Accutech Responds to Growing Concerns in the Healthcare Industry

Accutech Security announces the results of internal testing of its radio frequency identification (RFID) Infant Protection system, Cuddles, in response to the growing concern in hospital maternity wards and birthing centers about false alarms caused by electromagnetic interference. The prevalence of cell phones and other personal electronic devices is causing an increase in the false alarm rate of RFID security systems in hospitals and birthing centers. The Cuddles Infant Protection system from Accutech Security operates on a unique frequency and uses design enhancements that competitors do not to make it the most interference free infant abduction protection system available.

Jason R. Guerrero, the Vice President & Manager of Technical Applications, states that Accutech has tested and verified that the RF transmissions generated by smart phones, cell phones, iPads and the like, do not interfere with or have an adverse effect related to the RF of the Accutech tags when placed in close proximity or next to each other. He goes on to say that Accutech tags will continue to transmit and lock a door and or create an alarm when presented at an exit monitored with the Accutech system. Additionally, if the tag is transmitting a Band Removal signal, it has also been tested and verified that no RF interference shall occur.

The prevalence of cell phones and other personal electronic devices is causing an increase in the false alarm rate of radio frequency identification (RFID) security systems in hospitals and birthing centers. The Cuddles Infant Protection system from Accutech Security operates on a unique frequency and uses design enhancements that competitors do not to make it the most interference free infant abduction protection system available. Hospital maternity wards and birthing centers must address the potential threat of abduction with security measures that track and protect their newborn patients. To safeguard against this threat, facilities deploy security systems designed specifically to maintain safety of infants in obstetric and pediatric departments using RFID technology. With a transmitter chip attached to the infant and sensors placed near exit points, an alarm is triggered if an unauthorized person attempts to remove the baby from the designated area.

Due to electromagnetic interference and lack of design sophistication, many leading manufacturers RFID security systems are prone to false alarms. False alarms on maternity floors are disruptive and upsetting to new parents and can harm the serene setting being fostered by nursing staff. Maintaining a safe environment can be a challenge when continuing false alarms reduce the urgency of clearing every one. They may also lead to alarm fatigue,When describing the location of the problematic carparkmanagement. which reduces the urgency required to respond. Infant protection systems must be sophisticated enough to overcome these challenges and remain a trusted and effective security tool. False alarms are frequently caused by radio frequency interference caused by nearby electronics and increasingly, cell phones. The embedded ID code on the Accutech Security RFID chip in addition to the unusual frequency it is transmitted on combine to make Cuddles the most reliable infant protection system available with few to no false alarms. Any false alarms that do occur as a result of noise can be tuned out.

Cell phones are ubiquitous and can cause interference with RFID tags several ways. It is possible for the power (wattage) of a phone to cause noise and generate interfering radio frequency during transmission, or from the phone itself while in standby mode. Circuitry and metal inside a phone can cause shielding or detuning of the signal if a tag is placed next to it. These factors can also work in conjunction with each other to cause unanticipated interference. In addition to cell phones, devices such as microwave ovens, walkie-talkies, wi-fi and GPS use the radio frequency spectrum and are also sources of electromagnetic interference that can hinder the function of RFID security systems. The Cuddles Infant Protection system from Accutech Security operates at a unique frequency (418 MHz) on the edge of a range available only to the Department of Defense. This helps to make them the most interference free infant abduction protection systems on the market - meaning they have the lowest rate of false alarms that lead to alarm fatigue, unnecessary stress on staff, and have negative impacts on patient care.

The Cuddles Infant Protection system from Accutech Security transmits data using radio frequency, for sensors to track and identify tags attached to soft bracelets worn by newborns in a birthing facility. The battery powered tags emit radio waves that contain electronically stored, unique ID which sensors can read up to a 25 meters away. Unlike a bar code, the identification code is embedded in the RFID tag and does not need to be within line of sight of the sensor to be read. Many electronic devices used in residential and commercial environments emit radio waves,Online shopping for miningtruck. and in the United States, the range of the electromagnetic spectrum they can operate within is regulated by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Accutech RFID-enabled security systems can also be stagger-tuned: meaning each zone in the system can operate on a unique frequency. This helps to avoid crosstalk from zones that are located right next to or on top of each other.

But in the packed downtown courtroom, there was little of the showmanship that Gerhartsreiter, 52, had displayed during the previous three decades. Wearing a blue blazer and slacks, he kept his head down, writing continuously as attorneys sparred over evidence.

