Category: News

Twitter has announced that it will no longer continue supporting TweetDeck on iOS and Android devices. Twitter says that this is due to a desire to focus more on its web applications and the Chrome-based version of TweetDeck. As a result, the mobile versions of TweetDeck are scheduled to be discontinued in May 2013.

Recently we wrote about Twitter denying a token extension request for the Falcon Pro app that allows users to access their Twitter accounts with some features not present in the native Twitter app. While TweetDeck isn’t a third party app, since it is owned by Twitter, it seems to be another effort to force consumers to utilize the native apps on both iOS and Android platforms.  What are your thoughts on the discontinuation of TweetDeck on iOS and Android? If this affects you, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: TweetDeck

Come comment on this article: Twitter to discontinue TweetDeck in May 2013

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that three people have been arrested in connection with the theft of an 82-foot yacht earlier this week. The three people, all of them over the age of 50, were arrested on suspicion of grand theft and conspiracy.

The yacht, named the “Darling” was found grounded on a sandbar off the coast of Pacifica, California on Monday. Pacifica is a suburb on San Francisco.

According to the chronicle, the owner of the boat reported it stolen after seeing it featured on the news. What had been a rescue then turned into an arrest and police surrounded the boat, ordering its passengers to surrender.

The yacht was reportedly stolen from a harbor in the North San Francisco Bay. The trio’s joyride would have taken them underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and miles down the southern coast. The Chronicle report states that pizza boxes and beer cans were found on the ship.

Previous rumors pinpointed March 7 for the release of the Verizon LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (SCH-i925). Samsung just dropped us a line confirming the date and the price will be $599 for both in stores and online. It’s basically the same Galaxy Note 10.1 WiFi-only version we reviewed last year, but with the addition of Verizon Wireless LTE connectivity. It sure is a hefty price to pay, but the good news is you won’t be on a contract, and if you’re on their Share Everything plan, you can can simply add it for only $10 extra per month.

Come comment on this article: Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE to be available March 7

Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, married Ri Sol-ju in the middle of last year. Now the couple has reportedly had their first child.

The Washington Free Beacon reports that Sol-ju secretly gave birth to her first child late last year. The news comes from South Korea who have reportedly confirmed the birth though North Korea isn’t talking.

So why is North Korea not wanting the world to celebrate in their glorious leader’s new child? According to some foreign policy analysts, the country didn’t announce the birth because the child wasn’t a boy. That being said, nobody’s sure as to the sex of the child at this point though.

If the baby is a girl, it’s unlikely that she’ll be put into a position of power in North Korea. The Free Beacon notes, however, that North Korea is slowly turning into a family dynasty so nothing is off the table. They note that Sol-ju may even have more power than initially thought as she has been seen having considerable sway over decisions made by Kim Jong Un.

It’s not known when Kim Jong Un will announce the birth of his first child, but he can’t hide it forever. It’s likely that we’ll see some news of it this year. Until then, start preparing for all the Baby Kim memes.

[Image: Kim Jong Un Looking At Things]

Most press junket interviews are incredibly boring. Celebrities sit in one spot with movie art in the background and talk to a variety of reporters, answering the same boring questions over and over. Throw in a rookie BBC Radio reporter and Equire’s sexiest woman alive, though, and you have some of the most awkward flirting seen on YouTube.

BBC Radio this week posted the interview, between Oz The Great and Powerful star Mila Kunis and Chris Stark, a reporter who claims the confrontation is his first celebrity interview. When Stark begins to make things awkward by voicing his fears, calling Kunis “hot,” and soliciting reviews of his interview skills, Kunis takes control of the moment. The conversation quickly shifts to drinking, sports, and nude wedding dances.

Before watching what could be the most interesting Mila Kunis interview ever, it’s worth noting that Kunis describes her condition as “deathly ill.”

Despite selling less than 5,000 models over a decade, India’s little electric car company that could, Reva, is now doubling down on its hopes that a market for electric cars in India will emerge. According to the New York Times, Reva — which is now partially-owned by Indian giant Mahindra — plans to launch an electric hatchback that seats four called the E20, and is also building out a charging network.

