ITEC Detroit
offers solutions to CIO's' woes No,
it wasn't like the Detroit ITEC shows during the bubble years that drew
thousands. But on its own merits, several hundred people saw fascinating
technology and heard from highly knowledgeable, technologically advanced
presenters at Wednesday's ITEC Detroit Conference and Showcase at the
Rock Financial Showplace in Novi. Most of the presentations focused
on issues bedeviling CIO's, from security to disaster recovery to optimizing
system performance to the question of converting to Windows 7, Microsoft
Corp's new operating system, which is being formally released to the
world this week. More.
TED
Detroit attracts creative technology types Attracting an entirely different
kind of tech maven from ITEC was the inaugural Redder event, intended
to bring together technology, entertainment and design professionals
-- or, as the event's Web site put it, "creators, catalysts, entrepreneurs,
artists, technologists, designers, scientists, thinkers and doers."
It was an outgrowth of other regional TED events, as well as national
and international events. And it was really cool. More.
At
plug-in electric car conference, utilities vow to do more Declaring an urgent imperative
to prepare for the use of electricity as a crucial transportation fuel
in the future, the nation's electric utilities Thursday collectively
pledged to move forward aggressively to create the infrastructure to
support the full-scale commercialization and deployment of plug-in electric
vehicles. Their comments, which came in conjunction with "The Business
of Plugging In" -- a conference in Detroit on the commercialization
of PEVs sponsored by DTE Energy, General Motors, and the University
of Michigan -- launched the industry's commitment to help accelerate
the sale of PEVs in the United States. More.
Ford, UM
partner to speed hybrid vehicle development Ford Motor Co. and the University
of Michigan are working together on a new project to accelerate the
development of future hybrid vehicles. Researchers are analyzing data
from 2,500 road trips to determine how internal electronic vehicle controls
could be tweaked to further improve fuel efficiency and fun-to-drive
attributes. More.
|Karmanos
Institute launches campaign on environmental cancers
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, in cooperation with Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, will launch a targeted health initiative
in January 2010 focused on environmentally associated cancers. According
to Karmanos interim president and CEO Ann G. Schwartz, approximately
70 percent of all cancers are linked to occupational and environmental
causes, including tobacco use and diet. More.
UM, Hewlett-Packard partner to make rare books available
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ)
Wednesday announced it is making more than 500,000 rare and hard-to-find
books available for sale through a new collaboration with the University
of Michigan.
HP BookPrep -- a cloud computing service that enables
on-demand printing of books -- brings new life to the traditional publishing
model, making it possible to bring any book ever published back into
print through an economical and sustainable service model.
As part of a growing movement to preserve and digitize
historic content, major libraries are partnering with technology leaders
to scan previously hard-to-find works using high-resolution photography.
HP’s process transforms these scans prior to printing by cleaning
up some of the wear and tear that often is present in the originals.
HP BookPrep significantly drives down the cost of
republishing books by eliminating the manual cleanup work that would
otherwise be required. Based on imaging and printing technology from
HP Labs, the company’s central research arm, HP BookPrep automates
the creation of high-quality, print-ready books from these raw book
scans by sharpening text and images, improving alignment and coloration,
and generating and adding covers.
People can now purchase high-quality print versions
of public-domain, out-of-print books from the University of Michigan
Library through HP BookPrep channels, including traditional and online
retailers such as Amazon.com.
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.
Kentwood
waste-to-energy firm gets new investor, customer Kentwood-based Heat Transfer
International, a leader in engineering and installing waste-to-energy
systems, Wednesday announced a manufacturing agreement and sale of minority
equity interest to Morbark Inc. of Winn. HTI's systems convert biomass
to energy through gasification. Morbark is the world's leading manufacturer
of size-reduction equipment for organic materials. The agreement, which
will create dozens of green manufacturing jobs in Michigan, calls for
Morbark to make a capital investment in HTI and to manufacture the biomass
conversion systems engineered and marketed by HTI. More.
Oneupweb
formally expands service offerings
The Traverse City-based Web
and search engine marketing company Oneupweb has formally expanded the
list of services it offers. Company officials said the services were
those it had been winning awards for -- and conducted for itself and
for clients on request. But with marketing changing so rapidly, the
company said it was time to offer the services to all its clients and
prospects. More.
Kuka
Robotics launches U.S. research center in Sterling Heights The Augsburg, Germany-based
robotics firm Kuka Roboter GmbH said Thursday that it is opening the
Kuka Development Center at its Kuka Robotics Inc. United States headquarters
in Sterling Heights. Specializing in joining technologies like laser
welding, the KDC becomes the second dedicated research center within
the Kuka Systems Group. The KDC's mission includes adapting Kuka-branded
systems and new technologies for use by the company's North American
automotive, energy, aerospace and logistics markets as well as new markets.
Other services include process development, training and safety certification.
More.
THE WORLD
IN TECH
Google,
MySpace, Facebook all make music moves Internet power players Google,
MySpace and Facebook are adopting strategies to better compete in a
music industry that is rapidly shifting online. In separate developments
Wednesday, it emerged that Google plans to launch a music search service,
MySpace said its music videos will be spread on competing social networks
through recent acquisition iLike, and Facebook said it will now allow
friends to send each other song-streaming gifts for as little as 10
cents each. The developments, all of which came with the blessing of
the major recording companies, are examples of attempts to reap online
revenue as compact disc sales continue to fall. More.
