Red Bend’s Over-the-Air Software Updating Capability Ported to QNX Neutrino Operating System

WALTHAM, Mass. & OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Red Bend Software, the market leader in mobile software management (MSM) with more than 1 billion Red Bend-Enabled™ devices, and QNX Software Systems Limited, a global leader in operating systems and middleware for the in-car telematics and infotainment market, today announced that Red Bend’s vRapid Mobile^® solution for over-the-air software updating has been ported to the QNX^® Neutrino^® Realtime Operating System (RTOS).

QNX Software Systems, a subsidiary of Research In Motion Limited (RIM), has licensed its software technology for use in more than 20 million automotive systems worldwide. Automakers such as Acura, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, and Toyota use the QNX Neutrino RTOS in their digital instrument clusters, handsfree systems, multimedia head units, connectivity modules, and 3D navigation systems.

Red Bend’s vRapid Mobile is the leading end-to-end, standards-based solution for updating in-vehicle software and applications over the air, and has been adopted for use in a variety of vehicles, including trucks, electric cars and heavy equipment. Red Bend’s firmware over-the-air (FOTA) software can significantly reduce the time and cost for manufacturers to update in-vehicle software, add new applications and manage the software lifecycle remotely. The software eliminates the need for consumers or fleet owners to bring their vehicles back to the dealer for critical and routine software-related maintenance, contributing to greater customer satisfaction.

Red Bend’s FOTA software provides automakers with the following benefits:

• Create new revenue opportunities by deploying applications and feature upgrades to on-board infotainment systems to differentiate the driving experience.
• Decrease recall rates and reduce warranty costs by using over-the-air updates to reach more vehicles than hands-on maintenance.
• Ensure systems are always connected and functioning by remotely monitoring and troubleshooting performance issues.

Linda Campbell, director of strategic alliances at QNX Software Systems, said: “The ability to deliver over-the-air mobile software updates is important to the success of the increasingly sophisticated on-board infotainment systems that our automotive customers are implementing today. Red Bend is a leader in over-the-air software updating, and we look forward to our continued development work with them for the automotive infotainment market.”

Lori Sylvia, executive vice president of marketing for Red Bend Software said: “Today’s high-end vehicles contain up to 100 MB of software code and 60 or more electronic control units, which make the ability to update software over the air essential for successful operation and maintenance. vRapid Mobile helps automakers ensure that their systems are up-to-date with the latest features and improvements, thereby reducing support costs and improving customer satisfaction. We look forward to working with QNX Software Systems to make the managed car a reality.”

About QNX Software Systems

QNX Software Systems Limited, a subsidiary of Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM; TSX:RIM), is a leading vendor of operating systems, middleware, development tools, and professional services for the embedded systems market. Global leaders such as Audi, Cisco, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens depend on QNX technology for vehicle telematics units, network routers, medical instruments, industrial control systems, security and defense systems, and other mission- or life-critical applications. Founded in 1980, QNX Software Systems Limited is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada; its products are distributed in over 100 countries worldwide. Visit www.qnx.com.

About Red Bend Software

Red Bend^® Software is the leader in mobile software management (MSM). The company’s award-winning software products enable device manufacturers and mobile operators to increase revenues, reduce costs and achieve faster time to market by remotely managing firmware, applications and mobile devices over the air. Red Bend’s software has been adopted in 1 billion mobile devices by 75 companies including 10 of the top handset manufacturers and leading mobile operators such as NTT DOCOMO and China Mobile. Unlike device management vendors with proprietary end-to-end systems and manufacturers’ internally developed solutions that are platform-specific, Red Bend is the only company offering independent client software that is interoperable with any standards-based server and that works with any platform on any type of mobile device. Red Bend entered the high-growth mobile virtualization market with its acquisition of VirtualLogix in September 2010. Founded in 1999, Red Bend is a privately held company with offices in China, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, the U.K. and the U.S.

QNX, Momentics, Neutrino, Aviage, Photon and Photon microGUI are trademarks of QNX Software Systems Limited, which are registered trademarks and/or used in certain jurisdictions. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

QNX Software Systems Limited. (QSS) is a subsidiary of Research In Motion Limited (RIM). Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend," "believe", and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by QSS in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that QSS believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause QSS's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of RIM's Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on QSS’s forward-looking statements. RIM and QSS have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

GMC Software Technology Expands Customer Social Network

Boston, Massachusetts and Appenzell, Switzerland--GMC Software Technology, the standard in customer communications, today launched their new e-learning and online training courses that have been integrated within GMC's customer social networking portal.

