tools in at least one business function. From workplace productivity gains to life-saving capabilities such as detecting illnesses, AI innovations are second to none. Data centers, which house the computing power for AI, must now focus on supporting its growth sustainably, ensuring national grids are protected. If not, we might run out of power, leading to data center outages that affect communities and livelihoods. However, according to Cadence’s Innovation Imperative, while 88% of data center operators say th...