Digital Lifescapes

Mobile channels are increasingly important for enterprises to connect with employees, business partners, and customers, with telecom service providers emerging that offer a comprehensive platform that enables the management of this essential tool. Plus, they're now frequently cloud-based solutions. These solutions are collectively known as Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) offerings. There are a number of services that can be considered part of CPaaS platforms, including messaging technologies such as SMS, Rich Communication Services (RCS), and Over-the-Top (OTT) messaging applications. Also offered are push notifications, digital voice services, and email. CPaaS Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, CPaaS revenue generated within the North American marketplace will reach $15 billion by 2026 -- that's rising from $3.7 billion in 2021. The study found that significant demand for mobile channels -- such as SMS and mobile voice -- ...

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of IT solutions in healthcare. In particular, more people have accepted teleconsultations with healthcare providers -- including medical diagnoses performed through mobile apps and/or videoconferences. For more than a year, people were unable to access healthcare resources onsite due to either their virus vulnerability or because lockdown restrictions meant that they were unable to leave their homes. Numerous governments responded to the closure of healthcare facilities by loosening previous regulatory restrictions on the practice of telemedicine and online teleconsultations. Telemedicine Services Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the number of teleconsultations performed globally will reach 765 million in 2025 -- that's rising from 422 million in 2021, representing 80 percent growth. The study found that, for teleconsultation services to become an integral element of healthcare prov...

During the last decade, mobile app developers and start-up fintech vendors have offered a variety of innovative digital wallet solutions across global markets. Due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and the move away from cash-based payments, digital wallet apps have gained rapid new user adoption. Initially, digital wallets centered on providing easy eCommerce payments or consumer person-to-person payments. This early growth enabled large tech companies -- such as Google, Apple, and PayPal -- to launch services and achieve a presence across the online payments and global retail ecosystems. Digital Wallet App Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total consumer spending via digital wallet apps will exceed $10 trillion in 2025 -- that's up from an estimated $5.5 trillion in 2020. Moreover, the research findings found a dramatic 83 percent growth in digital wallet spending will be fuelled by the heightened adoption of digital payment...

Maintaining enterprise IT security is a significant challenge. With the ubiquity of public internet access and cloud-based software applications, they're essential tools to interconnect enterprises with customers and prospects, but they're also the potential target of cyber attacks from domestic and foreign criminals. Sophisticated hackers continuously capitalize on the exposed security flaws of software applications to steal customer information, disclose or sell sensitive customer records and harm the reputation of the public company and its senior executive leaders. According the the latest worldwide study by ABI Research, the security testing market will develop to reach $6.9 billion in revenue by 2020. That being said, secure software development remains a significant long-term problem for most businesses today. "The biggest challenge for company software developers lies in market forces and funding," said Monolina Sen, senior analyst at ABI Research . So...

Retailers are adopting a new wave of wireless technologies that could transform the shopping experience in numerous ways. Wireless in-store beacons are a key component of this strategy. These tiny beacon devices broadcast small pieces of information to nearby shoppers via their smartphones, which are enabled to receive the message via a retailer's software app. What's in these messages? Personalized advertising promotions that are targeted at consumers. ABI Research now forecasts that dedicated Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacon advertising networks will be worth over $2 billion in revenue by 2020. ABI has been studying the use of BLE beacons, audio/ultrasound and LED/VLC for advertising purposes across large third-party networks, Out of Home (OOH) and in-store brand advertising. "What is clear is that BLE beacons are not enough, and already many of the most successful advertising networks are using audio/ultrasound technologies," said Patrick Connolly, principal...

Most modern smartphones can connect to Wi-Fi routers for broadband internet access. Voice calls placed over that connection, via a software app that converts voice to data, can provide superior quality communication when compared with the cell provider's mobile network. There are now numerous ways to apply this capability, essentially bypassing the mobile network service provider's traditional offerings. As awareness of these use-cases increase, so does market adoption. Over the Top (OTT) voice app service providers are expected to see an increase in their revenues by 2020, reaching over $10 billion and representing a five-fold increase over the next 5 years, according to the latest global market study by Juniper Research . Moreover, their market study uncovered that OTT mobile software application providers -- such as Skype and WhatsApp -- would experience a significant rise in traffic and revenue potential as 4G network roll-outs accelerate, thereby increasing their cap...

Android and iOS, the number one and number two ranked smartphone operating systems (OS) worldwide, combined for 92.3 percent of all smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13) -- as Windows Phone slowly crept past BlackBerry for third place. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), Google Android smartphone vendors and Apple shipped a total of 199.5 million units worldwide during 1Q13, that's up by 59.1 percent from the 125.4 million units shipped during 1Q12. "Underpinning the worldwide smartphone market is the constantly shifting operating system landscape," noted Ramon Llamas, research manager at IDC . Android and iOS accounted for more than the lion's share of smartphones in the first quarter, but a closer examination of the other platforms reveals turnaround and demand for alternatives. Windows Phone has benefited from Nokia's participation, and BlackBerry's new BB10 devices have already hit a ...

The forward-looking outlook for the savvy leaders in the progressive digital media industry is very bright. The mobile owning public is now aware that mobile devices can be used to perform tasks beyond voice and text -- in North America nearly 65 percent of mobile handsets were used to access mobile entertainment services in 2012; 75 percent were used to browse the Internet. In Western Europe the comparable figures were 47 percent and 65 percent respectively. Annual revenue generated from digital content delivered to mobile phones and media tablets is expected to increase by nearly $25 billion over the next three years, reaching $65 billion by 2016, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research . According to the study findings, growth would primarily be fueled by an upsurge in game, video and eBook purchases via tablet devices, allied to increased opportunity for content monetization via DCB (Direct Carrier Billing) on smartphones. Juniper observed that eBooks curre...

Results from the latest market study by Juniper Research indicates that there will be a total of almost 70 million smart wearable devices sold in 2017. That market now includes smart glasses, health and fitness devices along with enterprise wearables, which is forecast to reach almost 15 million units shipped during 2013. Juniper says that they anticipate significant adoption towards the end of the forecast period, driven by the launch of augmented reality glasses and similar products from Google, Microsoft and Apple. Their latest report indicates that fitness and sports wearables, followed by healthcare devices, are forecast to dominate the market with a combined market share of over 80 percent in the final forecast year 2017. However, even though the number of fitness and sports devices bought per year is higher than the number of healthcare devices sold, the health sector will be slightly larger in terms of retail value due to higher price points. The report further not...