Category : Trend Watching

Information Technology in Brazil: app to reports urban problems is voted best in the world

Information Technology in Brazil: app to reports urban problems is voted best in the world

Colab, a Brazilian application that helps report urban problems, was elected on world’s best by the New Cities Foundation at an event in Sao Paulo. Other finalists included traffic BuzzJourney (Israel) and PublicStuff (United States). These apps participated prize App My City, urban award for best application in the world (those of us trying to unlock the big cities). Colab received $ 5000 in cash [...]

Watch Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat 3.0” talk at MIT OpenCourseWare

Back in 2000, Tom Friedman recounts, the world began to shrink and flatten, under the influence of digital interconnectivity. Elaborating on his World is Flat thesis, Friedman describes how this new global order puts creative, entrepreneurial individuals in the driver’s seat, and poses distinct new challenges and opportunities. The digital platform that connects Bangalore, Boston and Beijing enables users from any of these places to “plug, play, compete, connect and collaborate,” and is changing everything, says Friedman [...]

Information Technology in Brazil: public management collaboration app nominated for international award

Information Technology in Brazil: public management collaboration app nominated for international award

A Brazillian startup took to the social networking approach to collect testimonies from residents about the precariousness of public facilities such as sidewalks and streets, in order to connect people to public management. The buzz generated around the site (which has already caught the attention of the city of Recife, hometown of the creators) led Colab to the final of the second edition of My City App, app award for best city in the world (those of us trying to unlock big cities) [...]

Information Technology in Brazil: leading the video games market growth in 2012

Information Technology in Brazil: leading the video games market growth in 2012

A study of manufacturers showed that sales of games and equipment totaled R$ 1.6 billion last year (800 million US dollars). While this market has shrunk in most countries, in Brazil grew by 60% in comparison with 2011 [...]

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Use of smartphones and tablets higher than world average

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Use of smartphones and tablets higher than world average

Brazilians spend more time using mobile phones, smartphones, tablets and e-readers than the world average, according to IBOPE survey and Worldwide Independent Network of Market Research (WIN), released recently. In Brazil, the average daily time use of mobiles is 59 minutes ahead of the average period of 42 minutes recorded in the world. With smartphones, [...]

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Crisis boosts advancement of aviation

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Crisis boosts advancement of aviation

Brazil is experiencing one of its best moments in the aviation industry, and today the country with the second largest fleet of jets, behind only the United States and the third most produced aircraft of this type. Ahead of Embraer (a Brazilian local manufacturer), are only the American Cessna and Canadian Bombardier. The good performance is due in large part to the international crisis started in 2008, which created a favorable environment for the purchase of these aircraft in other countries, and the growth of emerging [...]

Video: Touchscreen ‘that reacts even without touching’

Capacitive touch, which allows more than one finger at once to be recognised, is regularly cited as one of the key drivers of smartphone popularity. BBC’s Spencer Kelly discovers that 2014 could the year when touchscreens are launched which react in three dimensions that do not even require touch to recognise what action the device should take. Watch the video after the jump [...]

Internet in Brazil: banking transactions on smartphones grow more than four times in 2012

Internet in Brazil: banking transactions on smartphones grow more than four times in 2012

Banking transactions via smartphone grew 333% in 2012, according to the 2013 edition of Banking Technology Research, released recently by the Brazilian Federation of Banks Febraban. Mobile banking is the fastest growing channel in the year [...]

Mobile Devices in Brazil: Government reduces taxes on smartphones

Mobile Devices in Brazil: Government reduces taxes on smartphones

A decree signed by President Dilma Rousseff and published on Tuesday (9) reduces to zero the PIS and COFINS on the sale of so-called smartphones, cell phones with internet access, costing up to R$ 1,500 (around US $ 760.00) and are produced in Brazil. Together, the two taxes had a rate of 9.25% [...]

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Sales of tablet computers grows 171% in 2012

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Sales of tablet computers grows 171% in 2012

3.1 million tablet computers were sold in Brazil in 2012, an increase of 171% compared to the previous year, when they sold 1.1 million units, according to a study released by IDC [...]