The prosecutor argued that Gerhartsreiter was an intelligent criminal who slipped up at various times. In 1988, he gave the Sohuses' truck to a friend who tried to obtain its title from California, alerting police that Gerhartsreiter and the missing couple's vehicle were in Connecticut.

Although Gerhartsreiter had lied about himself before,A parkingguidance is a portable light fixture composed of an LED lamp. he went to more extraordinary lengths to hide his true identity after the killing of John Sohus, particularly when a detective began seeking him in connection with the missing couple, Balian told jurors.Choose from the largest selection of glassbottles in the world. Witnesses testified that Gerhartsreiter changed his address, dyed his hair,The term 'drycabinets control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. used post office boxes and kept records out of his name for the next 20 years.

Balian mocked the suggestion that Linda had the sophistication to carry out the killing and successfully go underground for nearly 30 years. She had left school in 10th grade and at 29 was beginning to experience success as a fantasy artist. Her friends testified during the trial that Linda was happy in her marriage and that she and John were planning for the future. Balian said the evidence suggests that Gerhartsreiter killed Linda as well as her husband.

"Not only did he end these two people's lives, but it's sad that they have the gall to come in here and blame the very woman he killed," Balian told jurors. "If not liking your mother-in-law is motive to kill, then many of us might be in trouble."

The prosecution has not suggested a motive for Gerhartsreiter to have killed Sohus.

Denner said his client was no killer but instead a petty criminal with good reason to duck the police. Gerhartsreiter, he said, had engaged in a fraudulent marriage to obtain a green card, falsely signed documents under oath and committed minor thefts.

"Clearly this is an individual who is a con," Denner told jurors. "He had quite a portfolio of illegal behavior that was following him around, so it's not surprising that he would try to stay under the radar."

The defense lawyer emphasized that there is no DNA, fingerprints or other concrete forensic evidence connecting Gerhartsreiter to the killing. When John Sohus' remains were found in 1994, authorities could not determine whether blood found on the concrete floor of the guest house where Gerhartsreiter had lived was from the victim, he said.

Think Starbucks is Ditching Free iTunes Cards? Think Again

Starbucks announced a change to its iTunes Pick of the Week program on Tuesday that pushes customers to the company's mobile app for free downloads, which had some people thinking the cards they're used to seeing next to the cash register were going away, and soon. Turns out that's not the case, and what Starbucks is really doing is giving away even more free iTunes content every week.

The Pick of the Week program lets Starbucks customers get a free song, video, book, or app download every week by dropping in to one of the company's retail locations and picking up a printed card with a special redemption code. Starting this week, that changes -- but only sort of. Now, customers will always be able to download two free iTunes selections each week instead of just one.

The confusion started when Starbucks' Chief Digital Officer told CNET that the free download offered though the company's mobile app was expanding to include more than just music and added, "This is another step in the direction that we're going to integrate more things into our mobile application."

CNET noted that Starbucks is kicking off the change by offering Angry Birds Star Wars as its first app download, which is a pretty great kick off choice.

The assumption many people jumped to was that this change was replacing the printed cards we've been seeing in Starbucks locations for the past few years, which is actually wrong. Instead, the change means customers can stop by Starbucks and pick up the card of the week, and they get a second free download through the Starbucks Mobile app, or by connecting to the in-store Wi-Fi network.

A Starbucks spokesperson told The Mac Observer, "Instead of one free iTunes download each week, Starbucks customers get two. One from the printed cards, and one from our mobile app."

You now get two free downloads from the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBookstore every week from Starbucks.

Starbucks has quietly offered two downloads each week off and on for several months, but now it's an official change to the program. That's good news for Starbucks customers since they get to more free content each week, and it's a smart move for the mega coffee chain since it gives customers more incentive to come in. For developers, artists, and authors, it's great, too, because now there will be more opportunities for their content to get exposure.

If you can't get to a Starbucks each week you can still get a free download through the company's mobile app. A free in-app offering shows up in user's in-app Messages, and they can download it by opening the message and tapping the Download Now button.

But Stratus is not a 99-cent application, clarifies Amanda North, AOptixs marketing vice president. The app sells for $199, and the company isnt disclosing how much its peripheral costs. While conceivably any individual who wants to drop that much money can rig his or her iPhone for biometric collection can, its not a consumer application, North says.

Its also not designed for every iPhone: AOptix built Stratus for the iPhone 4 and 4S, citing what it says was customer request. It doesnt work with the iPhone 5, and the company isnt saying what its plans are for future iPhone upgrades.

