GLITR Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Your report for Tuesday, October 6, 2009

ECD gets 4.8-megawatt solar project in Spain
The Auburn Hills flexible solar panel producer Energy Conversion Devices Inc. Monday announced it has been selected by Recurrent Energy to deliver 4.8 megawatts of solar generating systems for eight building rooftops in two industrial parks in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. ECD will be supplying its Uni-Solar photovoltaic laminates and providing development resources through its Solar Integrated subsidiary. The solar power systems will be owned by Recurrent Energy, a distributed power company, and installed on rooftops leased by Recurrent Energy from ProLogis, a global provider of distribution facilities. Construction is expected to start this month. More.

Dow introduces affordable solar energy shingles
Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. Monday unveiled its line of Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles, revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. The solar shingle systems are expected to be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected to be more widely available in 2011, putting the power of solar electricity generation directly and conveniently in the hands of homeowners. Groundbreaking technology from Dow Solar Solutions integrates low-cost, thin-film CIGS photovoltaic cells into a proprietary roofing shingle design, which represents a multi-functional solar energy generating roofing product. The innovative product design reduces installation costs because the conventional roofing shingles and solar generating shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors. DSS expects an enthusiastic response from roofing contractors since no specialized skills or knowledge of solar array installations are required. More.

Record number of UM inventions reported last year
University of Michigan researchers disclosed 350 new inventions in fiscal year 2009, setting a new record. Royalties from university-developed technologies rose 20 percent during that period, another all-time high. And despite the state's economic woes, the university licensed eight new startups in the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the UM Office of Technology Transfer. "This past year, when we were expecting a slowdown and anticipating three, maybe four, new start-ups, faculty responded -- with eight," UM President Mary Sue Coleman said Monday in her State of the University address. "In the past nine years, faculty have launched 83 start-ups. That's roughly one new business, every six weeks, since 2001. Added Coleman: "Universities drive economic development. Our faculty are looking the recession in the eye and moving forward." More.

New software from Compuware
Compuware Corp. planned Tuesday to announce the release of Hiperstation 7.8, the centerpiece of Compuware’s Application Auditing software system. This new version expands Hiperstation’s capabilities with the integration of Vantage, Compuware’s end-to-end application performance management system, and the addition of WebSphere MQ and TCP/IP protocols. The new functionality allows organizations to more effectively protect against internal data breaches -- across platforms -- averting monetary losses and meeting regulations including PCI and HIPAA. More.

General Dynamics, 14 firms, universities get $430M Army contract
The United States Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in Warren has awarded Sterling Heights-based General Dynamics Land Systems a five-year, $430 million contract for engineering and manufacturing services. GDLS will assist TARDEC with its core focus areas, including system engineering, power and mobility, survivability, intelligent ground systems, vehicle electronics and architecture, force projection and software. And GDLS will work on the effort with more than a dozen small firms and two universities -- Lawrence Technological University and Michigan Technological University -- who will get part of the grant. More.

Wayne State med school gets grant for women's health center
The Wayne State University School of Medicine continues its role as a leader in obstetric and gynecological research with the renewal of national funding for the only Women’s Reproductive Health Career Development Center in Michigan. Wayne State University secured its third successive round of funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for the center Sept. 22. The five-year, $2.3 million grant runs through 2014. Theodore B. Jones, M.D., interim chairman of the WSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said the center is one of only 20 nationwide. More.

Medtipster.com guides you to the flu shots
The online health care search engine and price comparator Medtipster.com allows visitors to search for pharmacies providing flu shots nationwide, targeted by zip code. Medtipster will also add H1N1 vaccination locations to the site as soon as this information is made available. Visitors to www.medtipster.com can simply click on the flashing flu shot icon at the top of the screen to reach the search page. By entering their zip code, consumers are instantly provided with a list of local pharmacies and mini clinics where they can receive their desired immunization. The list includes contact information for the pharmacy or mini clinic, the cost of the immunization, and a map of the location. More.

St. Johns gets grant to help software firm grow
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Michigan Economic Development Corp. president and CEO Greg Main Monday announced a grant of $192,000 to the city of St. Johns to support the expansion of Quest Software Inc. The grant is being made available from the federal Community Development Block Grant program. Quest Software, a software development and insurance services company, plans to invest $973,000 to expand its operations in St. Johns. The city of St. Johns will use the CDBG grant to help with the cost of new machinery and equipment. The expansion is expected to create 32 new jobs. More.

In the Blue Box: Matt checks out Windows 7, plans to switch soon

I got a good long look at Windows 7 Monday morning, and it looks like a nice improvement over Windows Vista.

