Category: News

EnCap Flatrock has invested $200 milllion in Cardinal Midstream. Cardinal Midstream is an oil producer in Dallas. Also, Mark Ward is joining Cardinal Midstream as vice president and COO.

PRESS RELEASE

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cardinal Midstream II, LLC (“Cardinal”) announced today that the company has secured a $200 million equity commitment from EnCap Flatrock Midstream (“EnCap Flatrock”) of San Antonio to support the continued growth and development of the company’s core business. The company will pursue midstream development opportunities, in both conventional and unconventional resource plays across North America with an emphasis on areas where the management team has significant experience including Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Cardinal was founded in 2008 with an initial $75 million equity commitment from EnCap Investments L.P. and EnCap Flatrock Midstream. In 2010, the equity commitment to Cardinal was increased to $280 million. Cardinal acquired and developed a substantial natural gas gathering, treating and processing system in the Arkoma Woodford Shale, and in 2012 the company sold all of its midstream assets and its natural gas contract treating business to Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: APL) for $600 million.

With this new commitment, Cardinal is led by CEO Doug Dormer and President Marc Lyons. The company’s senior leadership team has been directly involved in the development and operation of more than $1 billion in midstream assets. Cardinal is focused on natural gas and crude oil gathering, compression and centralized production facilities, condensate stabilization, vapor recovery, and natural gas treating and processing.

Management Perspective

“We are very pleased to have EnCap Flatrock’s continued support and confidence. With a highly experienced core team already in place and a very successful operational track record, we have established a solid platform and are well-positioned for growth,” said Doug Dormer. “Our number one commitment is always to our customers: rapidly meeting producers’ needs for midstream facilities and providing services that will enable them to meet their own business objectives.”

“We’ve built our company on a foundation of uncompromising commitment to excellence, putting our customers first and providing producers with lasting value,” added Marc Lyons.

Comments from EnCap Flatrock Midstream

“The key component of our strategy is to invest in exceptional and highly experienced management teams. Doug, Marc and the rest of the Cardinal team are uniquely qualified. They are seasoned midstream executives with deep understanding of upstream and midstream landscapes combined with an outstanding record of success. We are proud to partner with them again and look forward to this exciting new chapter in Cardinal’s growth story,” said EnCap Flatrock Managing Partner and Cardinal Midstream board member, Dennis Jaggi.

Mack Matheson & Marchesoni PLLC served as legal counsel to Cardinal Midstream with Thompson & Knight LLP advising EnCap Flatrock Midstream.

Mark Ward joins Cardinal Midstream as Vice President & COO

Cardinal also announced that Mark Ward has joined the company as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Ward has more than 30 years of engineering, operations and project management experience in both the upstream and midstream segments of the oil and gas industry. Mr. Ward will lead the company’s operations and engineering efforts and provide support to Cardinal’s project development and commercial activities.

In 2005 Mr. Ward established Natural Gas Consultants, LLC focusing on providing both production and midstream companies with efficient natural gas and crude oil gathering systems as well as production, liquids handling and compression facilities. Prior to forming Natural Gas Consultants, LLC, Mr. Ward was manager of business development for American Central Gas Technologies, providing rapid expansion for the company’s East Texas assets. Mr. Ward began his career with Mitchell Energy Corporation in Fort Worth as a drilling, production and reservoir engineer. His deep experience in midstream also includes gas supply engineer, and plant and project manager for Delhi Gas Pipeline.

About Cardinal Midstream

Headquartered in Dallas, Cardinal Midstream provides oil and gas producers with a full suite of midstream services including natural gas and crude oil gathering, compression and centralized production facilities, stabilization, vapor recovery, and natural gas treating and processing. Members of the senior management team include Doug Dormer, Marc Lyons, Mark Ward, Tim Roberts, Larry Connors and Mack Lawrence. Cardinal Midstream is backed by private equity commitments from EnCap Flatrock Midstream and is pursuing midstream opportunities across North America. Visit http://www.cardinalmidstream.com for more information.

About EnCap Flatrock Midstream

EnCap Flatrock Midstream provides value-added private equity capital to proven management teams focusing on midstream infrastructure opportunities across North America. Founded in 2008 by EnCap Investments L.P. and Flatrock Energy Advisors, the firm is based in San Antonio and led by Managing Partners William D. Waldrip, William R. Lemmons Jr. and Dennis F. Jaggi. With more than 100 years of midstream experience, the principals at EnCap Flatrock manage a dedicated professional staff and midstream-focused investment commitments of nearly $3 billion from a broad group of prestigious institutional investors. EnCap Flatrock is currently investing out of EnCap Flatrock Midstream Fund II, a $1.75 billion fund. Visit www.efmidstream.com for more information.