AOptix doesnt specify its customers, but theyre from the U.Online shopping for drycabinet from a great selection of Clothing.S.A parkingmanagement is a plastic card that has a computer chip implanted into it that enables the card. government: Pritikin says the company has substantial interest across a wide variety of agencies, not just DOD [the Department of Defense]. At a time of government austerity, its a bit curious that the company would have picked high-end Apple devices for its mobile biometrics platform: the Army, for instance, likes cheaper Android phones. Pritikin says AOptix chose iOS because its a much more secure platform.

The Stratus system is designed to be a single-handed device,We are one of the leading manufacturers of formalofficdresses in Chennai India. Pritikin explains. Load the app and tap for iris scanning or facial recognition. The imaging display, readable from about 11 inches distant and using nothing more than the iPhones camera,Wear a whimsical Disney landscapeoilpaintings straight from the Disney Theme Parks! will automatically focus and snap the shot. The phones ambient microphone handles voice recording, but fingerprint scanning comes from the back of the Stratus peripheral wraparound, not the iPhones touchscreen. Unlike a similar product from Tactivo, theres no smartcard reader, but it scans more biometric data than someones fingerprint.

Anyone whos ever used an iPhone will also be familiar with the Stratus apps user experience for typing in annotations to the biometrics collected: small fields that look like any other iOS text feature allow quick notations. Standard iPhone geo-tagging is easy to enable, as a demo walkthrough AOptix showed Danger Room demonstrated.About carpark in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. SMTP email functions transmit the biometric information back to a customers database. And an open architecture allows Stratus customers to develop their own add-ons.

The California-based company AOptix rolled out a new hardware and app package that transforms an iPhone into a mobile biometric reader. As first reported by Danger Room in February, AOptix is the recipient of a $3 million research contract from the Pentagon for its on-the-go biometrics technology.

Opting for what it considers ease of use, the company decided to build its latest biometrics package, which it calls Stratus, atop an iPhone. A peripheral covering wraps around the phone its an inch and a half thick, three inches wide and six inches tall while the AOptix Stratus app presents a user interface familiar to any iOS user. Except youre not going to be recording Vine videos, youre going to be recording the most unique physical features of another human being.

From an end-user perspective, its much, much smaller, lighter and easier to use an app-based capability than the bulky biometrics tools currently in military use, Joey Pritikin, an AOptix vice president, tells Danger Room. Anyone whos used an iPhone before can pick this up and use it.

Chris Webber included -- and Michigan need each other

Chris Webber is the elephant in the room,You can order besthandsfreeaccess cheap inside your parents. as the "will he or won't he" has become an interesting subplot to tonight's championship festivities in Atlanta.

Webber, like it or not, is the face of the famed Fab Five, and the voice, childhood friend Jalen Rose, gave an impassioned plea on an ESPN podcast / video, asking Webber to support Michigan's basketball team in its return to the NCAA championship game, 20 years since Webber led them and infamously called a timeout Michigan didn't have against North Carolina.

The other members of the Fab Five Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson will be there tonight. The missing link, of course, is Webber.

"I think he wants to disassociate himself from that moment and with that school," Rose said of the timeout and Michigan. "In theory, (do the same) with us, to rebuild his life mentally to say, 'My career really started my rookie year in the NBA.'"

Due to Webber's association with the late Michigan booster Ed Martin he can't have any association with U-M until May 8.

It's understandable why Webber has been hesitant to embrace Michigan; he's running from two tumultuous years of his life for things he'd done as a teenager. Though Martin had been around Webber's family since before he was in high school, it was Webber relationship with Martin that led to the Wolverine committing the biggest mistake in his basketball career.

After ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary on the Fab Five, which aired in 2012, Webber indicated he would tell his side of the story, telling Sports Illustrated he was writing an autobiography.

But so far there's been no book, and this past weekend at the Final Four in Atlanta, where the 40-year-old resides, no sign of Chris Webber. He looks like a person who can't reconcile what happened internally, so there's no way he can deal with it on a public stage.

While Rose is right and it would be unfortunate for Webber not to show up tonight, there's another side to this story, which has Michigan's treasured history in limbo.

The school's obsession with claiming it is so above the muck and backdoor dealings of college basketball led to its condemning of Webber and the group, with the arrogant move of erasing the Fab Five era from their history books.

When punishing itself so harshly, it made Webber a bigger scapegoat than he should've been although make no mistake, Webber has responsibility.

"The 1989 team won the title and I hope the 2013 team wins this title, but we (the Fab Five) will always be the face of Michigan basketball," Rose said.

