Stories I Found Of Interest (weekly)

• Skype calls now equivalent to one-third of global phone traffic | Ars Technica

  • New research (PDF) from TeleGeography, a telecom market analysis firm, shows that worldwide Skype usage is now equivalent to over one-third of all international phone traffic—a record level.
  • While that doesn’t mean that telcos are going to go out of business anytime soon, it does mean that they are certainly continuing to feel the heat.

• Visualant Retains Howard Nellor to Accelerate Revenue Generation

  • Mr. Nellor commented, “Visualant has the most promising, disruptive technologies and keen strategy that I have seen in many years. It’s a fortunate opportunity to be able to support their transition to significant market penetration and profits

• Rackspace revenue misses as web hosting growth slows | Reuters

  • Web hosting companies like Rackspace and competitors Equinix (EQIX.O) and Internap Network Services Corp (INAP.O) own or lease space on a server, typically housed in data centers, warehouses lined wall-to-wall with powerful storage servers.

    Many companies have migrated to hosting their applications in "the cloud" - using the Internet to provide software, computing power and data storage - as a cheaper alternative to in-house resources in a slow-growth economy.

• AT LEAST two-thirds mobile traffic will be video by 2017 - Cisco report * The Register

  • According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) report, with its quarterly update out this week, video accounted for over 50 per cent of all mobile traffic for the first time in 2012 and this will rise to 66.5 per cent by 2017
  • Overall global mobile data traffic will increase 13-fold between 2012 and 2017

• Visualant ChromaID™ Wins Photonics Award

  • One sector of interest for Visualant is the cosmetic industry since consumer demand for natural, bio-friendly products has increased by 13.9 percent last year, Kline research reports. That means that chemical companies are being asked by cosmetic companies to develop relevant products that satisfy this market demand. Visualant’s ChromaID technology could then be used in the manufacturing process to ensure that all cosmetic products created meet a certain sustainable, green standard
  • The Visualant Spectral Pattern Matching™ technology directs structured light onto a substance, through a liquid/gas, or off a surface, to capture a unique ChromaID™. When matched against existing databases, a ChromaID can be used to identify, detect, or diagnosis markers invisible to the human eye. ChromaID scanner modules can be integrated into a variety of mobile or fixed-mount form factors. The patented technology is disruptive, making it possible to effectively conduct analyses in the field that could only previously be performed by large and expensive lab–based tests

• Video ads growing at fastest rate on Web as TV-viewing habits change - SiliconValley.com

  • Internet video ads, long a sideshow in the online advertising market, are gaining in importance to marketers and Web publishers as they look to capitalize on consumers' changing viewing habits and tap a $70 billion television market.
  • There have been media reports that Facebook is developing a video ad service, and analysts will likely be looking for answers on that avenue when the social networking giant delivers its quarterly results on Wednesday.
  • "We're are at a point where television ad budgets are likely to come online."
  • The number of people watching TV seems to be stagnating or declining, and the number of people turning to the Internet for entertainment is surging," said RBC's Mahaney. "It almost inevitably drives these TV budgets online"

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.