Author: Serkadis

Making a list of the stuff you use every day in the kitchen it just too damn hard, eh? The creator of the Ikan thought so, which is why he created a device that allows you to track what you use on a daily basis. And it runs Android!

The concept is sound. As you finish using a product, before you dispose of if, scan it with the Ikan. The system will then log that you need a new jar of vegamite, and keep a running list of what you ran out of. On a preset day, it’ll email you the list of items that you used up, allowing you to print it out and take the list with you to the store, or read it on your phone as you shop.

You can also use the built in voice recorder to make list of thing that you might have ran out of that don’t have a barcode, such as produce. The Ikan device will then include those items on your generated shopping list as well. The Ikan plans to offer a “HomeGrocer” style system as well, where you can have the device automatically order replacement groceries for you, thus avoiding mingling with the unwashed masses.

Hopefully you have $400 to spend on all the techy goodness. If you do, it’s available now.

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Acquisition Will Transform Federal Signal into a Leader in Intelligent Transport Systems With Portfolio of High Value, Best-in-Class Products

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS), a leader in environmental, safety and transportation solutions and Sirit Inc. (TSX: SI), a global provider of radio frequency identification (“RFID”) technology today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement pursuant to which Federal Signal will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Sirit (the “Common Shares”) for cash consideration of CDN$0.30 per share by way of a court approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the “Arrangement”).

The transaction has a total equity value of approximately CDN$49.5 million (US$48.0 million).

The CDN$0.30 per share cash purchase price represents a premium of 37% over Sirit’s 30-day average closing stock price, and a premium of 60% over Sirit’s 60-day average closing stock price.

Sirit is a leading designer, developer and manufacturer of RFID technology for applications such as Tolling, Electronic Vehicle Registration, Parking and Access Control, Asset Management, Cashless Payments and Supply Chain Systems.

The combination of Sirit’s RFID technology with Federal Signal’s detection and classification technology (acquired in the December 2009 purchase of Diamond Consulting Services) and existing PIPS automated license plate recognition technology, immediately transforms Federal Signal into a leader in Intelligent Transport Systems.

“We are excited about this transaction with Sirit, as it further strengthens Federal Signal’s best-in-class product portfolio and advances our stated strategy of driving growth through our Public Safety Systems platform,” said William Osborne, Federal Signal’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Sirit, Diamond Consulting Services and PIPS have a proven record of success in jointly delivering superior technology-based client solutions.  We are committed to investment in research and development to maintain Sirit’s reputation for technical excellence and with the addition of Sirit’s talented employees, we look forward to further differentiating Federal Signal’s Public Safety Systems offering.”

“Global market trends for Intelligent Transport Systems are robust and we believe the addition of Sirit will enhance long-term earnings and provide greater revenue visibility through recurring revenues,” Mr. Osborne continued.

“We are confident Federal Signal will be better positioned to help customers capitalize on road-user charging technologies and deliver enhanced value to our stockholders.”

“We are thrilled to be joining Federal Signal and are excited by the opportunities we will have as part of a larger organization with greater financial resources and access to a wider customer base.

The combination of Sirit and Federal Signal creates a superior technology platform and service offering, while providing customers with more complete and fully integrated solutions,” said Norbert Dawalibi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sirit.

“We look forward to working closely with the Federal Signal team to ensure a smooth transition and complete the transaction as expeditiously as possible,” added Mr. Dawalibi.

Sirit’s board of directors unanimously approved the transaction and determined that it is in the best interests of Sirit and its shareholders (the “Shareholders”).  The board made its decision following the report and favorable recommendation of an independent committee of Sirit’s board of directors.

In reaching its recommendation, Sirit’s independent committee considered a fairness opinion from its financial advisor, GMP Securities L.P. A copy of the fairness opinion, the factors considered by the independent committee and the board and other relevant information will be included in the management information circular that will be sent to the Shareholders of Sirit in connection with the special meeting anticipated to be held on or about Feb. 26, 2010 to consider the Arrangement.

The record date for purposes of determining Shareholders entitled to vote at the special meeting has been set as of the close of business on January 25, 2010.

Certain executive officers, directors and Shareholders of Sirit owning approximately 28% of the outstanding common shares have entered into a voting and lock-up agreement with Federal Signal under which they have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the Arrangement.

The arrangement agreement contains customary terms and conditions for a transaction of this nature, including a prohibition upon Sirit from soliciting or initiating any discussion concerning any other business combination or similar transaction, the right of Federal Signal to match any unsolicited superior proposal received by Sirit and a termination fee of CDN$1.5 million payable to Federal Signal by Sirit in certain circumstances.