Tweet this: GMC Software Technology Expands Customer Social Network: http://bit.ly/in4hln

"GMC's new e-learning and online training courses are quick, easy and cost-effective training solutions that can be taken anytime and at the user's own pace", said Jana Volencová, Head of Education Centre, GMC Software Technology. "Users can return to the course as many times as they need, while taking advantage of recorded commentaries, videos, simulations and real-world examples."

Launched in December of 2010, the company's customer social networking portal has become an online destination for GMC's growing customer base, which numbers in the thousands in 43 countries around the world. The new expansion adds more than 100 hours of certified courses that provide modular training for GMC's end-to-end Customer Communications Management (CCM) platform.

Customers can register for GMC Software Technology's new e-learning courses at http://community.gmc.net or by contacting their local GMC office. New online courses will be added on a monthly basis and pricing is based on an annual subscription basis that includes multi-user discounts. In addition, traditional classroom training is also available that can be tailored for specific needs.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas shows off new crime-analysis software

New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas unveiled new crime-analysis softwareThursday that he says will allow cops to take a smarter, more focused approach to tackling crime.

View full sizeThe CrimeView computer software enables NOPD officers to do up-to-the minute analysis, looking at charts of trends and clusters of crime.

The computer software enables NOPDofficers to do up-to-the minute analysis, looking at charts of trends and clusters of crime. For example, an officer can quickly look at how many guns were stolen this year during auto burglaries, or what days of the week, or time of day, most of these thefts occurred.

Gone are the days of a cop crunching data with spreadsheets and calculators, Serpas said at a news conference Thursday afternoon at police headquarters.

The analysis tool, called CrimeView, is being used by analysts in each of the Police Department's eight districts as well as headquarters.

The software's cost, about $255,000, was split by the city and the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, a local nonprofit that supports the city's criminal justice system. The nonprofit picked up about $170,000 of the tab, and the NOPD covered the rest, Serpas said.

The program was created by the San Diego-based Omega Group and is used by more than 500 law enforcement agencies across the country, from big cities such as Los Angeles and Miami to much smaller towns, according to company president Milan Mueller.

"It allows them to look at strategies and results," Mueller said in a telephone interview.

The data for the NOPD's new tool is culled from the department's electronic police reports and is automatically uploaded each morning.

The NOPD had been using an outdated program installed in 1990. Serpas, whose management style has been described as stat-centric, was gleeful at the news conference.

"I'm a geek for this stuff," he said. "I absolutely love it."

View full sizeScreen grab from Crimemapping.comThis screen grab shows a sampling of crimes reported between May 18 and May 24, 2011.

The new tool dovetails with the public crime map the NOPD debuted last week. The incidents plotted on the crime map, also using an Omega Group program, are drawn from the same pool of data. The crime map can be found on the department's website:www.nola.gov/government/nopd.

Mueller said the data, which is considered public information, is compiled in myriad ways by his company's programs. He emphasized that citizens can sign up for crime alerts that notify them when crimes occur near their home.

Serpas noted Thursday that his agency is also in the final stages of signing a contract for an additional analysis program that looks at the deployment of officers. The "optimization program" should enable the NOPD to better allocate resources and designate officers to areas throughout the city, Serpas said.

Progeny Software Receives Mira Award for Excellence and Innovation

Award highlights Progeny's commitment in assisting life science organizations worldwide in their work to reduce suffering and eliminate disease.

Indianapolis, IN (PRWEB) June 03, 2011

Progeny Software, LLC is a 2011 recipient of the prestigious Mira Award, given by TechPoint, which honors the most innovative and successful firms in information technology, as well as technology-focused companies in industries like advanced manufacturing and logistics, health and life sciences, and clean technology. Progeny Software was honored as a recipient in the Health Care Information Technology field at the annual Mira Awards Gala, held on Saturday, May 7th at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

Headquartered in Delray Beach, FL with development offices in Indianapolis, IN, Progeny was established in 1996 to provide integrated software solutions to the biomedical arena. With its latest product release of an electronic family history questionnaire, Progeny continues to assist hospitals, universities, research centers, and pharmaceutical teams in managing clinical and genetic data. Progeny solutions provide the platform to bring key hereditary information into the electronic medical record in a secure and patient-centered manner to hopefully reduce suffering and eliminate disease through pursuit of knowledge.

Now in its 12th year, the TechPoint Mira Awards highlight Indiana's cutting-edge technology companies, institutions and individuals who are leading the state's high-tech economy. “We are honored and humbled to receive the Mira Award, not only because it is a very unique and prestigious award but also because it bolsters our mission of working with the top life science organizations worldwide to assist them in their work to improve the quality of life, reduce suffering, and eliminate disease,” commented co-founder David DeRam.

DeRam continued, “Having a purpose beyond making a profit has driven us for 15 years to deliver the highest quality products and support. We appreciate that the top tech and innovation initiative has validated the combined efforts of the Progeny family and our passionate customers worldwide.”

