losers

Survey: IT spending to recover in 2010

Goldman Sachs' latest IT spending survey is out and it looks a tech-spending recovery is on the way for 2010. To a large extent, the data suggests not so much that spending is dramatically higher, but that it has normalized at pre-recessionary growth rates, rather than contracting as it has over the past several months.

Goldman is cautiously optimistic about 2010 spending, noting that much of it depends on the macro-economic environment driving more business spending. And while most areas will see growth counter to 2009's downward spiral, some areas such as off-shore development will feel significant retraction.

Regardless, the sentiments are positive and dramatically different than Goldman's report from November 2008 where IT spending was in a total death spiral. What a difference a year makes.

A few key points from the report:

With recessionary buying cycle clearly through the trough, the remaining question centers on the pace of recovery for 2010. Infrastructure, application development, and systems integration remain top spending areas, especially as CIOs start to consider newer technologies such as virtualization and cloud computing. There is pent-up demand in hardware most notable, positive for storage and server/PC refresh. The appetite for offshore services appears to be below trend at current levels. HP, NetApp, CommVault, Red Hat, Riverbed, and Salesforce.com are notable names showing positive upward momentum in our latest survey.

In software, Red Hat and Salesforce.com showed strengthened results with VMware and Citrix remaining top of mind, which Goldman believes to be a good indication of internal and external cloud deployments gaining momentum.

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E3 winner: Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo?

With E3 returning to its old, bigger-is-better format, there seemed to be more at stake at this year's show. Could Nintendo provide enough compelling news to hold onto its lead? Would Microsoft trot out something to create new enthusiasm for its Xbox 360 platform? And could Sony reveal anything that might give it some much-needed momentum?

Alas, as it goes most of the time at E3, none of the companies truly hit it out of the park and a lot of what was announced was already leaked to greater or lesser degrees before the show started. However, that doesn't mean we can't try to objectively determine which companies did themselves some good--and which companies may not have.

Here's a quick recap of the news conferences from each camp and my quick assessments. But nevermind what I say, feel free to add your own comments--and try to be objective.

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How to drive loved ones away

It's only been a few days since this season's Valentine's Day products began appearing in earnest, and we're already thoroughly nauseated. In fact, given the selection offered so far, we're surprised it took this long. Here's one that certainly doesn't help the cause: the "Heart Mouse" from, of all places, the Victoria and Albert Museum. (At least it doesn't profess its love for you, as did the last one seen in this space.) It's products like these that make the "FPS Gun Mouse" look better all the … Read more

Beam up the lights, Scotty

We're saddened to say that there appears to be an infinite supply of date-repellant products on the market. As if we needed more proof, another example has surfaced in the form of a gadget that pays homage to--what a surprise--Star Trek.

VOS Systems has created a talking light dimmer that Chip Chick says features "the voice of Majel Roddenberry (AKA the computer)." The dimmer is equipped with voice-recognition software so you can do your best William Shatner impersonation on it too.

You'll have plenty of time to practice on Saturday nights. Come to think of it, … Read more

Who needs a tripod? Get a nylon bag

This falls under our definition of a feel-good item, but probably not in the way you might think. It has nothing to do with tugging heartstrings; it just makes us feel good because it's evidence that we're not the only clueless people in the world.

You'd think that tripods would be among the easier photographic accessories to use, yet some of us are still confounded by them. Finally, there's something that even we can handle: the "Camera Stabilising Bag" (that's "stabilising" with an "s," not a "z," … Read more

A clip-on plasma you can wear

With plasma screens getting bigger all the time, it might be time to start a new trend and go in the opposite direction (and save a few thousand bucks at the same time). Try the "Pocket Plasma" on for size. At 3 inches in diameter, it may not be as small as phone, camera or media player LCDs, but this mini-screen can do something that the others definitely can't: You can wear it on your clothes. As Red Ferret notes, the $45 "sound-sensitive" Pocket Plasma will light up io voices and music. For more discreet … Read more

All Flickr, all the time

The story of our life: Just when we find a gadget we like--nay, need--it's already sold out. Such is the case with the eStarling Wi-Fi photo frame.

The new version of the live LCD device (whose predecessor also sold out last year) can carry custom RSS feeds from Flickr based on your tags. You can also e-mail your phone photos directly to an eStarling frame on the fly.

ThinkGeek is selling the screen for $250, but its soonest restocking date is estimated at December 10. Which means the chances of getting one for the holidays are probably as slim … Read more