The closing of the Arrangement is subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions, including, among others, obtaining certain court approvals as well as the approval of Sirit’s shareholders.

For the Arrangement to proceed, a special resolution approving the Arrangement must be approved by not less than two-thirds of the votes cast by Sirit’s shareholders. The transaction is not subject to financing.  Federal Signal intends to finance the transaction through cash on hand and existing bank lines of credit.

Upon completion of the transaction, Sirit will operate as part of Federal Signal’s Safety and Security Systems Group.

About Sirit Inc.

Sirit Inc. (TSX: SI) is a leading provider of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology worldwide. Harnessing the power of Sirit’s enabling-RFID technology, customers are able to more rapidly bring high quality RFID solutions to the market with reduced initial engineering costs.

Sirit’s products are built on more than 16 years of RF domain expertise addressing multiple frequencies (LF/HF/UHF), multiple protocols and are compliant with global standards.

Sirit’s broad portfolio of products and capabilities can be customized to address new and traditional RFID market applications including Supply Chain & Logistics, Cashless Payment (including Electronic Tolling), Access Control, Automatic Vehicle Identification, Near Field Communications, Inventory Control & Management, Asset Tracking and Product Authentication.

For more information on Sirit, please visit sirit.com.

About Federal Signal

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) enhances the safety, security and well-being of communities and workplaces around the world.

Founded in 1901, Federal Signal is a leading global designer and manufacturer of products and total solutions that serve municipal, governmental, industrial and institutional customers. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., with manufacturing facilities worldwide, Federal Signal operates three groups: Safety and Security Systems, Environmental Solutions and Fire Rescue.

For more information on Federal Signal, please visit: federalsignal.com.

JavaScript performance has become the megahertz war of web browsers and each vendor is trying to one up the other in this area. This can be largely attributed to Google’s quest for improved web app performance, which it pursued with its own Chrome web browser. When Google Chrome came out, it left all other browsers in th… (read more)

This past CES saw an army of e-book readers in a variety of form factors, all ready to march ashore in the wake of Amazon’s wildly successful Kindle. Not only did commercial models from vendors known and unknown litter the show floor, but many of the major semiconductor manufacturers had prototypes on display, mostly proof-of-concepts which have yet to be picked up by a commercial manufacturer.

The coming crush of e-book readers has two major implications, which I’ll elaborate on in this article: 1) chip vendors like Samsung, Qualcomm, Freescale, and TI are all scrambling to get a piece of this exploding market, and 2) chipmaker competition will quickly turn the e-book reader into a multifunction cloud client much like today’s smartphone, complete with app stores, content stores, and many of the other features of emerging smartphone platforms.

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The Peace Corps has issued a request for Proposals (RFP) for new colleges and universities in their Master’s International (MI) program. The program integrates graduate study with Peace Corps service. Peace Corps is accepting proposals for this partnership in the following areas of study: Agriculture, Education, Business Development, Environment/Natural Resources, and Youth Development.

It’s iPhone 4 day! We’ve already seen rumors of a touch-sensitive case and an iMac-inspired concept. Now comes two actual patents filed by Apple that hint at stylus functionality and a customizable GUI.

According to Apple Insider, the first patent was filed in July 2008, and proposes a stylus outfitted with a conductive tip that would be compatible with the iPhone’s screen. It also includes the option of a powered stylus that could include sensors capable of measuring force and angle.

It’s possible—probable, even—that this is just a defensive patent by Apple to prevent third parties from creating a comparable device for iPhone use. But with the imminent arrival of iPhone 4, it’s at least something to consider.

The second patent, from July 2008, seems more likely to be actually implemented. It allows for different user interfaces based on one’s location—possibly similar to HTC’s Sense UI—as well as offering optimized controls for when the phone is docked versus portable.

Makes sense to me, and seems in line with Apple’s ease-of-use dictum. We’ll know soon enough either way. I’ve already got lots of ideas about my own Pre-Party mode, most of which are unprintable. [AppleInsider]

Filed under: SEMA Show, Coupe, Performance, Chevrolet, Design/Style

The history of the Chevrolet Camaro is littered with bold styling options and even bolder colors. “Bold” doesn’t always equal “good,” but there have been a lot of both since the 1967 introduction of Chevrolet’s original pony car. At SEMA this year, we saw more custom Camaros than we thought possible, a few of them done up by General Motors itself. The General even promised that we’d see some of those Camaro option packs on the regular production models in the future. One special Camaro that really caught our eye was the Synergy, mainly because of its eye-popping green paint.

