Elk Grove Village, IL (PRWEB) January 07, 2012
As the old year is finished and a new year is upon us, many eyes are set upon shiny new phones, cutting edge notebooks and ultra-fast laptops. Out with the old and in with the new! It is undeniable that the growth rate of consumer electronics is rising at unprecedented levels, which is an admiral and promising reflection of our society?s growth and intellect. Unfortunately, these advances are creating huge surpluses of unwanted electronics and the proper disposal methods are not keeping up. The amount of electronics being disposed of unethically is growing at increasing rates.
Growth of E-Waste
A Pike Research study that was released just last month reported the amount of discarded electronics, also known as e-waste, will double in the next 15 years. End of year reports showed that 2010 closed with a whopping total of 6 million tons of e-waste. At the current rate, the study expects to see 14.9 million tons of e-waste in 2025.
Another study completed by the Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 2009, Americans had 2.37 million tons of electronics that were ready for end-of-life management and that only 25% of this was collected for recycling.
Consequences of Improper E-Waste Disposal
When one considers the consequences of irresponsible e-waste disposal, it becomes quite clear that action should be taken. When used electronics are thrown away, many times they end up in landfills, incinerated, recycled or exported. Whether electronics are filling local landfills, being burned into the air we breathe or being shipped to 3rd world countries on the other side of the globe, the treatment of these wastes should be monitored with great care. The hazardous elements involved with this type of waste include americium (carcinogenic), mercury, sulphur and many others. Whether these hazards are in our land or the lungs and hands of our workers, these hazards may cause health concerns in the future.
Combating the Problems of E-Waste
One way to reduce the problems that come from electronic surpluses is to follow the old mantra ?Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.? One of the easiest and most economical ways to do this is to support the used & refurbished electronics market. Belmont Technology is a trusted and reliable company that features an extensive line of fully-functioning, reliable refurbished laptop computers, refurbished desktop pcs, parts & peripherals. Belmont Technology is committed to providing an alternative way to reuse computers in a way that helps everyone. Belmont is certified for ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001 Responsible Recycling? (R2). Belmont is also eStewards certified and an official Microsoft Registered Refurbisher. And when you buy a used computer or part, you are getting quality brands that have full capabilities. You can even find refurbished Apple notebooks!
When you support the used and refurbished computer industry, you?re helping the planet and your pocket book.
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Mountain View, Calif. (PRWEB) December 14, 2011
Today Skyfire, the company famous for its cloud mobile video solutions, is debuting the Skyfire Myth Buster reports, a series of studies revolving around the challenges facing wireless carriers and mobile video. The first report, published today, surveys the top 100 global video websites on their use of Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) ? a technology that, if adopted on a wide scale, could dramatically ease the mobile data tsunami in the years to come. Unfortunately, Skyfire?s findings do not bode well: the survey shows only 18 percent of the top 100 global video sites employ ABR tactics.
According to Cisco, video currently takes up 52 percent of all mobile data and will grow to 66 percent by 2013. Operators across the world are struggling to keep up with demand while continuing to offer a high quality video streaming experiences. In order to easy mobile network congestion, commentators have looked to the app and video publisher community to adopt smart bandwidth methods such as ABR. With ABR, each video can be streamed in a variety of quality options, and depending on network conditions and device feedback, the video switches up or down in quality to avoid pauses, hiccups, and video buffering.
Skyfire?s research has found some surprising results related to use of Adaptive Bit Rate:
????On the iPhone, just 10 percent of mobile publishers have adopted Adaptive Bit Rate streaming, as of November 2011, on iPhone web sites and apps.
????On desktop/laptop websites (laptops are around half the data load thanks to 3G/4G dongles), 17 percent of top 100 websites with video used ABR formats.
????26 percent of iPhone apps for those top 100 digital brands, where available, used ABR with multiple bit rates.
????Across the board, 17-18 percent of top publishers use ABR.
?The data from our ABR testing shows that the technology is far from being adopted as rapidly as some in the industry had hoped,? said Skyfire CEO Jeffrey Glueck. ?The implication here is clear: Operators need to look into all the possible tools, including Wi-Fi offload, metered data pricing, 4G network build outs, and in-network optimization solutions. Every tool will be needed to handle the data tsunami, and ABR is only one small part of that.?
