GLITR May 9, 2008
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Your report for Friday, May 9, 2008
At Oakwood, new video screens offer wealth of patient care details
 I got a peek at a major advancement in patient care and safety at Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn Thursday. It's called Horizon Enterprise Visibility by its manufacturer, McKesson Corp. of Alpharetta, Ga. But the project at Oakwood is called simply "The View." The View provides a constant visual representation of all of the 500-plus beds in the hospital -- whether they're full or empty, who's in them, what each patient's special medical needs are, and a host of other information. (Nursing intern Alexandria Hollister of Eastern Michigan University uses the system above.) More.
Hybra-Drive gets demo for hydraulic hybrid trucks
A startup in tiny Deerfield has beaten out trucking industry giants to win the right to test hydraulic hybrid delivery trucks with a California-based organization. Deerfield-based Hybra-Drive Systems LLC has been selected to negotiate with the Parcel Delivery Working Group of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum in Pasadena, Calif. for validation and testing of hybrid hydraulic power on parcel delivery vehicles. The forum is part of Weststart-CALSTART, a nonprofit consortium founded in California in 1992 to develop greener transportation methods. In winning the award, Hybra-Drive beat out industry giants like Eaton Corp. More.
Kalamazoo life sciences fund makes eighth investment
The Kalamazoo-based Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund announced this week that Ann Arbor-based OtoMedicine Inc. is its eighth investment. OtoMedicine is a bioscience company that has developed a proprietary product, AuraQuell, to prevent noise-induced hearing loss, one of the most prevalent disabling conditions in the industrialized world. OtoMedicine says it's now looking for space in the Kalamazoo area. More.
Big April for Automation Alley: 27 new members
Automation Alley, Michigan’s largest technology business association, announced this week that 27 new member companies joined the organization in April. IT and manufacturing tied for the top spot among new member companies with seven each, followed by design services and business services with three each. More.
Strong solar demand pushes ECD to profit
Rochester Hills-based Energy Conversion Devices Inc. reported Thursday that surging demand for its solar energy products has at last pushed the company to profitability. ECD reported $7 million in net income in the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, or 17 cents a share, up from a loss of $6.9 million or 17 cents a share in the year-ago period. Revenue for the quarter was $70 million, up 155 percent from $27.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier, and up 24 percent from second quarter revenue of $56.4 million. More.
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How can a small business take advantage of social networking?
Zana Network Inc., the Farmington Hills-based online resource for small and midsized businesses, has a few ideas.
First, Zana said, make sure the site you choose offers sales opportunities. A lot of sites are designed to help job seekers. Instead, look for a site with actionable sales leads, such as government contracts, and learn how to position your business for contracting opportunities with the Federal Government. Some sites have new leads every day, so it’s worth scheduling 10 minutes each day to see what’s new. That time could translate into a new agreement worth thousands – or more.
Second, determine whether you’ll learn something from the site, such as how to more effectively market your products and services. The focus of marketing is people. If you're concentrating efforts on your product or service or profit only, you'll miss the mark. Learn to "target market" the right group of people for all your marketing efforts. The more statistics you have about that market, the more precisely you can develop an effective marketing strategy.
Also, effective social networking sites should allow users to augment their presentations with links to forums, photos, audio and video. There are lots of ways to grow your business, but in this visual, viral age, anything that can give you an edge over the competition is worth it. For example, consumers are interested in working with companies who are going green. If you’re using environmentally friendly methods to run your business, grab your camcorder and create a video short to post online.
And Zana also just happens to point out that its site, www.zananetwork.com, provides selling, buying and partnering opportunities, business guidance and essential services, and enables entrepreneurs, inventors and professionals to come together in a community for mutual benefit.
Note: For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Dan Keelan at (248) 455-7380 or dkeelan@cbs.com.
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New portal lets visitors 'Surf Muskegon'
A new community Web portal sweeps the Lakeshore providing real time weather, news, sports, marine conditions, and live coverage of Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon via Web cam. The Muskegon Web development firm Masana launched the portal, SurfMuskegon.com, this month after success with its first such site, SurfGrandHaven.com. Both sites are designed to be community focused, user-driven portals to help promote the communities to the nation and the world as well as a tool for the local community. The SurfGrandHaven.com site finished the month of April with more than 40,000 visitors. More.