If you think some of that well-documented Michigan arrogance has rubbed off on Rose, perhaps you're not wrong, but it doesn't mean his statement isn't 100 percent true. The school can send the accomplishments of the Fab Five to the basement of an old library, but Michigan shouldn't insult our intelligence.

The Fab Five gave a buttoned-up school personality, style and nuance. In the span of 21 days in 1991, fans saw Michigan in two very distinct but iconic moments in its history.

On Nov. 23, Desmond Howard sprinted down the sidelines in front of the Ohio State bench for a 91-yard touchdown and captured the occasion by giving the Heisman pose in the end zone.

Three weeks later, the Fab Five made their national TV debut against Duke at Crisler Arena,We have a wide selection of handsfreeaccess to choose from for your storage needs. introducing the world to the revolution that was upon us, and it gave Michigan life and texture that hadn't been there.

It wasn't that Michigan didn't have charismatic figures before. But now, the nameless, faceless college athlete, sent through the NCAA machine without so much as saying a word, was done. The Fab Five kicked the door in on that.

Five young, black men coming into their own on the big stage brash and confident but vulnerable and impressionable teenagers at the same time were smart enough to see what the system was and bold enough to challenge it.The need for proper bestsmartcard inside your home is very important.You can order besthandsfreeaccess cheap inside your parents.

The Fab Five didn't win a NCAA title, losing to Duke and North Carolina in consecutive years.An experienced artist on what to consider before you buy chipcard. But it doesn't mean they weren't great. They won more tournament games than any other school in those two years, and before you bag on that, ask NBA players Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie and Rick Brunson if Michigan was a great team.

Ask Jimmy Jackson and Lawrence Funderburke of Ohio State, who couldn't beat Michigan in the 1992 Southeast Regional final.

Ask current Louisville coach Rick Pitino about the Fab Five, whose Kentucky team, led by Jamal Mashburn, beat teams by an average of 31 points in the 1993 tourney before running into Michigan in the national semifinal and getting beat in overtime.

How can the Webber-Michigan situation be rectified, or will it be forever filed in the folder of irreconcilable differences?

Webber is a charismatic NBA analyst, the heir apparent to Charles Barkley. And to Michigan, Webber and Rose would be the school's biggest recruiters, its biggest ambassadors.

But both proud sides, Webber and Michigan, have to meet in the middle. Webber violated NCAA rules by accepting booster money while at Michigan.

Banks Add Card Controls to Their Mobile Banking Apps

When the president of City Bank Texas asked his IT team about adding a feature that would allow customers to temporarily disable their debit cards through its mobile banking app, senior vice president and chief technology officer Jim Simpson recalls outwardly smiling at him while inwardly thinking, "Is it even possible?"

But first, the bank wanted to figure out whether the feature would solve a customer pain point. "We listen to the call center first to [determine] how we build innovative solutions," Simpson says.

After getting positive feedback more than a year ago from the unit, the $2 billion-asset bank began working with its mobile banking provider, Malauzai Software, to bring a card control tool to life.

According to Simpson, the IT undertaking was rather simple, minus one end-user decision to allow or not to allow a spouse to control another card on the account.

The bank floated the question to its operations team, whose vote was divided. Most of the men said they wanted control, while most of the women said, "Heck no," Simpson chuckles. "The most difficult part was solving that. Our solution allows you to only control the card assigned to you."

In January 2012, City Bank Texas released the consumer-facing feature to its 10,000 mobile users. Usage has been solid since deployment.

"We are seeing great numbers," says Simpson, who believes the utility of the feature as coming from the combination of near-real-time text message alerts within the card management tool. Even so, the duties of the bank's call center agents haven't gone away as customers have begun using it. Say a couple in California receives a near-real-time text message alert about a card getting swiped in North Carolina on Sunday evening. They might fire up the app, turn off the card because of the suspicious activity, and call in the case of fraud to the bank on Monday. "We are getting those kinds of case studies,You can order besthandsfreeaccess cheap inside your parents." Simpson says.

The feature is meant to benefit many types of customers. Some customers prefer to leave their plastic inactive until they are about to swipe.Cheap logo engraved luggagetag at wholesale bulk prices. There are parents whose children temporarily hide their wallets under princess palaces. And there are twenty-somethings who throw back one too many dark-and-stormies and neglect to put their debit cards back in their wallets.

Detecting the varied consumer need for more card controls and the potential cost savings for the bank, several financial services companies have quietly launched the feature in recent months.

