Home » Technology

Technology

Articles

State remains vigilant on military base closures: Protecting jobs could still be tricky; Base Realignment and Closure process to conclude by year’s end

Historically, the vast majority of the military’s initial Base Realignment and Closure recommendations are included in the final cut. Even so, Indiana can’t afford to let down its defenses yet. “We’re still very much on this case, and are going to stay that way through the end of this process,” said John Clark, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels’ senior adviser for economic growth. “We’re going to remain vigilant. These were recommendations, not conclusions.” For years, Indiana’s political leaders and economic developers…

Read More

Digital TV for the masses: Thomson venture to roll out alternative to HDTV sets at prices ‘Middle America’ should love

People with cars-up-on-blocks in their front yards could afford to buy this digital television. TCL-Thomson Electronics Corp., the Thomson joint venture known as TTE, plans to launch ultra-inexpensive “SDTV” digital sets this fall to aggressively court what some say is an ignored segment of the consumer electronics market. If Bharath Rajagopalan and his colleagues are correct, TTE could get an edge on competitors who’ve been too drunk on profit margins from big, $5,000 plasma screen sets to worry about digital…

Read More

Foyt’s tough transition: Legendary driver struggles as racing owner

Foyt with a wrench. It’s an iconic image dating back to the 1960s, when the brash, hott e m p e r e d racer started forging his image as one of the world’s best drivers. A wrench gripped by Foyt’s rugged hands is still the image that best characterizes the legendary Texan. But in an era of high-tech diagnostics and sponsor-driven economics, it’s no longer a winning image. “There are certain athletes, racing drivers and personalities that have unusual…

Read More

Helping seniors get online: Teen-founded organization teaches computer literacy

Philip Ealy became quite deft at pounding the keys of his manual typewriter while processing orders during a career in the construction industry. But when his son gave him a laptop, the gap in technology was too great to overcome. So the 88-year-old resident of Manor Care at Summertrace in Carmel enrolled in a computer class at the independent living facility offered by an upstart not-for-profit known as Senior Connects. The thrust of Senior Connects’ mission-to promote computer literacy among…

Read More

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Effective tech outsourcing takes well-managed plan

More companies than ever are outsourcing their critical business functions, including sales, marketing, accounting and human resources. But the most rapid switch is taking place in technology, due to the accelerated pace of changes in security threats, certifications, government policies and customer-driven mandates. While companies have high expectations of their internal IT departments, many simply don’t have enough time to manage workloads and stay on top of current trends and innovations. Because most technology requires specialization, some companies are finding…

Read More

Stutz’s future includes condos: Developer envisions high-rise, nightclub as part of biz center

Stutz Business Center owner and visionary Turner Woodard last month rolled out a 10-year master plan for the Stutz that could bring condominiums, retail and a high-rise tower to the former auto-manufacturing plant at 10th Street and Capitol Avenue. Right now, Woodard concedes many of his plans are dreams. But with a blossoming life sciences corridor just to the west along the Central Canal, Woodard said he wants the 80-year-old Stutz to continue to be a hub of activity as…

Read More

Demand stokes Coke: After slump, Citizens Gas unit adds workers, expects profit

The bituminous-belching behemoth is as close as this city gets to 19th century industry. It is an anathema to economic strategists who would leave smokestacks behind and recast Indianapolis as a haven for the clean rooms of high- and biotechnology. And neighbors fear it’s the source of elevated levels of benzene and other chemicals blamed for cancer. Yet the politically and environmentally incorrect Indianapolis Coke appears to be on a comeback-at least financially. The subsidiary of Citizens Gas & Coke…

Read More

Music converts lift Get Digital: CD-ripping firm catching on, could hit mainstream with Canadian retail deal

Imagine walking into a retailer and dropping off a stack of compact discs to have them converted to mp3 files, just as consumers have done for years when having their film processed into photographs. The scenario may take a while to play out in the United States, but it’s on the cusp of becoming reality in Canada. And two local entrepreneurs who are putting their spin on digital music technology are largely responsible. Doug Strachota and Brian Moore launched Get…

Read More

Broadband gets power boost in Indiana: Utilities begin offering Internet access through electrical lines in rural areas

Electric utilities serving the state’s rural areas are warming to the prospect of delivering high-speed Internet over household power lines, as several are in various stages of exploring the technology. Offering broadband over power lines to rural areas is becoming a new front in the competition between cable, telephone and, now, electric companies. Power providers in Boone and Monroe counties, and Cincinnati-based Cinergy Corp., are testing the equipment, although Cinergy is not offering the service to Indiana customers yet. More…

Read More

Shepard for the U.S. Supreme Court GERALD BEPKO Commentary:

Acrimony and the politics of personal destruction in our nation’s capital seem to be at a seasonally adjusted high point, owing in significant part to the divisive issue of federal judicial appointments. Much of this is based on the belief that courts have arrogantly ventured beyond the interpretation of law, envisioned by the founders of our government as the role for the judicial branch. These perceptions make the Senate’s advise-and-consent role in judicial appointments much more fractious. The prospect that…

