Mobile Technology

Check out these techs. Google Demo investors will.

By Newsroom

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January 29, 2015

Three Detroit-area tech startups have won a chance to pitch their companies to investors lined up by Google and looking for business ideas to put their money behind. After competing last week in the Grand Circus Detroit Google Demo Day competition, the founders of AdAdapted, GENOMENON and LevelEleven, are hoping to be picked to visit Google’s California HQ in April and spill to investors what’s promising about their companies. One or two will make the cut to make the trip to Mountainview, Calif. Excerpt: “We’re very impressed by the talented entrepreneurs and innovative companies in the Detroit area. Google for Entrepreneurs partners with organizations like Grand Circus to help these local communities of entrepreneurs grow and thrive,” said John Lyman, head of partnerships and marketing for Google for Entrepreneurs. Read more about these little companies that could here.

Latest in Mobile Technology

Innovative Learning Group set to move to bigger office in Troy

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General

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January 22, 2015

Innovative Learning Group has been a staple of downtown Royal Oak for years, and now it’s going to become a staple of Troy. The 10-year-old business consultancy purchased a new building in Troy last December with plans to execute a move later this year. The new office is more than twice as large coming in at 10,100 square feet. "We will be spending the year remodeling the building and moving just before the end of this calendar year," says Lisa Toenniges, CEO of Innovative Learning Group. Innovation Learning Group specializes in training and human performance improvement for businesses. It has grown 40 percent over the last year and is looking to add another 15 percent this year. Most of that growth comes from its mobile work. "Using your tablet or smartphone for learning or doing your job better," Toenniges says. That increase in work has led to more hiring at Innovative Learning Group. It has hired six people over the last year, including project managers, graphic designers and office managers. It is also looking to hire another three (a consultant, project manager, and sales professional) to add to its current staff of 17 employees. "We are full up (on space for employees) here in Royal Oak," Toenniges says. Source: Lisa Toenniges, CEO of Innovative Learning Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Metro Detroit competes with Silicon Valley for talent

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Community Development

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January 22, 2015

We've been writing about metro Detroit's need for more engineers for years now. It looks like both the auto industry and localk media are finally catching up. Examine any car made today and it's obvious that the technology that goes into each vehicle requires designers, techniciuans and engineers of the highest caliber. But how to recruit them away from the siren's call of Silicon Valley... Excerpt: "More than 30 of GM's 2015 models are equipped with 4G LTE wireless connectivity. Then there's the frontier of intelligent highways, including the pilot project in Ann Arbor that will soon extend closer to Detroit. Most major automakers have been key players for about a decade in the Consumer Electronics Show that happens in Las Vegas about a week before the Detroit auto show." Read the rest here.

Top 10 car innovations for 2020

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Community Development

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January 22, 2015

Between CES and the Detroit auto show 'tis the season to forecast which technological discoveries are going change the landscape five years from now. A Forbes writer thinks he's got a handle on it. Ten bucks says driverless cars top the list. Ca-ching! Somebody owes me ten bucks. Excerpt: "The rate at which technology is changing personal transportation accelerates every year, which can make predicting the arrival of future car tech a dicey proposition. Even more compelling is the increasing priority we’re seeing consumers place on automotive technology during their shopping process at Kelley Blue Book. This had me wondering — what automotive technologies will go from science fiction to commonplace in just the next 5 years. I’ve listed these below in an effort to identify the top 10 advanced car technologies we’ll see in showrooms by 2020." Read the rest here.

DDOT to get 80 new buses, real-time app

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Community Development

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January 15, 2015

Detroit bus service is entering the new millennium with a fleet of new buses outfitted with GPS technology and an app for riders. Excerpt: "The city says 10 of the buses from the fresh fleet will be longer, 60-foot articulated buses that provide additional capacity on DDOT's busiest routes. The other 70 will be standard 40-foot buses. The new fleet arrives thanks to a $38 million in federal grants, with the Michigan Department of Transportation kicking in the necessary amount in local matching funds. " Read the rest here.

Four new film, digital media incentives announced for projects in Metro Detroit

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Arts & Culture

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December 11, 2014

The last round of Michigan Film Office incentives has been issued to close out 2014, including a mobile app for sports fans and a series on the lives of religious leaders in Detroit. These projects filimg or being produced in various Metro Detroit locales are expected to employ about 250 people. In total, all projects approved in 2014 are expected to create 2,181 hires with a full time equivalent of 1,298 jobs. Excerpt: "Oxygen Media’s Preachers of Detroit is a television series that will focus on powerful themes of faith, family and friendship as seven men and women of the cloth share their lives, transformations and triumphs in and out of the pulpit in Detroit.... The feature film Destined is set in Detroit with one event setting in motion two very different stories. Each storyline involves the same characters whose paths are altered by this one event, and the different paths main character Rasheed takes in each tale. Filming will take place in Detroit and Ann Arbor... Tommy Battles the Silver Sea Dragon is a feature film where Tommy Silver faces the guilt he carries from the loss of his mother who died in childbirth. This unbearable weight is now threatening to destroy his closest relationship. Filming will take place in Detroit, Wayne and Novi..." More here.