Mahindra Reva plans to assemble the E20 and build the charging technology in its new 32,000 square foot factory in Bangalore. That factory is supposed to be able to build 30,000 cars per year. Unlike the company’s poor selling, and micro-sized REVAi, the E20 will be roomier, has a 62 mile range, and has a plastic, light-weight body.

Part of the reason Mahindra Reva is now launching this new car is that the Indian government has announced it will offer support for electric cars. Last year the Indian government announced a $4.13 billion plan to boost the production of electric and hybrid vehicles, with an eye-widening goal to have 6 million green vehicles on its roads by 2020. Reuters reported back then that 4 to 5 million of these vehicles are expected to be electric and hybrid two-wheelers (scooters, commuter cars, electric bikes).

Reva founder Chetan Maini tells the New York Times that the company is expecting the government to provide a rebate of at least 150,000 rupees ($2,790) to each E20 buyer. The E20 is supposed to be at least 10 to 20 percent more expensive than a comparable sized gas-powered car.

There’s a lot of reasons to be skeptical of the electric car market in India. Low cost two-wheelers dominate the roads, and customers that are willing to spend a premium on vehicles want higher end luxury cars that are a symbol of status. That’s why the low cost Tata Nano never took off.

Still, the massive population and its rapid economic growth, combined with government support, could some day be a game changer for electric cars. The question is, will it be Reva and the E20 that will change the game?

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Do you like to receive free pens and soy sauce in the mail? Well, you might be in luck — provided you’re willing to take to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media sites to describe your experience.

In a recent twist on content and social media marketing, companies like Johnson & Johnson and Kraft are sending out samples and asking consumers to complete “missions” based on the products they receive. One recent example, known as “the Juicy Bird Mission,” asked partipants to brine their Thanksgiving turkeys with Kikkoman soy sauce and describe the experience online.

The concept is the brainchild of Social Media Link, a startup based in New York that offers brands access to its community of “influencers” as a way to amplify their marketing messages.

According to CEO Susan Frech, 300,000 people have signed up to be “influencers” on the company’s Smiley360 site and more than half of them have completed at least one mission. Potential participants are screened by an email survey and those selected receive a product and mission card in the mail. Out of curiosity, I asked Frech to partake in a mission and soon after I received a package containing this:

The attached mission card asked me to give away one of the pens and to use the other one to try my hand at a four-color picture. My mission also asked me to ‘like’ Bic on Facebook and to upload my handiwork to the internet. I failed. But it looks like some of my mission compatriots persevered:

I confess the whole process felt odd to me, but I may not be typical. According to Frech, 75 percent of participants are women (“chief purchasing officers” in brand speak) and many live outside metropolitan areas.

In any event, Social Media Link is faring well. Frech says the three-year old company is profitable and that it has run dozens of missions for major brands with deals valued near six figures. The company has also had social hits, including for the “Juicy Bird” soy sauce Mission, when thousands showed up at an hour-long “Twitter party” and caused a hashtag to trend.

For the participating brands, Frech says the appeal of the campaigns is the chance to reap social media buzz among a user’s community and, on some occasions, to test out new products.

The process also offers a way for brands to get positive reviews without falling afoul of FTC rules that require marketers to disclose if they have received any form of payment. As part of Social Media Links’ “mission” rules, participants can write what they like but have to state they have received the product for free.

(Image by Franck Boston via Shutterstock)

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As Austin preps for the annual influx of geeks, tweeps and marketing chic known as South by Southwest Interactive, I’d like to offer our visitors something more than just the parties and panels associated with the event. Why not also try to meet up with a few startups that might not be on your radar, or who should be on your radar?

That’s why for the three years (2012, 2011 and 2010) I’ve prepped a list of the 10 startups you should meet at SXSW, focusing mostly the on startups that I think are going places, have awesome founders or have a great idea or technology underneath. Austin has deep roots in semiconductors and enterprise IT, but has some talented mobile entrepreneurs as well. So many of these startups will have a more enterprise or data-heavy flair; which should be just fine, since that’s what the venture capitalists are funding these days.