Read More

INVESTING Keenan Hauke: Changing times mean faster, more efficient markets

I grew up 12 miles from Manhattan. By walking a quartermile up the hill from my house and looking east, I could clearly see the entire skyline. At night, when the World Trade Center was all lit up, it felt close enough to reach with a small jump. Lost in all the gleaming skyscrapers is an institution that is almost as old as our nation. And there are changes going on right now that spell the endgame for that institution…

Read More

Rose-Hulman aims for education, not incubation: Michigan-based EDF Ventures takes lead of Indiana Future Fund-backed partnership REI Ventures

The name is unchanged, but under Jack Midgley education comes first at Rose-Hulman Ventures. Business incubation is a distant second. And speculation on high-tech startups is outside the university’s core mission. “The function of Ventures is education, because the function of Rose-Hulman is the education of engineers,” said Midgley, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s embattled president. “Ventures is not a separate entity. It’s part of the undergraduate program at Rose-Hulman, like the math department or the mechanical engineering department.” Named president…

Read More

Local company launches technical think tank: Wolf Technical Services seeks broader customer base

A low-profile Indianapolis research firm is emerging from the shadows to raise its profile and grab more business. Wolf Technical Services Inc., which until earlier this year had focused on forensic studies and accident re-creation, enlisted former University of Indianapolis President Ben Lantz last year to launch a new division that is winning contracts that focus on the future rather than re-creating the past. Already, Wolf’s new division to develop problem-solving technology has done work for IndyGo, Riley Hospital for…

Read More

Forums seek out diamonds in rough: Future Fund events link VCs with entrepreneurs

With $15 million to plow into early-stage companies, Indianapolis-based Pearl Street Venture Funds is one of several venture capital firms searching for promising technologies to fortify with a cash infusion. In return, the investors hope to stumble upon the next Eli Lilly and Co., or at the very least, an enterprise that eventually becomes profitable and attractive enough for acquisition. The process of locating such diamonds in the rough, however, can be arduous and time-consuming. To that end, the Indiana…

Read More

Sales, new spec space in the cards at Intech: Intech One and Two likely to fetch top dollar, draw national interest, investment broker says

Two years ago, Lauth Property Group Inc.’s Intech Park was arguably the most prominent sign of central Indiana’s soft office market. The northwest-side park’s largest buildings, Intech One and Two, had entire floors vacant and awaiting completion. Acterna LLC was pulling out of its 140,000-square-foot building, a retreat symbolic of the technology bust’s effect on the larger suburban office market. Today, helped by a robust investment market and Intech’s recent state designation as a certified technology park, Lauth hopes the…

Read More

Accepting a Grand Challenge: Jones’ robotic startup aims at military market

Within the next 10 years, the U.S. Department of Defense hopes to fully automate a third of its ground vehicles. Indianapolis-based high-tech entrepreneur Scott Jones has plans to one day sell the robot pilots the military needs to accomplish that mission. But before he can build a business capable of attracting serious venture capital, he has to build a robot that can drive a Jeep Rubicon across 175 miles of the Mojave Desert in less than 10 hours. And he…

Read More

More than money: Inception puts emphasis on nurturing fledgling firms

If money can’t buy love, as the Beatles sang 40 years ago, neither can it make a startup company prosperous. While David Becker and David Doyle are no John Lennon or Paul McCartney, their wisdom certainly makes sense for locally based Inception LLC. That’s the consultancy, incubator and venture capital firm they founded in November 2000. “Entrepreneurs always think that, if they had money, they would be successful [right away],” Doyle said. “That’s not always the case. There are very…

Read More

State should target schools, not tourism EYE ON THE PIE Morton Marcus ______:

Our dear friends in the Indiana General Assembly continue to support the idea that tourism should be a state-subsidized industry. It is bad enough that we subsidize biotechnology and the Indianapolis Colts, even though we would object if any of the Colts used some of that good biotech to enhance performance. The first problem with tourism is that it creates very few well-paid jobs. Most jobs in tourism make our workers servants to other people who leave their towels on…

Read More

GIZMOS: Flat-panel monitors: not all they’re cracked up to be

I’ve discovered something really unexpected on my desk lately: a surface. After years of having monitors the size of packing crates looming over my desk, I now have two flatpanel monitors that actually take up less surface space together than one of the old CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors. The new LCD (liquid crystal display) flat panels are sleek, black, digital and much brighter than the old putty-colored CRTs that now seem so dreadfully old-fashioned. A flat-panel 19-inch monitor can…

Read More

IU planning logistics center: University seeks funds for facility to provide services to TDL industry

Indiana University officials say they’re shopping for a site near the airport or in Plainfield for a laboratory to help grow the state’s transportation-distribution-logistics industry-known as TDL. The IU Supply Chain Control Center would evaluate for companies the feasibility and cost benefits of new technologies that could be used to improve sourcing, production and product distribution. The service would be provided at no or little cost. But the center faces a logistics challenge of its own-a delivery of cash. IU…

Read More