Pontiac’s Mobile Comply adds 4 jobs, clears way for mobile certification

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Economic Development

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December 4, 2014

Mobile Comply grew up quite a bit in 2014, mostly by living up to its name. "We have completely exploded in a great way," says Eliana Farnsworth, CEO of Mobile Comply. The downtown Pontiac-based company helps educate businesses and institutions (think higher education) on how best to leverage mobile technology. Last year it provided training and wrote the textbook for CompTIA, a Chicago-based non-profit that developed the A+ certification. That bit of work led to Mobile Comply creating the certification for mobile technology. "We became the only company in the world that provided mobile certification," Farnsworth says. That led to a 35-percent jump in revenue over the last year. The company has hired four people over the last year, expanding its staff to 20 employees and 100 independent contractors. It is also looking to hire another two people in the first quarter of next year. In 2015 Mobile Comply is looking to expand its mobile certification activities to the automotive market. "We would like to expand to not only certifying individuals but also supporting the growth of connected vehicles," Farnsworth says. Source: Eliana Farnsworth, CEO of Mobile Comply Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Oakland University students build diabetes app, TypeOneTwo

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Education

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November 13, 2014

A trio of Oakland University computer science majors placed at the MHacks hackathon in Ann Arbor with its diabetes mobile app. Andrew Clissold, Steven Wiggins and Brandon Powell are the undergrads behind TypeOneTwo. The mobile app helps people who live with diabetes track and analyze their glucose and insulin levels. "I have been wanting to make an app to help me better track my stuff," says Powell, who also lives with Type 1 diabetes. The friends built out the app during the MHacks software programming competition at the University of Michigan earlier this fall. The 2-month-old startup placed in the top 10 after the 36-hour hackathon, and set the stage to further develop the app into a business. "This was something that was fun for all of us and could help other people," Powell says. "It was really a blast. We had so much fun. We just sat down and programmed for 36 hours." The trio behind TypeOneTwo plans to keep developing the app over this winter and launch it to the public in early 2015. Source: Brandon Powell, co-founder of TypeOneTwo Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Nexlink hires in Auburn Hills on strength of mobile industry

By Newsroom

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General

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September 25, 2014

Mobile technology is creeping into more and more parts of the everyday economy and Nexlink Communications is one of the players making that happen sooner rather than later. The 10-year-old tech firm has doubled its revenue each year. That has allowed it to grow to 200 employees spread between two manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, three offices in Asia, and its headquarters in Auburn Hills. Thirty of its positions are in Auburn Hills, where the company has hired five people in purchasing and sales over the last year. Today's growth is coming primarily from its business in the mobile sector. That includes supplying new and used mobile devices, software provisioning, carrier services, back-end service and product support. "We have a bundled solution for companies that are getting into mobile," says Peter Schmidt, director of sales and marketing for Nexlink Communications. "The big areas are healthcare, transportation and hospitality." For instance, Nexlink Communications will help truck drivers switch their record keeping from hand-written records to elecrtronic records entered on a tablet in the vehicle. Or providing a tablet at a table in a restaurant so patrons can pay without needing the server. In both cases Nexlink Communications supplies a preloaded tablet that can be mounted and used by the workforce or customer. Source: Peter Schmidt, director of sales & marketing for Nexlink Communications Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Video games, smartphone apps approved for digital media incentives

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Community Development

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July 31, 2014

Southeast Michigan continues its run on the video game and mobile app playing field with the latest round of incentives from the Michigan Film Office. Excerpt: "Scrap Yard is a 2D multiplayer combat video game that is being developed for Windows, and potentially other platforms. The game is being developed at Quantum Signal LLC (QS) in Saline, Michigan... Health Games for Kids is a mobile video game designed to entertain and engage young children with fun, active play...The mobile video game is being developed by Southfield-based PIXO Group and will be distributed through the Apple App store and the Google PLAY Mobile App marketplace... Santa & His Elves is a mobile smartphone and tablet application geared toward families with small children to enhance the enchantment of traditional folklore. Work on the app is being done at BELIEVE in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan by 15 new hires and a full time equivalent of two jobs." More here.