The quantum computer is the new space trip to the moon.
The EU aims to lead manufacturing and innovation in the industry and is paying special attention to an emerging sector that could be vital in the new world order: quantum computing has become the new trip to the Moon. Who will win this space race…?
In the 1960s, J. F. Kennedy made a plea to defend the money the U.S. was pouring into the space race. Today, no one doubts how NASA’s advances drive progress, but Kennedy’s speech struck a deeper chord and also demonstrated that innovation comes from the state.
That national impulse consists of having an ambitious vision of the future that promotes innovation together with the necessary investments to achieve it. It was thanks to this that man landed on the moon.
According to the OECD, while the EU27 investment in R&D&I was 2.19% of its GDP in 2020 (1.4% in Spain), China’s was as high as 2.4% and the US 3.45%.
In the USA, Joe Biden, has taken a new national impulse measure: the Inflation Reduction Act, with significant subsidies to green technologies and protectionism to its domestic products, which will encourage strong competition with Europe.
For its part, the European Commission has presented bills for the Zero Net Emissions Industry and for Critical Raw Materials, in addition to the Green New Deal and the European Chip Act. These measures could lay the foundation for the new European drive, similar to the US Apollo program.
Regarding the emerging quantum computing industry, we can say that it has a great potential that requires a large ecosystem in which all the technology is integrated. If the EU wants to be a leader in this new field, the whole supply chain should be European.
Although China and the U.S. are the main investors and have the most powerful machines, the European Union has been leading scientific production in quantum computing since 2010, although policies have been limited to the laboratory and not to industry.
It is now that, thanks to European Next Generation funds, we have the example of Spain, which will have two quantum computers at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (which leads the European quantum computing network), in addition to a third from IBM in the Basque Country.
In short, Europe must bet big in the race for quantum computing if it wants to be a leader in innovation. Only in this way will it come closer to an inspiring future like the one promoted by J.F. Kennedy.
Nubeprint has been a pioneer in the development of intelligent monitoring technology. It invests more than 30% of its turnover in R&D&I. The result is a new patent every 2 years and dozens of unique developments with recognized intellectual property. Our unique technology has helped us to expand. Today, Nubeprint is not limited to the corporate environment, but its monitoring tools are available to anyone with a cell phone or even a Smart TV.
No promotions, no better hours… More telecommuting and less commuting!
During the pandemic, we learned to knead bread and wash our hands well, but also to work from home. This change in habits has meant that 40% of European employees want to telecommute a minimum of two days a week, but… Are companies adapting to this new hybrid model?
Working remotely has changed the employee’s perspective, with the need for greater work-life balance. This has also encouraged companies to offer flexible working and telecommuting as the first options to retain and attract talent.
There is consensus on teleworking and the hybrid model is the most widespread. Employee perception varies according to which model: 76% are satisfied with a hybrid system, compared to only 50% of those who work on-site.
However, the flexibility of this mixed model also varies according to who: 55% of employers want a fixed teleworking model (with days of their choice), while 67% of employees prefer days of their choice for a better work-life balance.
It is not surprising that avoiding commuting as much as possible is fundamental in the employee’s decision, with the consequent savings in costs and time. Let’s take a look at some examples of what the “in itinere” commute entails:
– In Spain, only 26% of the working population reaches their workplace in less than 20 minutes, more than 4 million (21%) take more than an hour and the average commuting time is 36 minutes.
– The average time taken by Europeans to get to work is 42 minutes. Portugal takes the least time, with 34 minutes.
– In Latin America, cities such as Sao Paulo, Caracas, Mexico City and Bogota have it worst, taking an hour to get to work. The best positioned is Montevideo, with 35 minutes.
– In New York, the average travel time is above the national average of 26 minutes. In 69% of the Big Apple neighborhoods, the commute is more than 40 minutes.
* In all of these examples we are talking about the average commute time one way, and then you have to go back….
In short, telework is here to stay and is increasingly becoming part of the business offer. In 2000, only 8% of employees had ever worked from home, similar data to 2019, where 85% had never done so. Due to confinement in 2020, this figure dropped below 40%.