Skyfire conducted a similar study in April 2011 and adoption rates have barely increased since then. For websites, only 11 percent of the publishers used ABR delivery, even though ABR options have been available for years. On Android, none of the publishers used ABR delivery, as no reliable ABR mechanism is yet available on Android. For iPhone apps and websites, 18 percent used the Apple HTTP Live Streaming ABR standard, which is available thanks to the Apple embedded media player.
Cheaper video encoding options like MP4 have come to dominate mobile and desktop video delivery. From Skyfire estimates, over 70 percent of iOS video, and 50 percent of web video bandwidth, runs via MP4?which is a non-adaptive format. While Skyfire believes that ABR use will increase in coming years, these figures should make operators pause before they sit back and rely on the hope that mobile video providers self police. Finally, the rise of HTML5, which currently has no ABR standard, and favors the Progressive Download with the HTML5 video tag, further works against ABR use in coming years.
To read the full report, please visit: http://www.skyfire.com/en/news/blog/112-mythbuster
For more information on Skyfire?s Myth Buster Series, visit the Skyfire blog: http://skyfire.com/en/news/blog
Visit http://www.skyfire.com for up-to-date product information and technical background (such as whitepapers and briefing reports) on its carrier-grade offerings.
About Skyfire:
Skyfire is dedicated to leveraging the power of cloud computing to improve radically the mobile Internet experience for both Operators and Consumers. Skyfire?s solutions provide game-changing cost savings, better end-user experiences, and compelling incremental revenue opportunities. Skyfire was recently recognized as no. 4 on Light Reading?s 2011 Startups to Watch list; and by OnMobile as a Top 100 Private Company.
Skyfire has honed its technology through a variety of consumer apps, as both a laboratory and showcase for new capabilities. With over 9 million downloads to date, Skyfire’s mobile browser was named the no. 2 Android app of all time by TechCrunch and the no. 3 Android App of all time by Yahoo/Appolicious. Skyfire?s iPhone and iPad browsers each reached the no. 1 selling app rank shortly after launch in 2010 on the Apple App StoreTM as the first way for iOS users to access videos designed for the Adobe? Flash? Player.
Skyfire is based in Mountain View, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley, with backing from VCs Matrix Partners, Trinity Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. For more information, visit http://www.skyfire.com, or follow Skyfire on Twitter at twitter.com/skyfire.
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Toronto, ON, Canada (PRWEB) November 09, 2011
Today AccelerateTO brings together over 650 Canadian technology entrepreneurs with Canadian and Silicon Valley-based investors for a day of connection and celebration.
Leading into Global Entrepreneur Week and in Canada?s Year of the Entrepreneur, the C100, an organization representing successful Canadian technology leaders in the Silicon Valley, partnered with 13 generous sponsors including KPMG, Ontario Venture Capital Fund, and the Business Development Bank of Canada to bring together the entirely volunteer-run event.
The AccelerateTO 2011 agenda includes Entrepreneur Workshops, Investor Pitch Panel, and Evening Charity Gala & Keynote along with several networking opportunities to connect Canada?s most promising entrepreneurs with investors, mentors and influencers.
?The excitement surrounding AccelerateTO is an important barometer of the sentiment in the Canadian technology community right now,? states Anthony Lee, co-founder of C100. ?We are seeing unprecedented interest and investment in high-quality Canadian startups from experienced venture investors on both sides of the border. And with over $ 1.5B in technology exits so far, 2011 has been the best year in two decades.?
The day?s workshops are being led by notable technology leaders from Facebook, FreshBooks, Rypple, Firmex and Dayforce, along with local startup entrepreneurs, influencers and investors. The afternoon agenda culminates in an interactive panel discussion with veteran founders and CEOs of FreshBooks, Fixmo, and Wattpad.
In a private session, five companies were selected from over 110 applications to pitch to a distinguished panel of Canadian and US Venture Capitalists:
????gShiftLabs ? provider of SEO software for non-SEO professionals. Its Web Presence OptimizerTM simplifies, demystifies and standardizes the way a website gets found on the internet and enables companies to get top rankings in organic search engines.