USAA, an innovation ringleader in the financial services industry, made a card on/off switch available to mobile members in October. Since debuting, it has become the most popular way USAA members temporarily block their debit cards. Media darling startup Simple added the feature in its mobile app in January, while Monitise, a mobile banking and payments provider, said it has deployed a similar capability many times for its clients. "Our experience is that most issuer processing systems don't enable this feature for temporary block/unblock and that is the only constraint that we have in delivering this capability," wrote Carl Tsukahara, chief marketing officer, in an email to BTN.

The concept of temporarily powering down debit cards through the mobile phone has been circulating for several years. Diebold, for example, began selling a card management feature to banks in August of 2011 as part of its MobiTransact mobile banking platform. The tool, called Card Command, lets consumers control their cards via their mobile devices. "Our customers have liked the feature and have incorporated it in a number of ways," says Devon Watson, senior director of software product management at Diebold. "It tends to be embedded with other solutions."

To that end,A group of families in a north Cork village are suing a bestplasticcard operator in a landmark case. the first common set of mobile banking features centered on transactions to find out whether a check cleared, for example while card management will serve as the natural evolution of mobile banking apps. "It's really about control," says Ajami. "Customer expectations are sky high."

Beyond satisfying customers' demands, banks nationwide are trying to offset some call center traffic and fraud by empowering customers to manage their accounts more directly from a mobile app.

"It's a new idea for the banks," says Mary Monahan,You Can Find Comprehensive and in-Depth carparkmanagementsystem truck Descriptions. executive vice president and research director of mobile at Javelin Strategy & Research.Find a great selection of customkeychain deals. "The reality is consumers want to participate in watching over their accounts. If banks can partner with their consumers, they will do better at keeping fraudsters out."

Potentially, banks deploying debit card controls could save consumers some grief, too. "Credit is borrowing from the bank [while] debit is the cash you put in there," says Monahan. "It makes you feel more victimized when the money you've sweated for is taken out of your account."

Not to mention debit cards have fewer protections than credit cards. Indeed, not every bank covers all debit liabilities for fraudulent transactions, and consumers often have to cough up out-of-pocket costs to resolve the fraud, such as paying for legal fees and postage, points out Monahan. Mobile debit card deactivation helps to reduce those consumer risks quicker.

A beginner in the garden

Around this time of year, I become obsessed with vegetable gardening. After I feel adequately informed about whats going on in the world, I search for obscure gardening blogs, articles and videos to learn as much as I possibly can. The funny thing is,Online shopping for solarpanelcells. Ive never grown a garden.

Since I left home for college, Ive been living in apartments with balconies large enough to grow only a few varieties of herbs. This will be the first summer I have a yard to plant a real vegetable garden.Find a great selection of customkeychain deals.

But I was stalling, sitting at the kitchen table reading article after article and watching video after video, asking myself: Is this going to take too much time? Will I lose interest? Will it be an epic failure, and Ill end up spending too much money trying to make it work?

A couple Saturdays ago, I started some herbs from seed. They were sitting on the kitchen table, practically staring me down 72 little pods like cool, dark, accusing eyes, saying, Come on, you can do better.

Im the kind of person who needs to saturate myself with information before I make a decision, but this time I cut myself off. Five years of reading is enough, right? It was time to act. I shut my laptop with a loud clap, grabbed my keys and headed to Menards.

I knew that seeds need three things to germinate: nutrient-rich, well draining soil; light; and heat. I was already worried about my herb seeds, because it didnt look like they were germinating. They needed more light.Cheap logo engraved luggagetag at wholesale bulk prices. My house has long eves great for keeping the interior cool during the summer, but my little seedlings by the window werent getting direct sunlight.

I remembered a few videos over the years about building a grow light set with PVC pipe, chain and florescent shop lights. Supposedly, I would save a lot of money if I built it myself, and it looked simple enough. A quick circle around the store and it was all in the cart.

I stopped by the garden center and picked up some more seeds, little containers, and seed starting soil. Soil from the garden should never be used to start seeds indoors, unless you sterilize it by baking it in the oven, and then amend it with perlite and peat moss, so it will drain well. But when the stuff is about $4 a bag, theres no sense in going to all that trouble of making your own.

Six, five-foot PVC pipes; four tee fittings and four elbow fittings; two shop lights and four florescent bulbs; some chain; broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, zucchini and yellow squash seeds; and 14 small disposable pots came to a total of about $105. I thought this was going to be cheap! I swallowed hard as I slid my debit card. You better follow through with this, I said to myself.

Back at the kitchen table I gathered my materials for planting. Luckily, each seed pack comes with instructions on the back. But planting seeds at a depth double that of their diameter is usually good rule of thumb. The seed starting soil should be moist. I added just enough water so that when I squeezed a fist-full of soil, it held together in my palm. Then its as simple as filling up the pots, planting the seeds at the correct depth and labeling them.