The post EnCap Flatrock Invests $200 Mln in Cardinal Midstream appeared first on peHUB.

Fast, fun and all-wheel drive. Those were the parameters that Chris Harris set forth when he put together this comparison test between the R8 V10 Plus, Porsche 911 Turbo S and a Litchfield GT-R. All are stock except for the GT-R which has been tuned to the likes of 750 hp. However, does all that extra power necessarily make it better than its German rivals? Harris recently put this trio through a gaggle of tests to find out exactly that!

Check it out after the jump.

Source: Youtube.com/DRIVE

Sharp needs help. The consumer electronics company on Tuesday posted a worse-than-expected $5.4 billion loss for the previous fiscal year, and it released its plan to turn things around over the coming three years. For one thing, the company intends to tap banks for $1.5 billion in funds. Sharp also said it will look to boost smartphone display sales to Samsung as business with its top client Apple begins to slow.

Continue reading…

Of all the payments processed using Square nearly 50% take place on an iPad, and the average payment volume processed by iPad users doubles that of smartphone Square users. With that in mind, Square has just unveiled some new hardware for the iPad-using crowd.

It’s called the Square Stand, and it turns your iPad into a true point of sale system.

“Local business owners take as a given that they need an ugly, slow, expensive, and complicated point of sale system cluttering their counter,” said Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Square. “Square Stand is elegant, fast, affordable, and easy to use. Whether you’re selling cupcakes, cardigans, or cappuccinos, running your business with Square has never been easier.”

Square Stand lets you attach your iPad 2 or 3 (versions with lighting connectors coming soon) to a adjustable stand, complete with an attached card reader. This, of course, replaces the old method of attached the smaller Square Reader to your iPad. The Stand can be secured to your countertop, and when it is all said and done it becomes a more secure, permanent, and faster POS system for your business – at least according to Square. But there’s no arguing that this new piece of hardware would make processing a high volume of transactions much less of a headache.

Ready to use in minutes, Square Stand works with Square Register, the free point of sale application, and gives merchants access to real-time analytics, robust reporting, and a delightful experience for their customers. Square Stand features an integrated card reader that keeps information secure from swipe to payment, and easily connects to the hardware accessories businesses need, including a receipt printer, kitchen printer, cash drawer, and barcode scanner.

Square Stand will run you $299. You can pre-order it starting today, and it will be available to purchase in Best Buys on July 8th.

Last month, Square launched a big update to Square Register to make it much more useful to restaurants.

Chuck Muncie, a former running back for the NFL, has died of a heart attack. He was 60 years old.

Muncie got his start in the mid-’70s as the third-overall pick for the Saints; he stayed with them for four years, but was ultimately unhappy with the team and moved on to the Chargers in 1980. His career seemed promising as he helped lead the Chargers’ game with 19 touchdowns in 1981. But just three years later, he tested positive for cocaine and was suspended.

Muncie eventually sought counseling for his drug abuse and began helping others, saying, “I’m a very selfish person, and I like to feel good. One way I could make myself feel good was by helping other people. I learned, over a period of time, that was something that worked for me.”

He tried to make a career comeback with the Vikings in 1985, but as it turned out, the drugs played a bigger role in his life than he’d let on. In 1989, he was arrested for selling cocaine. He eventually turned things around, however, and began working with convicts and drug addicts to help them change for the better. One of his biggest projects was helping to provide ex-prisoners with tattoo removals in order to help them secure jobs on the outside.

His friends and teammates remember him as a man who would drop what he was doing to help others, and a former team doctor once said he did what he did because he genuinely wanted to make a difference.

“Whenever we call, he makes himself available,” Bill Coysh said. “That’s what’s incredible about him. This is not a paid position. He does it because that’s how he is.”

Prepublication Now Available

The electric vehicle offers many promises—increasing U.S. energy security by reducing petroleum dependence, contributing to climate-change initiatives by decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, stimulating long-term economic growth through the development of new technologies and industries, and improving public health by improving local air quality. There are, however, substantial technical, social, and economic barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles, including vehicle cost, small driving range, long charging times, and the need for a charging infrastructure. In addition, people are unfamiliar with electric vehicles, are uncertain about their costs and benefits, and have diverse needs that current electric vehicles might not meet. Although a person might derive some personal benefits from ownership, the costs of achieving the social benefits, such as reduced GHG emissions, are borne largely by the people who purchase the vehicles. Given the recognized barriers to electric-vehicle adoption, Congress asked the Department of Energy (DOE) to commission a study by the National Academies to address market barriers that are slowing the purchase of electric vehicles and hindering the deployment of supporting infrastructure. As a result of the request, the National Research Council (NRC)—a part of the National Academies—appointed the Committee on Overcoming Barriers to Electric-Vehicle Deployment.

