The band is wide but the connection is slow

Only 6% of the Brazilian internet users have connection speed up to 8 Mbytes, according to the research published by Nielsen Institute taking in account nine countries.

To compare the results, this speed is found in 38% of access point in Switzerland - 29% of internet sites in the United States - 27% of German computers with web access. The country that comes closest to Brazil in this category is Italy - only 7% of internet access point keeps the ultra-fast connection.

This shows how much we have to improve, not only the speed, but the number of Brazilians with internet. Perhaps with the investment plan by the government called National Broadband Plan, a big effort to be done in several spheres including us as customers.

Brazil occupies 56th position in global IT rankings

The Global Report on Information Technology 2010/2011, released on April 4th by the World Economic Forum (WEF), shows that Brazil occupies the 56th position in the ranking, which analyzes the adoption rate of IT to sustain growth and development of the economy. The country has climbed five places from the last search.

The report cites that the main barriers to the development of IT initiatives in Brazil are the regulatory framework, the low quality of the market environment and the unpreparedness of the population to deal with technology.

To reach the global ranking, the World Economic Forum uses an evaluation baptized as Index of Information Technology (ITI). It analyzes the level of preparedness of countries to adopt the technology under three viewpoints: the regulatory environment, business and infrastructure; preparation of individuals, companies and governments to use and take advantage the resources of IT and telecom, and the implementation of available technologies.

The first five places in the ranking are occupied, in ascending order of: Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland and the United States. With the inclusion of a record 138 economies, the report is still the largest and most trusted international assessment of the impact of ICT in development and competitiveness of nations.

GPS is increasingly in the daily life of Brazilians

The use of navigation devices continues to grow among Brazilian consumers. According to research conducted by Navteq - the leading global provider of maps,traffic and location data, which included for the first time Brazil in the 13 countries evaluated - a third of consumers have experience with navigation, plus 90% show familiarity with the instruments. In total, 13 000 people were interviewed, and one thousand within the country.

Among the varied formats, navigation in vehicles leads to the choice. The use of cellular and / or smartphones ranked second. These items were identified as the main and which the public has shown more adaptation.

One of the criticisms leveled at the GPS, however, is in relation to the abbreviations of the names of streets, which has caused confusion at times. Not all devices have quick refresher. When there are streets with names that start with the words priest or colonel, for example, a problem occurs. For devices in cell phones, arise some other critical to agility, that takes a while to pick up satellite signals, compared to models that are in cars. Delay especially in days of heavy rain or when there are many clouds.

The continued use of GPS has led some car dealerships to put the unit among the optional items, in addition to having several models on store shelves. They are offered as optional and most people interested in a new vehicle chooses to purchase the unit.

However, the device is not unanimous - still for some drivers keep using the guide in paper for reasons like security, reliability and easy to use. But for you that have a GPS as your guide, here are some tips when using:
1 - Avoid blocking the antenna with your hand.
2 - It works best outdoors when the sky is clear. Rain and clouds can weaken the signal.
4 - Connect to the GPS system takes at least 40 seconds.
5 - The signal can be weakened by a windshield UV protected or heated.
6 - To avoid distractions and prevent accidents, drivers should not handle the unit when the vehicle is in motion.
7 - Do not follow the voice prompts of the device without making sure they are consistent with the existing signaling traffic.

The conscious use of credit cards on the Internet

The use of credit cards on e-commerce is still a taboo for many consumers. A research published by Cetelem-Ipsos shows that an amount of consumers still prefer the banking ticket and the deposit as payment methods on the Internet. The installment sales and credit card are chosen primarily by those who want to make installment payments.

One of the main reasons concern the security of its use, if the transaction is really safe and nobody can steal information. Truly it is important and the transaction with credit card is very safe if the user takes the necessary precaution, like keep the antivirus updated, check the merits of the company and see if the page shows the padlock in your corner with the "https" in the address bar. With these basic procedure guarantees the user that all information exchanged will be encrypted and no one else will be able to get sensitive information like credit card number for instance.

With the popularization of Internet, many people don't really understand the virtual world, the advantages and risks that offer and open up all emails that receives coupled with the fact of leaving the equipments unprotected.

An alternative is to use the Pay Pal, a company that takes advantage of this lack of consumer confidence with more than 2 millions of users in Brazil, and over 200 millions worldwide. The service creates a security layer between the customer and the seller, all you need to do is to have an account and associate your credit card to this service. When you go shopping on the Internet, instead of putting your credit card number, you choose to pay through the Pay Pal account typing your password, and the transaction will be managed and debited in your credit card in a very safe way. However, the internet store needs to accept payments using this method.

As the law of e-commerce obeys the same physical trade, consumers who feel harmed may use the Procon. Although the volume of complaints in relation to virtual commerce is still low, but the numbers show this trend awareness.

Tablets: What changes with this Gadget? *

It was only a short time ago that tablets came into people’s lives, yet it seems they’ve been in our lives for a long time. They emerged early in the year 2010 with the launch of the Apple iPad, which already today has great public acceptance. Increasingly tablets are gaining popularity, and it certainly marks a major technological trend for the coming years. The first tablet, the Apple iPad, sold more than 10 million units in 2010, and now competitors are investing huge sums on other tablet models in order to compete with the current sales leader, Apple.