Without further ado, here are my picks in alphabetical order. Of course, feel free to share your own faves and comments below.

Aumanil: This team employs data scientists in the service of marketing. While that’s nothing new, the company’s service is one that’s becoming more prevalent — namely crunching customer data and interactions (in Aumanil’s case in online games) to determine who the most valuable customers are for your business and when and how to reach out to them so they keep spending.

Continuum Analytics: This big data startup has been around since 2011 but this year scored a $3 million grant from DARPA to combine scientific databases with those more common in the business world (a.k.a., multidimensional arrays and relational databases, respectively). The company is creating several open source projects for dealing with massive amounts of data in ways that don’t require higher level programming skills.

Icon.me Online business cards are this gray area of opportunity where some people see irritating contact mining schemes (a la Plaxo) and others see a chance to make connections into a form of self-expression (a la Moo). With Icon, CEO Kent Savage — an old hand at creating enterprise companies — is walking the link between personal expression and professionalism. It makes money selling upgraded features and will also try to interest corporations in buying its digital business cards.

Lynx Labs: There are two Kickstarter-famous companies on this list, and Lynx is known for the creation of a “camera” that takes measurements and models of objects and translates that picture into a rendering that a 3D printer can understand. So, if you like something, you snap it, the Lynx camera makes a rendering, and then you can ship it to a 3D printer. It’s the missing link for the age of personalized manufacturing — and a potential nightmare for intellectual property lawyers.

Javelin Semiconductor: It wouldn’t be a list form me without some chip startup on here, and Javelin has a compelling power amplifier chip that’s inside certain Samsung handsets. The company’s chip, made using traditional manufacturing processes, helps reduce battery consumption and the cost of silicon on the phones it’s on. And Samsung is a big win for a little chip firm.

RideScout: While the city of Austin preps for a legal showdown with ride-sharing company Sidecar, a local startup called RideScout (formerly known as GoingMyWay) has launched a similar app that hooks people up via their Facebook accounts with rides. But the real value in RideScout comes from its ability to integrate other transit information, from bus schedules to other ride-sharing services into its application. So instead of a random stranger, you can also choose to grab a cab or a bus.

SuperMechanical: This is the company behind Twine, a popular Kickstarter project that connects your physical gadgets to the internet. Yes, you can use Twine to get your washing machine to tweet, but this company has several other ideas for creating connected objects, so why not try to talk to them and see what else they are working on?

Taskbox: Email overload got you down? I know there are a bunch of apps out there trying to solve this problem, but for people who love to turn their inbox into a testing ground, check out Taskbox, the iOS app (they are looking for an Android developer) that tries to take email — a desktop-oriented app — and make it mobile friendly. The company’s goal is to eventually help take the many source of requests for people’s time and attention and turn it into a task list where your list items come from voicemails, texts or even Twitter. It sounds daunting, but so is managing your life across so many platforms.

Toopher: Requiring two pieces of information, such as a password as well as a fingerprint scan or a physical credit card and a PIN number, are all good examples of two-factor authentication, but translating that level of security to the virtual and mobile world can irritate users. Toopher adds security to mobile transactions using location as the second element in two-factor authentication, which may be irritating if you’re on a sudden trip in a foreign city, but in general makes for less friction with better security. The company raised $2 million last November from Alsop Louie and others.

TrustRadius: The stealthy startup pitches itself as Yelp for enterprises, and it has some local investors pretty excited. The idea is interesting, and the TrustRadius CEO Vinay Baghat started Convio, an Austin startup that made software for the nonprofit sector. In 2010 Convio went public and was later acquired in 2012.

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Last June, I raised a few eyebrows when I told attendees at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio (aka Rio+20) that “accountants would save the world.” But I meant it. To get all businesses involved in solving the world’s toughest problems, we must change the accounting rules.