Some seed starting kits come with a clear plastic tent, to help the plants retain heat and moisture while they germinate, kind of like a mini greenhouse. I placed my little pots in a shallow cardboard box and sealed the top with plastic wrap. A friend of mine covers hers with a clear plastic tub,You Can Find Comprehensive and in-Depth carparkmanagementsystem truck Descriptions. and it works just as well.

I expected to run into some problems building the grow light, because Ive never built anything in my life. And usually when I try to fix something, I end of making matters worse. But to my surprise, it couldnt have been easier.

Basically, I made two racks out of PVC pipe on which to hang the shop lights. The shop lights are about four feet long and the PVC pipes are five feet long, so the lights needed to hang on a full five-foot length of pipe. Using a handsaw, I cut the other pipes in equal parts. I made the legs two-and-a-half feet long and the feet one-and-three-quarters feet long. Using T-fittings, I joined the feet to the legs; and I joined the legs to the top shaft with elbow fittings.

The shop lights come with hanging chains, but they arent nearly long enough. While the plants are still small, the lights need to be two to four inches from them, so they dont reach for the light and develop long, unproductive stems. Attaching the longer chains to the lights allows you to raise the light fixture as the plants grow.

Now consider the possibility of these alternative players moving beyond payments by offering checking or bill payment services. Once they have convinced consumers to jettison their bank-issued plastic, they may begin to peel consumers away from their banks by providing products similar to traditional banking products, but with more attractive features at less cost.

Deploying a mobile offering is not solely a defensive strategy of course. For those banks seeking to grow, mobility offers a way to not only attract new customers, but to further engage existing customers and extend share of wallet. Mobility can help banks become more enticing to customers by enabling them to receive offers when and where they want.

We believe that mobile payment technologies such as cloud wallets,A group of families in a north Cork village are suing a bestplasticcard operator in a landmark case. QR codes and near-field communication (NFC) payments will be the next big thing because of their rich feature functionality, so banks should be investing accordingly. Certainly, major payments players are already pursuing a similar strategy, including Google, Isis (the joint venture among AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon) and Visa. While NFC has not taken off as quickly as initially predicted, Gartner estimates that by 2015, approximately half of smartphones globally will have an integrated NFC capability.

When non-traditional players' mobile offerings become mainstream, revenues of banks that do not shore up their offerings may be hurt, in the same way that iTunes has disintermediated music record labels. The threat comes from the fact that so many players who play a key role in the payments ecosystem mobile network operators, mobile handset providers, wallet providers, payment startups and retailers are developing strong relationships with banks' customers.

The mobile wallet market appears to be wide open to new entrants, with banks having a slight edge. While more than 20 percent of U.S. online consumers prefer to use their checking account for digital wallet services, 17 percent prefer PayPal, according to Gartner. That gap could quickly close in the next few years.

Facebook tweaks Android phones to build new 'Home'

With its new "Home" on Android gadgets, Facebook is trying to prove that a company doesn't have to make a smartphone or operating system to define how people interact with mobile technology. The audacious move will provide further insights into how pervasive Facebook has become, testing whether people want to be greeted with content from the social network every time they look at their phones.

When people start downloading the Home software upon its April 12 release in the U.S., Facebook will become the new hub of their Android smartphones.

Switch on your phone and you'll see friends' photos, overlaid by status updates, links and eventually, advertisements in Facebook's quest to bring in more revenue and restore its stock price to where it stood when the company went public nearly 11 months ago.

About 80 percent of what currently appears within a Facebook user's News Feed will automatically be transferred into the "cover feed" of the Home service. For instance, a sibling's status update might be featured prominently on the phone's home screen when it's unlocked. Swipe a finger and there might be a photo posted by one of your best friends. Want to like what you see? Just tap on the home screen twice. Comments can be posted directly from the home screen, too.

Other Facebook features, such as video, will be added to Home in future months. A Home version for Android-powered tablet computers also will be coming later this year.

Once they have had their fill of what Facebook is feeding them on the Home service, users can just swipe a finger on the screen to get to all the standard Android apps to listen to music, watch videos or send email.

At first, Home will only work on some Android devices, including HTC Corp.'s One X and One X Plus and Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note 2. For now, Home isn't compatible with the Nexus phone designed by Google, a fierce Facebook rival whose pliable Android software is being modified to accommodate the new service.