Today, Chevy has made good on its promise to offer those SEMA-special touches to the masses by officially announcing the release of the Camaro Synergy Special Edition. We have no idea why GM’s announcement wasn’t part of media days at the Detroit Auto Show, but regardless, the Synergy will be available from February to May with a starting price of $26,790. It’s based on the 1LT, with its 304-horsepower, 3.6-liter, direct-injection V6. You can get it with the six-speed stick or an automatic, but the bespoke, specially-stitched shift knob will assuredly feel better when shifting for yourself.

The Synergy Green exterior color will be unique to this limited run and comes with Cyber Grey Rally Stripes, a rear spoiler, 19-inch painted wheels, Synergy Green instrument panel, door inserts and stitching. Synergy buyers will also pocket the Camaro Convenience and Connectivity Package, which add Bluetooth, USB port and remote vehicle start on slushbox models. By our estimation, that’s a lot of content and a lot of green for not a lot of green.Gallery below and press release after the jump.

[Source: Chevrolet]

Continue reading Chevrolet debuts Synergy Green Camaro

Chevrolet debuts Synergy Green Camaro originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Government/Legal, Technology, Australia

The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is taking steps to eliminate the possibility of drivers who have had their licenses successfully applying for another one. The state’s Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) will be using facial recognition software to build a database of license holders.

According to Australia’s Drive, the software won’t minutely scan your face like something out of The Matrix – it will only will take measurements of the distances between one’s eyes, nose and mouth. When someone applies for a license, his or her measurements will be compared to the others in the database, and if there’s a “high probability match” there will be an alert.

The technology will also be used for people applying for photo cards. However, the price of a license or photo card will not be raised even though the citizenry will be being watched much more closely. The plan is that the new procedures will help reduce the $3.5 billion Australian ($3.25B U.S.) the country has to spend every year combating identity fraud.

[Source: Drive.com.au | Image: Ian Walde/Getty]

Report: Aussie police begin using facial recognition tech to track scofflaw motorists originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twitter app store Oneforty is ramping up its offerings around paid apps, giving developers the ability to sell their services on the site. It also confirmed that it closed a $1.85 million first round of venture-backed funding, which we previously reported on here.

The company is rolling out an e-commerce platform for one-time app purchases. It’s taking a 25 percent revenue share, which is roughly on par with the cut other app stores receive. The site will still offer plenty of free apps, but if developers want to charge, there’s a minimum price of 99 cents.

Since launching last fall, Oneforty has gone from showcasing 1300 apps to 2300. Oneforty collects information and reviews of apps by relying on its community to write about, tag and rate them. Twitter itself says there are 50,000 apps in its ecosystem, but Oneforty founder Laura Fitton says that’s not quite accurate because the company is counting how many requests its gotten for application programming interface keys, not apps that are actually built.

Fitton is a veritable Twitter maven. She wrote the book on it, literally — “Twitter for Dummies” and amassed a large following early on in the company’s history. With the funding, she hopes to grow the company to eight to 10 employees from the current five.

Through watching Twitter’s ecosystem develop on the site, she says apps are getting much more sophisticated user interfaces for very specific use cases. Fitton thought that Oneforty had met some strong unmet demand for apps on the Android and Blackberry platforms. She says developers shouldn’t be afraid to charge for premium services and going forward, a lot of Oneforty’s commercial could center around apps for enterprises.

She also doubted that the company would make any major acquisitions of Twitter clients like Seesmic or Tweetdeck.

“I kind of laugh about the notion of a Twitter client war and that one will win,” she said. “Twitter has a lot of use cases. People like to play the “Is Twitter going to buy me?” game, but mergers and acquisitions aren’t really advantageous to Twitter when they have this huge ecosystem to support. They’re always walking a fine line between stimulating the ecosystem and killing players if they acquire competitors. They’ve always been very aware that they need to focus on growing their core. What they do is technology insanely complex.”

Oneforty’s first round was led by Flybridge Capital Partners and included Javelin Venture Partners, Dave McClure, Roger Ehrenberg among other angel investors. Flybridge’s Jeff Bussgang (@bussgang), former Jefferies & Co. investment banker John Prendergast (@johnprendergast) and CEO Laura Fitton will form the company’s board of directors. We previously that the company aimed to raise $2.4 million here when it was revealed in an SEC filing.

