ABL TECHNOLOGY ONLINE  
AUGUST 28, 2008

MIMI GRANT'S BLOG

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS - HEADLINES

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

Alpha Media-Produced Film Honored by Cannes
Alpha Media, where Jim Meyers is CEO, has produced a short film, entitled August 15th, that has been accepted by the 2008 Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation, a foundation created to inspire and support the next generation of international film-makers. Filmed in China, August 15th won an Honorable Mention at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and has been accepted by the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival.

IOGEAR Offers New Products for PCs and A/V
IOGEAR, where Sampson Yang is CEO and Miranda Su is Executive VP, has debuted its USB Laptop KVM Switch, which connects a laptop and a desktop PC via USB 2.0 ports, enabling a user to manage both computers with the laptop and to easily transfer files between them. Meanwhile, IOGEAR’s new CAT5e/6 MiniExtender Kits, in either HDMI or DVI-D format, allow users to expand the distance between media source equipment and display units. The product sends video and audio in HD quality with a local transmitting unit and remote receiving unit linked with two standard solid Category 5 twisted Ethernet cables. No additional power adapter is required. These extender kits allow individuals to store valuable equipment in a safe spot and stream to an alternate monitor.

Microsemi Sees Strength in WLAN RF Power Amp Business
Microsemi Corporation, where Jim Peterson is CEO, announced that its cumulative shipments of Wireless LAN RF Power Amplifiers have exceeded 75 million units. These products enable customers to design high-performance solutions that provide extended range and superior reception for various WLAN standards such as 802.11a/b/g and 802.11n, and address the rapidly growing WiMAX market.

NetworkD Acquired; Also Declared Among Fastest Growing
NetworkD Group, where Ashley Leonard is CEO, has been acquired by Sparxent, a newly formed IT and business solution provider focused on the middle market. While NetworkD will retain its identity and continue to execute its core business strategy, becoming a Sparxent company will increase its geographic and financial reach, accelerate growth and tap into additional resources worldwide.  Also, NetworkD has been named to Inc. Magazine’s 2008 "Inc. 5000 The Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" list.

OEwaves Lands New Contract
OEwaves, Inc., where Lute Maleki is CEO, has been awarded a contract to develop frequency agile band-pass and notch filters to support agile receiver systems for military and communication applications. The filter development builds upon OEwaves’ proprietary photonics filter technology concept that provides wideband tunability. Such highly agile filters enhance receiver system performances and reduce the total volume and power required by stringent military applications.

Omnitron Products Deemed "Solaris Ready"
Omnitron Systems Technology, where Arie Goldberg is CEO, announced the “Solaris Ready” certification and compatibility of its iConverter products with Sun Microsystems. The Solaris Ready Program allows Sun customers to easily identify third-party solutions with proven interoperability with the Solaris Operating System on SPARC and x86/x64 based server platforms.  

It's Getting Easier to Be Green

About once a year within the ABL Organization we have a “Clean Up & Out” week. Well, truth be told, sometimes it takes us a month to go through our desks, paper and electronic file cabinets, bookcases and storage room, making a concerted effort to extract and eliminate any extra paper and electronic “stuff” cluttering up ABL’s office environment. Office moves are typically helpful for this purpose, too, but since we tend to stay put for long periods (4 moves in 25 years), these “events” provide us with the necessary motivation.

This year we discovered a new resource: ShredPros. For $105 they came to our door and hauled out to the parking lot our mound of paper we felt needed to be shredded, rather than just trashed. (ABL’s staff lives by our Confidentiality Agreement, too.) Then, as several of us looked on in awe, the big white truck proceeded to shred our 21 boxes of old accounting and Round Table documents – the truck had windows in its side, so we could see our shredded documents topping off the white mountain inside.

Another resource we use is ARC International: for around $25 they come out and haul away all the old mice, keyboards, monitors, phones, and other miscellaneous electronic gear that gets packed into our storage room throughout the year. Since both ShredPros and ARC recycle, we get a cleaner office and the world gets a greener planet. At $130, what a terrific bargain!