With
Windows 7 and new designs, PCs are looking better Although
no one waits in long lines for a new edition of Windows anymore, the
debut of Microsoft's latest software that runs PCs is part of why buying
a computer is starting to feel fun for the first time in years. Windows
7 is expected to work better than its predecessor, Vista. At the same
time, Microsoft's marketing has gotten savvier and PC makers have followed
Apple Inc.'s lead by improving hardware design. Computers with the Windows
operating system suddenly seem a lot less utilitarian. Windows 7, which
becomes available Thursday, is designed to look cleaner than Vista,
streamlining the ways people can get to work, with fewer clicks and
fewer annoying notifications. Setting up home networking to share photos
and music won't require an advanced degree in IT. Plugging in a new
device won't set off a mad hunt online for driver software. More.
Google
CEO: Vast Web changes coming within five years A
Web where Chinese is the dominant language, and connections are so fast
that distinctions between audio, video and text are blurred is perhaps
just five years away, the head of Google said Wednesday. Eric Schmidt,
chairman and CEO of Google Inc., spoke to about 5,000 chief information
officers and information technology executives in Orlando for a technology
conference. More.
AP
review: Motorola's Cliq is a snappy smart phone Imagine
how you'd feel if you peaked in middle school. That's pretty much what
happened to cell phone maker Motorola Inc., which had a megahit in 2005
with its Razr handset but has since failed to fashion another that can
approach its popularity. Now that the rest of the cell phone market
has matured and feature-packed "smart" phones are becoming
the choice of many consumers, Motorola hopes to entice people with the
Cliq, its first phone that uses Google's Android software. T-Mobile
began selling the Cliq ($200 with a two-year contract) to existing customers
on Monday, and it will be available to all comers starting Nov. 2. The
twist in the Cliq is that it combines social-networking features with
slick hardware. The Cliq won't eclipse Apple's iPhone, but it shows
Motorola is serious about carving a new niche in a fiercely competitive
market. More.
Stocks:
Shares turn lower as note on banks spooks investors Spooked traders unraveled
a rally in stocks late Wednesday as a downbeat assessment of a bank
touched off fears that the market is getting overheated. Analysts pointed
to a note on Wells Fargo & Co. from banking analyst Richard Bove
as the source of the drop, but also said a mix of complacency and lingering
concerns about the pace of the market's climb in the past seven months
left stocks ripe for a hit. The slide in the final hour of trading was
reminiscent of the types of big swings seen a year ago at the height
of the financial crisis. But analysts said the reasons for the latest
slide had been building throughout the day: Major stock indexes touched
their highest levels in a year, the dollar extended its drop, oil rose
above $82 a barrel and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it was cutting prices,
a sign that consumers are still struggling. More.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
fell 12.74 points or 0.6 percent to 2,150.73. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average ($INDU)
fell 92.12 points or 0.9 percent to 9,949.36. The Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index ($SOX)
fell 4.2 points or 1.3 percent to 322.67. The Morgan Stanley High Tech
35 Index (MSH)
fell 2.78 points or 0.5 percent to 542.01. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical
Index (DRG)
fell 2.84 points or 1 percent to 294.61. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index
(BTK)
fell 9.78 points or 1.1 percent to 893.84. Finally, the Standard &
Poor's 500 (SPX)
fell 9.66 points or 0.9 percent to 1,081.4.
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.
LEGAL NOTICE: This email may be considered an advertising or promotional message. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email from this station, please reply to this email by sending a reply email
by clicking on the "reply" button at the top of this page or by sending an e-mail to
Matt Roush or
Georgeann Herbert. Or you can change your subscriber profile: «Reserved.Unsubscribe»
You must use this method to notify GLITR and WWJ of your opt-out request, as we cannot guarantee that other methods of notification will be effective. Please be aware that we may continue to contact you
via email for administrative or informational purposes, including follow-up messages regarding contests you have entered or other transactions you have undertaken. By law, such messages are not considered to be commercial e-mail.
Note: The Great Lakes IT Report is sent in HTML format only. Please make sure you have given us permission to send you an HTML message. If you have any questions, drop an e-mail to
Georgeann Herbert or
Matt Roush.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
No,
it wasn't like the Detroit ITEC shows during the bubble years that drew
thousands. But on its own merits, several hundred people saw fascinating
technology and heard from highly knowledgeable, technologically advanced
presenters at Wednesday's ITEC Detroit Conference and Showcase at the
Rock Financial Showplace in Novi. Most of the presentations focused
on issues bedeviling CIO's, from security to disaster recovery to optimizing
system performance to the question of converting to Windows 7, Microsoft
Corp's new operating system, which is being formally released to the
world this week. 
UM, Hewlett-Packard partner to make rare books available
A
Web where Chinese is the dominant language, and connections are so fast
that distinctions between audio, video and text are blurred is perhaps
just five years away, the head of Google said Wednesday. Eric Schmidt,
chairman and CEO of Google Inc., spoke to about 5,000 chief information
officers and information technology executives in Orlando for a technology
conference. 
