Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Digi’s New XBee® Wi-Fi Cloud Kit

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digi-kitDigi International today announced their new XBee® Wi-Fi Cloud Kit which “Brings the Internet of Things to Everyone.” Their objective with this ‘kit’ is to “Add cloud connectivity to any device or sensor–create your own Internet of Things ASAP.”

Check out their press release below and go to the “XBeeCloud” and see examples here.

New XBee® Wi-Fi Cloud Kit by Digi International
Brings the Internet of Things to Everyone

Add cloud connectivity to any device or sensor–create
your own Internet of Things ASAP (#IoTASAP)

MINNETONKA, Minn., Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Digi International (NASDAQ: DGII) today released the XBee® Wi-Fi Cloud Kit, a development kit that allows anyone to build, connect, and control their own Internet of Things. The kit recently won an Editor’s Choice ribbon at World Maker Faire New York 2013.

Built around Digi’s new XBee Wi-Fi module, which wirelessly connects devices to the cloud, the kit integrates with Device Cloud by Etherios™ using a sample internet-based application, and includes a new development board with sensors, actuators, a USB cable, and a variety of electronic prototyping parts for creating custom circuits.

“The new XBee Wi-Fi Cloud Kit is the fastest and easiest way to explore and develop devices and circuits that connect to the Internet of Things,” said Rob Faludi, chief innovation officer and author of Building Wireless Sensor Networks. “Through its straightforward integration with Device Cloud by Etherios, makers, educators, electronics engineers, software designers, and innovators of all kinds can now create their own Internet of Things through easy-to-use web applications.”

The XBee Wi-Fi Cloud Kit features a sample web application that lets users remotely activate various outputs on the development board including LEDs, a vibration motor, a bar graph gauge and an audio buzzer.

In addition, users can build their own circuits on the development board to sense temperature or light, switch on and off other devices via a relay, turn on and off additional LEDs and more. The web application code is open-source, available for anyone to download and use as a learning tool.

The XBee Wi-Fi Cloud Kit is now available for $149 MSRP. For more information or to buy your kit, visit: http://www.digi.com/xbeecloud. See examples here and take part in the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #IoTASAP.

About Digi International

Digi International is the machine-to-machine (M2M) expert, combining products and services as end-to-end solutions to drive business efficiencies. Digi offers the widest range of off-the-shelf M2M hardware. Etherios, a division of Digi International and a Salesforce.com platinum partner, helps organizations of all sizes achieve their business goals with capabilities encompassing advisory, CRM, wireless design and M2M services. Etherios also offers cloud-based products, Device Cloud by Etherios and The Social Machine. Together, Digi and Etherios offer the only complete end-to-end M2M solution. More information can be found atwww.digi.com and www.etherios.com.

All brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Digi International

Copyright 2013 PR Newswire

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SharePlan from Code 42

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shareplanSharePlan from Code 42 Software, the makers of CrashPlan. SharePlan is a “…sync and share platform that keeps information flowing, teams collaborating and business humming—securely, in real-time, between all endpoints, from the get-go.”

It’s a product that hits the sweet spot of the angst felt by just about every leader in I.T. across the world: Employees are sharing files—oftentimes insecurely and using consumer-centric services like Dropbox. They are also increasingly bringing in their own devices (BYOD) and want to share files to their devices too. For anyone charged with the responsibility of security for their organization, this is the stuff of nightmares.

SharePlan nails what the enterprise needs: a highly secure (256-bit encryption); the option to self-host behind their firewalls; remote wipe and audit trails; and much more (complete list of features here).

They just released a recent webinar for enterprise prospects and you can learn more watching it below or, if you’re an enterprise representative, Request a Demo:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/QYNiZ9j8yfg]

Twin Cities Startup Vets Launch Buzz360™

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Buzz360 logoLocal serial entrepreneurs Lisa Schneegans and Klaus Schneegans have announced a new company, Buzz360 LLC, which provides a marketing platform connecting large companies with small business. The Buzz360™ platform automatically generates an online profile for a small business based upon Facebook posts and also provides automated marketing email updates to customers.