Why accounting? During my time as CEO of TNT N.V. we created a partnership with the UN World Food Program (WFP) — at that time the world’s first between a for-profit and the UN agency. A transport company like TNT is a typical beneficiary of globalization. At the same time we live in a world where every six seconds a child dies from hunger despite there being enough food in the world to prevent it. So TNT brought its logistics skills and committed its people’s time to help the WFP reach the victims of droughts, famine, and natural disaster. Our professional support made the WFP function better. But we got returns on our investment as well: Our employees were proud of the company and eager to participate; the disaster areas provided some of the best training on how to solve complex dilemmas; and of course the reputation of the company improved tremendously. There is no doubt we benefited from this.

But we weren’t capturing any of it in our financial reports. We were building social capital, but we didn’t have a way to tell our shareholders &#8212 or be held accountable to keep doing it. Similarly, you don’t have to be an energy company or pulp and paper producer to focus on those resources; all companies use water, energy, and paper. But few are held accountable.

That’s why we need to ensure that corporate reporting makes clear how a company is making its money, not just how much money it has made. For every robust, time-tested measure of return on financial capital, we need another for social capital — the economic benefits that derive from cooperation among groups, and yet another for natural capital — the supply of natural ecosystems (think forests, oceans, mineral deposits) that we turn into valuable goods or services future.

Make no mistake, I am a capitalist: Someone who puts capital to work, and wants something back. But where we’ve lost the plot is that we only demand — and manage — a return on financial capital. In order to address current economic crises in a systematic way, we must begin to demand a return on social and natural capital as well. That’s where we need to change the rules of the game.

It’s true that since the advent of the Global Reporting Initiative in 2000 companies have begun to include evidence of sustainability in their annual reports. But many corporate reports describe sustainability as a “journey” with no explicit destination. Furthermore the non-financial parts of reporting today are not rule-based, making it impossible to compare performance across industries — and many times even within them.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), where I am president, is taking steps to address this. We are a membership organization consisting of over 200 companies worldwide — including all of the Big Four accountants. We’ve started a program on reporting and investment that will collaborate with The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project (as in Prince Charles) and the International Integrated Reporting Council to make sustainable performance concrete, measurable, comparable, and linked to scientific priorities. We will focus on both internal sustainability reporting for improved risk and performance management, as well as on external disclosure as a driver for more accurate valuation of companies and improved allocation of capital market investments. We will also convene a forum for CEOs and accountants to discuss and develop large-scale solutions for finance and reporting and are exploring the possibility of developing a world-class training program for CFOs on sustainability.

If the world wants to address our many challenges — if business wants to restore societies’ trust — business must be more transparent and acknowledge that the resources we exploit or conserve and the social benefits we engender or lose, must be factored into a company’s value and thus into day-to-day management. This is not a matter of incremental change, but a radical transformation. And it’s the accountants who will lead the way.

This post is based partly on a speech Peter Bakker gave at The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Forum on December 13, 2012. A copy of the full speech, as well a video, can be accessed here.

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If you’re in a sophisticated IT shop, you’re already familiar with IT outsourcing. Your knowledge of this market gives you a leg up when you’re shopping for a service provider. You already have a bank of the right questions to ask.

But what happens when you’re moving an application to a cloud environment? The fact that a shared, multitenant environment will host your application introduces a whole different set of questions to ask. As part of the due diligence process, you’ve got to identify a wide range of capabilities you require from your cloud service provider.

How do you do this? Look to the online Intel Cloud Finder tool. This tool incorporates knowledge we’ve gained from working with Intel IT and our service provider partners to identify best practices in cloud environments and the characteristics of enterprise-grade cloud solutions.

When you visit this site you are first asked questions to define your required and desired features for your Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solution. You don’t have to come up with a list of questions. We’ve done that for you.

When you complete the search process, the tool compares your responses to the services available from a select number of reputable IaaS providers worldwide and returns matching results. With the click of a mouse, you can learn more about the providers and reach out to them to take the next step.

Billy Cox is the general manager of a new, emerging software business at Intel.