POST A RESPONSE   |   Mimi Grant's Blog Post: 8/28/2008

Obama Text Message Reached 2.9 Million
Barack Obama's text message announcement of Joe Biden as his vice president was sent to 2.9 million people -- the single largest mobile marketing event in the U.S., according to Nielsen. Despite the fact that the media reported on Obama's choice before anyone in the campaign could press send, "Obama branded himself as cutting edge, inflated the already enormous press attention paid to his V.P. pick and further established a list of supporters' most coveted form of contact: their cell phone numbers." (CNET, 8/26/08)

PC Makers, VCs Target Emerging Markets
Dell Inc. unveiled four low-cost computer models to be sold in the emerging economies of 20 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America -- in a new bid to tap the potential of high-growth markets outside the U.S. Strong sales in Asia helped Dell turn in better-than-expected results in the last quarter despite a slowing U.S. economy. The move reflects a growing focus by global computer, automobile, consumer goods and other companies on creating products for increasingly prosperous customers in China, India and other emerging economies. Rivals Hewlett-Packard Co., Acer Inc. and Lenovo Group are expanding aggressively in emerging economies as sales growth in the U.S. and other developed markets slows. Industry forecasts say China's computer sales should grow from 50 million units last year to 500 million by 2015, or double that year's projected U.S. sales. (AP, 8/27/08)  Meanwhile, venture capital investment in mainland China doubled in the second quarter of 2008, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. VCs pumped nearly $1.37 billion into 71 deals in the second quarter, compared with $662 million on 69 deals in the same period a year ago -- the largest investment jump in five years. Median deal size in China hit $10 million. (RedHerring.com, 8/20/08)

Mexicans to Use Cell Phones to Pay Stores and Taxis
Mexicans will soon be able to pay for small purchases such as restaurant meals and taxi rides using their mobile telephones, the country's banks have announced. Cell phone users will be able to have their bank link their savings account to their telephone so they can make payments to participating stores, restaurants and taxis by sending a text message. Using phones to buy items such as train tickets or products in vending machines is commonplace in Japan, but the trend has yet to catch on in the U.S. (Reuters, 8/25/08)

Intel:  Wake-Up Calls & Wireless Chargers for PCs
Intel Corp. has unveiled new technology that lets computers wake up from their power-saving sleep state when they receive a phone call over the Internet. Current computers have to be fully on to receive a call, making them impractical and energy-wasters as replacements for the telephone. Intel's new component will let computers automatically return to a normal, full-powered state when a call comes in. The computer can activate its microphone and loudspeaker to alert the user, then connect the call. A fully on desktop PC usually consumes 60+ watts of power, with many models ranging into the hundreds of watts. In the so-called S3 sleep state, they consume around 10 watts. (AP, 8/14/08)  Meanwhile, Intel researchers recently demonstrated how to make a 60-watt light bulb glow from an energy source three feet away, done while retaining 75% of the energy they started with, which is remarkably high efficiency. Intel is working on modifying a laptop PC to accept wireless power so that one day people might be able to recharge their electronic gadgets without plugging them into an electrical socket. (AP, 8/21/08)

AT&T Launches In-Home Tech Assistance
AT&T, taking aim at Best Buy's Geek Squad and other tech services, has launched a 50-state in-home support service for computers, TVs, broadband, wireless and more. Prices start at just $69 — and you don't have to be an AT&T customer to use the service. Called "AT&T ConnecTech," the new service is not available to businesses. It grew out of a recognition that life for tech consumers is becoming increasingly complicated as new, even more sophisticated devices and services are introduced. AT&T's decision to offer the service in all 50 states will force the carrier to work with a vast network of outside contractors. (USA Today, 8/21/08)

Kids Spend More Time on Internet than TV
83% of children between the ages of 10 and 14 spend at least one hour online each day, while only 68% of the same age group spent an equal amount of time watching TV, according to DoubleClick Performics, a search marketing company. Children spent most of their time online researching products before making (or asking parents to make) a purchase, and hanging out on social networking sites like MySpace. (switched.com, 8/25/08)