“I’ve devoted most of my career to building companies with software products that are useful for, and usable by, small business people, and I’ve never been more excited than I am about Buzz360,” said Klaus Schneegans, CFO and cofounder. Added Lisa Schneegans, CEO: “My passion is building effective partner channels to bring a product to market. The large firms we’re targeting with Buzz360 will get the technology into the hands of a very broad small business market.”

Previously the founders built Praxis Software Solutions which they sold to SAP AG in 2006.

Kathy Grayson at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal has a nice write-up on the announcement here. Full PR after the break.

…  [Read More…]

3M ‘Quantum Dots’ Add 50% More Color to LCDs

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3m-logoQuantum dots, discovered in the early 1980s, are semiconductors whose characteristics produce more luminance and chroma (i.e., brighter and more color). While discoveries like this are always an interesting academic breakthrough, none of us get too excited about technology until it’s close to being leveraged by a startup, established company or close to shipping.

3M is close to delivering a new quantum dot film solution to make smartphones, TVs, tablets and other devices with LCD displays “…lighter, brighter and more energy efficient.” Up to 50% more, in fact!

Here is their press release:

 

3M to Bring More Color to Consumer Electronic Devices

3M and Nanosys offer stunning visual enhancements to LCD devices

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 7:00 am CDT, ST. PAUL, Minn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–3M announced today it is in the final stages of scale-up for its new 3M™ Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF). The new film allows up to 50 percent more color than current levels in liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. 3M has teamed with Nanosys, Inc., to produce the 3M QDEF solution specifically to deliver more color, and to make devices such as smart phones, tablets and televisions, lighter, brighter and more energy efficient.

Current LCDs typically are limited to displaying 35 percent or less of the visible color spectrum. This means the viewing experience on an LCD can be vastly different than what a person sees in the real world. Wide color gamut displays will allow consumers to enjoy more visceral, more immersive and truer-to-life color.

“One of the many advantages of the new 3M QDEF solution is the film’s ability to deliver richly-saturated colors, while minimizing power consumption – a difference you can clearly see,” said Ty Silberhorn, vice president and general manager, 3M Optical Systems Division. “We will have qualification material available to customers for design cycles starting late second quarter this year.”

Over the years, 3M light management technologies have made LCDs thinner, lighter and more energy efficient. Color performance of LCDs industry-wide has gone largely unchanged until now. 3M research data shows that devices with 3M QDEF-enabled wide color gamut will be noticeably different from other standard LCD devices, prompting the human eye to dwell on the display longer than less-saturated displays.

QDEF utilizes the light emitting properties of quantum dots to create an ideal backlight for LCDs, which is one of the most critical factors in the color and efficiency performance of LCDs. A quantum dot, which is 10,000 times narrower than a human hair, can be tuned to emit light at very precise wavelengths. This means display makers can create a highly-optimized backlight that only produces the exact wavelengths of red, green and blue light needed by an LCD for optimal color and energy performance. Trillions of these quantum dots protected by barrier film fit inside an LCD backlight unit. The new film replaces one already found inside LCD backlights, which means the manufacturing process requires no new equipment or process changes for the LCD manufacturer.

“Improving color performance for LCDs with simple, drop-in manufacturing solutions will create a stunning new visual experience for consumers,” said Jason Hartlove, president and CEO, Nanosys, Inc. “Working together with 3M and utilizing their outstanding design and supply chain capabilities will allow our quantum dot technology to be widely deployed across all product segments, ensuring availability to all customers.”

Both 3M and Nanosys, Inc., will attend Society of Information Display’s DisplayWeek, May 21 – 23, 2013, in Vancouver, British Columbia. For more information: www.displayweek.org.

ReliaCloud Launches

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Our pals at Visi have fully launched ReliaCloud, an “enterprise-class IT Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud solution” and the first in Minnesota with these capabilities.

In numerous conversations we’ve had with Jason Baker, CTO at Visi, about their Tier III data centers and the plans for ReliaCloud. While developers have flocked to services by Amazon, Rackspace and others, the unique requirements for enterprise organizations — the latter a group historically reluctant to outsource I.T. or leverage the cloud — makes ReliaCloud a unique offering for mid-to-top tier companies.

VISI is hosting the Enterprise Cloud Summit on Oct. 16 at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. The event will feature a keynote presentation by Forrester Analyst Bill Martorelli on the topic of: “Navigating the Second Wave of Cloud Computing.” Attendees will have an opportunity to interact with panelists from Cisco, EMC, VMware and TDS HMS. IT professionals and other business leaders are welcome to attend the free event. Register at www.visi.com/cloudsummit.