The Washington Post on Tuesday launched BrandConnect, a sponsored content platform that “connects marketers with the Washington Post audience in a trusted environment.” The content appears on the Washington Post home page, among regular articles, and is denoted by a blue box that says “Sponsor Generated Content.” With the new platform, the Washington Post appears to be the first national newspaper to open up to this type of content on its website.

“With BrandConnect, marketers become the content creators and get premium placement through our site,” Steve Hills, president and GM of the Post, said in a press release published at Poynter. “We are excited to create a way for marketers to create enhanced visibility, while maintaining our position as a trusted source for content of all kinds.” According to Digiday, which first reported the news, marketers will create the content in some cases but WaPo will “also offer serivces via its advertiser team. Editorial resources will not be used.”

The first client is CTIA – The Wireless Association, whose post is here. The post’s headline is “Revving Up Mobile Economies” and is about an app called Mobile Main Street, developed by West Virginia University. CTIA has been promoting Mobile Main Street since December. According to the release, CTIA “will provide weekly content through blog posts, video case studies, and infographics related to wireless communication.”

Sponsored content — also known as native advertising — has been the subject of a lot of debate recently. BuzzFeed, for example, uses sponsored content as a substitute for traditional advertising, while the well-known blogger Andrew Sullivan has questioned whether it’s ethical (Note: We’ll be discussing this at paidContent Live on April 17 in New York, via a panel called “The Future of Native Advertising: Blurring Ads and Content,” with BuzzFeed president Jon Steinberg and others).

The Atlantic ran into trouble in January when it published a sponsored post about the Church of Scientology on its website. After massive criticism, the Atlantic pulled the post and updated its guidelines for sponsored content.

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• 2013 Volvo S60 T5 R
It’s true. Volvo is not generally looked upon as a manufacturer of fast cars. Well built cars yes, but fast cars, no. However all that changed when I slid behind the wheel of this 2013 Volvo S60 T5 R. The smooth running turbocharged inline-6 makes 325 hp and 354 lb.ft. of torque helping this blue Swede hit 60 mph in just a hair over 5-seconds and run the quarter in around 13.6. Hell, the fact that it’s that quick AND a Volvo automatically make it a shoe-in for a sleeper car list.

*Image Credit: SeriousWheels.com

• 2013 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon
This thing is a beast. At first glance it looks like your standard Cadillac CTS wagon. However take a closer look and you’ll notice things like giant 6-pot Brembo calipers that sit upon 15.0-inch rotors. A massive rear differential cooler and of course, that optional 6-speed manual transmission. The CTS-V wagon is a grocery getter of the highest order. It packs a supercharged V-8 that produces 556 hp and 551 lb-ft of torque, a 0-60 mph time of 4.0 seconds and a top speed of around 190 mph, making it the fastest sleeper in this group.

• 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT
470 hp and 465 lb.ft of torque, an 8-speed automatic transmission, launch control and 295-series tires at all four corners, AND the fact that it can tow up to 7,200 lbs. help to make the new 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT one of the most versatile vehicles on the market today. This thing is a big hammer, and although it weighs upwards of 5,100 lbs. it does a miraculous job of masking its weight. Combine that with the fact it looks only slightly different from the standard Grand Cherokee and you’ve got a 100% usable vehicle that will pull .90g on the skid-pad, hit 60 mph in under 5.0 seconds and put the hurt on just about anything it goes up against.

• 2013 Honda Accord V6
There is no question that the 2013 Honda Accord V6 is the most unassuming ride on this list. It’s got plain vanilla looks, a relatively low price tag, and nothing about it that suggests big speed. However mash the gas and be prepared to hit 60 mph in a scant 5.6-seconds and blaze through the quarter mile in just over 14-seconds. This is in part to its robust 24-valve V6 that makes 278 hp / 252 lb-ft of torque. For comparison a 1970 HEMI ‘Cuda would hit 60 mph in just over 6-seconds and run the 1,320 in just under 14-seconds. Not too shabby for a mid-sized Japanese family sedan, right?