This committee documented their findings in two reports—a short interim report focused on near-term options, and a final comprehensive report. Overcoming Barriers to Electric-Vehicle Deployment fulfills the request for the short interim report that addresses specifically the following issues: infrastructure needs for electric vehicles, barriers to deploying the infrastructure, and possible roles of the federal government in overcoming the barriers. This report also includes an initial discussion of the pros and cons of the possible roles. This interim report does not address the committee’s full statement of task and does not offer any recommendations because the committee is still in its early stages of data-gathering. The committee will continue to gather and review information and conduct analyses through late spring 2014 and will issue its final report in late summer 2014.

Overcoming Barriers to Electric-Vehicle Deployment focuses on the light-duty vehicle sector in the United States and restricts its discussion of electric vehicles to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), which include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). The common feature of these vehicles is that their batteries are charged by being plugged into the electric grid. BEVs differ from PHEVs because they operate solely on electricity stored in a battery (that is, there is no other power source); PHEVs have internal combustion engines that can supplement the electric power train. Although this report considers PEVs generally, the committee recognizes that there are fundamental differences between PHEVs and BEVs.

[Read the full report]

Topics: Engineering and Technology | Energy and Energy Conservation

Tonight as part of BlackBerry Live, Alicia Keys as well as musical guests Alabama Shakes, Miguel, Maria Gadu and Cedric Gervais will be webcasting a concert beginning at 7:30 pm.

The show, called the Keep Moving Experience is produced by Alicia Keys and will be performed at the BlackBerry party at Universal Studios Florida. I’ve seen a lot of musical guests that BlackBerry has hired over the years and Keys seems to be the most invested: designing a custom show from the ground up.

Click here to tune in to the Keep Moving Experience tonight at 7:30pm Eastern.

Babson Capital Management said Tuesday that it has formed Babson Capital Finance, which will provide loans to middle-market companies and specialized industries globally. Mike Hermsen, Managing Director of Babson Capital Management, was named CEO of BCF.

PRESS RELEASE

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Babson Capital Management, a global investment management firm with over $180 billion in assets under management, today announced the formation of Babson Capital Finance (BCF) as an operating subsidiary that will provide financing to middle-market companies and specialized industries globally. Mike Hermsen, Managing Director of Babson Capital Management, has been named as CEO of BCF, and will report to Tom Finke, CEO and Chairman of Babson Capital Management. Mr. Finke will also serve as chairman of BCF’s Board of Directors.

Babson Capital Management has a proven 25-year history of providing capital solutions to middle-market companies, and the formation of BCF consolidates the firm’s existing global middle-market leveraged finance and energy finance investment teams into one unified platform. This strategic realignment, combined with a balance sheet backed by its parent corporation, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), enables the firm to expand its origination and investments in a broad range of products, including middle-market senior and second-lien loans, unitranche, subordinated debt and private equity co-investments. In addition, BCF will manage funds and customized separate accounts for clients seeking private finance solutions for their investment portfolios.

“We plan on establishing Babson Capital Finance as a leading global finance company serving middle market companies, especially those backed by financial sponsors and in certain specialized industries,” said Mr. Finke, who notes that many regional banks and other traditional financiers have either reduced their activity levels or withdrawn completely from the leveraged finance market in recent years due to increasing financial regulations and changing economic conditions. According to Mr. Hermsen, “As these traditional providers reduce their footprint in the leveraged finance market it presents a unique opportunity for Babson Capital Finance. As a global business with teams located in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia, we are well positioned to fill that void.”

About Babson Capital Management LLC

Babson Capital Management LLC is a leading global investment management firm with over $180 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2013. Through proprietary research, analysis and a focus on investment fundamentals, the firm and its subsidiaries develop products and strategies that leverage our broad expertise in global fixed income, equities, alternatives, structured products, debt financing for corporations and debt and equity financing for commercial real estate. Based in Boston and Springfield, Mass., and Charlotte, N.C., with offices in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, the firm’s subsidiaries include Babson Capital Europe Limited in London, Babson Capital Australia Pty Ltd in Sydney, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC in Hartford, Conn., and Wood Creek Capital Management, LLC in New Haven, Conn. Babson Capital is a member of the MassMutual Financial Group. Learn more at www.BabsonCapital.com.