100% of Nubeprint’s workforce works remotely. In addition, its App enables flexible working for any teleworker who needs a printer at home. By simply downloading the Nubeprint App on their smartphone, they will be monitored and will always receive their consumables on time, without having to look for the correct reference and can carry out their activity without unwanted interruptions, with their ink, toner or drum always ready.
USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is the unique selling proposition that a brand or a company can provide. Nubeprint stands out from other monitoring systems because it provides a whole series of proposals that are unique in the market, providing a differential value. What are these USPs…?
Nubeprint has been a pioneer in the development of intelligent monitoring technology, investing more than 30% of its turnover in R&D&I. The result is a new patent every 2 years and dozens of unique developments with recognized intellectual property.
In 2018 we created the first and only DCA integrated in a cell phone app ( iOS and Android), monitoring printers through the customer’s smartphone. The new Nubeprint app allows any printer end user to self-register and select the consumable sales service provider.
In the Nubeprint system, the consumables alert threshold can be changed to days, the only tool on the market with this option. This alternative also allows you to group shipments from a specific customer to a single day of the week, saving on time and fuel costs.
Recently, we have created the option of printing labels with a QR code that the dealer can attach to each printer, a label where the dealer’s name appears, giving it a differential value. When the customer scans the QR code, he accesses in real time to the printer’s Cloud, being able to see its status and interact with his dealer.
Last but not least, The Nubeprint system is the most secure on the market, complying with up to 7 international regulations regarding data protection and cpm security, avoiding security breaches.
During the pandemic, we were confined, we protected ourselves with masks and, if we touched anything, we soon used disinfectant gel. This itself helped the rise of QR codes: without touching a restaurant menu or a magazine, we learned to access information by scanning the QR with our smartphone. Hasn’t it made our life easier…?
QR (Quick Response) codes are encodings that contain specific information (URL, SMS, email, text, etc.) and can be found on travel tickets, vending machines, brochures, websites, etc. Interested parties access the information by scanning it with an app. Due to the pandemic and their easy use on smartphones, these QR codes are already part of our daily lives.
This code, which never expires and is unlimited scanning, can be placed anywhere and we only need a sticker printer to print it. We can use it at our points of sale to show the customer information that may be useful to him.
Related to the latter, Nubeprint announces an important new feature: you can now print the QR on identification labels for printers!
The Panel user (Dealer operator or your end customer) can easily print the QR on the printer with a single click.
What it is for:
1) The QR is the best way for a printer user to report an issue when he is in front of the printer. By scanning the QR with his own smartphone, the Cloud of that printer is displayed.
2) From the Cloud obtained, you can see the status of the consumables and if any replacement cartridges have already been sent to the printer. You can also see if there are any open technical issues and their status or open an issue.
3) On NetLess printers, the QR allows the user to report the counter value and order consumables, as well as request technical assistance.
4) The printed label contains the QR and also the Dealer’s name, allowing you to identify all the printers you manage for your customer, differentiating them from those you do not. The QR is an automatic information service for the end customer and for reporting incidents, so by placing this label, the Dealer is providing its customers with a differentiating value compared to its competitors.
How it works “Print QR”:
1º. In Panel, find the printer for which you want to print the QR.
2º. Open your Cloud by clicking on the serial number.
3º. Click on the QR image. A new tab will open in the browser with the image to be printed.
4º. From that page of the browser, select print (this option is usually in the Menu), select the printer and print.
* It is recommended to use a printer for printing adhesive labels.
Finally, it should be noted that the label comes personalized with the Dealer’s name (as registered on your Nubeprint license) and that no other printer monitoring system has this functionality.
The natives of this tribe in the Brazilian Amazon have traded bows and arrows for laptops and smartphones to fight deforestation and protect their land. Thanks to new technologies, they will preserve their survival. What is this unusual alliance with Google engineers…?
The result of this collaboration is a map of 243,000 hectares with which the Suruí have monitored the entire forest around them.
