Cloud Services Top the Charts!

A recent survey carried out in the United States by KPMG has shown that most companies offering cloud services have exceeded their revenue forecasts in this particular area. Why is that? Is it that cloud services are being over charged for? No! Cloud services are just that reliable. Mobile and cloud revenue is said to have topped the charts when it comes to revenue drivers and any figures presented in 2013 on a global scale have been greatly exceeded.

If this news impresses you, you are probably starting to wonder why Cloud backup services are so popular. Well, here are the facts:

  •  Cloud computing saves money and the environment – less printing of documents means less operating costs and the fact that no paper is being used gives the environment a little bit of a chance to recover.
  • Updating, saving, storing and accessing files and data is quick and easy allowing staff members more time to focus on other pressing and important tasks.
  • It makes it easier for staff members to access updated files and work on the same files. Each saved document can be accessed by various users with their username and password.
  • Security is a big convenience. Cloud servers offer the ultimate security as they cannot fall victim to theft, fire, floods and other forms of damage or loss.
  • The system offers a completely convenient backup service whereby it automatically backs up your information and data. There is no need to copy files to a hard drive or wait for things to save before locking up and heading home for the day. This is particularly useful for business and school clients.

Many corporate companies, schools and home offices are realising the convenience and importance of backing up data. If you want to avoid losing important information (which can sometimes even lead to a financial loss as well as a poor image being imposed on your business) then turning to cloud backup services is the way to go. Find out more about these services and how they work – chat to one of our friendly consultants today!

Iran Bans Social Media App, Instagram

While it is one thing to stress about losing important information and data on your computer or handheld device, it is quite another to be completely restricted in what you can do with those devices and your personal data. In Iran, restrictions are a tough challenge for the people of the nation and something that many of us don’t have to deal with or even think about.

Iran undoubtedly is a conservative establishment, but no one expected the banning of Instagram which was set in place last week. Now it should really come as no surprise as the nation is already banned from using the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately those who already make use of these social media platforms in Iran are soon to find themselves restricted as Iran’s Ministry of Communications views social media as a threat. Officials are cracking down on all the “back alley” routes to connecting to these sites and ensuring that the people or Iran comply more strictly.

On Friday a statement was released to the public to say that the Iranian court had ruled in favour of banning Instagram as it is a form of privacy invasion. Of course not everyone is overjoyed with the rulings in Iran. In fact, recently when other social media platforms were banned, Islamic women took to the streets in protest without their hijabs and posted pictures on Facebook – an offence which is punishable with imprisonment!

While Iran faces great changes when it comes to social media and how the nation shares information and data, we are forced to think about how much we take our liberties and social media freedom for granted!

The question begs to be answered; how much longer can the Iranian government monitor and limit their nation before it results in all out revolt? Are the leaders of Iran playing with fire, or are they justified in their rulings? What are your thoughts? We would love to hear from you!

 

 

Google Goes 3D with New Technology & Experimental Tablets

Imagine being able to capture 3D images on your handheld device! Well, Google can and has! Recently Google has been working on a new type of tablet that is able to capture 3D images.

Now don’t get too excited! This is still in the beginning stages, with only 4000 prototypes developed for release early next month. Who will be the lucky few to first get their hands on the device? Developers will be the first to make use of and test the device to ensure that everything is precisely as Google wants it to be!

When will the device be ready? Google is hosting the Google Developer’s Conference on 25th June 2014 and has high hopes of having the device ready for presentation then. You might be wondering what brought about this fantastic idea and it’s all really a part of the Google Tango Project which is aimed at creating a device like no other. This device is to be developed in such a way that it can share human movement and sense of space allowing it to have human perception.

The device will sport the following features:

  •  7 inch screen
  • Two back cameras
  • 3D image processing software
  • Infrared depth censors

There is a great deal of hype about these devices and many people are speculating whether or not other devices from Project Tango will actually be sent for NASA testing. Google’s spokesperson has however declined to comment on the device and what is to be expected; leaving us more than just a little excited to see what the team has in store for us.

At this stage the uses for the device are considered to be quite far reaching from assisting the visually impaired to get around unfamiliar places to being used for immersive video games – there’s simply no limit!

Heard about eBay’s data breach? Make sure your data is safe!

If you have your ear to the ground when it comes to tech news and information then you will probably have heard about the huge data security breach that eBay experienced last week! There has been quite a lot of hype over the event and millions of online users have started thinking more about their data security, both online and offline. Over 145 million customers became the victims of a cyber attack where names, telephone numbers, home addresses, emails and passwords were compromised. There was no mention of whether or not financial details were exposed leaving most affected users quite unsettled. Some public statements have been calling this particular breach a train wreck – and that is precisely what it is!

Of course there has been a major public outcry and various investigations have been entered into with eBay coming under a large amount of scrutiny in the past few days. While they did post information on the cyber attack on their corporate website, Ebayinc.com, nothing was made mention of on the actual Ebay.com website and very few customers had even received an alert numerous days after the attack! A great fear of many was that the security of their PayPal accounts was also compromised.

