HoMedics gets $540 million deal with Sharper Image New York City-based Sharper Image Monday announced the signing of a $540 million, five-year licensing agreement with Commerce Township-based HoMedics, the world's leading manufacturer of personal health, wellness and relaxation products. The comprehensive agreement covers the use of The Sharper Image brand and intellectual property across a broad range of product categories. Under this agreement, HoMedics will offer uniquely featured products in categories including: home environment, electronics, men's personal care, men's gifts, health and wellness, weather and concierge services. More.
Thomson Reuters survey finds poorer people skip cancer treatment The Ann Arbor-based health care business of Thomson Reuters Monday announced a new survey of patients with late-stage cancer found that 12.3 percent said they have passed up recommended treatment because it was too expensive. This figure varies dramatically by patient income level. Twenty-five percent of late-stage cancer patients who earn less than $40,000 a year said they have chosen not to undergo a recommended treatment due to cost -- compared with 11.2 percent of those earning between $40,000 and $80,000 per year and 4.8 percent of those earning more than $80,000 annually. More.
Keweenaw group has loans to fund new businesses
The Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance in Houghton Monday announced that it has small business loans available for entrepreneurs starting up new businesses and for established businesses that are expanding. The loans can be used for purchase of equipment and supplies, for building purchase or rehabilitation, and for working capital. Any entrepreneur or business in Houghton, Keweenaw or Baraga County is eligible to apply. Beginning entrepreneurs and early stage companies can apply for microloans of $1,500 to $15,000 to start up or grow new businesses. More.
Pioneer Surgical Technology in new European partnership
The European subsidiary of Pioneer Surgical Technology Monday announced a new distribution agreement with Swedish Medical Imaging Devices AB, also know as Swemacimaging. Under terms of the agreement, Pioneer Surgical Technology BV will distribute the Biplanar 500e, the only mobile biplane digital fluoroscopy system, in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Turkey. Formerly a division within the Saab-Scania group, Swemacimaging is now part of the Scanflex Healthcare Group, a medical radiology company. More.
TechTeam wins USDA contracts worth $1.8 million
Chantilly, Va.-based TechTeam Government Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of Southfield-based TechTeam Global Inc., Monday announced that it will build three new portals for the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service. This award falls under a five-year agreement issued by AMS in December of 2005. The $1.8 million in contracts are for the design and development of AMS Poultry Market News, Dairy Market News and Cotton Market News portals. More.
Appia's new Video Communicator slashes bandwidth requirements Traverse City-based Appia Communications announced Monday that its Appia Video Communicator software significantly reduces the bandwidth requirements for video communications. The company says it began from the ground up with an advanced implementation of new video compression technology. AVC supports multiple resolutions, all at 30 frames per second. These resolutions include a 1280-by-720 high-definition experience, which requires much less bandwidth than the one megabit per second or more demanded by similar video transmissions. More.
MSU, UM libraries in gigantic new digital collection
A group of the nation's largest research libraries are collaborating to create a repository of their vast digital collections, including millions of books, organizers announced Monday. These holdings will be archived and preserved in a single repository called the HathiTrust. Materials in the public domain will be available for reading online. Launched jointly by the 12-university consortium known as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation -- which includes the libraries of the Big Ten conference plus the University of Chicago -- HathiTrust contains more than 2 million volumes and approximately 750 million pages, about 16 percent of which are in the public domain. More.
Compuware study shows insiders pose biggest data theft threat Detroit-based Compuware Corp. announced the results of a new study, commissioned by Compuware and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, that showed insiders were the No. 1 cause of all data breaches with hackers ranking a distant fifth. The survey shows insiders caused 75 percent of all breaches in the United States while external hackers committed only 1 percent of breaches. The 2008 Study on the Uncertainty of Data Breach Detection also reveals 79 percent of U.S. respondents had experienced at least one data breach. More.
