{"id":5140,"date":"2012-11-02T09:10:12","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T14:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=5140"},"modified":"2012-11-02T09:13:52","modified_gmt":"2012-11-02T14:13:52","slug":"forward-4-trends-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2012\/11\/forward-4-trends-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking forward: 4 trends to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/images\/agree-terms.php?id=10064857\"<\/a>As we count down to 31 December, here are some trends to ponder that either have already emerged, or might soon become more evident.<\/em><\/p>\n

The rapid pace with which technology has been evolving means that for many of us, we are still grappling to understand and embrace what might be the current \u201cin thing\u201d.\u00a0 This post aims to highlight some important trends that might already be evident, but will continue to shape the tech\/IT space, and some that might be emerging.<\/p>\n

Do let us know what you think by sharing your thoughts in the Comments section below.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Touchscreens\u2026 to the world!<\/h3>\n

The global proliferation of smartphones and tablet PCs, which is expected to continue into the foreseeable future, has transformed how users interface with computing devices. Traditionally, the keyboard was only a means for engagement, and eventually it was supplemented with a cursor. However, those interfaces could be fiddly at best, and depending on the user\u2019s skills and experience, could be frustrating and inefficient to use.<\/p>\n

In an effort to make tablets and smartphones even more portable, manufacturers have overwhelmingly adopted touchscreen technology for the primary interface. The ease of use of touchscreens, which tend to more intuitive and user-friendly, along with the exploding use of mobile\/portable devices, means that persons are becoming less tolerant when they are restricted to keyboard entry. Hence, computing devices, such as PCs and laptops, which initially had not been in focus for adoption of touchscreens, are increasingly being marketed as having \u201cthe best of both worlds\u201d: a keyboard for intensive data entry and a touchscreen to improve overall ease of use.<\/p>\n

Commerce and financial transactions by social networks<\/h3>\n

There are a variety of ways to sell in goods and services over the Internet. Those conducted in an unstructured environment \u2013 with few, if any, controls \u2013 can be fraught with risks, whilst those done on purpose-built platforms can be somewhat onerous and costly to use. Hence there might be challenges that the average Joe or start-up might experience when using those options. However, Chirpify<\/a>, and others that may soon emerge based on the same principle, may offer a viable and interesting alternative.<\/p>\n

Launched around six months ago, Chirpify is a social commerce and payment platform that allows its members to make purchases via Twitter and Instagram using Paypal<\/a>. Although there are more established and popular platforms for e-transactions, Chirpify might have some distinct advantages.<\/p>\n

First, transactions can be completed in real-time with tweets and comments on Twitter and Instagram becoming immediate in-stream transactions. Second, and perhaps more importantly, Chirpify has been able to capitalise on social networks \u2013 the degree of comfort users currently have on those platforms, along with ready access to a large consumer base: Twitter has over 500 active million users, and Instagram has over 100 million users, (Sources: Tech Crunch<\/a> and TechNewsDaily<\/a>).<\/p>\n