trends

It's no secret that more of us are picking up Web-connected mobile devices. But the growth with which that's happening is nothing short of impressive.

At the D10 Conference today, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) partner Mary Meeker revealed that at the end of 2011, there were 1.1 billion mobile 3G subscribers around the world, representing 37 percent growth over the prior year. The strongest growth came in India, where year-over-year subscriptions rose 841 percent. In the U.S. -- a market much closer to the saturation point -- 3G subscribers rose just 31 percent.

Despite that, … Read more

The Internet is growing at a rapid rate, but there's still a long way to go.

Speaking at the D10 Conference today, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (KPCB) partner Mary Meeker announced her company's latest report on Internet trends for 2012. Chief among her company's findings was that at the end of 2011, there were nearly 2.3 billion Internet users worldwide, representing 8 percent growth year over year. China led the way with 513 million Web users, followed by the U.S. with 245 million users.

Emerging markets, such as the Philippines, India, and Indonesia saw the … Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Some of Silicon Valley's greatest minds used an interesting piece of hardware to vote on which trends will rule the tech world: ping pong paddles.

The Churchill Club, a business and technology forum, hosted discussion here Tuesday night, along with Forbes magazine, to pick the brains of Kevin Efrusy, Bing Gordon, Reid Hoffman, Steve Jurvetson, and Peter Thiel.

With a few hundred people seated in the grand ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, each investor presented his case for two ideas for what he thought would be a dominating tech trend for the next five … Read more

Facebook's new "Trending Articles" feature, which it's been testing for the last few weeks, is already finding critics complaining about clutter in their News Feeds.

The new feature, which adds links to articles that friends have read in their News Feed, is part of a broader effort by Facebook to create what it calls "frictionless" sharing. Media companies that have created apps using the feature include Yahoo and The Guardian, among others.

Mingled among posts from friends about their kids accomplishments or their latest vacation adventures, Facebook is adding links to articles that those … Read more

DirectPass (download) is a new password manager from Trend Micro that promises a battery of features that could shoot it to the top of its class. The catch? It's not cheap.

Debuting yesterday, DirectPass has a lot key options that make a good password manager great. It's got password generation, a 256-bit AES encrypted form-filler, encrypted secure notes, browser integration via add-on, and one-click master password login. The master password include a hint option to help you remember it, but you best not forget it unless you want your passwords locked away permanently.

Like competitors, DirectPass syncs across … Read more

Apple will remain king of the tablet market this year but its reign may be shaken a bit by the ongoing flood of Android devices.

The company will carve off a 62 percent chunk of the tablet market this year, according to a report out yesterday from TrendForce. But that will continue a decline from 66 percent last year and 87 percent the previous year.

Though the iPad's market share may be on the downswing, its sales are still headed in the opposite direction. Estimates from TrendForce call for global sales of about 59 million units in 2012, up … Read more

A smaller iPad is undergoing tests, a market researcher says, adding fuel to rumors about a downsized Apple tablet.

"Smaller iPads...are still in the testing stage; whether or not these prototypes will enter mass production remains unknown," TrendForce, a Taipei-based market research and consulting firm, said today.

The impact of a small iPad would be felt mostly in 2013, TrendForce said. "If production ensues, the release time will possibly be in 4Q12, right before Christmas. With a smaller size and a resolution of 1024x768, as opposed to iPad 3's 2048x1536, the small iPad will not … Read more

LAS VEGAS--It's always frustrating to find a dead spot in your wireless networking. Fortunately there's now an easy and affordable fix, the new 300Mbps Easy-N Range Extender, model TEW-736RE from Trendnet.

The company introduced the new device at CES 2012 and claims that it will help extend the range of your wireless network within minutes.

According to Trendnet, all you have to do is place the TEW-736RE in an area of low wireless coverage, then simply press the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button on your router or access point, then on the TEW-736RE and you're done: the … Read more

We asked CNN technology writer Mark Milian to come into the studio today to wrap up the last show of the year, and he surprises us with Peter Ha from The Daily in tow!

Our two favorite guests join us for a discussion about the tech trends of 2011 ("hacking," privacy, mobile OS wars, Tumblr, and Reddit), and we'll also take a look at Mark's new book, Letters to Steve: Inside the E-Mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs.

It's a collection of e-mails sent from the legend himself that shows his dedication to customer service and Apple fans. Some of them aren't so nice, though, as Mark tells us a few stories about his lesser-known messages.

I know you're probably super upset that this is the last episode of the year, but we'll be publishing exclusive Yuletide and Throwback episodes throughout the break, all the way up until we start our block of CES shows, live from the CNET stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center!

Thanks to everyone who helped us out this year--too many names to list, but we wouldn't be here without all our awesome guests, fans, moderators, producers, callers, and co-workers!… Read more