Whirlpool seeks 'Mothers of Invention' starting Mother's Day
Benton Harbor's Whirlpool Corp. is celebrating mothers' ingenuity this Mother's Day by kicking off the fourth annual Mother of Invention Grant competition. Beginning on May 11, the 100th anniversary of Mother's Day, and running through July 31, moms may submit their unique business, service or product ideas for consideration at www.whirlpool.com/moms. In addition, in recognition that consumers are becoming more eco-conscious, a green category has been added to recognize moms who develop an environmentally friendly product or service or use natural or recycled materials to create their invention. Five winners will be announced in September and will receive grant money of up to $20,000, home appliance prizes and an invitation to a business boot camp at Whirlpool headquarters. More.
TechTeam profits, sales jump
Southfield-based TechTeam Global Thursday reported net income of $1.7 million or 16 cents a share for the first quarter ended March 31, up from $904,000 or 9 cents a share in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue was $66 million, up 42.8 percent over $46.2 million last year through a combination of growth via acquisitions and 20.6 percent organic growth net of acquisitions. More.
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THE WORLD IN TECH
Facebook, states agree to bullying, predator safeguards
Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking Web site, is adding more than 40 new safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyberbullies under an agreement with officials nationwide that was announced Thursday. The measures include banning convicted sex offenders from the site, limiting older users' ability to contact subscribers under 18 and participating in a task force set up in January to find ways to verify users' ages and identities. More.
With Microsoft mum, analysts mull next move for Live Search
Without the influx of Web traffic that Microsoft bet would quickly follow a Yahoo buyout, the software maker is facing a long slog if it wants to turn its money-losing online services business into a Google-killer. Since it withdrew a $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo Inc. after talks collapsed, Microsoft Corp. has offered little insight into what "Plan C" will entail. In that vacuum, experts are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, with many concluding that they actually don't know what could get Microsoft out of its pickle. It is not clear Microsoft can do this alone - and in fact, it's not always clear what "this" is. Some analysts say Microsoft must increase its search traffic to attract advertisers. Others believe Microsoft should concede that market to Google Inc. and find success elsewhere -- leapfrogging rivals in areas such as display and mobile advertising. More.
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Cablevision plans wireless broadband network
Cable TV provider Cablevision Systems Corp. disclosed plans Thursday to offer high-speed wireless Internet service across its coverage area in the New York region. The company also reported a wider deficit for its first quarter on losses from derivative contracts, while operating earnings jumped 44 percent on gains from premium offerings like Internet access, phone service and digital video. Chief Operating Officer Tom Rutledge told analysts on a conference call that with just over half the homes in its coverage area now subscribing to high-speed Internet service, the company had the "critical mass" to begin offering a wireless broadband service. Rutledge said the service would be built out over the next two years or so and offer Cablevision's existing Internet customers online access through mobile devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, BlackBerry handsets or laptop computers. More.
AMD tightlipped on company's future
Grappling with major layoffs and a stock price that's been chopped nearly in half since last year, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. kept new details about its turnaround plans close to the vest Thursday in a very brief annual meeting with shareholders. The Sunnyvale-based company's chief executive, Hector Ruiz, notably did not discuss AMD's long-awaited plans to cut its heavy manufacturing costs. His 20-minute speech was punctuated with just one question from a shareholder - about why AMD doesn't sponsor professional golf tournaments to increase its visibility. A spokesman said the company typically has short annual meetings. More.
Stocks: AMD among tech gainers in quiet session
Technology stocks put in a largely upbeat performance Thursday, with broad sector gains and Advanced Micro Device Inc. hinting that changes are coming to the world's No. 2 personal-computer chipmaker. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) ended the day up 12.75 points or 0.5 percent to 2,451.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) added 52.43 points or 0.4 percent to 12,866.78. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose 2.25 points or 0.6 percent to 399.76 and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 3.95 points or 0.7 percent to 586.06. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index ($DRG) rose 1.27 points or 0.4 percent to 300.12, while the Amex Biotech Index (BTK) rose 0.23 points or less than 0.1 percent to 747.7. The S&P 500 ($SPX) rose 5.11 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,397.68.
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All contents copyright 2008 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo trademarked and copyright 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. Written and edited by Matt Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR contains material from the Associated Press, Reuters and MarketWatch.com, used by permission. For coverage comments or news tips, e-mail Matt Roush at mnroush@cbs.com or call (248) 455-7380. For marketing and advertising queries, contact Dan Keelan at dkeelan@cbs.com or (248) 455-7252. To subscribe, e-mail Nancy Ho at nancy.ho@cbsradio.com. For questions or concerns, please email Pete Kowalski, WWJ's Station Manager.
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