Smartphone apps track inflation in real time

Big Data is getting all hyper these days.

Collecting and analyzing all sorts of data to determine patterns and relationships, known as Big Data, is one of the fastest growing tech sectors, according to the New York Times. What’s growing as fast as the data-collection sector is the actual collection of data, referred to as “hyper” collection.

Start-up companies such as Premise and ClearStory Data have developed smartphone apps that quickly analyze seemingly disparate data to create real-time inflation indexes. Hyperdata collectors can instantly compare, for instance, the price and availability of produce with weather conditions in the growing area and provide real-time information to Wall Street traders and company buyers.

Read more from the New York Times.