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BlackBerry had a pretty busy day at its Live conference in Orlando. The Canadian manufacturer announced the new Q5 smartphone, introduced the updated BlackBerry 10.1 operating system, released Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1 and detailed plans to bring BBM to Android and iOS.

My colleague Larry Seltzer, who was at the BlackBerry Live conference, briefly went through a couple of the announcements, but let’s take a more in-depth look at what the new products bring to the table.

The BlackBerry Q5 is designed to slot right under the BlackBerry Q10 in the company’s QWERTY lineup. The smartphone features a physical keyboard, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display and aims for “youthful fans that are passionate, confident and bold, and it makes it easy for them to have fun, create, share and stay connected”, says BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins.

The BlackBerry Q5 comes with the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which now touts more than 100,000 apps in the store, and allows users to take advantage of features such as BlackBerry Hub, BBM, Time Shift and Story Maker, among others.

BlackBerry 10.1

The Finnish manufacturer announced that BlackBerry 10.1 will be available for the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone in the upcoming weeks. There are a couple of notable new features here.

The BlackBerry Hub introduces support for PIN to PIN direct messages between BlackBerry smartphones and features improved attachment capability. Users can now customize notifications through ringtones, vibrations and even the LED light.

The company also says that the BlackBerry 10.1 cursor should be both easier to use and more precise in operation. The operating system adds support for HDR mode, a feature already available in other platforms, as well as landscape viewing mode within the calendar app, enhanced red eye reduction in the picture editor as well as other improvements.

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1

BlackBerry Enterprise Service is designed to allow businesses to manage BlackBerry devices. The latest update brings the software to version 10.1 and introduces a couple of new features and benefits.

Businesses can now restrict BlackBerry 10 smartphones to work environments, which disables them for personal use, through an optional set of extended IT policy controls and settings. IT administrators are able to manage devices running BlackBerry 10 as well as previous iterations of the operating system.

BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 version 10.1 also brings an improved dashboard designed to make it easier for businesses to view data related to managed devices, phone support via BlackBerry and deployment in a highly available active/passive configuration.

BBM Comes to Android and iOS

Currently available as a BlackBerry-only affair, the Canadian manufacturer announced that BBM will also be available to Android and iOS users this Summer.

“For BlackBerry, messaging and collaboration are inseparable from the mobile experience, and the time is definitely right for BBM to become a multi-platform mobile service”, says BlackBerry. “BBM has always been one of the most engaging services for BlackBerry customers, enabling them to easily connect while maintaining a valued level of personal privacy. We’re excited to offer iOS and Android users the possibility to join the BBM community”.

BBM will not be a trojan horse, sent by BlackBerry behind enemy lines to bring back its former users (and possibly gain new ones) who have defected to Android and iOS. Instead, the service has to fight off similar offerings available on the platforms that rule the smartphone market today in order to gain some ground.

BlackBerry, however, says that BBM will have a new trick up its sleeve. The service, which touts more than 10 billion messages each day, will feature the BBM Channels “social engagement platform”. With it, the company wants to connect users to celebrities, businesses and groups of interest.

Unlike Facebook which released its messaging service after the social network, BlackBerry goes the other way around. Considering that many folks are already using different social networks, BBM Channels appears to be a futile feature at this point.

Confie Seguros has acquired Texas State Low Cost Insurance Agency of Austin. Financial terms were not disclosed. Confie Seguros is backed by ABRY Partners.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, May 14, 2013 – Confie Seguros, a rapidly growing national provider of personal lines insurance, today announced the acquisition of Texas State Low Cost Insurance Agency of Austin, providing a strong distribution network in Texas beyond the company’s current locations in San Antonio and Houston.

Texas State Low Cost Insurance was founded by Hal and Reba Cooper in 1978. Michael Morris joined the firm in 1993 and took over as CEO/President in 2000. Under his leadership the company has grown to one of the most established retail agencies in the state of Texas. The company has a strong footprint on the fast growing Texas I-35 Corridor, a group of metropolitan areas that include Austin, as well as West Texas and East Texas. The company offers personal and commercial insurance from its 43 locations. Mr. Morris will continue as President of Sales and Kelly Myers will continue in her role as General Manager.