Perhaps most importantly, according to Brendan Newell, senior product technology specialist for Microsoft's Central Region, "this is the first time we've released a new operating system where hardware requirements went down."

He says he's been running Windows 7 just fine on his basic home machine, used for e-mail and Web surfing -- a five-year-old computer with only one gigabit of RAM and an Intel Celeron chip.

Newell said Microsoft retained the basic kernel from Vista, preserving its admirable security, while completely rebuilding its process control system to provide faster performance, including a faster boot time.

The new system features a bigger taskbar with bigger icons featuring bigger thumbnail previews when you hover over the icons -- and full-size panes when you hover over the previews. It's intended to make it easier to switch from application to application. And if you're looking at multiple documents and want all but one to go away, grab it with your mouse and shake it -- and all the others minimize.

There are also novel ways of organizing folders into libraries -- including shared folders on networked systems -- easier ways to create a home network, lists that provide faster access to favorite pictures, songs, Web sites and documents, desktop gadgets that can be moved anywhere, advancements in touch-screen and speech-powered computing, and search functions that go beyond documents into Outlook and the Web.

More from the Great Lakes IT Report Web site.

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.

THE WORLD IN TECH

U.S. online ad sales fall for second quarter in a row
Internet advertising in the United States slipped 5 percent in the second quarter as the recession extended the first slump in online marketing since 2002. The $5.4 billion spent on Internet ads during the three months ending in June compared with $5.7 billion at the same time last year, according to data released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It marked the second consecutive quarterly decline in Internet advertising, the first time that has happened since the aftermath of the dot-com bust at the beginning of the decade. The fallout from that implosion resulted in eight consecutive quarters of falling online ad sales. For the first half of this year, Internet advertising totaled $10.9 billion, also down 5 percent from the same period of 2008. Nearly half that money has been spent on search advertising, helping to further enrich Google Inc., which controls nearly two-thirds of the U.S. search market. More.

Ohio health care industry adopts single portal
Ohio doctors, hospitals and health care insurers said Monday they have a new weapon against the pain of paperwork. It's a single Web portal they believe will reduce duplication, miscommunication, and confusion between doctors and insurance companies. That will mean quicker office and hospital service, more time for patient care, and, ultimately, cost savings, participants said. It's a collaboration to begin next month, one the eight major health insurers representing 91 percent called an example for the nation. A host of doctor groups, including the state medical association, have endorsed the initiative. More.

FTC: Bloggers, testimonials need better disclosure
The Federal Trade Commission on Monday took steps to make product information and online reviews more accurate for consumers, regulating blogging for the first time and mandating that testimonials reflect typical results. The FTC will require that writers on the Web clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. The commission also said advertisers featuring testimonials that claim dramatic results cannot hide behind disclaimers that the results aren't typical. The FTC said its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final guidelines, which had been expected. The guides are not binding law, but rather interpretations of law that hope to help advertisers comply with regulations. Violating the rules, which take effect Dec. 1, could result in various sanctions including a lawsuit. More.

Net neutrality bills face growing Republican opposition
Republican opposition is mounting as federal regulators prepare to vote this month on so-called "network neutrality" rules, which would prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain types of Internet traffic flowing over their lines -- including most of the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday urging him to delay the Oct. 22 vote on his net neutrality plan. Genachowski, one of three Democrats on the five-member commission, wants to impose rules to ensure that broadband providers don't abuse their power over Internet access to favor their own services or harm competitors. Democrats say the rules will keep phone companies from discriminating against Internet calling services and stop cable TV providers from hindering online video applications. But in a letter to Genachowski on Monday, Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, and his colleagues warned that new net neutrality regulations could discourage broadband providers from investing in their own networks. More.

Stocks: Shares jump on service industry, bank reports
The first growth in the service industry in a year and upbeat comments about big banks pulled investors into the stock market after two losing weeks. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 112 points as all major stock indicators gained 1 percent. The Institute for Supply Management said its service index rose to 50.9 in September from 48.4 in August. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a reading of 50, the dividing line between growth and contraction. The index hadn't grown since August of last year. Financial and energy stocks led the gains after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on large banks and the price of oil jumped. More. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) rose 20.04 points or 1 percent to 2,068.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) jumped 112.08 points or 1.2 percent to 9,599.75. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) rose 6.5 points or 2.1 percent to 313.09. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) rose 5.56 points or 1.1 percent to 521.34. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) rose 1.54 points or 0.5 percent to 284.27. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index (BTK) rose 14.9 points or 1.7 percent to 903.8. Finally, the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) rose 15.25 points or 1.5 percent to 1,040.46.

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 prkowalski@cbs.com. To subscribe, e-mail Matt Roush or Georgeann Herbert at gherbert@cbs.com.

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