Predrag 'Pedja' Sukovic is co-founder, president and CEO of Xoran Technologies Inc. in Ann Arbor. Sukovic has experience designing and developing instrumentation and signal-image processing algorithms for medical imaging. Xoran is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of medical devices and services that improve patient care and satisfaction and minimize waste and inefficiency in healthcare. Xoran’s products include MiniCAT, a compact, ultra-low dose CT scanner that can be used in doctors’ offices without sedation. The company won the 2005 Innovation of the Year award from the Michigan Celebrates Small Business Awards hosted by the MEDC, SBAM, and other agencies. Sukovic co-founded Xoran with Neal Clinthorne, his then-academic advisor, in 2001 while obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in biomedical engineering. The company has quickly grown from a two-person startup to a company with millions of dollars in sales. Read more.
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Motivational, financial speaker Ray coming to Detroit
Can we get Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, and Deepak Chopra on-stage in one package?
Yes. According to an April 2008 Fortune Magazine feature, entrepreneur James Arthur Ray is "The Man Who Would Be Robbins, Covey, and Chopra."
Self-made millionaire Ray is transforming the way the world thinks. Called "The Rock Star of Personal Transformation" and a "World Thought Leader," he has traveled the globe devoting more than two decades to studying the thoughts, actions, and habits of those who create true wealth.
In an interview with Larry King (pictured above), Ray said: "Any time a new idea comes to the fore, it goes through three phases. It's first ridiculed. Then it's violently opposed. And then it's finally accepted as self-evident, normally after the opposition dies. So what we're really doing here is bringing forth a new way of thinking and behaving that some people haven't considered before."
While wealth is often equated with money, true wealth is a state of well-being in the five key areas of life: Financial, Relationships, Mental, Physical and Spiritual. A truly wealthy individual experiences harmony in all facets of his or her life -- creating a sense of fulfillment beyond the momentary happiness of achievements in one part to the neglect of others. More than a concept, it is a lifestyle Ray has termed Harmonic Wealth.
Ray is on a speaking tour to cities of seminar graduates, providing a complimentary up-close and live introduction to him and his Harmonic Wealth. He is appearing for one-night in Detroit on Thursday Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. for his two-hour introductory seminar, "The Secret to Attract the Life You Want."
Z. Rosie Koul of Birmingham, a business intelligence consultant, is a graduate of Ray's seminars and responsible for engaging him for Detroit. An avid FranklinCovey fan, she was first exposed to Ray in "the Secret" and began to research his ideas.
"I practiced the principles of the 7Habits for years, yet remained emotionally exhausted in the so-called pursuit of ‘balance,'" Koul said. She found James Ray, with the ability to blend business, personal leadership, and spirituality into an integrated concept.
"Shifting from a paradigm of balance to harmony is empowering," Koul said. "The shift frees you mentally and emotionally to a place of inspiration, creativity and innovation to align with only your values and beliefs."
For additional articles and information, visit this link. The seminar is open to the public, but requires a Fast-Pass ticket. Tickets can be obtained via www.ItsMyLifeDetroit.com.
Note: Today's Blue Box was sponsored by Its My Life Detroit.com. For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Jeff Lasser at (248) 455-7380 or jeff.lasser@cbsradio.com.
THE WORLD IN TECH
UK university holds artificial intelligence test Computers argued, cracked jokes and parried trick questions, all part of an annual test of artificial intelligence carried out at the University of Reading. Typing away at split-screen terminals Sunday, a dozen volunteers carried out two conversations at once: one with a chat program, the other with a human. After five minutes, they were asked to say which was which. Some were not sure who -- or what -- they were talking to. "There was one time when I was speaking to the two, and there was an element of humor in both conversations. That's the one that stumped me more than others," said Ian Andrews, one of the judges in Reading, just west of London. Transcripts of the conversations showed some savvy judges ruthlessly trying to trip programs up with questions about the day's weather, the global financial turmoil and the color of their eyes. More.
