Forrester

We are a company of communicators. We embraced social media years ago as a new way to communicate for ourselves and, also, for our clients to push their business forward in new ways.We have always had a socila media policy to help our staff use social media productively.

We are a company of communicators. We embraced social media years ago as a new way to communicate for ourselves and, also, for our clients to push their business forward in new ways.We have always had a socila media policy to help our staff use social media productively.

In a new marker for outsourced IT services, Panasonic has announced it will adopt IBM's LotusLive suite of collaboration technologies. This is reportedly the largest cloud-computing arrangement ever, involving support for 100,000 Panasonic workers that will eventually expand to more than 300,000 users, including partners and suppliers.

IT industry, get ready to rejoice. According to two new reports, 2010 is going to be a good year. A report from Forrester Research and a soon-to-be-released survey from Information Technology Intelligence Corp. (ITIC) point to a recovery for IT.

The Forrester study said U.S. spending on IT will grow 6.6 percent this year to about $570 billion, following an 8.2 percent decline in 2009. On a global level, the report predicts a rise of 8.1 percent to more than $1.6 trillion.

The pace of interactive multimedia continues to evolve with the release Tuesday of Adobe Systems' beta versions of its AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 software. The updates are available for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The 10.1 player is also available for x86-based netbooks and, at some point in 2010, for smartphones and other mobile devices.

The free video site Hulu.com, which has been helping to change TV-watching habits, could undergo a change. On Wednesday, an executive with one of Hulu's parent companies suggested the popular video site could start charging for content next year.

Chase Carey, president and COO of News Corp., told the Broadcasting & Cable OnScreen Summit in New York City that the value of the content presented by Hulu isn't being served by a free-only model, and he hopes that it will evolve into a subscription model.

No Decision Yet

A newly revealed patent application and a new burst of rumors are providing more support to reports that Apple is planning a groundbreaking tablet computer. The application describes new forms of multi-touch interaction, and the rumors describe secret talks that Apple is having with newspaper and textbook publishers.

The changing demographics of potential e-book buyers are reason enough for market leaders to begin rethinking their sales strategies, according to a new survey by Forrester Research.

Future sales prospects for e-book readers bear scant resemblance to the high-earning male tech optimists who own these devices today, said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. Instead, the next wave of buyers is likely to feature females who read a lot, but buy fewer books online than early adopters.

As bad as the technology market fared in the first quarter of this year, the worst may be over, at least in the United States, Forrester Research said in a report Tuesday.

The research firm nonetheless revised its forecast for 2009. It now expects the U.S. technology market to shrink by 5 percent this year. In March, Forrester had predicted a smaller 3 percent decline in spending on technology products and services.

According to market research firm NPD Group in a report Thursday, monthly sales for the video-game industry dipped below $1 billion in May for the first time since August 2007. This represented a 23 percent drop and the third straight month with a decline. Sales in May were $863.3 million, including both game and console sales.

Sales of consoles alone dropped 30 percent, to $302.5 million. In May 2008, sales of consoles were about $433 million.

Nintendo Wii Sales Down