Joe Waked, CEO of Confie Seguros, said, “Texas State Low Cost Insurance is one of the premier agencies in the state and a very well-run company. We are pleased that Mike and Kelly will continue with Confie in leading management positions to help us further build our presence throughout Texas. In addition to providing additional scale to our Texas operations, Texas State Low Cost has a long-standing reputation that will provide opportunities for us to identify strategic fill-in acquisitions throughout the state of Texas.”

Confie Seguros expects to complete a number of important transactions in the second half of the year as it continues to build its national presence.

Mr. Morris, said, “This transaction represents a great fit for our employees, and Confie will be a great partner with the resources to help us grow both organically and through additional acquisitions. The Confie management team and I share the same vision of providing affordable insurance to a broader group of customers throughout Texas.”

Confie Seguros has built a national portfolio of regional auto insurance brokerages. The company was rated among the top 10 in revenues in Insurance Journal’s latest top 100 ranking of insurance agencies and in Best’s Review’s 2012 Top 20 Global Insurance Brokers.

 

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Just as America’s visa rules enabled the rapid growth of India’s information-technology companies over the last two decades, the Obama Administration’s recent drive to reform immigration regulations could prove to be a turning point for them.

Although the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Bill of 2013 — introduced four weeks ago by a bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators — seeks to increase the number of visas that the US government can grant highly-skilled workers (aka H1B visas), from 65,000 to around 110,000 a year, it is likely to constraint non-American companies operating in the US. Since the new law will force employers to attest that they tried to recruit American citizens before offering jobs to foreigners, the US Labor Department can scrutinize hiring decisions after they are made. That will create uncertainty, open the floodgates to litigation, and force companies to fill jobs rather than seek talent.

How that will help the US economy become more competitive is anybody’s guess, but these legal changes could finally force India’s information technology companies to transform themselves. For some time now, it has been obvious that these companies will have to go beyond the offshoring model that served them well in the past and develop innovative new ones.

The major business process outsourcing and software companies, such as TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant, HCL, and Tech Mahindra, have become large and profitable, but their growth is slowing even as fierce competition is reducing profit margins. Moreover, governments, concerned about job-creation, data-security, and user-privacy, are challenging the offshoring model.

India’s hi-tech giants clearly need to reinvent themselves. Among other things, they need to offer business solutions with pricing linked to outcomes; they need to be knowledge-providers rather than service-providers; and they need to connect with clients’ decision-makers, not just their technology heads. Above all, they need to globalize so that in the US, they think, act, and behave like American companies; in Germany, they’re German; and in China, they’re Chinese.

America’s latest immigration reforms could ensure change, as one historical precedent testifies In 1981, the Reagan Administration forced the Japanese automobile industry to sign an agreement limiting their exports to the US to 1.68 million automobiles a year. That deal was supposed to protect America’s floundering automotive manufacturers, but it did nothing to help GM, Ford, and Chrysler become more competitive.

Instead, the restriction dramatically boosted the Japanese companies’ fortunes, in four ways. One, the ceiling on American imports, coupled with growing demand, allowed the Japanese manufacturers to raise prices and boost margins. Two, since they didn’t have to compete based on price, they started trying to differentiate themselves. Three, the new law encouraged Japanese corporations to develop bigger cars since they could no longer sell as many small cars as they wanted to. That’s when they launched premium brands such as Lexus and Acura.

Finally, the agreement forced the Japanese companies to localize manufacturing. They created efficient union-free factories in Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Carolina, which insulated them from currency fluctuations. Thus, US import restrictions enabled the Japanese automobile majors to transform themselves from manufacturers of cheap automobiles to competitive corporations that could hold their own in the US.

In the same way, India’s information technology giants must bite the bullet today. They must localize work-forces and leadership teams; abandon cost arbitrage and pursue differentiation, and turn their major overseas units into hubs in a global network. That will allow them to shift from renting out intelligence to creating intellectual property. If they do so, they will be perceived not as Indian “body shops,” but as global technology giants that don’t need visas to succeed.

It’s a now-prevalent notion that companies can advance by simply adding a social layer on top of existing business processes, integrating social tools with existing functional tools such as ERP, CRM, and HR solutions. The idea goes that this will make companies more social and therefore more productive.

That idea isn’t going to work.

Why? In a nutshell, social network-based communication is primarily organized around the concept of a “pull” medium — that is, a medium where individuals subscribe to whichever information sources they prefer and find useful. Traditional business processes, on the other hand, use “push” communications, where whoever created the information gets to decide whom it’s most important to. Simply put, the two parties don’t gibe.

Perhaps more importantly, the nature of work in our era has changed. Most people now have jobs based on non-routine work, where the predefined and fixed roles of business process do not reach.

