Google Increases Growth While Motorola Bleeds
August 23, 2013
In the article on SlashGear titled Motorola Loss Mounts As Google Places Faith In Moto X, >Google’s earning report bears only more bad news for Motorola. According to the report, Google’s growth in fortune for the quarter only barely exceeds the smaller company’s losses. A great amount of pressure builds on the success of the Moto X phone which is set to be released later in 2013. The article explains,
“Though Google remains a growing business, they’ll be pushing for a big with with the upcoming hero phone “Moto X”… As GAAP operating loss for Motorola mounted to $342 million in the second quarter of 2013 – compared to last year’s $199 GAAP operating loss during the same quarter, it’s nothing compared to the same quarters for non-GAAP operating loss. These same quarters had Motorola lose $49 million in the second quarter of 2012 and $218 million in the second quarter of 2013.”
Motorola also plans to unroll three new DROID smartphones in partnership with Verizon in the next quarter. These will be release in the USA and most likely internationally with some small modifications. The article prompts us to wonder at Google’s manufacturing power. Their GAAP operating income for the second quarter of 2013 was $3.47 billion, up from the previous year. Their non-GAAP operating income is also up, at $4.21 billion.
Chelsea Kerwin, August 23, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
How Forensic Linguistics Helped Unmask Rowling
August 23, 2013
By now most have heard that J.K. Rowling, famous for her astoundingly successful Harry Potter books, has been revealed as the author of the well-received crime novel “The Cuckoo’s Calling.” Time spoke to one of the analysts who discovered that author Robert Galbraith was actually Rowling, and shares what they learned in, “J.K. Rowling’s Secret: a Forensic Linguist Explains how He Figured it Out.”
It started with a tip. Richard Brooks, editor of the British “Sunday Times,” received a mysterious tweet claiming that “Robert Galbraith” was a pen name for Rowling. Before taking the claim to the book’s publisher, Brooks called on Patrick Juola of Duquesne University to linguistically compare “The Cuckoo’s Calling” with the Potter books. Joula has had years of experience with forensic linguistics, specifically authorship attribution. Journalist Lily Rothman writes:
“The science is more frequently applied in legal cases, such as with wills of questionable origin, but it works with literature too. (Another school of forensic linguistics puts an emphasis on impressions and style, but Juola says he’s always worried that people using that approach will just find whatever they’re looking for.)
“But couldn’t an author trying to disguise herself just use different words? It’s not so easy, Juola explains. Word length, for example, is something the author might think to change — sure, some people are more prone to ‘utilize sesquipedalian lexical items,’ he jokes, but that can change with their audiences. What the author won’t think to change are the short words, the articles and prepositions. Juola asked me where a fork goes relative to a plate; I answered ‘on the left’ and wouldn’t ever think to change that, but another person might say ‘to the left’ or ‘on the left side.'”
One tool Juola uses is the free Java Graphical Authorship Attribution Program. After taking out rare words, names, and plot points, the software calculates the hundred most-used words from an author under consideration. Though a correlation does not conclusively prove that two authors are the same person, it can certainly help make the case. “Sunday Times” reporters took their findings to Galbraith’s/ Rowling’s publisher, who confirmed the connection. Though Rowling has said that using the pen name was liberating, she (and her favorite charities) may be happy with the over 500,000 percent increase in “Cukoo’s Calling” sales since her identity was uncovered.
The article notes that, though folks have been statistically analyzing text since the 1800s, our turn to e-books may make for a sharp increase in such revelations. Before that development, the process was slow even with computers, since textual analysis had to be preceded by the manual entry of texts via keyboard. Now, though, importing an entire tome is a snap. Rowling may be just be the last famous author to enjoy the anonymity of a pen name, even for just a few months.
Cynthia Murrell, August 23, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Service as a Service Market Trend Emerging
August 23, 2013
The Fort Mill Times covers the latest in enterprise search with their coverage of the Global Enterprise Search Market report in the article, “Research and Markets: Global Enterprise Search Market 2012-2016: The Emergence of SaaS-Based Solutions is a Recent Trend Witnessed in the Market.”
The article begins:
“The analysts forecast the Global Enterprise Search market to grow at a CAGR of 12.98 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increased demand for rapid and easy data access. The Global Enterprise Search market has also been witnessing the emergence of software-as-a-service based solutions. However, the high cost of implementation could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.”