New service to stop loose lips from crashing cars
When David Teater's 12-year-old son, Joe, was killed in 2004 by a driver who was talking on a cell phone, he tried to cut back on his own habit of driving and talking. It turned out to be very difficult. "You have to remember to turn the phone off ... which you never remember to do. Or you have to ignore a ringing phone, which is incredibly hard," Teater said. "We've been conditioned our entire lives to answer ringing phones." Teater became an advocate for curbing what he calls "driving while distracted," and now, he's part of a company with a technology that can help. Aegis Mobility, a Canadian software company, announced Monday that it has developed software called DriveAssist that will detect whether a cell phone is moving at car speeds. When that happens, the software will alert the cellular network, telling it to hold calls and text messages until the drive is over. More.
Joost relaunching TV site as online shows abound
Forget about the boob tube. Places to watch TV on the Internet are proliferating, from NBC Universal and News Corp.'s Hulu to Joost - a site that plans to relaunch Tuesday to make it a more interactive experience. Joost's relaunch, which will let users watch shows like "Friends" or "The Daily Show" directly on the Web, comes as YouTube also is beginning to offer full-length, commercial-supported television shows in addition to the shorter clips it's best known for. Previously, Joost users had to download the site's free software to be able to watch its programming, but the step was cumbersome. Now the company is scrapping its original setup in favor of Flash video, which has long been used by Hulu, YouTube and other sites. More.
MySpace taps small businesses in ad money quest
Just because your band doesn't have the bucks for a six-figure advertising campaign doesn't mean you wouldn't be interested in promoting it on MySpace. At least, that's what the Internet social network is banking on with a new self-service graphical "display" advertising platform that lets small businesses and individuals target their pitches to site users by characteristics like gender, geography and musical preferences. Called MyAds, it was rolled out in "beta" test phase in late September after a three-month closed test. MySpace disclosed the service Monday in the News Corp.-owned company's latest attempt to cash in on its vast audience. Advertising has yet to fully blossom on networks like MySpace and Facebook, partly because advertisers have questioned how attentive people are to pitches in such casual, social settings. More.
Stocks: Record rally pushes stocks higher on bailout optimism
The Nasdaq Composite Index turned in its second-best day on record Monday by surging nearly 12 percent by the closing bell following a bruising sell-off the week before. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPQ) surged 194.24 points or 11.8 percent to 1,844.25. The index had shed more than 15 percent of its value the week before. This marked the second best day on record for the Nasdaq and the strongest one-day percentage gain since January 2001, according to data from FactSet Research. The broader market also saw a strong performance, with the Dow industrials ($INDU) jumping 936.42 points or 11.1 percent to 9,387.61 as sentiment across the market was boosted by an international plan to fix the global banking system. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 43.44 points or 12 percent to 406.79, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose 23.8 points or 9.7 percent to 269.91. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) rose 25.18 points or 10.6 percent to 262.66, while the Amex Biotechnology Index (BTK) rose 60.22 points or 9.7 percent to 678.55. The S&P 500 ($SPX) jumped 104.13 points or 11.6 percent to 1,003.35. The gains came after the Federal Reserve said central banks would offer banks unlimited amounts and Europe said it would guarantee bank loans.
First, if you just can't get enough of those cool Tech Tour photos, you can check out the gallery at this link. And second, if you're worried about the future of the economy you're going to want to take a look at the WWJ Newsradio 950 Michigan Money Summit Saturday at Schoolcraft College in Livonia. Check it out here. Now, on to the local extras: a local book publishing site waives its fee; Ann Arbor's Rubicon is part of a big cancer project; the UM hospital gets new software; an IT consultant adds social media and offshore consulting; a Michigan power plant is sold; EMU is offering a dual MBA with a school in India; and a Grand Rapids firm implements communications for law enforcement in Kalamazoo County. Elsewhere in Techland: a Silicon Valley computer company gets an Indian deal; there's an idea for turning CO2 into fuel; the cell phone industry celebrates its 25th birthday; President Bush signs an record industry-backed intellectual property bill; NBC will launch "local only" Web sites; and a German memory chip maker is cutting 3,000 jobs.
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Can we get Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, and Deepak Chopra on-stage in one package? 