Thanks to the immediacy of the Internet, new mobile devices, Google Earth, GPS and other technologies, the Suruí are vigilant of any threat to their ecosystem.
The Suruí used to live surrounded by jungles in the state of Rondônia, in northern Brazil, until the construction of a highway made their reserve accessible to the rest of the world and deforestation began, which became a major threat.
Almir Suruí (the first member of the tribe with a university education), searched for his territory in Google Earth and decided to travel to California to meet with a Google manager and, with the help of new technologies, create an interactive map of the Suruí’s land to preserve the ecosystem.
Rebeca Moore, head of Google Earth’s social branch, understood the threat posed by illegal loggers and mining companies and facilitated Google’s technology to protect the Suruí’s land, incorporating software into the smartphone to send and collect data from anywhere in the forest.
Today, this data not only serves to map the Suruí’s territory, but also to warn of its rapid deterioration at the click of a button, making it possible to report deforestation wherever it occurs in real time and send images immediately to the authorities.
The 3D atlas that Google Earth and the Suruí have created goes beyond an inventory of the flora and fauna of this territory, allowing new generations and any Internet user to access the tribe’s history, culture and traditions. The current challenge is to extend this initiative to other South American countries.
Nubeprint allows to create a map of all the printers managed in MPS. Each project identifies a specific client with all the printers it has, of any type or brand, with the manufacturer, model, serial number and IP, as well as all the necessary information for managing the printer fleet, appearing on the dealer’s panel. It is also possible to detail the exact location of the machine (department, office, etc.) and the contact person for a specific section, including telephone and email. As an important novelty, we can print a sticker with a QR code for each printer when we visit the customer, a label where the dealer’s name and QR code will appear, and that will allow each customer to scan it at any time to access the Cloud of the printer and see the Data in real time, even share with the dealer the information to detect any problem or monitor the status of the particular machine.
New technologies and internet connection are expanding more and more on the African continent. With a lack of infrastructure, internet coverage and banking network, where many cannot even afford to buy a computer… Has the smartphone become the ideal device to access all the advantages of the digital world?
The director of Airbnb in Africa (the internet platform where individuals rent their homes by the day), pointed out that the technological boom there opens up a potential market of 54 countries and more than a billion people.
Other businesses linked to the mobile network, such as apps for ordering transport, food or entertainment, continue to grow in Africa.
Facebook highlighted South Africa (19 million users) and Nigeria (15 million) as the countries that connect most to its social network, with 95% doing so from their smartphones (in some areas, there are more users with access to a cell phone than with access to electricity or drinking water).
The growth of smartphones connected to the network is exponential (more than 500 million by 2020). Almost half of the continent’s population will be connected via their cell phones, especially in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya and Congo, which account for 50% of mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transsion, a Chinese company, accounts for 40% of smartphone sales in Africa due to the versatility of its software and its prices between $20 and $40 (no touch screens or cameras with good resolution). It also allows the purchase of a phone with up to 4 SIM cards (due to coverage problems), as well as keyboards for local languages and other more widespread languages such as Swahili.
In Tanzania, cell phones are used by the Maasai in the savannah to improve their communication about dangers and the state of the area, such as fires or the proximity of predators.
In Kenya, the M-Pesa platform makes it possible to make payments or send and receive money with the smartphone, which has changed the way of paying in this country (28 million users, more than 60% of the population). School fees, medical care or sending money to relatives can be paid, even in rural areas it is popular because there is no need to carry cash.
Nubeprint App is installed on the smartphone and is compatible with any printer that has a WiFi or network connection. It allows you to monitor any user’s printers and automate the management of both consumables and any necessary maintenance so that the printer always works and never stops printing, without the need for expensive computers where resources are more limited.
Many of us have gone through the tiresome experience of placing several online orders on the same day and receiving the items “by chapters”, that is, on different days and times, having to be aware of their arrival at all times or visiting the collection point several times in a week. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable, simple and easier to receive everything in one go…?
When we buy a product, we value what it can bring us and the price, of course, but we also look for good customer care and good service, not to mention when the purchased item has to be delivered to us.
