If some of the top 10 strategic technology trends going into 2013 look familiar it's because quite a few -- like cloud computing and mobile trends -- have been around for awhile but are now either morphing or changing in ways that will continue to impact IT in the next year.
Each year, the editors and reviewers of the InfoWorld Test Center gather to look over the list of products that earned the highest marks in stand-alone reviews or came in first in multiproduct shoot-outs. We then determine which ones were particularly praiseworthy and present the very best with Technology of the Year awards. These awards inherently reflect the changes in technology that have occurred during the past year and serve to highlight emerging trends.
It's no surprise that iPhone and Android users are using more data today than the iPhone users of two years ago (when there were no popular Android devices). But a recent report from Arieso, a British firm that provides cellular carriers software to optimize their network performance, does contain surprises, and it reveals how much people are using data services on their cellular devices.
It's been a year since Google first said it would deliver a browser-only operating system for laptops called Chrome OS. Today, Google previewed the real thing at a time the iPad slate concept has already gained remarkable traction by businesses and users alike. (InfoWorld.com is covering this event live. Return to this story to get the latest updates.)
Adopting emerging platforms quickly and fostering innovation among IT staff were vital to the success of Lonely Planet's online initiatives, according to chief executive, Matt Goldberg.
Ever since it unveiled the new mobile OS in February, Microsoft has been cagey on whether its new Windows Phone 7 would support direct synchronization with Apple's Macintosh computers. Now a spokeswoman confirms that Microsoft will offer a Mac OS X tool that syncs "selected content" between Macs and Windows Phone 7 devices.
Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS dominate the new non-BlackBerry installations in enterprises across the globe between July and September 2010, according to Good Technology's tally of what the mobility management vendor's customers are deploying. Good's mobile management tool is typically deployed in large businesses and government agencies, and so is a good proxy for overall enterprise adoption patterns. But it does not support RIM's BlackBerry or Hewlett-Packard's WebOS, so Good's results do not include data on those platforms' activations.
Acknowledging Microsoft's current, non-contending status in the smartphone space, a Microsoft official Thursday stressed that the new Windows Phone 7 platform would get the company back into the race.
Mobile application development tools vendor Rhomobile plans to unveil on Wednesday an extension to its software-as-a-service platform that will enable developers to build applications for Apple's iPhone via a Windows PC.
Microsoft on Thursday began offering tools enabling Visual Basic developers to build applications for the Windows Phone 7 mobile phone platform.
Rhomobile will announce Wednesday version 2.0 of its development-as-a-service platform for building smartphone applications.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today -- in the midst of a blitz of consumer-oriented announcements such as video rentals in iTunes, a new touch-based iPod music player model, and an online multiuser gaming service -- introduced a new version of its mobile OS and a new version of the iPod Touch.
Developers at an open source company in Spain are leading an effort to boost PHP application development for Android-based phones.
Making a critical move in mobile application development, Microsoft on Monday shipped a beta version of its Windows  Phone 7 Developer Tools, but early reaction from some developers was tepid.
Nokia, with the Mobile Runtime for Java Applications (JRT), is enabling development of Java applications for Symbian 3 devices, Nokia officials said Thursday.