Despite an increase in global Internet usage and efforts to boost international Web access, some 4 billion people remain offline.
Over the last 15 years, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has seen the number of global Internet users increase from 400 million to an expected 3.2 billion by year’s end. Along the way, however, many billions of people were left by the wayside, without access to email, texts, social media, digital maps, or even statistics about themselves.
Industry heavyweights like Facebook and Google are working to bring free or cheap Internet access to emerging markets, teaming with local ISPs or launching balloon-based Internet service.
Internet.org and Google’s Project Loon are still in their infancy, but ITU announced that between 2000 and 2015, Internet penetration overall increased almost seven fold from 6.5 to 43 percent of the global population.
Mobile users are keeping pace, too, according to ITU’s forecast, which suggests that by the end of the year, there will be more than 7 billion mobile subscribers worldwide – up from fewer than 1 billion in 2000.
Global cellular penetration is set to reach 47 percent this year, while at the same time, 69 percent of the global population will reportedly be covered by 3G mobile broadband, up from 45 percent in 2011. Of the 3.4 billion people in rural areas, meanwhile, about 29 percent will be covered by 3G broadband this year, the ITU said.
“ICTs (information and communication technologies) will play an even more significant role in the post-2015 era and in achieving future sustainable development goals as the world moves faster and faster towards a digital society.
WINDOWS 10 PRICE:
FREE UPDATE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO MOST USERS, BUT NOT ALL
Microsoft will offer free upgrades to its new operating system, Windows 10 — but only for select people. And it’s unclear, at the moment, what will happen to those that aren’t chosen.
Users of the most recent versions of Windows – 7 and 8 – will be given the option to upgrade for free in the first year that Windows 10 is out, and will have to buy the software after that. But those on older versions of Windows, and those made for tablets, might miss out.
Microsoft has already said that users of the home version of Windows 7 and 8 will be given Windows 10 Home for free.
And users of those pro versions of those operating systems will be given the corresponding edition of Windows 10.
But Microsoft hasn’t yet said what will happen to those on Windows XP and Windows Vista. It appears that people on those systems will have to buy a new version of Windows 10 from the very beginning.
People who are building new computers from scratch will likely have to do the same, buying a new version of Windows 10 for their new computer.
And those on Windows RT, the special version of Windows 8 made for mobile devices, will also be left out. Select devices like the Surface RT and Surface 2 have been promised some kind of upgrade, but it’s unclear whether that will be a full version of Windows 10.
Microsoft is trying to get, as part of its plans for ensuring that developers can make their programmes knowing what operating systems they will be used on. Microsoft is also advertising the new operating system as ‘Windows as a service’ – not one single piece of software but a continually updated platform.
MICROSOFT’S VOICE ASSISTANT IS COMING TO IOS AND ANDROID
Look out, Siri. Move over, Google Now. Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant is coming to iOS and Android. The upcoming launch of a Cortana app will give users of iPhones and Android phones the option of a companion to Cortana on Windows 10 PCs.
The move is part of the software maker’s efforts to better compete in the mobile arena by making its apps and services available to users of the rival devices that have proven vastly more popular than Microsoft’s own Windows Phone offerings. And with Windows 10, due this summer, Microsoft is also looking to make up in a big way for the misfire of Windows 8.
The new Windows 10 Mobile version, for instance, will run Microsoft’s so-called universal apps, which are designed to work across all devices.
It will also make use of Microsoft’s new Continuum feature to automatically switch an app’s layout when the phone is plugged into a PC monitor and communicating with a mouse and keyboard.
As part of Microsoft’s goal to connect your Windows PC to whichever smartphone you own, a new phone Companion app will allow you to install and use Cortana for Android and iOS.
The app will be available in a few weeks to members of the Windows Insider Program, while the Cortana companion will roll out to Android phones at the end of June and to iPhones later this year.
How will Cortana, Google Now and Apple’s Siri all compete or co-exist as your voice assistant? That’s up to you. iPhone users will still be able to use Siri as always, and Android users will still be able to rely on Google