When it comes to several products purchased from the same supplier, what less than receiving them at the same time which, unfortunately, is not always the case (example of online shopping). However, when it comes to the delivery of consumables, we have good news: Nubeprint allows delivery on a single day of the week by combining 2 of its 22 apps. What does it consist of…?
The Status app allows you to change the consumables alert thresholds to days (by default, they are set to 20% load), so you know which specific day to send the consumable.
Once the thresholds are defined in days, the Grouped Shipments app allows you to consolidate all shipments scheduled in a week to a specific customer to be made on the day of the week that you prefer or have agreed with the customer (Wednesday, for example).
What are the advantages of grouping orders?
1ª. Cost reduction
By grouping several shipments into one, transportation costs are reduced, saving fuel and time.
2ª. Greater efficiency in inventory management
Delivery management and stock control are optimized.
3ª. Improved delivery planning
The time required to carry out the shipment is reduced and the efficiency in the organization of deliveries is increased.
4ª. Minimize environmental impact
Fewer shipments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the environmental footprint in favor of sustainability.
5ª. Improved shipment security
Fewer shipments mean greater efficiency and less chance of loss or deterioration of the product to be delivered.
6ª. Greater flexibility in delivery
Group shipping allows companies to better adapt to the needs of their customers, as they can choose which day of the week the product will arrive.
In summary, Nubeprint’s Status and Group shipping apps are the perfect combination to achieve our customer’s satisfaction, increasing efficiency and flexibility in deliveries, as well as reducing costs and making your company compliant with the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Adapting to customer needs is key to building customer loyalty and achieving an excellent customer experience.
The Internet revolution is gradually making everything connected. With printers, it has gone even further: for more than 4 years now, not a single printer has been manufactured that is not connected to a LAN network. However, there are still printers connected directly to the PC via USB cable: would it be possible to monitor them as well?
Connecting to a LAN network multiplies the advantages of printing equipment from multiple points of view. On the one hand, the user can enjoy printing on the same machine from multiple devices: from any PC installed on the network, or even from smartphones and tablets, all efficiently and easily.
Equipment maintenance is also improved, as it is easy for the technician to connect to the machine to make the necessary adjustments.
In addition, there are different ways of contracting the printer, which are only possible when it is connected to a LAN network. Among these services is automatic cartridge replacement, where the user does not have to worry about ink or toner because he knows that his printer is always ready to print.
For all these reasons, one would expect the gradual extinction of printers connected directly to a PC via the traditional USB cable. But reality has proved to be very stubborn and there are still many groups that, although they buy their printer with WIFI or LAN card, connect it directly to the PC via the USB port.
As with the village populated by the unyielding Gauls of our well-known Asterix, some niche markets are reluctant to connect their printer to the LAN network. No doubt they have their reasons, but this has prevented them from benefiting from the services that most print equipment distributors have added to their portfolio: services such as automatic consumables replenishment are only possible when the printers are being monitored, and this is not possible when the printer is connected via USB. But to be correct, we should say that it has not been possible until now….
Nubeprint has just announced that it has upgraded its CPM data collector agent and can now monitor USB-connected equipment. The solution uses Nubeprint’s unique Machine Learning (ML) technology to measure the consumption of the different inputs of the printing equipment.
As a result, with Nubeprint’s new CPM data collection agent, a service provider with any of Nubeprint’s MPS products can monitor USB printers (in addition to those connected by LAN), obtaining consumable levels, alerts to send when reaching the chosen threshold in days or the selected percentage level remaining, and even bill their customer for the pages printed.
Nubeprint’s MPS Zero and Enterprise-Q solutions now allow you to monitor USB-connected printers. The technology, unique to Nubeprint, automatically discovers the equipment connected to the PC and displays the evolution of the levels of the different consumables and the pages being printed. The same Nubeprint CPM data collector also allows one to identify and monitor printers in NETWORK, making installation in customers with mixed USB and LAN printer fleets very efficient.
It wasn’t all about smartphones at the Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023.