Read the press release below. …  [Read More…]

SmartThings Debuts on Kickstarter!

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“By 2015, more people will access the Internet from mobile devices than from conventional PCs. A year later, in 2016, 19 billion devices and gizmos will be connected to the mobile Internet — not just your smartphone and tablet, but your washing machine, cars and clothes will be connected too,” writes David Goldman at the start of his June article for CNN Money.  While this is an article about Cisco wrestling with the explosion of mobile devices, and soon billions of new devices connected to the internet, only hints at the groundswell of research, investment, startups and established companies staking their claim in this new, emerging category.

What is that category? The Internet of Things or “IoT”.

Ben Edwards

Though there are many definitions of IoT in this new space of smart sensors, hub devices and software to control and analyze their output, rather than try to look at the entire universe of possibilities, instead think of IoT as internet-connected physical and virtual ‘things’ which have identities, physical attributes, and virtual personalities which use intelligent interfaces for we dumber, slower humans to set them up and make do our bidding. Fortunately we have this other ‘thing’ called the internet connecting them all and, with most of us enjoying broadband connections and Wifi in our homes, the timing is perfect for a smart, strong consumer play to hit the market.

What is that smart play? SmartThings. While their Kickstarter page hints at the devices they’ll ship this year, the developer kits for creation of hardware and software (little apps that will ‘plug in’ to SmartThings itself) demonstrates that their vision for SmartThings is MUCH MORE than simply a set of devices and a single app. The big hairy goal is to deliver a platform for SmartThings, one which other entrepreneurs, established companies and ‘makers’ will use when they create sensors, control devices and who-knows-what-else to leverage the SmartThings’ hub once it is in a home.

I was fortunate to interview one of the founders of SmartThings, Ben Edwards, about their Kickstarter project LAST WEEK (yes, it took many extra days for Kickstarter to approve the project and launch it) and, since the project went live this morning, I thought I’d publish this post written last weekend.

You will like their vision and their plans. It’s a big idea, thought through deeply, and I think you’ll be surprised with what you hear. (SB Note: Previous audio issue has been fixed). Also, become a fan of their Facebook page here, over 7,000 ‘likes’ as of this writing!

Listen to the Interview with Ben Edwards

Podcast (m8-audio): Download (Duration: 26:20 — 21.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Download or listen link

UnitedHealth Group’s Booth at CES

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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is in full swing and UnitedHealth Group (UHG), along with its UnitedHealthcare health benefits and Optum health services businesses, is at CES this year because, as they say on their dedicated “CES Health” innovation showcase website, “…we’re increasingly invested in how the intersection of health and technology is empowering people to take greater control of their everyday health. By giving people the tools to better understand their health and health care, we’re helping them live healthier, happier lives. In short, our innovations are all part of a digital ecosystem we’ve created for health. See these innovations on display in booth #2833 in the North Hall at CES.”

Nick Martin, vice president of innovation and R&D at UnitedHealth Group, gave a quick tour of the booth and some of the innovations within (listed here, by the way):

One thing has surprised both our tech peers in Minnesota as well as we here at Minnov8: Who knew UHG was so active delivering tech innovations? Some of these include: UHC.tv; OptumizeMe (an iPhone/Android app); and Optum’s NowClinic, a virtual Doctor visit/prescribing platform with a corresponding smartphone app.

Might be that these “innovations” are targeted directly at corporate customers and to their respective employees who are under a UHG health plan. It’s interesting that each of their branding, user interfaces and integrations seem to be in separate silos, with no overall direction discernable from their presentation online. Still, it’s good to see a Minnesota employer innovating in the internet and web space.

Workface Adds Status

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At Minnov8, like most social media-savvy folks, we leverage all the social connection capabilities we can for Facebook, Twitter, and other sharing options. It’s an absolute requirement if your organization is online and you want to be “in the game” with today’s always-on and always-connected workforce.

As a fanboy of Workface (disclaimer: was at one-time a services vendor to them too), I pay attention to pings from the CEO, Lief Larson. He just alerted me to their announcement of the first version of the Workface “Chat Live” status button which is rolling out now.