I recently wrote a report as part of my activities in GigaOM Research, entitled “Social networks will displace business processes, not socialize them” (subscription required). In the report, I argue that we are drifting away from a business-process defined culture and towards a social network-shaped, cooperative one.

Source: Stowe Boyd/GigaOM Research

Above we see the variance between process-oriented organizational cultures and network-oriented ones. I consider this part of the transition from post-modern (1970-2005) to what I’ll call post-normal (2005-present and beyond) economic eras. These cultures also differ in the nature of social affiliation, with a loosening of the bonds that tie people together in cooperative cultures contrasted with collaborative ones. People in cooperative organizations will have a higher number on connections, but the proportion of those that are strong ties decreases relative to collaborative cultures.

Source: Stowe Boyd/GigaOM Research

Some corporate cultures are stuck even farther back in time because they are based on competition. I don’t mean competing with others in the marketplace, like Toyota competing with BMW. I am talking about a corporate culture based on zero-sum competition among workers, where one person’s advancement is someone else’s demotion. These are cultures strongly based on authority-based decision-making, and really are a holdover from the late modern era: the late industrial era.

Source: Stowe Boyd/GigaOM Research

In the report, I discuss the “fit” of different psychological profiles, or archetypes, in these cultures. For example, the Entrepreneur archetype (see above) fits well in collaborative and competitive cultures, and fits the entrepreneurial culture perfectly. But Entrepreneurs won’t like working in a purely traditional, “cooperative” culture, because they like to lead collectives that are managed through consensus. A cooperative organization is too loose for them: It’s a connective, and is based on laissez-faire decision making.

Source: Stowe Boyd/GigaOM Research

This is the debut of the 3C model — competitive, collaborative, and cooperative. It’s a psychosocial model of organizational culture, and I hope it helps address some key issues in organizational dynamics in organizations today as social technologies and practices are being adopted. Marshal McLuhan said, “we make our tools, and they shape us.” Keeping that in mind, we see the change that social network-based communication is causing.

Businesses are not making these changes on a whim or because individuals are made happier by cooperative work relationships. The fast-and-loose business is most in sync with the digital realities of today’s world, although most companies are still operating principally in a more traditional mode, and may even have a healthy dose of the “frozen-and-immobile” at the core. Nonetheless, businesses must move towards a more cooperative work environment because in doing so they will successfully compete in today’s fast-paced, digitally focused world. Older cultures that cling to traditional business processes will not.

To read the full report, click here (subscription required).

Thumbnail image courtesy of flickr user ShellVacationsHospitality.

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Hardware accelerator HAXLR8R unveiled its newest class of startups at a demo day in San Francisco on Monday. This year’s crop of startups skewed heavily towards gadgets for learning, play, and the internet of things, with devices like a connected vibrator, bike handlebars with technicolor lights and GPS tracking, and the hardware hacker’s favorite product — a drone. The entrepreneurial teams hailed not only from the U.S. and China but also Singapore, Canada, and the U.K. After 111 days of perfecting their prototypes in Shenzhen, China, the ten teams returned to the Bay Area to pitch investors and enter the vanguard of the “hardware renaissance,” as HAXLR8R co-founders Cyril Ebersweiler and Sean O’Sullivan put it.

In addition to seeking seed funding, many of the startups are commencing or have already launched Kickstarter campaigns. Engaging in crowdfunding may reflect the unwillingness of the VC ecosystem to fully back hardware-based efforts, but it may also speak to the lack of staying power for quirky, fun gadgets, which are a dime a dozen on Kickstarter and other similar sites. While many of the products presented at the demo day were indeed colorful, fun, and eye-catching, I wondered whether their creators had harnessed the full potential of the fast product iteration and vast component availability of Shenzhen touted by the HAXLR8R team. Many of the ideas seemed to address decidedly first-world desires or needs, rather than the stated goal of “solving real problems or creating a meaningful change to our current technological state.”

Ironically, one way some of the startups are innovating is not so much with their product or design, but in their business model. Some of the companies are using their apps or software as a Trojan horse for the actual hardware product, while others are using platform-as-a-component plans. One company is just going for the “sex sells” strategy (literally). Here’s a recap of HAXLR8R’s inaugural class last year, and below are this year’s top six startups to watch.

LightUp

The brainchild of two Stanford students, LightUp is like a digital erector set. Magnetic snap blocks let kids build working circuits and learn about electronics through trial and error. Besides the physical play kits, which will be available via Kickstarter for $30-200, LightUp also has an augmented reality app that acts like a tutor and lets you visualize current flow in a circuit. The Arduino-compatible system is powered by a button battery, can be used for building all kinds of electronics projects, and will be launched at select partner schools in August.

