Technology is constantly evolving, and with each upgrade or update comes new terms. Keeping pace with the tech talk is challenging, but vital to today’s media execs. Here are ten tech terms you should know, from Augmented Analytics to the Zettabyte Era.
- Augmented Analytics – Think of Augmented Analytics as a combination of artificial intelligence (or machine learning) and natural language processing that allows for instantaneous, automated data analysis and insights. It’s a disruptive, superpowered business analytics tool that seems poised to revolutionize data science.
- Crowdturfing —This spurious twist on crowdsourcing is used to generate fake online reviews. Large numbers of paid reviewers, or bots, generate false support or malicious comments about people, brands, products—almost anything can be a target of a crowdturfing attack.
- Demand Side Platform (DSP)—This ad management software centralizes and automates the media buying process by connecting with multiple supply-side media and publishing sources.
- Hybrid App – Just like it sounds, a hybrid app combines the best of both native apps and web apps. Hybrid apps are designed to work on multiple platforms, which makes them less costly than building separate native apps to run on various platforms.
- Internet of Ears — If you ever think your devices are spying on you, it’s probably because they are. Alexa, Google Home, and all of the other smart home solutions are already listening for your commands, and as technology evolves, your other devices will, too.
- Machine Bias —Artificial intelligence programs aren’t always as fair and non-judgmental as you might think. That’s because AI systems are built by human beings whose own biases, however slight, might impact the codes they write, and those biases can grow right along with the AI. Kind of like on Westworld.
- Li-Fi — If you hate turning your devices off during take-off and landing, you’ll love plane li-fi, a light-wave data transmission technology that’s 100 times faster than traditional radio-wave-based wi-fi. Airbus is reportedly planning to incorporate li-fi technology in future aircraft designs.
- Qi Wireless Charging —Anyone who’s ever dealt with tangled power cords has to love wireless chargers. With inductive charging systems you can charge wireless devices simply by setting them on a charging pad. Qi chargers might be a little slower than their conventional counterparts, but they’re much cooler.
- Wi-Fi 6 – The first wi-fi upgrade in five years is expected to debut later in 2019, promising faster speeds than the current version. Rumors persist that Apple’s next version of the iPhone will be Wi-Fi 6 enabled.
- Zettabyte Era — With digital usage growing exponentially, the annual measurement of digital data is now counted in zettabytes. For perspective, one zettabyte equals 1 billion terabytes. Estimates vary, but global internet traffic is expected to be closing in on 5 zettabytes by 2022.
