Michigan
gets $1 billion plus in battery grants With
the electrification of the American auto industry in mind, Michigan
has for years been positioning itself as America's new battery capital.
Wednesday,
under a perfect cerulean sky at Detroit's NextEnergy Center, Vice President
Joe Biden announced more than a billion reasons Michigan may just make
it. The Obama administration announced $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate
the development of next-generation batteries and electric vehicles.
And more than $1 billion of that money will be coming to Michigan in
several major grants, which should create tens of thousands of jobs
in the Great Lakes State. More.
And a gallery of photos from Biden's visit is here.
Weingartz
finding success as online parts merchant It isn't easy for an outdoor power equipment shop in Michigan
these days. Good thing Utica-based Weingartz decided to establish Weingartzparts.com.
The parts Web site has seen a "tremendous" response in its
few months of operation, company officials say. The site makes Weingartz's
warehouse inventory of more than 55,000 lawn mower and snowblower replacement
parts available to do-it-yourselfers around the globe. More.
Ford
rolling out new, eco-friendly paint process A new Ford Motor Co. paint process that substantially cuts
time, cost and pollution will be launched in the United States at the
newly revamped Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne. Ford says its high-solids
paint technology eliminates the need for process stages in a paint shop,
replacing bulky, energy-consuming equipment with a simple, integrated
booth. The process allows three layers of paint to be applied one after
another while still wet, without manual intervention, resulting in a
superior product created with fewer pollutants and less expense. More.
Lansing
PTAC helps biz land $7.8 million in federal contracts A program designed to assist area businesses in securing government
contracts has helped generate $7.8 million in new contracts during the
first half of 2009. The 298 contract awards reported by the Procurement
Technical Assistance Center of South Central Michigan are expected to
create and retain 156 jobs in the seven county region, many of them
in tech fields.. More.
Two
new companies for downtown Battle Creek
Two service providers to the
Battle Creek economic development agency Battle Creek Unlimited have
established offices in downtown Battle Creek. Both
corePHP, a Web development firm, and MessageCoach Public Relations,
have been selected for a communications project to promote Battle Creek
downtown renewal. More.
CMU's research, business incubator is humming this summer
From
better odds against cancer to the more prosaic desire for better looking
outdoor furniture, the Central Michigan University Research Corp.'s
business incubator is bustling with activity this summer.
Some of the state’s
most motivated entrepreneurs are moving forward in everything from beautiful
and durable outdoor furniture, to biodiesel energy, quick and cost-effective
cancer detection, three dimensional imaging, geospatial mapping and
more.
“This spring
and summer have been full of excitement with new tenants and ideas,
funding support and an energy level as high as I’ve seen it in
the last year," CMURC president and CEO Ken Van Der Wende said.
“The entrepreneurs we’re working with are some of the very
best in the country. They know what they’re looking for, and we’re
here to help them with everything from connections, to funds, to state-of-the-art
office and lab space. And, last but not least, to help keep them motivated
on their quests. National statistics show that the success of entrepreneurs
and start-ups is significantly increased when they decide to be part
of a business incubator like ours, and we’re seeing that level
of success every day. I welcome others to join us and use the outstanding
resources we have.”
Note: For information on how you
can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Jeff Lasser at (248) 455-7319
or
jeff.lasser@cbsradio.com
UM research:
Climate change caused biodiversity booms, busts A period of global warming from 53 million to 47 million years
ago strongly influenced plants and animals, spurring a biodiversity
boom in western North America, researchers from three research museums
report in a paper published online this week in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. More.
NxGen featured
in biz paper, nears launch of stain remover 'pen'
Saranac-based NXGen Holdings Inc. announced Wednesday that its
subsidiary, Green Bridge Industries Inc., has a licensing agreement
with SpongeTech Delivery Systems, Inc. , in which Green Bridge Industries
has the exclusive nationwide rights to produce, market, and distribute
the SpongeTech Stain Remover Pens. NXGen was also featured in the Investor's
Business Daily Wednesday. Green Bridge is developing a line of biodegradable,
earth-friendly cleaning products. More.
Focus:
HOPE partners with Dassault Systemes France's Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in three-dimensional
and product lifecycle management software, Wednesday announced that
Focus: HOPE’s Center for Advanced Technologies is implementing
DS’ DELMIA digital manufacturing and CATIA digital design software
as part of its manufacturing engineering education process. DS's United
States operations are based in Auburn Hills. More.
THE WORLD IN TECH
Tool helps
avoid seizure-causing content on the Web Wisconsin researchers have released a free software tool that
could help Web surfers susceptible to certain seizures. An estimated
one in 4,000 people has photosensitive epilepsy and could suffer a seizure
when exposed to bright colors and rapidly flashing images. The condition
gained prominence in 1997 when more than 800 Japanese children were
hospitalized after viewing a cartoon. Since then, television directors,
video-game makers and others have tested their content to make sure
it doesn't reach seizure-inducing thresholds. Web developers, though,
didn't have simple ways to run such tests. Researchers at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison set out to change that. More.