Glass for phones that won’t break with a hammer, flexible screens, humanoid robots… There has been everything for everyone at this world congress: What has been the most outstanding and unique…?
For 4 days, up to 88,500 people attended this event in Barcelona (Spain) where, in addition to smartphones, new technological advances from other sectors were presented. Let’s take a look at the most striking examples:
1. Flying cab – Over the next few years, SK Telecom will develop this electric model, which will need to connect to 5G or higher networks to operate in cities, so SK will apply its experience in the telecommunications sector.
2. Hydrogen scooter – The Segway Apex H2 model was presented as a concept in 2021 and it has now become a reality at this fair.
3. Lucid Air 2023 – High-end electric vehicle that competes directly with the Mercedes-Benz EQS 2023 and the Tesla Model S, not suitable for all budgets: you will have to pay about 220,000 euros.
4. Police car – The Tesla Model 3 electric car has all the necessary equipment for law enforcement officers: facial recognition, control cameras, sensors for recognizing car passengers, etc.
5. Silencing aircraft noise – Vueling has developed a system that will prevent this annoying noise, although it will take time for this technology to reach airports.
6. Body recognition robot – It is no longer only facial but recognizes the entire body. It can be used in home surveillance tasks and to manage tickets to macro events.
7. 3D Hologram – Presented by Telefónica, this system can enter any virtual reality environment after creating our hologram in a volumetric capture space.
Finally, let’s not forget the most important curiosities in terms of smartphones, highlighting the Motorola – Lenovo roll-up phone (the concept has been presented, which shows that it is technically possible) and the Techno Chameleon smartphone concept (which allows its casing to vary between 1,600 different colors as many times as the user wants, using a technology of crystals with prisms).
Nubeprint, with a clear vocation for the future, has 7 patents, including the DCA for smartphones, which allows printers to be monitored through this device, the only one of its kind on the market. It is also committed to technological advances and invests 30% of its resources in R&D&I, currently developing BI systems and obtaining the Innovative SME certificate (Innovative SME, AENOR EA 0047) by the end of 2022
Machine Learning and Business Intelligence are complementary but different.
These two A.I. disciplines are often used in the business world, but they have significant differences in their approach and objectives. How to distinguish one from the other…?
BI focuses on the collection and analysis of business data in order to improve decision making and operational efficiency. It uses specialized techniques and tools to transform data into useful information and present it in a clear and accessible way. Its approach is more structured and systematic, relying on historical data to make predictions and decisions.
On the other hand, ML develops systems that can learn and improve themselves through the analysis of large amounts of data. Instead of relying on predefined rules and algorithms, these systems use machine learning techniques to identify patterns and trends in the data and make decisions based on them. ML is a more dynamic and flexible discipline, and can be used to solve a wide variety of problems, from predicting the price of a product to fraud detection.
What are the two main differences between BI and ML?
1.The approach – While BI focuses on collecting and analyzing historical data to improve decision making, ML is based on developing systems that can learn and improve themselves through data analysis. This means that ML is better suited for solving problems that change over time or are difficult to define precisely, while BI is better for more structured and predictable problems.
2. The amount and type of data used – BI works with structured data, i.e., data that is organized in a clear and easily accessible way (sales or inventory records, for example). ML, on the other hand, is able to handle large amounts of unstructured data (images or text, for example) and can extract valuable information from it.
In short, ML and BI are two branches of A.I. that differ in approach and type of data used, both being indispensable in any area for decision making and operational efficiency.
Nubeprint offers a managed MPS solution with dynamic algorithms and filters. In 2013, it develops the first A.I. engine for MPS and, since 2017, it has a Machine Learning (ML) developed specifically for MPS: through this machine learning, the system develops pattern recognition and the ability to learn continuously, with predictions based on Big Data, after which it makes the necessary adjustments without having been specifically programmed to do so.
Nubeprint invests 30% of its resources in R&D&I, currently developing BI systems, and obtained at the end of 2022 the Innovative SME certificate (Innovative SME, AENOR EA 0047).
