Yup, you can say "sign of the times". I suppose you could say it in the plural, but I think it's more often used in the singular.

I am not sure one says "sign of the times", althought it may exist in the english language, it is hardly used and sounds almost stupid in a sentence

Try "need of the hour/day". It is quite apt here

I am not sure one says "sign of the times", althought it may exist in the english language, it is hardly used and sounds almost stupid in a sentence

Try "need of the hour/day". It is quite apt here

I am not sure one says "sign of the times", althought it may exist in the english language, it is hardly used and sounds almost stupid in a sentence

Try "need of the hour/day". It is quite apt here

aus www.phrasen.com

klingt aber irgendwie altmodisch

The firms have realised the needs of today and have duly taken the appropriate measures.....

"sign of the times" is viel zu wörtlich IMHO.

Ich hätte genauso to see the writing on the wall gesagt. Ist zwar biblischen Ursprungs, aber trotzdem nicht altmodisch, sondern ziemlich üblich.

"Sign(s) of the times" is probably wrong in this context. The phrase is only used in contexts of human history. With regard to this decade, you write that security cameras are a sign of the times. In the case above, you'd be more likely to write that the company recognized trends early.

Correction: ..., you might write that security cameras are a sign of the times.

"Sign of times" ist eine direkte Übersetzung. Sinnvoll in diesem Zusammenhang wäre eher "Companies have seen / recognized the writing on the wall & have implemented appropriate counter measures" Oder gibt es eine bessere Übersetzung?

"See the writing on the wall" sounds way too slangy to me. It's also a bit negative: "He saw the writing on the wall and knew that he was about to be fired."

I would probably say something like "The company recognized (the market developments) and was able to implement the appropriate measures."

http://streemo.pl/Portal/2131,Film,Obellix_Pr...
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/sign+of+t...

sign of the times
something that signifies the situation evident in the current times.

"sign of the times" is quite a common phrase, and also the tile of Prince's 1987 album featuring the song of the same name.

"The writing is on the wall" has a slightly different meaning, more along the lines of "if you don't change, things will go horribly pear-shaped" (or taken from wiki: "The writing on the wall" (or sometimes "handwriting on the wall"), an idiom, is a portent of doom or misfortune. It originates in the Biblical book of Daniel).

It might work in this case, but it's not going to work for every occurrence of "zeichen der zeit" - only those where doom and gloom is the order of the day.