Among the key vendors in the market are Google, Oracle, Microsoft, and HP. However, the real attention in the report is on the open source vendors and their explosive growth in market share. They are quickly edging the proprietary vendors off of their throne and forcing them to adapt. But many customers simply want a cost effective solution with great support and good results. So proprietary solutions should be nervous, because open source leaders like LucidWorks are giving them a run for their money.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 23, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Business Intelligence Integrates Customer Support and Social Media
August 22, 2013
Search encompasses a myriad of different components used by businesses in day-to-day operations. An article we spotted on ICMI, “Best Practice: Use Business Intelligence to Optimize Customer Service,” delves into the world of Interactive Voice Response (IVR). Unfortunately, as the article describes, many companies see IVR as an operation that can run itself once turned on.
Michael Flores, CEO of Bretton Woods published a research paper commissioned by Contact Solutions on the role and importance of properly optimized IVR systems. We learned more about the research in the referenced article:
According to the research, IVR is the first touch-point most consumers have with a company. It either facilitates a positive self-service experience, or drives consumers to opt for a more costly live agent. Unfortunately, many companies overlook the improvement potential in their IVR systems, and generally tend to consider it a “set it and forget it” technology. However, optimized IVR provides excellent, cost-effective customer service. Optimized IVR is built to increase goal completion within the automated system, but not necessarily solely to automate more customer service interactions.
Ultimately, optimizing this technology to provide a greater ROI will also benefit brand management by placing customers first. There is a company that we have been watching as they take semantic technologies into new arenas, Expert System. Their solutions poise companies who place emphasis on excellent customer service in the right direction for brand security through holistic social media monitoring and business intelligence that is semantically charged.
Megan Feil, August 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Fewer VCs Eye Social Media Investments
August 22, 2013
Some would say it was inevitable. Bloomberg Businessweek tells us that “The Social Media Bubble is Quietly Deflating.” After a rapid ascent to the remarkable point of capturing over 20 percent of internet-centered venture capital funding in 2011, the field has seen investments dwindle drastically. Reporter Joshua Brusetin informs us:
“Social media companies drew only 2 percent of the venture capital headed to Internet-based enterprises last quarter, according to data published on Tuesday by CB Insights, a research firm that tracks venture-capital investment. In the two-year stretch that ended in the middle of 2012, social media companies took in at least 6 percent of overall venture capital invested in Internet companies each quarter. But for three of the last four quarters, those social startups have brought in 2 percent or less (with the outlier quarter largely the result of a huge investment in Pinterest earlier this year). The peak came in the third quarter of 2011, when social companies led by Twitter took in 21 percent of the total $3.8 billion in Internet deals by venture capital firms.”
Fortunately, the slide has been more gradual than, say, the collapse of the Internet bubble of the 1990s. It is important to note that, though the social media fervor may be receding, overall investment in internet companies remains around 2011 levels. What is turning investors’ heads now? Why, big data and the cloud, of course. We shall see how long that bubble floats.
Cynthia Murrell, August 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
IT Market Forecasting Increasingly Tricky
August 22, 2013
How big is cloud search? No one knows, because it is changing too fast to measure. That is the takeaway from eWeek‘s, “IT Marketing Forecasting Gets Dicey in Cloud Services, BYOD Era.” Forecasting firms have been recalibrating their tech-market predictions left and right. The article notes:
“In 2013 the major trends of mobile, cloud, social and bring your own device are rapidly altering the enterprise technology market. When you consider Microsoft reorganizing itself into a services operation, Dell working desperately to go private, Lenovo as the new leader in a declining personal computer market, and Samsung and Apple as the smartphone leaders, you get an idea of just how rapidly the tech globe is spinning.”
Writer Eric Lundquist supplies examples of forecasts that have been adjusted. He also examines specific developments, like the growth of Amazon Web Services and the bring-your-own-device trend, that have cast a fog around predictions. He concludes:
“All this goes to highlight the difficulty of forecasting a market that is changing beneath your feet. While you can add up actual spending, measuring lost opportunities, shifts in customer preferences and the attributes that cause corporate IT to abandon, for example, in-house development projects in favor of contracting with cloud services is not something that can be easily plugged into a spreadsheet.”
Indeed. The write-up suggests that researchers can overcome this difficulty once they capture enough customers’ thoughts about future spending. I am not so sure. Can we ever expect this market to settle down? Or is the pace of innovation only going to continue growing exponentially, leaving our tech prognosticators forever in the dust?
