The Daily Bursts Onto the Scene

A new brand of newspaper is calling into the question the very definition of the word.

The Daily, is a revolutionary media product built specifically for the iPad by some of the best in the business to bring you a package that’s smart, attractive, and entertaining. On Wednesday, February 2, Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation, announced the launch of The Daily on the iPad. Also present were Jon Miller from News Corporation, Eddy Cue from Apple..

The Daily is free for two weeks from the time you download it to your iPad, and then becomes available through Apple’s iTunes subscription service and via the iPad App Store for $0.99 a week or $39.99 a year.

The device is looking to capitalize on the emerging marketplace for tablet computers that has swept the corporate and personal landscape. Executives who no longer wish to carry around a laptop now have the exact same capabilities on a device that is a quarter of the size and weight.. and not to mention looks pretty cool.

Slowly fading from the marketplace are the traditional Blackberry and laptops that have ruled since the turn of the 21^st century.

Social butterflies, as well as the business hungry corporate professionals are gravitating towards this new device, due to its expanded functionality. TNS has been seeing a reflection of this in its growing demand for iPad, and iPhone support, and has been circulating these devices around our engineers in rode to familiarize them with the new technologies. TNS has engineers that are competent in both MAC and Windows technologies, making us a one stop shop for all of your IT needs.

Is Your Vote Safe?

Happy Election Day! If you were thinking of voting via the Internet, read on before you cast your vote.

With technology becoming so advanced and the Internet becoming increasingly widespread, more than thirty states will count votes from e-mail, fax, and voting websites this year. On one hand, the idea seems to have many advantages. In terms of "going green", online voting is extremely environmentally-friendly because it eliminates the use of paper. Additionally, in theory, online voting would increase voter turnout because people can vote from anywhere. Many people are unable to vote because they cannot leave work, they are elderly or disabled, or they are overseas. A great feature of online voting is that anyone can simply access a computer to cast their vote without having to leave work or the home.

However, virtual votes could threaten national security because it could expose network infrastructure and leave us vulnerable to cyber hacking. Unfortunately, this fear is very real. In tests by University of Michigan technology students, the voting systems for overseas and military voters was fairly easy to hack. Even worse, the University of Michigan students found that the system had already been hacked by individuals in Iran and China.

Your vote matters. Don't let it get manipulated or altered by foreign threats. Utilize traditional mechanical voting machines to cast your vote this election day.

Stay updated on all security and privacy news by keeping up with The TNS Group tech blog.

Google Outdoes Itself

The Internet is technology's most formidable source, and it just keeps getting bigger. In fact, traffic increases at an amazing 40-45% each year! But what website is crushing all the competition?

None other than... Google. The search engine giant accumulated a third quarter revenue this year of $7.29 billion, a 23% increase from last year. Even more fascinating, according to recent data from Arbor Networks, Google accounts for a whopping 6.4% of all Internet traffic in the world!

The numbers don't stop there. Because Google is so widely used, its advertising sales are equally astronomical. This year, Google's total ad revenue will be an estimated $15.7 billion. To put that into perspective, last year Time Warner and Viacom, among the biggest media companies in the world, earned $8.8 billion and $4.7 billion in advertising revenue, respectively.

The Internet is expanding so rapidly, its hard to imagine what will come next. With impressive progress being made on Google's self-driving car, it seems that anything is possible. To stay up-to-date with the latest in technology news, keep checking back at The TNS Group's tech blog.