*ImageCredit: BMWUSA.com

• 2013 BMW 760Li V-12
This is a 2013 BMW 760Li. It’s 17-feet long, weighs 2.5 tons and will run to 60 in 4.5 seconds. It also looks like you should be chauffeured around in it while reading the Wall Street Journal. Power comes from a massive twin-turbo V12 engine that makes 535 hp and 550 lb.ft. of torque, and while this puppy is also not cheap (base price of $140K), your chauffeur will be smiling from ear-to-ear as he crushes all manner of import and muscle car.

*Image Credit: MotorTrend.com

• 2013 Ford Taurus SHO with the Performance Package
Packing the same twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 that resides under the bonnet of the Ford Flex, the Ford Taurus SHO is yet another ride from the blue oval that has “sleeper” written all over it. It doesn’t evoke thoughts of speed, power or performance. However once unleashed (either in a straight line or on the track) a newly re-tuned chassis and suspension help this chub-chub of a family car hang right in there with some much sportier competition.

*Image Credit: MotorTrend.com

• 2013 Acura TL AWD
I’ll be honest, I kind of assumed that the 2013 Acura TL AWD was an 8-second 0-60 mph car. However when I learned that it ran it in 5.3-seconds, I was completely blown away as that’s properly quick. A good looking car, the TL falls directly into that “nice Japanese sedan” category, meaning that it’ll probably run forever, but never be too exciting. However now that I know it’s got some stones, AND can be had with a 6-speed manual, I may have to give it another look.

Be honest, you didn’t think it was that quick either.

*Image Credit: Driving.ca

• 2013 BMW 328xi
When most people see a BMW 328xi on the road they generally assume that the owner settled because they couldn’t afford a 335i. However those that purchase the 328xi are actually the smart ones here. Powered by a twin-turbo inline-4 that makes 240 hp and 255 lb.ft of torque, the 328xi will sprint to 60 mph in just 5.7-seconds and onto a governed top speed of 130 mph. Combine that with the fact that most people will simply shrug it off as the “cheap” BMW, and you’ve got yourself a nice little, fly-under-the-radar hot-rod.

• 2012 Chrysler 200 S
I don’t care what you put it in, but a 3.6-liter V6 that makes 283 horsepower and 260 lb.ft. of torque will generally mean serious speed. Stuff it in a basic and boring Chrysler 200 though, and well, you’ve got the makings of a car that has the word “SURPRISE” written all over it. 0-60 mph time is in the mid-6′s and mid-range torque is fantastic meaning that you’ll be surprising people during highway roll-on’s every time you hit the gas.

• 2013 Ford Flex
It goes 0-60 mph in under 6-seconds, is equipped with all-wheel-drive and has a twin-turbo V6 that produces 365-hp / 350-lb-ft of torque. It also looks as though it should be hauling surfboards to the beach. This is the 2013 Ford Flex Ecoboost AWD and it’s probably the best sleeper of the bunch. At $49,790.00 it’s definitely not cheap, but the fact that you’ll be able to school the vast amount of performance sedans in a light-to-light drag race is priceless.

Wouldn’t it be great if an iPhone case increased wireless speeds while protecting the phone at the same time? That’s exactly what the Linkase for iPhone claims to do. The case includes a slide-out antenna that looks like it’s part of the case. According to Absolute Technology, the company behind the Linkase, it “is fueled by EMW technology (electromagnetic waveguide) and is designed with an embedded proprietary sliding antenna that dramatically boosts a Wi-Fi signal—by up to 50 percent.”

Normally when I hear such claims, I raise an eyebrow. But these videos of the case in action have my brow falling back down; at least part-way until I can see the Linkase myself:

The tests on camera look legitimate, but again, I plan to check out this technology for myself: a Linkase review unit is on the way for my iPhone 5. And I have some definite near-dead-zones in my home to use for testing, even with a new 802.11 a/c router that has generally fixed most of my Wi-Fi coverage and speed issues. Personally, I’d be happy to get a consistent signal — even with minimal speeds — in rooms furthest away from my router.

