A survey of American viewers suggests that interactive television could be a driver for digital cable services. A third of basic cable subscribers reported an interest in switching to digital cable if one or more interactive features described to them were available. Local services were seen as most important, with 42 percent of those surveyed saying that they would be very or somewhat interested in such services, rising to 50 percent of those already have digital cable and 59 percent for those that had a cable modem, while 80 percent of those that expressed an interest in switching to digital. On-screen caller identification to display the name and number of the person calling was of interest to 38 percent of respondents. Playing games was of interest to 35 percent of those questioned, while 33 percent were interested in choosing camera angles, and just 29 percent expressed an interest in voting or getting background information on characters in a program. The telephone survey of 1,000 adults across the United States was commissioned by CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing.
The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...