Huh? You’re doing a post about a “status button” Borsch? Yes, but only because I’m personally connected to organizations who are using the Workface toolbar within their sites and would find this instantly useful. These companies are connecting their folks directly to prospects and customers with a toolbar that makes anyone in customer-facing roles like inside sales, support, community management and other functions immediately available to a site visitor in the Workface toolbar.

Brainerd Savings Sam Horn has her Workface status set for "Online! Chat Now". (click for larger view)

Even though that Workface toolbar can be resident at the bottom of a website at all times, some organizations load it only on specific website pages (e.g., a sales or support page). The problem has been that people are usually listed on one or more company pages, like this first-to-deploy Workface customer did on their team page at Brainerd Savings & Loan. This Status button means that wherever a person is listed on their website anywhere their status can be available to a visitor at the click of a mouse.

This Workface Status button alerts visitors to your website whether or not you’re online. If you’re connected to the internet, it says, “Online! Chat now”. When a visitor clicks on it, they can go directly into live text, audio, or video chat communications with you. It can easily be deployed for one person, or the whole company. When you’re no longer connected to the Internet, the button automatically changes to say, “Send a Message” and then your website visitor can drop you a message.

The entire Workface team is eating-their-own-dog-food and using the new Workface Status button. Check it out at Workface and consider signing up for their service.

Workface Integrates Real-Time Engagement with Facebook

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Our pals at Workface have rolled out yet another great innovation: their chat platform now boasts an integration with Facebook that ensures that your Facebook Page is connected directly with those in your company you want customers and prospects to have access to in an instant. (disclosure: Workface was a client of my Innov8Press group).

One of the keys to Facebook engagement with customers is being there for them. Since the social media “community management” discipline is typically focused on watching, listening and waiting for a customer to post, send a tweet or otherwise go out of their way to connect, often prospects and customers don’t take the time to reach out. Since the Workface platform is embedded directly in your Facebook Page and with one click the engagement happens.

Take a look at the press release below and, especially, the companies who have already jumped on this platform to ensure they receive meaningful results from their Facebook efforts. 

 

…  [Read More…]

StarTribune Debuts iPad App

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In this morning’s dead-trees edition of the StarTribune, a full page ad appeared announcing the availability of the StarTribune iPad app. Downloading and launching it presents you with a clean, easy to use interface, optimized for a tablet-sized device.

Offering a complimentary subscription until October 16th, the StarTribune iPad app joins many daily newspapers who are hoping that tablet access will shift people away from newsprint versions and bring in non-newspapers readers (i.e., the under-35 crowd). Ironically the current StarTribune website offers a great experience already on an iPad, so it will remain to be seen if people will choose a native iPad app over the website itself.

The app loads quickly, stories load fast, and there is little of the latency one expects with ad serving, a typical problem on many newspaper websites where page loads stall while ads are fetched from an ad server elsewhere. With its minimalistic and clean look, it’s a pleasure to read.

One startling and glaring omission is the lack of social sharing, especially if the StarTribune truly cares to go after those non-newspaper readers mentioned above. While most smartphone and tablet news apps enable the reader to send an article via email or to Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms, StarTribune has only enabled email. This makes the app significantly less useful for anyone using social media technologies.

The other aspect of using the app that was troublesome was how obvious it now is that the StarTribune — like most daily newspapers around the country — reprint articles from major dailies like the New York Times, Washington Post, LATimes and also from the major newswires like the Associated Press and Reuters. Unfortunately for the StarTribune, there are so many apps with which we can access these same stories, that it makes StarTribune reprinted ones far too obvious and redundant. (For more on this problem and others in the newspaper business, see my personal blog post, “How to Save Newspapers (But do we even care?)“).

StarTribune’s new iPad app is an acceptable first effort, but getting in to the game so late we expected more from this hometown paper. The good news is that they will be able to take feedback and iterate the app so new features will (hopefully) be added over time. We’d like to see more social features added, a larger emphasis on local vs. national news (especially “above the fold” on the first page after launch), video and audio (e.g., podcasts), ongoing reference material that would be “evergreen” and always available (e.g., directories, restaurant reviews, visitor information, guides) and other content that would make using this app (and paying for a subscription come October) a much richer, and more local, experience.