For now, there’s no price or availability for the Linkase on the product web page. That information is listed as coming soon. If it works as advertised — offering up to 50 percent boost in Wi-Fi speeds for the iPhone 5, what would you be willing to pay? I’d drop $50 on it for sure as I’ve already spend that much for nice cases that don’t do a thing for my iPhone’s Wi-Fi speeds.

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Microsoft has visions of the “intelligent grocery store” and this week the company will put those dreams into motion at the Retail Tech Japan trade show. The show is described as “a vast collection of cutting-edge retail information technology ranging from store systems (e.g., Point-of-Sale registers) to head-office systems, in-store promotion devices, RFID / IC tags, backyard systems and logistics”.

Today, Microsoft’s John Boladian, marketing director for Asia Pacific and Greater China, announced that the software giant will be running a series of demos showing off Windows Embedded 8 Industry. The new version is set to replace the older Windows Embedded POSReady 7.

Boladian, who was formerly with the Windows Embedded team, claims that “this year’s RTJ will also see an exciting debut of demos showcasing Windows Embedded 8 Industry, a fixed-platform solution based on Windows 8 that provides specialized devices, particularly in retail, with the requirements they need out of the box”. The demos will take place at Microsoft’s booth # RT1302.

Boladian goes on to explain that the booth will be “showcasing  streamlined, beautiful line-of-business applications that leverage Multi-Touch, Internet Explorer 10, enhanced power management and  connectivity, and lockdown capabilities”.

Windows Embedded 8 Industry will be released shortly after the RTJ show. However, customers can already grab a Release Preview version from Microsoft if they wish to begin experimenting and building solutions.

Photo Credit: Retail Tech Japan

To hear it from entrepreneurs and technologists in education, new efforts to combine historically siloed sets of student data will pave the way for a new era of personalized and dynamic learning. But to some parents and civil liberties advocates, it’s a privacy nightmare waiting to happen.

According to a Reuters article on Monday, parents in several states are up in arms about inBloom, a $100 million project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation and others to create a massive database of student data. In fact, it said that parents in New York and Louisiana, as well as the Massachusetts chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and Parent-Teacher Association, had written to state officials in protest, citing privacy and security fears.

But while privacy and security concerns are certainly warranted (information about children is obviously not to be handled lightly), supporters of the project say they believe that by shifting the conversation from risks to benefits, those fears could be assuaged — and some say the health care industry can provide a positive example.

On a panel Monday at the SXSWedu education technology conference in Austin, Stephen Coller, a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation closely tied to inBloom, said the electronic medical records (EMR) legislation that accompanied the stimulus package played a crucial role in elevating public discussion and action around patient access to their data, and he’d like to see something comparable happen in education.

Privacy concerns related to health data certainly continue and, he acknowledged, the EMR effort is still in early days. But Coller emphasized that electronic records helped raise public dialogue around patient data and empower people to believe that they should be able to access their data.

“Unless you give parents access to data and you make them aware that they should have access to data, we’re not going to make fundamental progress on this issue,” he said. “We seem to be heading in the right direction in health care, the debate in education shouldn’t be that different.”

Right now, the conversation around privacy and student data is full of misinformation and irrationality, he said, and too many schools believe it’s only the vendors, not the parents and schools, who own student data — but by focusing on outcomes he hopes that could change.

Already, companies like Bellevue, Wash.-based Dreambox Learning are showing how adaptive lessons and real-time reporting can personalize instruction. Startups like Kickboard and Civitas are starting to show schools and parents the value of capturing and analyzing student data. And, at SXSWedu this week, several vendors are demonstrating the applications of inBloom (we’ll have more on that later this week.)

But Coller raised another interesting idea: a “digital student report card” (which, he said, President Obama once surfaced on the campaign trail in 2008) that, like an EMR, would give parents a digital record of their child’s educational progress.

“The notion that every student in this country is entitled to a digital report card, to me, seems like a fundamental civic right and strikes me as non-controversial,” he told me after the panel. “To any parent in the system, it would seem like a sensible idea – it’s their child, their school system, their tax dollars. The fact that they don’t have a line of sight into where their students are… has to improve. And I think it begins with putting more power in the hands of parents and caregivers.”

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