ABL TECHNOLOGY ONLINE  
MARCH 11, 2010
Visit ABL.org

Wispry CEO Featured at Conference
Russ Garcia, CEO of WiSpry, Inc., is a featured presenter at the 2010 IWCE Conference this week in Las Vegas. During his session on “Next Generation Radios: Cognitive,
Intelligent, SDR and Multiband,” Russ will highlight the
importance of innovative new technologies, such as
tunable RF semiconductors, as key to the success of
multiband 3G+ and 4G systems, as a key enabler to
Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems.

Tanner EDA Teams with IC Mask Design
Tanner EDA, where Greg Lebsack is President, and IC
Mask Design are collaborating on the development of a
toolset to accelerate analog layout design. By exclusively
licensing IC Mask Design’s patented layout acceleration
technology and integrating it into Tanner EDA’s custom IC
design suite, the partners will offer engineers an improved
solution to boost layout productivity and quality.

Sprint M2M Device Drives Usage-Based Auto Insurance
Sprint, where Matt Carter is President of Sprint 4G, has
teamed with Walsh Wireless to announce the certification
and availability of the Walsh Wireless Data Logger, to meet
a unique and growing market -- Usage-based Insurance,
in which auto insurance rates are based more on individual
vehicle use and driving behavior. The Logger wirelessly
monitors in real-time the performance of a vehicle.

Microsemi Announces More New Products
Microsemi Corporation, where Jim Peterson is CEO, has a new energy-efficient system solution optimized for High Voltage LCD Integrated Power Supply TV designs. Also, Microsemi introduced a new CCFL controller for 24-volt cold cathode fluorescent light inverter applications in small- to large-sized LCD displays.  And, they've introduced a new 1,500 watt RF power transistor for UHF pulsed radar aps.

Cornerstone OnDemand-ed by Leading UK Firm
The SaaS-based learning management system from
Cornerstone OnDemand, where Adam Miller is CEO,
has been successfully implemented by LV=, a mutual
financial services provider in the U.K. with 4,000 employees
in 28 offices.  Meanwhile, Cornerstone has published
a new white paper: “Failing to Learn: Why Learning is
Critical to Strategic Talent Management,” which 
outlines the business benefits of integrating learning
and development with key areas of talent management,
including onboarding, employee performance management,
succession planning, compensation and enterprise social
networking.

Berkus on Launches:  Plan for Changes
Dave Berkus, President of Berkus Technology Ventures, continues his blog series on launching new products with "Everything changes from concept to release! (And another story…)," where he advises: "Allow for the cost and extra time for tweaks to the product or service. Make the first release a limited, controlled one, so that changes and corrections can be made much more easily than if a general release all at once."  In his next blog, "Find your teacher-customer," Dave explains the importance of utilizing a few special customers who are anxious and willing to spend time telling you about their pain points. "Together we would work out solutions -  new functions, controls, reports, and safeguards. The customer would be the first to receive the new functionality in a new release," Dave says. Also, Dave's BERKONOMICS book and workbook, are now
available in book channels worldwide.

Apriso Chosen by GM for Next-Gen Plant
Apriso, where Chris Brecher is COO & EVP of WW Field Ops, and HP announced that General Motors selected and is implementing Apriso's FlexNet solution at its new battery assembly plant in Brownsville Township, MI, to manage production and product quality of GM's new Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric passenger car, in addition to every Casting, Engine and Transmission plant.

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

3/24 - Developing an Effective Board Workshop, Costa Mesa: This interactive discussion program will address the Purposes, Types and Key Drivers for Getting Value from a Board, including Shareholder, Advisory and Special Purpose Boards.

4/28 - 12th Annual Innovations in Healthcare ABBY Awards Event, Newport Beach:  Among the Award categories, "Innovative Healthcare Information & Telecommunications Technology" and "Medical Technology" companies from throughout North America will present.

SoCal VC-Backed IT Firms Created $48B in Value
A new study of the financial outcomes for Southern California venture-backed companies in the IT sector finds that approximately $48 billion in value was created by those companies between 1995-2009. The study, conducted by Jon Funk of OceanRoad Partners, includes data from socalTECH.com's proprietary venture database, Dow Jones/VentureSource, and Greg Martin of Redpoint Ventures. The greatest values were created by companies operating in Online Services (51%), followed by Communications and Networking (15%), Software (10%) and Semiconductors (9%). During that time, the region produced 95 exits over $100 million (13%), 50 over $250 million (7%) and 23 over $500 million (3%). Plus approximately 1,200 different global entities made at least one investment in the 731 outcomes for the period. However, only 90 investment firms produced at least five outcomes during the 15-year period, showing that consistent investment in the region is concentrated among a relatively small number of entities. (socaltech.com TechNews, 3/10/10)

U.S. Eases Sanctions to Allow Freer Web
The U.S. Treasury Department has eased sanctions on Iran, Cuba and Sudan to help further the use of web services and support opposition groups. U.S. technology firms will now be allowed to export online services related to web browsing, blogging, e-mail, instant messaging, chat, social networking and photo- and movie-sharing. The move was intended to "ensure that individuals in these countries can exercise their universal right to free speech and information to the greatest extent possible.” It is not clear whether the governments affected will be able impose their own restrictions on these services. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. would be supporting the development of new tools to enable citizens to circumvent politically-motivated censorship. (BBC News, 3/8/10)

Global RFID to Surge Over Next Five Years
The radio frequency identification market is set to hit around $5.5 billion this year and grow steadily for the next five years, reaching over $8.25 billion in 2014, according to ABI Research. Automobile immobilization is the biggest application, accounting for nearly 20% of the market. To 2014, the greatest growth will be found in Real Time Location Systems, baggage handling, animal ID, and item-level tagging in fashion apparel and retail. In addition, documentation such as electronic vehicle registration, e-ID and e-government documents and library systems are all set to get the RFID treatment. (The Inquirer, 3/5/10)

Edmunds to Award $1M For Acceleration Answer
Edmunds.com announced that it intends to award $1 million to researchers who can address and determine what the cause of the sudden, unexpected acceleration in Toyota and other vehicles. The firm billed it as an attempt to use "crowd sourcing" to solve automotive safety issues. Edmunds is currently drafting rules for the prize, modeling the effort after open source software models. Edmunds said it would challenge participants to demonstrate, in a controlled environment, a repeatable factor to cause an unmodified, new vehicle to accelerate suddenly and unexpectedly. (socaltech.com TechNews, 3/4/10)