So what exactly is a tablet? It’s nothing more than a clipboardshaped, ultra-light computer with a keyboard in the screen, which is sensitive to the touch and does mostly what computers do, such as connecting to the Internet, accessing emails, editing simple documents, watching videos, viewing photos and listening to music. All of these features in one device, ready-made for easy handling and transportation, has fallen into the hands of today’s users.

Tablets are not only about who boasts the best game sophistication or the greatest capacity for music or the finest screen resolution. They are also about developing a device that puts communication in the pockets of nearly everyone, and not just for talking and writing, but to enjoy ongoing participation in a universal chat, much as the 20th century envisaged communications in the 21st century.

In Brazil, tablets arrived shortly after they were introduced in the United States, and the reaction was the same, with hungry consumers running to the stores to  urchase this new trend in computing. It didn’t take long before tablets sparked active debate and controversy, especially when technology analysts said the tablets would replace traditional devices such as the computer, notebook and netbook. The tablets’ detractors posed questions like, Can we seriously expect someone to work on a computer without a mouse? While the tablets’ supports believed they were truly a magical revolution. Why would a person return to using a mouse and keyboard after having experienced the interface of Apple’s visionary iPad!

The debate on tablets will certainly continue, but there is one relevant point in the discussion worth noting: Tablet technology may be the best computer for people who hate technology.
What lies ahead for the future of tablets, we don’t know. Certainly, if their popularity continues to grow, their prices will become more affordable, and if that happens, tablets will probably become as popular as cell phones are today.

* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Growth of Internet and Computer in Brazil

The number of people with Internet access in any environment (homes, workplaces, schools, Internet cafes or other places) reached 73.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Ibope Nielsen Online. This represents an increase of 9.6% compared to 67.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the access to the Internet at work and at home has grown even more.

This confirms the excellent performance on sales of computers in Brazil where in 2010 grew 23.5 percent over the previous year to 13.7 million units, putting the country in fourth place globally behind the United States, China and Japan. The highlight of the sales went to the third quarter, with a different scenario than we saw in the past when most computers were sold on account of Christmas. With the anticipation of retail purchases in the year-end, the third quarter of 2010 was stronger.

Of the total number of PCs in 2010, desktops represent 55 percent of sales and notebooks to 45 percent for both business and home consumers. However, considering only the domestic segment, notebooks surpassed desktops for the fourth consecutive quarter, with 30 percent more sales. The trend could be observed earlier.

According to IDC, the transition from desktop to the background should be intensified with the growing popularity of computers tablets. According to another research firm, 100 000 tablets were marketed in the country during the past year.

Project to establish rules for personal data on websites

Where does the information go when you fell up a form with your information? Who knows when you liked on facebook? What your search on Google tells about you? Probably they say much more than you think. That is all there in some database, and until now there is no law or norm that defines how this information should be treated.

The main topic of this project which is under public consultation, the citizen needs to have control about his own information. He needs to know which information is being gathered, what will be used for and for how long the company or government will store this information. Today there is no control over this and it's common to see cases of sales database to third parties for example.

When we have a society in which any segment of the consumer works from the information of their consumers, the information becomes an input market. Today there are tools to monitor the users steps - like where he sails or his last purchases, locations and preferences. It's a great useful resource for advertisers to reach a specific audience.

As this segment is booming, a survey of Wall Street Journal revealed that exists more than 200 tools monitoring connections. The 50 most popular websites in the U.S. have some type of mechanism. In 2010, total investment in web ads was $ 8.9 billion. Of that, $ 1.1 billion were for targeted ads - and the figure should double by 2014.

In the same direction, advertising can not be seen as a villain: it pays for the services we use and also gives us more relevant ads. But we need to know that everything free, has a price somehow. The project tries to establish a minimum standard of protection, something that is in the Constitution: the right to privacy.

Collective Purchases *

The business format of “collective purchases” is new to Brazilian consumers, but the first companies here who have started using this business model have already surpassed more than one million registered customers after only a few months in business. Recently, more than 20 new similar ventures have started operations in Brazil, and these companies are eyeing a market where investors expect to earn millions. As the public becomes acquainted with this new business model and it gains more adherents, new collective purchase competitors appear.

The collective purchase business model is simply this: In partnerships with businesses (especially food, entertainment and beauty supplies), websites provide daily offerings with discounts ranging from 50 percent to 90 percent. With low initial investment, the collective purchasing websites please consumers with their steep discounts, and they greatly benefit the companies who promote their products and services to the public with far greater exposure through the Internet.  In general, consumers are young and hungry for good prices. So the secret to collective purchase organizations is to know the behavior of customers and thus offer appealing deals. For the companies who provide the services and products, it is a great way to publicize their brand and make the companies better known to the public.

Obviously, to have this business model work smoothly, the customer must be satisfied. Thus, the companies considering entering the collective purchase partnerships using shopping websites to promote their brands need to have adequate structure and organization to meet a large, fast, and demanding audience. After all, it is the name of the company that is at stake.