HEX Air Robot

Chinese company HEX is betting that the FAA will follow through with opening up the skies to commercial drones in 2015. They’ve developed a modular auto-pilot system that they will sell to the DIY drone community, as well as two drone bodies, the smaller of which will debut on Kickstarter next month. Hex’s system also includes an app to launch, land, and have the drone follow the user like an airborne puppy. For photo enthusiasts, the mini HEX includes a camera, and the full-sized drone has a detachable auto-balancing arm for GoPro camera integration.

Molecule Synth

Honeycombs meet Legos in the build-your-own musical instrument from Molecule Synth. It has color-coded parts for pitch control, sound generation, and sensors, and can hook up to an iOS device or a keyboard. A mobile app lets users share compositions, and an upcoming Bluetooth module will give the synth drum machine capabilities. This is definitely the kit for music geeks who want a hyper-customized system, or DJs who want to out-Skrillex Skrillex.

Helios

Helios’ mission is to solve the dual dilemmas of safety and security for the hipster biker. Not only does the high-tech handlebar have blinker indicators for turning, it has a built-in super bright leadlight and a GPS tracker. An iOS app lets you change the blinker colors at will, and can even coordinate the indicators with turn-by-turn directions. The $199 bullhorn or drop bars also have two built-in rechargeable batteries and a dedicated battery for the GPS, giving you a 15-day window to find your bike (or probably just the removed handlebars) should it get stolen.

Spark Devices

Spark makes hardware connected with its Arduino-compatible Wi-Fi chip that can be embedded into existing electronics. This “core” tech is gaining traction with early adopter hobbyists on Kickstarter. For enterprise, Spark provides a cloud service that lets Spark-connected devices connect to each other or online services via a REST API. For more on Spark, check out Stacey Higginbotham’s recent post.

Vibease

Most other devices are smart now, so why not vibrators? Vibease has over 1,000 pre-orders for its $99 rechargeable Bluetooth vibrator. Their companion “fantasy marketplace” app aims to be the iTunes for erotica, with crowdsourced audio fantasies that synchronize with the vibrator’s intensity. The app plus licensing of the Vibease chip to other sex toy manufacturers will form the core of Vibease’s business model.

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At the company’s BlackBerry Live conference on Tuesday, BlackBerry announced what could be interpreted as zero positive news for the company. First, there’s the BlackBerry Q5 mid-range QWERTY handset that runs BlackBerry 10. Pricing was conveniently not announced. Industry watchers are chiming in saying that BlackBerry really needs to hit a $250 price point at full retail in order to compete in Asia and other similar markets. Let me spoil it for you.

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BlackBerry Enterprise IM 3.0 is a secure, enterprise-grade instant messaging service that borrows a lot of functionality of the popular BBM service. The service can communicate with desktop enterprise chat systems like Microsoft Lync, Microsoft Office Communication Server and Lotus (IBM) Sametime.

BlackBerry Enterprise IM 3.0 launches with BES 10.1 but will also support Legacy BlackBerry devices that are deployed on BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.3 and above. Some of the BBM-borrowed features include presence status like “I’m free” or “Out of office” and your presence can even be controlled by your work calendar. Search though your employee database to add contacts using LDAP, Active Directory and Global Address Lookup. Messages are securely delivered using either HTTPS or 256 bit AES encryption.

Click here to learn more about the new BlackBerry IM 3.0

It appears that professional escorts have been using LinkedIn to make professional connections, and the company wants to put a stop to that. LinkedIn has just updated their terms of service and user agreement to add a good amount of new language, but one particular clause is rather interesting. Apparently, LinkedIn doesn’t want you using the service for “escort services or prostitution,” even if such activity is legal in your area.

Here’s the relevant addition to LinkedIn’s terms:

Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that, even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

Making the waters murkier, you can actually endorse users for “prostitution” on LinkedIn:

Other skills and expertise “related” to prostitution that LinkedIn offers are “extortion,” “rape,” “forgery,” “robbery” and more criminal activities. It’s clear that these “skills” are not there to endorse the commission of said activities, but for fileds related to those activities like law or social work. But still, you can technically be endorsed for prostitution on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has always banned the promotion of illegal activities on their network, but it appears that they felt they needed to clarify their terms for legal activities that they find unsavory.

“In the old [user agreement], we had it covered by saying that one could not use a profile to promote anything ‘unlawful,’” a LinkedIn rep told Mashable. “However, in some countries, that activity actually is lawful.”