TechPoint, Indiana's economic development initiative focusing on technology and entrepreneurship, recognized Progeny Software as one of the state's high-tech success stories. “Indiana is leading the nation in the creation and application of health information technology, and Progeny is a great part of our state's leadership success story,” said Jim Jay, president and CEO of TechPoint. “Progeny has shown a genuine commitment to producing data management solutions that help health care professionals around the world ease suffering and work toward eliminating disease, and they back up their words with actions that have significant impact in their local community as well.”

Progeny is not just a company about building and delivering high-quality software. The company also has a mission to help the local community in Indianapolis through the Progeny Foundation. “In addition to being a prestigious business honor, the Mira Award has also increased the awareness of the Progeny Foundation and the work that we are doing with kids in the Indianapolis community,” continued DeRam.

The Progeny Foundation exists to provide high-quality education and development opportunities to area kids. The nine components of the program include mentoring, sport-specific training, community service, tutoring, life skills, facility, strength training, style of play and family. Find out more about the foundation at http://www.progenyfoundation.org.

For more than a decade, Progeny Software LLC has increasingly enhanced the technology required to manage all types of genetic data. A complete description of the company and its capabilities can be reviewed at http://www.progenygenetics.com.

Info technology has potential in Michigan

A new report says information and communication technology is an up-and-coming industry in Michigan that offers good-paying jobs and has lots of growth potential.

The study was produced by the University Research Corridor, a consortium of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University. It was released Thursday during the Detroit Regional Chamber's policy conference on Mackinac Island.


It says information technology employs about 135,000 workers, or 3.5 percent of the state's work force. The field's average salary of $64,000 exceeds the private sector average by about $20,000.

It says information technology is also a key contributor to growth in other sectors of the economy.

The three universities say they spent a combined $74 million last year on research projects focusing on information technology.

Technology gives western Canadian conventional crude production a boost

Declines switch to increases on horizontal drilling

CALGARY — Conventional oil has made a comeback in Western Canada, rebounding from almost a decade of declining production to boost overall supply along with growing bitumen volumes.

By 2025 conventional crude will add about 200,000 barrels per day out of 400,000 bpd additional volumes added to last year’s forecast, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

The association now expects total Canadian oil production to reach 4.7 million barrels per day, from 2.8 million produced last year.

About half of the increase comes at the tail end of the 15-year forecast from new oilsands projects. The surprise for CAPP was evidence of a resurgence in conventional oil at the front of the prediction time span.

“What’s interesting to us is that it’s the first time in about a decade that we’ve seen a reversal in the decline that’s been the maturing nature of the western basin,” said Greg Stringham, CAPP vice-president of marketing.

The resurgence could be even stronger than the association had calculated, based on the surprising results of Wednesday’s provincial land sale, Stringham said.

Producers shelled out a record-breaking $842 million for oil and gas licences, almost double the provincial take to date and including a $107 million for a township-sized chunk of land northwest of Red Deer.

Stringham attributed the rise in conventional production to the use of new technologies on older fields on the back of strong oil prices and favourable royalty changes in Alberta.

Despite the increase, conventional oil production in Western Canada will decline to around 860,000 barrels per day by 2025, from 1.08 million bpd in 2010, according to the report.

Oilsands production will increase to 3.73 million bpd from 1.47 million bpd during the same time frame.

Also on Wednesday, a major international report identified Canada as having the most stable and secure energy supplies for the short-term.

In contrast, the energy security index developed by British risk analysis and mapping firm Maplecroft Inc. categorized fellow G7 members, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and USA as ‘high risk’ countries.

The index compares assesses immediate risks to the availability, affordability and continuity of energy supplies in 196 countries.

Streamline Health Solutions: A Healthy Choice?

Streamline Health Solutions (STRM) may be poised for a turnaround led by new management and boosted by federal incentive dollars.

STRM is a healthcare IT company whose main line of business is developing software that handles document management for hospitals. It enables hospitals to integrate data from paper documents into whatever enterprise computing system the hospital is using, thereby facilitating a truly paperless work environment.

The company is a tiny name in a niche filled with much bigger players such as Cerner (CERN) and McKesson (MCK), which sell a broader range of healthcare software. Yet STRM has managed to stay afloat with consistent albeit flat revenues.

Ticker	STRM
Price as of 6/1/2011	1.65
52 Week Range	.96-2.05
Shares Out (mms)	9.87
Market Cap (mms)	16.29
Debt (mms)	1.4
Enterprise Value (mms)	16.33
P/E (ttm)	N/A
EV/EBITDA (ttm)	7.4
Recommendation	Watch

HITECH Act in Action

The buzz surrounding the healthcare IT sector is the potential windfall from the HITECH Act, which provides government incentives to healthcare providers in order to spur them to adopt electronic medical records. Healthcare providers must meet certain benchmarks to earn the grants and the performance recording period started this year.