In the wake of such a great data security breach, many have been clamouring to tighten up their network and computer security. Companies and individuals have been investigating various security and backup software and options to ensure that they too don’t become a victim of such a terrible security breach.

Those who do cloud backups already have taken to looking into the level of security offered too. One way to ensure that your data is safe and secure and to ensure that your personal information and data is not at risk is to back up to the cloud with Soteria Cloud Backup.

Emerging Top Technologies of 2014

Today’s world enjoys a lavish helping of modern technology and with 2014 already flying by, we have seen and will see many top emerging technologies that will simply WOW users! As we see a trend for more global and South African users moving over to more advanced systems such as Cloud services (and cloud backup) and more, we realise just how quickly modern technology is changing.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies released a list of the top 10 emerging technologies at the start of 2014. Here are a few we thought you might find interesting:

  • Body-adapted wearable electronics – we see this in the Google Glass and Fitbit Wristband.
  • Nanostructured carbon composites – this is said to be able to reduce the weight of cars of up to 10%, which means less fuel and in turn less emissions!
  • Nanowire Lithium-ion Batteries – while regular lithium-ion batteries are used to power up laptops and mobile phones, Nanowire lithium-ion batteries will transform the electric vehicle market!
  • Screenless display – it is said that this will be achieved by projecting a keyboard onto a surface or even projecting images directly onto an individual’s retina. This is greatly looked forward to as people can interact with computers with advanced security and also won’t need to carry hefty hardware around with them.

With modern technological advancements of these proportions you would think the masses would fear the change into what seems like a technological new age – but we are excited about it and welcome it with open arms!

Gone are the days where individual’s had to carry around computers, hard-drives and laptops. We are moving into an era where technology will work for us – more conveniently. We even see this change filtering through with the changeover to modern cloud services and cloud backup services – such as those offered by us at Soteria – instead of hosting our data and information on our devices and storage systems. We look forward to the rest of 2014 and the various breakthroughs and advancements that it has in store for us!

 

Microsoft snaps up New Zealand specialist Cloud Services Company!

It goes without saying that in the IT world, cloud services and it’s various online backup benefits are making waves. Big brands such as Microsoft are also showing a trend towards Cloud Services, which was very much proven by their announcement to take over GreenButton – a high performance computing company offering cloud-based services in New Zealand. With Microsoft’s investment in such a successful cloud based specialist company, more and more business computer and network users are realising the reliability of such a system. The transaction is said to go through in May and all eyes are on Microsoft!

Of course there are no real questions as to why such a company would be snapped up. With everyone from the child in school to the most elite business executive being connected and in touch, there is every reason to believe that cloud services are required. Why? You can be on the move, in touch and saving data remotely via online cloud backup (read safely) at all times. No mess no fuss.

At Soteria we get it! Cloud backup services provide a wealth of benefits to each and every user. Consider the following:

  • Soteria Cloud servers are locally hosted which means saving data is quick and easy.
  • All support service providers are locally located which means that you won’t have to wait for assistance if you require it.
  • Military grade encryption ensures that your saved data is always safe and secure.
  • At just R2 per MB, Soteria Cloud backup packages offer the lowest possible rates in South Africa.
  • The backup system is compatible with a variety of operating systems including MacOS, Linux, Windows and Plugins for Exchange, Outlook, Oracle, MS-SQL and MySQL.
  • Conserve your bandwidth during your first backup! How? We will have a hard drive couriered to you for your very first backup!

As the world of portable connectivity and the need for safe storage grows more demanding each day, we are confident that Cloud backup services will too!

Google Glass Smartglasses go above and beyond!

While you are probably here to learn more about online backup systems and how they can help you to save data and worry less about losing it due to malfunction, theft or human error – maybe it’s time to take a break and learn what’s new in the tech world!

Of course the world was taken by storm by the Google Glass Smartglasses revolution. Everyone gasped at the idea of this product and what it would enable us to do in the early stages – now these functions are realised and even more excitement is experienced by supporters. These devices have made their mark and even sport designs from well known and sought after brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. From the average man on the street, to computer nerds, to super models and movie stars – these glasses are loved and adored!

With a multitude of apps you would think that Google had thought of it all, but with new developments and apps it has become obvious that this is just the beginning. If you plan on getting out and about with your Google Glass then you can expect to get limited joy from voice commands and the touch-sensitive pad which is said to only offer basic functionality and features. What now? Well this is where the newest and most impressive app of them all comes in! A company called On the Go Platforms in Portland is looking at helping the Google Glass to communicate much in the same way as the Kinect – in a form of sign language.

ARI (Augmented Reality Interface), which is what this sort of program is called, has absolutely no requirements for speaking, buttons or keypads and is being called the “Siri” of the Google Glass world! At the moment the development team is working on hand gesture recognition and are creating a library of gestures and settings to incorporate into this app. While this brings about a whole new meaning to “hands free”, many are excited about what they will be able to do next on their Google Glass devices.

If you haven’t encountered Google Smartglasses before – find out more here!