Despite the success of this business model in recent months in Brazil, the model is not exactly new here. It was first proposed in the year 2000, with Mobshop website, for example. However, at that time it failed because the security environment of web shopping was extremely fragile. Also, the number of Internet users was much smaller in Brazil at that time. The format currently working so well here is based on the model of collective purchasing that arose in the U.S. in 2008.

However, with the idea of collective purchasing services becoming a big hit in Brazil, there are some things to keep in mind in order to avoid your “good deal” turning into another headache and more hassles. For those readers who are already enjoying collective purchasing, as well as those tempted by the steep discounts, here are few easy hints: 1) Pay attention to the coupon expiration dates; 2) Beware of exaggeration, whereby the temptation for discounts often leads buyers to purchase a product on impulse; 3) Make sure the price is really worth it; 4) Read the terms of use that establish rights and obligations of the customer. Now that you know a little more about collective purchasing services, be sure to check out the offerings in your city and enjoy the good shopping.


* Article published on Curitiba in English.

WikiLeaks: Freedom of Expression? *

Today WikiLeaks is one of the most controversial subjects in investigative journalism. It is a nonprofit organization that collects and makes available secret and confidential documents to the public, which have been previously verified and interpreted by a team of journalists. The goal, according to the website, is to disseminate and comment on documents that disclose sensitive data attesting to the misconduct of governments and large corporations, revealing injustice, and thereby advocating transparency and freedom of the press.

Officially launched in 2007 by Australian Julian Assange, WikiLeaks has among its most controversial cases the disclosure of documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. WikiLeaks is very well organized. It all begins when material that is restricted or censored is sent to WikiLeaks. This may occur over a network or physical environment, which provides several ways to ensure anonymity. Their website technology is designed to ensure that not even the organization is aware of who sent the material.

Next, the website goes beyond the traditional techniques of investigative journalism and subjects the material to specific procedures to identify counterfeits. An independent team evaluates the material and journalists publish stories based on other documents together with the document itself. Using a slightly different concept than the famous Wikipedia, anyone can submit material, but only the website owners can publish and disseminate new contents. Nowadays, to prevent attacks, the website is spread across multiple servers in the world.

Due to the international pressure WikiLeaks is facing, people are wondering about its future. At least one new competitor has already arrived, OpenLeaks. The concept of OpenLeaks is slightly different from WikiLeaks, in that the information will not be published directly, but it will allow the media and other organizations to access OpenLeaks to disclose internal documents provided by the website, and in this way it hopes to avoid the troubles WikiLeaks is facing.

The fact is that simple portable devices such as CDs, pen drives, cellphones and others will no longer be treated as harmless devices because of their ability to copy and spread information. Consequently, what we are seeing today will change freedom of expression and the limits of transparency. We are witnessing a new approach to journalism and even a new paradigm of information. No one knows yet what its impact on diplomacy and state secrets will be.


* Article published on Curitiba in English.

Three Years of Digital TV in Brazil *

On December 2, 2007, there occurred the first transmission in High Definition TV in São Paulo after a lot of controversy around which technology Brazil would adopt among the European, American and Japanese systems. Three years later, most of the Brazilian capital cities and other large cities have been using this signal, and year-by-year more cities will be using it as well.

What many people don’t know is this new technology arrived in Brazil more than a decade ago, when between 1997 and 1998, universities and private companies celebrated partnerships to study and develop digital TV technology. The government later created more partnerships to encourage research, and finally in 2003 the Brazilian System of Digital Terrestrial TV was created. In 2006, the Forum of the Brazilian Terrestrial Digital TV was founded, responsible for standardizing and harmonizing technologies.

Exactly what is wrong with the current analog system? This model has worked well for decades; however, the main problem is the quality of the resolution of the image. With the advent of computers, we have been conditioned to use monitors where the resolution is much higher than analog TVs, allowing many more pixels (the smallest element of a display device), and providing more quality and details of image. With digital TV not only is the picture resolution improved, but other features as well: the sound may be transmitted on up to six channels; and in the latest improvement, the viewer can interact with the channel by looking at the program menu, or more so, participating directly in the program being presented.

Basically, to have a digital and also a high definition image in your TV at home, you need the digital signal available in your city and a UHF antenna. Most of the newest TVs like plasma, LCD and LED have the signal converter (known as set-top-box) embedded, since most of them are Full HD or at least HD ready. For TVs that are neither HD nor Full HD ready, the signal converter is required, but these will not take advantage of enjoying the new features.

The lack of public interest in digital TV is due not just to the high prices of equipment like new TVs and converters or insufficient coverage. The nonexistence of significant news discourages people to switch to digital transmission. Two features that could promote digital TV nowadays are interactivity and the offering of more content. Today the efforts being made to have this technology take off are huge, and consequently the market is full of opportunities. According to the government’s calendar, the analog signal will be cut off in Brazil in 2016. Therefore, sooner or later, you will be watching your favorite soccer game with the smallest details visible, just like you are on the soccer field.


* Article published on Curitiba in English.