Document management is a tangential focus of the Act, relating to only perhaps five of the 25 benchmarks, but niche companies like STRM hope that hospitals will be looking to upgrade all aspects of their enterprise systems once they are already doing so for the HITECH dollars.

Treading Water

STRM has done between $16-18 million in sales for the last six years. Those sales levels have not provided the scale to generate significant profitability. It consistently expenses about $2 million on R&D and $6 million on SG&A. With gross margins around 45%, it's operating at about breakeven on a normalized EBIT basis.

What About Bob?

After years of running in place, the Streamline board forced out founder and CEO Brian Patsy in February and hired Bob Watson, an executive with extensive experience in the healthcare IT space, including CEO experience at a company that was sold to Merge Healthcare (MRGE).

The major hurdle confronting STRM is a common one for smaller tech companies: Despite a solid product, it lacks the marketing firepower to compete with the big boys. It simply cannot get in front of enough potential customers to check the pulse of deal flow and close sales. As one executive in the healthcare IT space told me, a small healthcare software company can sell almost anything to a dozen customers. To scale from that point, a company must have very strong sales execution. New CEO Watson recognizes the challenge facing STRM and insists that it must become a more “market facing” company and improve distribution. He has a good track record and brought in a new head sales executive, Gabriel Waters, who was previously head of sales at a healthcare IT company recently sold to Harris Corp (HRS).

Near Term Headwind With GE

In light of its marketing struggles, it is not surprising that STRM has been very reliant on its resell partners for business. GE Healthcare in the US and Telus (TU) in Canada sell Streamline products integrated into their larger healthcare enterprise software systems. GE accounted for 33% of sales in the past year.

Management announced in April that it expects lower than usual sales to GE this year. GE is focusing on upgrading its current customers to the newest version of its system and will not be pushing new system sales where STRM stands to benefit. This led STRM management to guide for revenues in 2011 to be down from $17.6 million in 2010. I think only about half of GE revenue is at risk, as the other half is recurring maintenance revenue and not new sales -- but that would still be a $3 million hit, assuming STRM gains no new GE sales in 2011.

The 800-Pound Gorillas

Aside from the marketing issues facing the company, its product positioning also seems somewhat tenuous. The core document management product has become more of a commodity over the years as the big names like Cerner have either developed such capabilities themselves or acquired companies in the space.

Additionally, I would think the software company that is selling the hospital the enterprise software system would have a leg up in also making the sale on the document solution. Streamline has demonstrated that its software can integrate with all the major healthcare enterprise systems, and it's scored sales wins over the bigger names. But I still think its competitive standing might put a cap on growth potential. Another angle STRM has tried is expanding its product portfolio to department-specific workflow solutions that use the document management technology, but those efforts have seen only limited success thus far.

Valuation

STRM is somewhat cheap for an enterprise software company in an attractive sector, with about $3 million in normalized EBITDA and a $16.3 million enterprise value. However, capitalized software costs deter the free cash flow potential at current revenue run rates. Normalized software capex appears to be about $2.5 million, and maintenance capex over $3 million.

The software business model inherently has a high degree of operating leverage, and tottering at breakeven STRM could move earnings up or down quickly. There is leverage to the upside if Watson and Waters can revitalize the sales department and score some contract wins. But there is also downside risk due to the GE falloff and the strong competition in the niche.

STRM does have a fairly strong recurring revenue base of about $11 million a year, consisting of software license maintenance fees and software hosting fees. This base is sticky, as hospitals generally do not make wholesale changes to their software systems. The recurring revenue provides a degree of downside protection and in the near term STRM may feel some positive residual effects of the HITECH Act, but I don’t think that is enough of a margin of safety, given the potential GE dropoff, strong competition, and a sales department in need of an overhaul.

In terms of the stock price action, it is worth noting that there are two large shareholders who have been frequent sellers in the past: Co-founder Eric Lombardo (who was ousted from the company years ago), who holds 14%, and Sharon Brightman (ex-wife of ex-CEO Patsy), who holds 10%. Lombardo was selling down to about $3, and Brightman down to $2. We might also now add ex-CEO Patsy (holding 12%) to the list of disgruntled large shareholders. This group might create a large overhang for a thinly traded stock.

By making it thus far against much larger competition, STRM has proven it has a solid product portfolio and recurring revenue base. And due to its operating leverage, even moderate revenue growth would provide decent earnings relative to its market cap. But given my concerns on the downside, I don’t see enough of a margin of safety to buy now. Going forward, I would like to see signs that Watson can succeed in driving higher sales and/or an even cheaper valuation.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.