Review:
New Sony Walkman misses multimedia mark Thirty
years after revolutionizing portable music with the Walkman for playing
cassette tapes, Sony is trying to master the digital media player with
the X Series Walkman. Tunes
sound great and videos look crisp on the device, but Sony still has
a lot of work to do to catch up with Apple's market-ruling iPod. While
the X Series brims with features like Wi-Fi and noise cancellation,
the limitations and execution problems make it somewhat disappointing
overall. The X Series is sleek and elegant-looking, its black, sparkly
rectangular body dominated on the front by a bright, sharp, OLED touch
screen. The screen is excellent for watching short videos and viewing
photos, and it's very responsive to finger taps and swipes, making it
easy to scroll through lists of pictures, songs and videos and select
media for playback. More.
Some
NFL teams clamping town on Twitter The
only tweets during the Miami Dolphins scrimmage Saturday will come from
the officials' whistles. The Dolphins are at the forefront of an NFL
clampdown on Twitter and other social media, with new restrictions imposed
on players, reporters and even spectators. Miami's secretive Bill Parcells
regime prohibits fans and media at training-camp practices from tweeting,
blogging or texting. At least six other teams have also imposed such
restrictions on reporters, even though the workouts are open to the
public. Twitter intolerance is no surprise in a league where paranoia
is part of the playbook. More.
Iowa
911 center becomes first to accept texts An
emergency call center in the basement of the county jail in Waterloo,
Iowa, became the first in the country to accept text messages sent to
"911," starting Wednesday. Call centers around the country
are looking at following in its footsteps, as phone calls are now just
one of many things phones can do. "I think there's a need to get
out front and get this technology available," Black Hawk County
police chief Thomas Jennings said. He said 911 texting should be of
particular help to the county's deaf and hard-of-hearing residents,
who have had to rely on more cumbersome methods to reach 911. More.
Stocks:
Weak economic data put stock market rally on hold Stocks slipped Wednesday as investors shied away from big moves
ahead of the government's monthly reading on job losses and the unemployment
rate, which comes out before the start of trading on Friday. The big
concern on Wall Street is layoffs, and whether companies trying to preserve
their profits during the recession are continuing to slash jobs at a
furious pace. Job cuts have to slow for the economy to have a solid
recovery. The caution in Wednesday's trading followed a disappointing
report on the service industry. The Institute for Supply Management
said its service index, a measure of the health of retail, financial
services, transportation and health care companies, fell to 46.4 in
July from 47 in June. It was the 10th straight monthly slide. Still,
there are plenty of signs of strength on Wall Street, and one is the
fact that Wednesday's very modest loss was the biggest point drop in
the Dow since July 7. More.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
fell 5.8 points or 0.3 percent to 1,978.5. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average ($INDU)
rose 17.15 points or 0.2 percent, to 9,171.62. The Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index ($SOX)
rose 0.69 points or 0.2 percent to 301.74. The Morgan Stanley High Tech
35 Index (MSH)
rose 0.98 points or 0.2 percent to 493.1. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical
Index (DRG)
fell 1.37 points or 0.5 percent to 278.82. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index
(BTK)
fell 7.93 points or 0.9 percent to 870.25. Finally, the Standard & Poor's
500 (SPX)
rose 0.73 points or 0.1 percent to 987.48.
All contents copyright 2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo trademarked and copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. Written and edited
by Matt Roush, Technology Editor, WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR may contain material from the Associated Press, CNET, News.com, MarketWatch.com or Reuters, 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, or with general questions or concerns, contact Pete Kowalski, WWJ's station manager, at
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Print Story
With
the electrification of the American auto industry in mind, Michigan
has for years been positioning itself as America's new battery capital.
Wednesday,
under a perfect cerulean sky at Detroit's NextEnergy Center, Vice President
Joe Biden announced more than a billion reasons Michigan may just make
it. The Obama administration announced $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate
the development of next-generation batteries and electric vehicles.
And more than $1 billion of that money will be coming to Michigan in
several major grants, which should create tens of thousands of jobs
in the Great Lakes State. .gif)
CMU's research, business incubator is humming this summer
Thirty
years after revolutionizing portable music with the Walkman for playing
cassette tapes, Sony is trying to master the digital media player with
the X Series Walkman. Tunes
sound great and videos look crisp on the device, but Sony still has
a lot of work to do to catch up with Apple's market-ruling iPod. While
the X Series brims with features like Wi-Fi and noise cancellation,
the limitations and execution problems make it somewhat disappointing
overall. The X Series is sleek and elegant-looking, its black, sparkly
rectangular body dominated on the front by a bright, sharp, OLED touch
screen. The screen is excellent for watching short videos and viewing
photos, and it's very responsive to finger taps and swipes, making it
easy to scroll through lists of pictures, songs and videos and select
media for playback. 