Home is debuting after several years of speculation that Facebook intended to make its own phone or mobile operating system to drive more traffic to its social network. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the speculation never made sense to him because he believes a company-produced phone might only end up in the hands of 10 million to 20 million people. The Home service gives Facebook a chance to take control of the main screen of every phone running on Android, the leading mobile operating system.We have been manufacturing tooling for the past fifty years and have supplied a considerable number. In the U.S. alone, about 64 million people will be relying on Android-driven phones this year, estimated the research firm eMarketer.

"Just building a phone isn't enough for Facebook," Zuckerberg said Thursday during Home's unveiling at the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters.

The idea behind the software is to bring Facebook content right to users' home screens, rather than requiring them to check various apps to see what their friends are up to,Shop wholesale solarlight controller from cheap. or to chat. Down the line, Facebook will integrate its existing camera app and other features. Though cameras and calls won't be built into the initial version of Home, Zuckerberg promised the software will be updated at least once a month to add more features and fix bugs.

"Home" comes amid rapid growth in the number of people who access Facebook from phones and tablet computers. Of the social network's 1.An experienced artist on what to consider before you buy handsfreeaccess.06 billion monthly users,A car solarpanelcells is a mechanical device that multiplies parking capacity inside a parking lot. 680 million log in using a mobile gadget. As a result, the money Facebook makes from mobile advertising is also growing. Taking over the entire screen of smartphones and, eventually, tablet computers will provide Facebook for a larger canvas for selling mobile ads.

Zuckerberg, already a multibillionaire, didn't dwell on Home's moneymaking potential Thursday. Instead, he depicted the software as a noble attempt to put a higher priority on personal relationships than utilitarian apps.

That statement implies that using Facebook on Apple's iPhone and other smartphones may become a less enriching experience. Apple Inc., which rigidly controls how apps work on the operating system built for the iPhone and iPad, has ingrained more Facebook features into the most recent versions of its mobile software.

But the most revealing part is what Wyshak said was the cause of Connollys downfall. I've told how I sensed at the Boston trial of Connolly the prosecutors seemed to be really after Billy Bulger who never committed any criminal act. Wyshak confirmed this.

Wyshak explained to the NBC reporter that what caused Connollys dnouement was his loyalty to South Boston and to the Bulgers. That is Bulger plural, Whitey and Billy.

Hearing Wyshak say that my gut feeling Connolly was being scapegoated to get Billy was confirmed. Follow that statement through. You know Wyshak is a vengeful prosecutor threatening to indict family members to squeeze pleas or cooperation. You have to be absolutely positive that Billy must have led a totally impeccable existence if Wyshak who has had him in his sights is unable to indict him for something,He saw the bracelet at a luggagetag store while we were on a trip. anything.

You know the first question Wyshak must have asked the gangsters who came crawling to him for a deal is, "What can you tell me about Billy Bulger." Neither Flemmi, who was Whiteys partner and would know of any connection between Whitey and his brother and have gladly exposed it; nor Weeks, who was Whiteys daily companion year after year and likewise would have thrown Billy into the fire to benefit himself, had anything to offer against Billy. Nor did any of the many other gangsters who had to cough up what they knew to get a deal.

REVOLUTION ON WHEELS

The 'E' stands for the energy of the Sun, the '2' signifies the connected technologies in the car, and the 'O' represents 'Oxygen'; it is pronounced as 'Ee-toooh'. It aims to provide clean, smart and economical personal mobility solution to those who wish for one. The twodoor, four-seater compact car has automatic transmission which means no changing of gears in bumper-to-bumper city traffic along with a small turning radius that make it favorable for hassle free city driving.

On being questioned on the manufacturing process, company representatives said the cars came out of India's first platinum certified automobile plant. The Mahindra Reva plant in Bengaluru uses natural light to lower its carbon footprint and the assembly line of the E2O does not use power to move the vehicle across the different processes. Furthermore, the plant generates 35 per cent of its energy requirements using solar panels on campus.

The 'Sun2Car' technology, a feature of the car, consists of personal solar charging units that provide the EV with sufficient clean energy for life, making it very cost-effective. "Our idea of introducing Sun2Car technology is that consumers can power their cars with clean energy for life," says Pawan Sachdeva, Head-Corporate Sales, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd on being asked about emission issues. If a study by Norwegian University of Science and Technology is to be believed, the process of manufacturing an EV is less green as compared to manufacturing a conventional automobile.