Cynthia Murrell, August 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Some Wonder if Chinese Search Partnership is Good
August 22, 2013
Some very smart people have speculated that as the Chinese market for, well, just about everything, goes so will go the rest of the planet. While nothing specific is said, that can likely extend to search. If that statement is true, there’s a lot of thinking to be done after reading a recent Search Engine Watch article, “Chinese Search Engine Quihoo to Buy Sogou for $1.4 Billion?”
According to the story:
Qihoo 360 launched its own search engine in August of last year, and is second only to Baidu in terms of market share in China. Purchasing Sogou would mean the company would have nearly 25 percent of the search market share compared to Baidu’s eroding market share, which is now slightly under 70 percent…If the deal happens, it will definitely shake up the Chinese search engine market.
This sounds like an interesting turn of events, but it begs the question: is this good for consumers? That’s another story. As this video illustrates, Chinese partnerships are happening across the spectrum. But whether or not they are good for customers depends on who’s buying and what is being sold. In the case of search, we think this will be a good thing that creates a more powerful tool for users.
Patrick Roland, August 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Major Trends in Discovery Analytics
August 22, 2013
Analytics is the newest buzzword in the enterprise. Analytics indicates that that solution is intelligent and agile, and the industry is paying attention. Information Management gives the latest news in the article, “3 Major Trends in New Discovery Analytics.”
After a discussion of visual discovery’s role in data discovery, the author moves on to the second trend:
“The second trend is renewed focus on information discovery (i.e., search) . . . IBM acquired Vivisimo and has incorporated the technology into its PureSystems and big data platform. Microsoft recently previewed its big data information discovery tool, Data Explorer. Oracle acquired Endeca and has made it a key component of its big data strategy. SAP added search to its latest Lumira platform. LucidWorks, an independent information discovery vendor that provides enterprise support for open source Lucene/Solr, adds search as an API and has received significant adoption. There are different levels of search, from documents to social media data to machine data.”
LucidWorks is clearly holding their own among the major players, even huge proprietary companies like IBM and Oracle. And these longstanding commercial solutions are taking note of the real estate that the open source solutions, like LucidWorks, are carving out of their traditional territory. Users are pleased by the low price point, the efficient functionality, and the excellent customer support of LucidWorks and others like it.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Artificial Intelligence is no Threat to Analytics Jobs
August 21, 2013
As the fields of artificial intelligence and big data analytics continue to grow greater every year, the idea that their paths will converge is not totally farfetched. While this has some worried, we are not among them after reading a recent Extreme Tech article, “Artificial Intelligence Has the Verbal Skills of a Four-Year-Old, Still No Common Sense.”
According to the story:
An artificial intelligence like >this one might have access to a lot of data, but it can’t draw on it to make rational judgements by leveraging implicit facts — things that we all know, but are so obvious we wouldn’t even consider them relevant information. ConceptNet might know that water freezes at 32 degrees, but it doesn’t know how to get from that concept to the idea that ice is cold. This is basically common sense — humans (even children) have it and computers don’t.
This should come as a comfort for anyone working in the analytics field. There is still a strong need for human intellect to interpret all the raw data floating around out there. As this article recently pointed out, right now is actually the best time to start networking in the analytics field. We totally agree.
Patrick Roland, August 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Discovering Google Search Weaknesses
August 21, 2013
Much like a giant in an ancient parable, is it possible Google’s blind spots will cost them as the world becomes more analytic and big data savvy? While that currently sounds like a stretch, it seemed less so after reading a fascinating article in Technology Review, “Filling a Search Engine Blind Spot.”
The article spoke directly of Google and it’s blindspots, namely:
This information blackspot consists of location-specific information that is only useful for people for short periods of time. An example would be a question such as whether an advertised bargain is still available at a particular shop. Another is to ask whether parking spaces are available at a public event such as an air show, music concert or such.
This, coupled with the idea that Google’s blindspots are actually much more serious. The SF Gate reported back in 2010 that the search giants actual troubles lied in “Privacy and complexity.” Now that is something to ponder. Have we seen any evidence in the last three years that that has changed? No, what we have are the likes of Tech Review pointing out more blindspots. While Google dabbles in every side business under the sun it is starting to look like they are ignoring their bread and butter. Don’t be surprised if someone else is able to swoop in.
Patrick Roland, August 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
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