????Maide ? a start-up harnessing the power of mobile devices to improve the way people interact with their computer. Their first product turns the iPad into an easy to use, collaborative controller for computer aided design software.
????Creative D ? an entertainment company focused on creating platforms that blend content, social and games to make new products that engage audiences.
????Locationary ? developer of ?Saturn?- a breakthrough, multi-patent-pending, cloud-based federated local data management system that improves the quality of local business places data for mobile and web content, search, daily deals and navigation apps. Saturn enables the frictionless exchange and real-time distribution of local business information worldwide.
????GridCentric ? an award winning software startup that has invented a way for Enterprises to implement Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with up to 75% savings in server costs. Gridcentric’s VMS technology allows virtual desktops to use server memory on demand, optimising server utilisation and dramatically lowering the Total Cost of Ownership of VDI.
The evening Charity Cocktails & Keynote reception is being held at the Royal Ontario Museum, and will be keynoted by Chris O?Neill, Managing Director of Google Canada. Also seven local startups have been selected to be showcased and demonstrate their new and innovative products: 500px, Guardly, HugeMonster, Pressly, Rocketr, Upverter and Vizualize Me. The event?s attendees will tweet or text votes for their favourite demonstration and the winner will be awarded $ 2500 at the end of the evening. The evening?s proceeds will be donated to the United Way.
About AccelerateTO 2011
The Accelerate Events began as community-organized celebrations of Canadian technology entrepreneurs in conjunction with the C100 organization. The first event, AccelerateTO 2010, drew over 300 participants from across Canada and Silicon Valley. At the intersection of Global Entrepreneur Week and Canada?s Year of the Entrepreneur, AccelerateTO 2011 promises to have an even greater impact with 13 sponsors & stakeholder organizations, and over 650 participants. It is free for all participants with the exception of the evening?s charity event for which proceeds raised will be in support of United Way.
About C100
The C100 is a vibrant and highly sought-after network of successful Canadian technology leaders in the Silicon Valley dedicated to supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. C100 Charter Members include startup CEOs, top executives of companies such as Apple, Cisco, EA, eBay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Oracle, and venture investors representing more than $ 10 billion in capital. C100 members are passionate about leveraging their collective experience, expertise and relationships to help mentor and grow a new generation of successful Canadian-led technology companies.
The C100 facilitates the interaction between its Charter Members and Canadian entrepreneurs through mentoring programs, networking events and providing eminent speakers for events and meetings in the Silicon Valley and in Canada. http://www.thec100.org
For more information, visit the AccelerateTO website at http://www.accelerateto.com or contact: Elizabeth Caley, ecaley (at) theC100 (dot) org
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Southlake, TX (PRWEB) November 03, 2011
The Cell Drive family of patented multifunctional mobile accessories now offers five (5) products with varying price, power, storage and charge ports from which the user can choose.
The Cell Drive powers most all mini/micro-USB and iPhone/iPod devices with a 430 mAh rechargeable battery, syncs mini-USB devices with one’s computer and serves as a USB flash drive ( 4 GB or 8 GB). MSRP Price: $ 49.95 (4GB); $ 59.95 (8GB)
The Cellink ET powers and syncs micro-USB devices with a 220 mAh rechargeable battery and functions as an SD micro/SDHC card reader and is the smallest device to offer all four features on the market. MSRP Price: $ 39.95
The Cellink (i) powers and syncs the iPhone and iPod devices with a 600 mAh rechargeable battery and functions as an SD micro/SDHC card reader. MSRP Price: $ 54.95
The Cellink (u) powers and syncs micro-USB devices with a 600 mAh rechargeable battery and functions as an SD micro/SDHC card reader.MSRP Price: $ 54.95
Sam Duyka, owner and assignee of the Cell Drive patented technology credited the recommendations of industry reviewers and bloggers for the addition of the Cellink (i) and Cellink (u) to the family of devices.
Sam also noted that he is currently interviewing distributors and sales representatives to advance the sales of the Cell Drive family.
Both the Cellink (i) and (u) will be available at the end of November. Advanced orders can be placed at sales(at)usbcelldrive(dot)com.
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