Source: eMarketer
Report: Ball State University Report –  “A Play Date with the iPad”
Published July 28 2010
Link to Report

Good news for publishers… the participants in the study found the iPad best for leisure activities and content consumption.  However, the creation of content was too difficult.  Another interesting point made:

Most users didn’t find iPads very portable, though. More than 60% said they rarely or never took their iPad when they left home, while just 5% did so always.

As for how we consume this content, there are some exciting apps being developed. ie. Flipboard

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs
Report: Procter & Gamble’s Business Cleaning Sustainability Study
Published Summer 2010
Link to Article

Survey highlights include:

• Less than 25% of respondents reported that their business had sustainability guidelines.
• 90% of respondents believe sustainability and environmental responsibility is important for their business, but only 42 percent report being very or extremely well informed about the topic.
• 51% of the respondents find it difficult to differentiate which products are actually respectful of the environment
• 85% of respondents saying they are interested in obtaining knowledge and resources about how their business can be more environmentally responsible
• Despite interest in environmentally-responsible products, product performance (61%) and price (52%) are the top two factors impacting decision makers and their selection of cleaning products
• For half the respondents, “green” and “effective” can go hand-in-hand, but for nearly one third (30%), these qualities were mutually exclusive (20% were unsure).
• Recycling (75%) and using energy efficient light bulbs (67%) are the two main steps taken by businesses to be environmentally responsible

Source: The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research
Report: US Charities’ Adoption of Social Media Study
Published Summer 2010
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Social media has become an essential part of non-profit marketing and communications.  It provides a channel to deepen relationships, organize individuals around a cause, and collaborate.    This study shows that charities are ahead of the business world and academia in their social media strategies.  The study concludes that:

Ninety-three percent of the charities studied have a Facebook profile, 87% have a Twitter presence and 65% have a blog. This new study, a longitudinal look at social media usage among the not-for-profit sector from 2007-2009, reveals that social media has become an incredibly important part of the communication strategy for US charities.

More articles about social media and non-profits:

4 Ways Social Media is Changing the Non-Profit World

Source: Foundation Center (PubHub)
Report:  PPIC (Public Policy Institute of California) Statewide Survey – Californians and the Environment
Published July 2010
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This survey focuses on climate change, energy policy, and air pollution and is the 10th annual PPIC Statewide Survey on the environment, presenting  responses of 2,502 adult residents throughout California.  Some of the key finding include:

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY POLICY, AIR POLLUTION

• Most Californians say the effects of global warming have already begun. Three in four believe the government should regulate emissions to reduce global warming.
• Two in three continue to support the state law requiring a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
• Since last year, support for allowing more oil drilling off the California coast has dropped 15 points: A solid majority now oppose it.
• One in four Californians consider air pollution to be a big problem in their region, with Los Angeles residents (41%) most likely to hold this view.
• Solid majorities of Californians are willing to see tougher air pollution standards on new vehicles, diesel engines, farming, and industrial activities.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS AND PREFERENCES

• Californians continue to be pessimistic about the state’s direction and their elected leaders.
• Half say the state is not doing enough to address global warming.
• A majority of Californians (56%) approve of President Barack Obama’s job performance.
• 45% think the United States taking actions to reduce global warming would create more jobs.
• Confidence is low concerning the federal government’s ability to deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and to prevent future oil spills like it.

Source:  DLA Piper
Report: DLA Piper Technology Leaders Forecast Survey
Spring 2010
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The International law firm DLA Piper commissioned a survey of senior technology industry leaders.  The purpose of the survey is to measure current perspectives and attitudes on the major trends, challenges and opportunities confronting the industry.  A follow-on survey is planned for October of 2010.

On the positive side:

• Over 2/3 surveyed project that an economic recovery is at hand and that the recover will be sustained in 2010
• These same respondents think that improving economic conditions will bring about a recovery in the US IPO market in 2010

And the concerns:

• Nearly 1/4 have concerns about a double-dip recession
• A strong majority have concerns about US competitiveness in the global tech market
• The quality and costs of a US higher education also continues to be a strong area of concern

Source:  The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
Report on Technology Horizons: A Vision for Air Force Science & Technology During 2010-2030
Volume 1 | 15 May 2010
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This report presents a vision of the key areas of science and technology that the Air Force must address over the next couple of decades.  Some of the key research areas include:

• Advancing technology that reduces operating costs
• Increased use of autonomy and autonomous systems
• Augmentation of human performance
• Technologies focused on Cyber resilience
• Improved precision navigation and timing (PNT) in GPS-denied environments
• Processing-enabled intelligent sensors
• Rapidly composable small satellite systems
• Technologies to support fuel cost savings

Although humans today remain more capable than machines for many tasks, natural human capacities are becoming increasingly mismatched to the enormous data volumes, processing capabilities, and decision speeds that technologies offer or demand; closer human-machine coupling and augmentation of human performance will become possible and essential.

Source:
Our Energy Challenge, In Cubic Miles Of Oil
Forbes
by Curtis R. Carlson and Ripudaman Malhotra

• The US sends $300 billion a year to other countries to obtain 60% of our oil
• The U.S. has plentiful sources of energy; we have simply decided not to use most of them for technical, environmental and political reasons
• We have enough coal resources for the next 200 years
• We have potentially more oil than Saudi Arabia in shale oil
• We have possibly natural gas in excess of 100 years in shale gas
• We have great potential for solar, wind and nuclear energy
• In the future we will also have a new generation of bio-fuels and geo-thermal power.

This article does a good job explaining the scope of the world’s energy consumption and what it will take to change course.

A visual overview of notable North American solar energy projects announced in Jan 2010.

Download the TrendTrove PDF overview of Solar Energy news for January 2010.

Source:
CES 2010: A Transforming Trend — The Natural User Interface
The Huffington Post
By Steve Ballmer
CEO, Microsoft

…I believe we will look back on 2010 as the year we expanded beyond the mouse and keyboard and started incorporating more natural forms of interaction such as touch, speech, gestures, handwriting, and vision — what computer scientists call the “NUI” or natural user interface. This process is already well underway through the proliferation of new touch screen phones and PCs, and in our growing reliance on voice-controlled in-car technology for communications, navigation, and entertainment.

Source:  Eastern Wind Integration and Transmission Study: Executive Summary and Project Overview

The total installed capacity of wind generation in the United States surpassed 25 gigawatts (GW) at the end of 2008. Despite the global financial crisis, another 4.5 GW was installed in teh first half of 2009.