Whether you are interested in news about EU tech spending, embedded security, or new electrical engineering resources (e.g., books on hot topics like app development), Elektor has you covered. This week we report on an anticipated EU tech spending decline, Q2 notebook shipments, a helpful new book about Raspberry Pi, and a recently discovered Alexa bug.   
 
EU Tech Spending and more

EU Tech Spending Expected to Drop

The COVID-19 pandemic could negatively impact EU tech spending well into 2021. According to a recent report by Forrester, tech purchases in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are expected to drop between 5% and 7% this year. "The UK will be most heavily impacted, with an expected tech decline under the more pessimistic scenario of 9.3% in 2020 and a 1.1% decline in 2021," the firm reports, adding that Germany could fare the best.

Q2 Notebook Shipment Boom

Notebook shipments increased 27% year-on-year (y/y), according to a new study. The research firm Strategy Analytics reports that COVID-19 pandemic drove consumers to purchase "productivity devices once thought to be redundant." HP reported 42% quarterly growth (y/y) in notebook PC shipments, followed by Acer (41%), Dell (21%), and Apple (21%). 

Amazon Alexa Vulnerabilities Found and Fixed

Research firm Check Point Software Technologies recently discovered potentially problematic Amazon Alexa vulnerabilities. The firm reported that the vulnerabilities could enable a hacker "to remove/install skills on the targeted victim’s Alexa account, access their voice history and personal data." The finding was announced in mid-August and Amazon fixed the problem soon thereafter.

New Book: RPi Full Stack

Curious about full-stack web application development using the popular Raspberry Pi? Dr. Peter Dalmaris's new book, Raspberry Pi Full Stack (Elektor 2020), is now available in the Elektor Store. You will learn about the following and more: the Linux operating system and command line; the Python programming language; the Raspberry Pi GPIOs; the Nginx web server; Flask Python web application microframework; JQuery and CSS for creating user interfaces; dealing with time zones; chart creation with Plotly and Google Charts; securing an application with SSL; and receiving SMS notifications to on a phone using Twilio.

Updates on EU Tech Spending, Raspberry Pi, and More

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