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(Editor’s Note: The Start-up Chronicles is a weekly feature giving an inside view of the trials of a bootstrapped start-up – The Cost Savings Guy. CEO and founder Bruce Judson is also the author of “Go It Alone!: The Secret to Building A Successful Business on Your Own” and a senior faculty fellow at the Yale School of Management.)

Over the past few years, I have been approached from time-to-time by prospective entrepreneurs who have an idea that they believe will support a compelling Web-based business. In today’s create-a-job employment market, this occasional question has become a regular one.

There is obviously a long checklist that anyone should review before embarking on a new enterprise. So, this list is a set of prequalifications—based on my experiences—rather than a way of determining an ultimate go/no-go decision.

Can you code? I believe it’s critical that any solo entrepreneur who will use the Web as a marketing vehicle be able to create and maintain their own Web site.  A fundamental rule of direct marketing is that you cannot predict what will work. You need to continuously modify your site based on experience with live prospects.

If you do not have the ability to creatively generate this ongoing evolution yourself, a couple of  things can happen:  First, you will inevitably spend a fortune asking a freelance designer to continuously make changes for you.

Second, the time between new insights and tests will take days or weeks, instead of hours, as you inevitably end up in a time consuming cycle of scheduling based on availability, back-and forth based on your vision and the inevitable conflict between beautiful designs and simple, effective direct marketing designs.

Moreover, since the optimization of a landing page can make a huge difference in your ultimate profits this cycle never ends.

Even if you can’t hand code a site, it’s possible to use WordPress to build extraordinarily sophisticated services.

Why is your idea worth developing (in two sentences or less)? Sure, great ideas can be complex – but if you cannot express them simply, you will never be able to sell them to prospective customers or sources of funding. Business ideas that can’t be explained easily usually require more clear thinking.

Here’s a related point. An idea that is effectively a single, better feature for an existing type of service rarely wins. The incumbents see a good idea and incorporate it into what they are doing.

Do you have the right amount of expertise in your chosen industry? Outsiders are often the source of transforming ideas. So, it’s entirely possible that you can develop a business in an area where you are not presently an expert.

However, you need to understand why a seemingly brilliant, innovative idea hasn’t been previously implemented. Has it been tried and failed for reasons you don’t understand? Is it impractical because of some other reason, which is specific to this industry? In addition, long-term success will require that you become an expert in the industry associated with your business idea. Today, you may have a valuable insight, but a sustainable business will require that you become ever more sophisticated in how you serve an industry.

Do you believe a great idea will propel you to success? If so, you’re delusional.

Even if you’ve got the best idea anyone has ever heard, it’s still smart to keep your day job until you’re certain of how it could be flawlessly executed. (You want to plan for flawless execution, so that in reality you can achieve good execution. Nothing ever works the way its planned.)

Great execution is what matters. I have seen many good or even less good ideas lead to great businesses because of terrific execution. Rarely, if ever, have I seen the reverse. A great idea that is poorly executed it an almost-certain formula for failure.

Are you a good marketer or salesperson? These are crucial skills. Unfortunately, people who have spent their entire careers in the back office often attempt to become entrepreneurs without recognizing how hard it is to move the needle with prospective customers. A previous career in sales or marketing is not a prerequisite. But, an ability to convince other people of the value of your ideas and services is essential.

There is a myth that great ideas are what propel successful entrepreneurs. Finding a good idea is the easy part. It’s the execution that’s difficult.

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Well, it’s Thursday. You know what that means: it’s time for another new revolutionary display technology that will offer better image quality at lower costs and with reduced energy consumption. Today’s breakthrough is LPD, or Laser Phosphor Displays. They rely on a screen covered in phosphors, much like a traditional CRT, but instead of a scanning beam of electrons those pixels are excited by a series of lasers. It seems rather similar to SED and FED tech, but with lasers rather than cathodes, thus making it roughly 23 times more awesome. The display tech is said to be able to created in any shape or size, and with its long lifespans and low power consumption is being targeted toward large-scale installations for advertising and the like. Don’t believe the hype? Turn up those speakers, click on that read link, and prepare to be awed by the breathless potential of… Prysm.

LPD display tech from Prysm uses lasers, phosphors, groovy Flash intros originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nuvo has just released its $130 Ritmo “Advanced Pregnancy Sound System,” which is a pregnant belly belt composed of four belly-firing speakers, with a built-in iPod pocket, 3.5mm jack and volume-regulating abilities. You could jack in your phone for a bit of long distance baby conversation, but for the most part you know this belt is going to be inundating your child-to-be with Josh Groban and The Ting Tings. And do you really want that on your conscience? There’s video after the break.