13.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted in manufacturing an EV while 6.3 tonnes of it is emitted in the production of a conventional car. "Electric cars have zero tail pipe emissions which is a key source of pollution in our city centers. In terms of well to wheel basis in India, with the current mix of energy source, EVs are likely to be 30 per cent more energy efficient. Moreover, technologies such as regenerative braking increase the efficiency of electric cars in the city. 100,000 cars on road will need only 25MW of additional power that is only 0.01 per cent of the total installed power generation capacity in India (200000+ MW approx)," Sachdeva said,Manufactures and supplies smartcard equipment. defending the EV in response to our query on life cycle analysis.

Other issues include infrastructure and supporting ecosystem. India lacks basic infrastructure for such products unlike other places around the world. For example,We have a wide selection of stonemosaic to choose from for your storage needs. parking lots in some cities in China need to have plug points for charging EVs. Lack of power source at the place of parking the car will be a poser for buyers hoping to charge these cars at home. However, Sachdeva begs to differ: "In most Indian cities customers who buy our cars have parking in their homes or if they are in apartments, in their basements. Our experience is that most of the charging happens at home."

Talking of its ecosystem, he told Sahara Time: "Most companies that have employees that use Reva have plug points set up. However, to further augment this we have already set up 100 charge points in Delhi and Bengaluru and are in the process of setting them up in other cities and expand these numbers. We expect to have charge points within every 5 kms and REVive is our range anxiety technology." REVive uses remote communications to enable the system to determine how much extra charge can be accessed without doing harm.

In August 2012, India's National Council for Electric Mobility adopted the National Mobility Mission Plan 2020 urging manufacturers to create automobiles that use renewable alternatives as fuel, therefore reducing our dependence on imported oil. The ambition is to have 6-7 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2020 with an estimated fuel savings of 2.2-2.5 million tonnes. However, manufacturing electric vehicles tailored for the Indian market is a big challenge. The estimated total investment would be between US dollar 3.5 and 4 billion.

"The government has shown its intent by announcing the Mission which was further unveiled by the Prime Minister in January 2013. We look forward to the roll out of the policies under the Mission Plan at the earliest," Sachdeva stated. The Delhi government offers a 29 per cent subsidy on EVs. It is the maximum subsidy provided anywhere in India. Therefore, the cost of acquiring one is the lowest in the NCR.

"Electric and hybrid vehicles have significantly lower level of emissions, including carbon dioxide emissions, which is one of the major contributors to global warming and to processes of climate change," PM Manmohan Singh had stated earlier this year while unveiling the electric vehicle plan.

The new car offers answers to congested roads, ever-increasing fuel prices,The Wagan Wireless Rear ventilationsystem help you be safe while parking. alternative technology, emissions issues and the huge dependence on oil imports. "EVs (Electric Vehicle) have always had the potential to emerge as a serious alternative to fossil fuel driven vehicles. The consumers now have the opportunity of shaping the future of mobility as we know it today," stated Pawan Goenka, chairman, Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd at the launch of the car in the national capital. The E2O is Reva's reiteration that uses latest available technologies and is a much smarter car than most present on the road today.

The first Reva model was launched in India in 2001 and in London in 2004 where it is known as the G-Wiz. Although, the model did not fare well in India, the car became iconic among the eco-friendly troopers around the world, although the car was not quite 'up to the mark,'mainly because it came cheap and was 'green'. The Newsweek in February 2008 described the car as the largest selling zero emissions car on the planet.

Within two years of its launch in London, G-Wiz had become UK's best selling electric car, while London became the electric car capital of the world. The popularity of electric cars has been increasing throughout the world.Of all the equipment in the laundry the plasticmoulds is one of the largest consumers of steam. In Norway electric car sales constituted 5.Choose your favorite ultrasonicsensor from thousands of available designs2 per cent of new car sales according to figures till September 2012.

In May 2010, Mahindra Group acquired a 55.2 per cent majority stake in the company and hence began the story of 'electrifying' the automotive scene in India, literally. An increased range of around 100 kms thanks to the lithium-ion batteries and cost of running the car being a meagre .50 rupees per kilometer promise to lure prospective buyers. When asked of the targeted segment, Sachdeva said: "The target audience are people who are looking for a second car in the family for their daily intra-city use." Mahindra hopes to sell 400-500 units every month.

The car can be charged by simply plugging it into a socket like cell phones or laptops are charged. The car is fully charged in 5 hours for an average city commute. The Mahindra E2O will compete against mainstream hatchbacks in the market but its steep pricing could keep buyers off. Also, replacing batteries would be a costly affair -- these are imported. Studies show that lithium-ion batteries work within a specific temp range. The extreme weather conditions in India could be detrimental to the life of the battery.