Hardware

The bank will have HP computers at its headquarters through the Device as a Service model. The DaaS approach will provide greater business productivity and scalability, as well as sustainability benefits, achieving an estimated 32% saving in energy consumption.

Each year the Las Vegas CES technology trade fair becomes a parade of outlandish devices as the the big industry trend-setters make their announcements for the coming year. Manufacturers like LG and Samsung compete to show off the latest models of their flexible displays or connected household appliances, while the likes of Amazon and Google continue the battle to place their virtual assistants in as may products as possible. What happened this year?

This software strategy offered by companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba, Google e IBM is the preferred way to migrate businesses to the cloud.

The maker movement has helped reignite interest in open-source hardware with projects where device components and information are shared openly to allow everyone to contribute to their development and improvement.

The use of virtual assistants, mainly in the form of smart speakers, is rapidly gaining ground. In less than a year, devices such as Echo and Google Home have appeared in households across the globe and users are becoming increasingly comfortable carrying out searches, purchases and even bank transactions using this format, which looks set to become the transactional interface between customers and companies.

Smart speakers are the vanguard of the so-called environmental technology, which transcends the limitations of screens. For the moment, Amazon reigns supreme over a market in which Apple is about to disembark.

Wearables manufacturers are changing their focus from fitness and health, to improving user productivity and connectivity. That´s the great challenge facing a business whose size is expected to double between 2017 and 2021.

This isn’t an article about magic or a secret trick for using cell phones. It’s simply about using the voice assistants that any mobile device contains: Siri for Apple and the popular “OK Google” for Android. Both allow users to send messages while leaving the smartphone on the table, untouched.

Samsung and BBVA today presented the iris scanning feature, which will allow BBVA customers with Samsung-compatible smartphones to log on to the bank's Spanish mobile banking app just by looking at their displays[1].

BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman is convinced that technological advances will be accompanied by greater progress and well-being, but he is also calling for policies and structural reforms that are capable of mitigating the costs of the transition to the new digital society. Supporting research and education, promoting competition and transparency in the markets and developing new employment policies and social protection systems were among the recommendations Francisco González shared at an event organized by El Periódico de Catalunya and BBVA in Barcelona.

In a few years, we may not be paying with cash, cards or even with smartphones, but rather, by car. Vehicle connectivity will change the way we manage time and money, but a number of problems still need to be addressed.

One billion people experiencing firsthand all that virtual reality has to offer that’s Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious goal. Soon, he will launch a unique new tool to help achieve it: a pair of virtual reality glasses called Oculus Go, which will sell at a relatively affordable price and work without a computer or smartphone.

There are currently 197 unicorn companies in the world, with 24 new additions so far this year. Fintech, smart building, cybersecurity, messaging… the new arrivals come from a wide range of sectors. Among the veterans, Uber is leading the way with a valuation of $68 billion.

Six years ago today, the technology giant Google launched Google+, the social network with which it intends to compete with Facebook. The wide variety of services offered (video calls, instant messaging, social circles, etc.) has led Google+ to now have more than 1 billion registered users.

Fifty-years ago today on June 27th, 1967 the world of retail banking changed in a significant way.

Many cyber attacks are aimed at robbing personal data. Perhaps you think your data doesn´t matter to anyone, but you’re mistaken. In fact, that belief often causes us to lower our guard and not make an effort to protect our personal data as we should.

Teleservice, furniture design and marketing: virtual and augmented reality open a world of applications with an unsuspected potential beyond video games

Have you heard of Trojans? You certainly must know the story of the Trojan horse. Just like the mythical horse that the Greeks used to enter the city of Troy without being noticed, these programs try to make their way into your computer without raising suspicions, opening a back door for a remote attacker to also enter.

Virtual Reality has been stealing the show until now, but Augmented Reality is on the brink of becoming a huge business. Success stories such as Pokemon Go and Snapchat have shown the technology’s potential, causing Facebook to spring into action.

Shared economy, wearables, autonomous cars, big data… with the help of startups, the insurance business has begun to adapt its business model to a new society. The investments in insurtech already exceed $1.7 billion annually.

We tend to configure our computers, our Smartphones, our social media and even our television. Digital adjustment allows us to adapt our devices and programs to our needs. But can we also configure ourselves?

From medicine to finance, large-scale data processing technologies are already starting to deliver on their promise to transform contemporary societies. Far-reaching social changes don’t take place overnight. Little by little, they become part of our daily life, until their revolutionary nature dissipates. Years ago, hybrid cars started turning people’s heads. Today, electric cars are becoming less of a rarity  – at least in larger cities.

BBVA today became an official member of Hyperledger, an open-source collaborative effort to advance the use of blockchain in different economic and corporate sectors. Hosted by the Linux Foundation, this international initiative brings together a large group of companies working in finance, technology, manufacturing and the Internet of Things. By joining Hyperledger, BBVA also became a member of The Linux Foundation.

Under the media’s radar and away from the latest trends, the industry keeps making headway in its road to digitization. Much is being said about the importance of connecting all machines, the Internet of Things, but transformations will be far reaching and of all kinds.

Amid a number of funding models, crowdlending’s rising popularity has tickled the interest of the banking industry, as incumbents look for new ways to offer loans to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Some of the UK’s top talent in the world of fintech were in Madrid this week to pitch their ideas to a selection of BBVA’s senior leaders.

The latest news reports say that this could be the year of voice assistance for everyday objects, including smartphones. For several years now, smartphones have practically become an extension of the body and they are in the spotlight at the most important phone fair in the world – the Mobile World Congress being held this week in Barcelona.

The first regulatory sandbox, or testing environment, is already taking its first steps. Rolled out in the UK last year, it has just announced the 18 startups, with projects that range from finance, to debt management, insurtech or blockchain, that have been admitted to take part in the pioneering development program.

New York, Oslo, Vitoria or Bogotá… The world’s largest - and not so large – cities compete to be recognized as the ‘smartest’. But, what exactly is a ‘smart city’? Cities are trying to innovate to improve the living standards of their inhabitants

A recent White House report analyzes the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and other exponential technologies on the labor market. Doomsayers estimate that the U.S. will lose more than three million jobs from IA, but optimists recall that the phenomenon will create millions of new jobs.