Continue reading Nuvo’s Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System jacks your baby in to your terrible music taste

Nuvo’s Ritmo Advanced Pregnancy Sound System jacks your baby in to your terrible music taste originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Jenzabar Foundation’s third annual Student Leadership Awards honor ten student-led campus groups or activities that have made a significant impact beyond their own higher education institutions serving others. This year, The Jenzabar Foundation Student Leadership Awards will include a new Social Entrepreneur of the Year category, which will recognize one outstanding leader or organization committed to tackling social issues and promotes social entrepreneurship.

The annual Student Leadership Awards recognize student groups who have made a difference in the world through service and philanthropic activities, both domestic and international activities will be recognized. The Jenzabar Foundation is accepting submissions from institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, religious organizations and self-nominations from students for their community service or humanitarian efforts during the current, 2009/2010, or previous, 2008/2009, academic year. A $5,000 grant is included with the recognition to support the student or group’s future humanitarian endeavors.

Past award honorees included a wide range of impressive achievements. Some previous recipients include The Wartburg College Feed My Starving Children Project, Engineers for a Sustainable World at Harvey Mudd College, Flagler College Students in Free Enterprise, The Student Philanthropy Project at Grove City College, and many more (see information on past winners at www.thejenzabarfoundation.org).

Nominations are open for students enrolled in any accredited institution of higher education and can be submitted by individuals, educational institutions, or nonprofit organizations that have produced work consistent with the mission of The Jenzabar Foundation: to recognize and support the good works and humanitarian efforts of student leaders serving others across the global community.

Additional criteria and nomination process information may be found on the Jenzabar Foundation Web site at www.thejenzabarfoundation.org. Submissions will be accepted online only. The first step in the submission process is joining The Jenzabar Foundation Community Network at http://www.thejenzabarfoundation.org/ICS/Join_Us/ and using the referral code: SLA2010. Once registered, applicants will be advised of the submission procedure. Nominations are due by March 31, 2010.

Evaluation of nominees will be based on the content of submissions spotlighting the positive impact and value the group or project has brought to the beneficiaries of its service. The honorees will be announced at Jenzabar’s Annual Meeting (JAM 2010), to be held in June in Orlando, Florida.

The Jenzabar Foundation seeks to foster a culture of service and to educate and inspire future generations to create a better world. The Foundation has funded more than 300 colleges and universities and student-led campus groups through its annual student leadership awards and other grant programs.

About The Jenzabar Foundation
The Jenzabar Foundation issues grants to institutions of higher education and other charitable organizations with similarly aligned missions, and helps promote the activities of grant recipients within their communities and on a global level. The Jenzabar Foundation is a charitable and educational organization that received its initial funding from Jenzabar, Inc., but is now seeking financial support from the general public. Foundation grants are managed by the Foundation itself or through cooperating educational organizations. For more information please visit www.thejenzabarfoundation.org.

The beginning of 2010 brought to the automotive scene rumor of an ongoing research within German manufacturer BMW’s engineering labs, aimed at developing a split engine hybrid for the future generations of BMW models. Rumored to have already filed a patent application for the technology, BMW has opened our appetite for digging a bit deeper into the technology and finding out the whys and hows of a split cycle engine.

WHAT IS IT

As you might have guessed, a split engine is a type of intern… (read more)

The latest Case-Shiller numbers have been disappointing, but they’re a few months behind the curve, so it’s hard to tell, exactly, what’s going on right now.

But lesser-known measures, which attempt to track what’s going on right now indicate that the right now isn’t so hot.

David Rosenberg pointed to a couple of them in an earlier note this week, showing price weakening in December.

And the latest Altos Research real time numbers don’t look good either, with their 1-city composite falling 1% sequentially in the last month of the year. Granted, seasonal factors are at play, but given the sharp fall, a rebounding housing market could, possibly, overcome that. So far it’s not happening.

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See Also:

• David Rosenberg: "Uh-Oh" It’s A Double Dip In Housing
• Housing: Stable In The First Half Of 2010… Then Off A Cliff
• Case-Shiller: Housing Recovery Still Weak, October Decline Of 7.3% Slightly Worse Than Forecast

Europe’s getting some slim pickings from this week’s EU PlayStation Store update. The price cuts from last week are continuing until next week, though, so check out the list to see if there are any of the