Sorry, escorts. It looks like you’ll need to find another way to make new contacts.

French soccer team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) locked up its first Ligue 1 title in nearly 20 years this weekend, sending the team to the Champions League group stage and prompting celebration in Paris. Unfortunately, police and soccer fans did not get along during the celebration, and a riot in Paris has hurt fans and damaged property.

According to a BBC News report, at least 30 people have been injured and 21 have been arrested after a planned celebratory parade for PSG turned violent. Protesters were reportedly sporadically clashing with police for hours before the city was back under police control. A boat ride for PSG players and a trophy presentation scheduled for Wednesday have been cancelled.

The violence reportedly began when thousands of PSG fans grew restless while waiting for PSG players to show up at an event. Riot police fired tear gas and smoke bombs as fans threw rocks and other objects at police. The violence spilled out to the Champs-Elysees, where restaurants closed early and storefronts were vandalized.

PSG has issued a statement, saying that the riot was caused by “a few hundred troublemakers who have nothing to do with football.” The statement, in full:

The party was spoiled by a few hundred troublemakers who have nothing to do with football and even less with those that fill the Parc des Princes on match days with such passion and enthusiasm and in total security.

All the members of the club, the players and the directors, express to all those loyal and passionate fans their heartfelt regret that today’s trophy presentation ceremony had to be cut short.

The celebrations will continue this Saturday at the Parc des Princes for the Ligue 1 match against Brest, when the club and its fans will unite in the joy of Paris Saint-Germain’s first league title in 19 years.

Paris Saint-Germain is more determined than ever to build a huge European club, worthy of the French capital, and far removed from those intent on trying to destroy that dream.

A year ago, at his first BlackBerry Live, according to BlackBerry President and CEO Thorsten Heins, many people told him that it would be his — and the company’s — last. As Heins went on to say, they were wrong.

Here at BlackBerry Live 2013 in Orlando the company had an upbeat story and lots of news.

While many are still skeptical of the company’s prospects, it’s hard to deny that the company has executed well in the last 12 months, recovering from widespread disdain to the release of several well-regarded products and a profitable quarter. In that first quarter of this year they sold a million BlackBerry Z10s and 5 million older BlackBerry devices.

The news highlights from the company include:

• BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), the company’s messaging platform, will be available for iOS and Android this summer. BBM is a significant service outside the US where it is widely used for free messaging, and is a major selling point for the company there. They claim 60 million users worldwide.
• BBM Channels turn BBM into a social network more on par with Facebook and Twitter. Celebrities and companies, and ordinary users, can create a channel and BBM users can subscribe to it. BBM Channels is now in beta and will be available for older BlackBerries as well.
• BlackBerry OS 10.1 will start releasing this week. US carriers should have it by the end of the month and the Q10, available in the US in early June, will ship with it. BBOS 10.1 includes improvements in the BlackBerry Hub (the central messaging app for the OS), personalized notifications for contacts and accounts, click-to-call from an email or BBM message and better cursor control.
• BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 10.1 is now available for download. It adds the ability to run on the same physical server as BES 5. (BES 10 can only manage BB10 devices so organizations with older BlackBerries have to run an older BES as well.)
• The BlackBerry Q5 is a new phone with a physical keyboard designed for emerging markets. It will be available in black, red, white and pink.

The foundation of BB10 is QNX, a popular embedded OS which BlackBerry bought. One of the themes here at BlackBerry Live is automotive computing, as the company takes integration in the other direction, putting BlackBerry technologies into cars. They brought a “stock Bentley” to the stage with a BlackBerry console including BBM videoconferencing.

Among the celebrities launching a BBM Channel will be BlackBerry’s Global Creative Director Alicia Keys. Keys spoke today mostly about the popularity of BlackBerry among women (56 percent of BlackBerry users are women) and the company’s commitment to advancing the role of women in technology. To that end, they announced today the BlackBerry Scholars Program, which “…will provide full, four-year tuition scholarships to outstanding women globally who are seeking degrees at accredited colleges and universities in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) with a particular interest or aptitude in the area of mobile computing”.

BlackBerry is under no illusions that BB10 and their other new technologies will catapult them back into market dominance. One ISV partner I spoke to said that Heins told them the company’s goal is to be #3 in the market, which would seem to make Microsoft their main target and a goal which seems achievable. Heins alluded to this in his opening remarks in which he emphasized how their products are “built for mobile,” that they don’t try simply to downsize the desktop experience and have no desktop users to satisfy.