Microsoft Introduces New Technology

New biomass technology dramatically increases ethanol yield

2008-09-02T22:19:05Z

University of Georgia researchers have developed a new technology that promises to dramatically increase the yield of ethanol from readily available non-food crops, such as Bermudagrass, switchgrass, Napiergrass—and even yard waste.

"Producing ethanol from renewable biomass sources such as grasses is desirable because they are potentially available in large quantities," said Joy Peterson, professor of microbiology and chair of UGA's Bioenergy Task Force. "Optimizing the breakdown of the plant fibers is critical to production of liquid transportation fuel via fermentation." Peterson developed the new technology with former UGA microbiology student Sarah Kate Brandon, and Mark Eiteman, professor of biological and agricultural engineering.

The new technology features a fast, mild, acid-free pretreatment process that increases by at least 10 times the amount of simple sugars released from inexpensive biomass for conversion to ethanol. The technology effectively eliminates the use of expensive and environmentally unsafe chemicals currently used to pretreat biomass.

The technology is available for licensing from the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., which has filed a patent application.

Inexpensive waste products—including corn stover or bagasse, the waste from corn and sugar cane harvests, fast-growing weeds—and non-food crops grown for biofuel, such as switchgrass, Napiergrass and Bermudagrass, are widely viewed as the best sustainable resources for ethanol made from biofuels.

"Using non-food crops that can be grown on marginal lands, like grasses, and fibrous waste streams like corn stover, is important because of the ongoing food-versus-fuel debate," said Peterson. "When agricultural crops, such as corn or potatoes, are grown for biofuels production, the cost of the starting material may fluctuate greatly because of competing demands for food and feed. The trade-off with using a biomass like grasses is that grasses are harder to break apart than corn or potatoes, and the cost of making the same fuel, like ethanol, rises."

Developing an efficient, cost-effective process to convert the fibrous stalks, leaves, and blades of plant wastes into simple sugars is the biggest challenge to bio-based ethanol production. Thick, complex plant cell walls are highly resistant to efforts to break them down.

Currently, woody biomass requires soaking under high pressure and temperatures in expensive, environmentally aggressive bases or acids before it is subjected to enzymes that digest it, producing simple sugars. The harsh pretreatment solutions subsequently must be removed and disposed of safely. They also cause formation of side products that can slow down the conversion of the sugars into ethanol.

In contrast, the environmentally friendly UGA technology eliminates the expense of harsh pretreatment chemicals and their disposal, and the formation of side products is minimal.

"The new technology has commercial application for the biomass industry, including producers of sugar cane, corn, switchgrass, Napiergrass and other woody biomass crops," said Gennaro Gama, UGARF technology manager responsible for licensing this technology. "It may also help renewable energy and biofermentation companies—and local governments.

"By allowing for the use of myriad raw materials, this technology allows more options for ethanol facilities trying to meet nearby demand by using locally available, inexpensive starting materials," he added. "This would greatly reduce the costs and carbon footprint associated with the delivery of raw materials to fermentation facilities and the subsequent delivery of ethanol to points of sale. Local production of ethanol may also protect specific areas against speculative fluctuations in fuel prices.

"It's easy to imagine that this easy-to-use, inexpensive technology could be used by local governments, alone or in partnership with entrepreneurs, to meet local demand for ethanol, possibly using yard waste as a substrate," he said.

Microsoft Introduces New Technology

2008-09-02T22:06:28Z

SAN FRANCISCO — Oct. 23, 2007 — Seeking to catalyze large-scale adoption of mobile smartphones by corporate customers, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer today unveiled several strategic offerings to help people and businesses better embrace mobile technology. The company announced its first dedicated mobile device management server and a strategic new business alliance to complement the growing success of the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system and help more businesses take advantage of mobile solutions for their employees.

“People expect to be able to do more and more with their mobile phone,” Ballmer said in his keynote address today to the Cellular Technology Industry Association (CTIA) of America. “We’re building on our expertise across servers, operating systems and services to deliver Windows Mobile experiences that bridge the things people want to do at work and at home.”

Responding to customer needs beyond mobile e-mail and calendaring, Microsoft introduced the Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, a new mobile-dedicated server solution that helps companies manage Windows Mobile phones similar to Windows-based laptops and PCs. With Mobile Device Manager, companies can deliver new applications to phones over the air as well as connect people via Mobile VPN (virtual private network) with security-enhanced access to critical data such as expense reports or customer information.

To help more businesses purchase and manage mobile phone deployments, Microsoft announced a strategic alliance with Enterprise Mobile Inc., a new mobile enterprise service company created by Corporate Software founder and PC resale pioneer Mort Rosenthal. Enterprise Mobile will build, deploy and manage custom-made solutions that will work with a variety of mobile operators and phone manufacturers.

Microsoft, AT&T and Samsung also unveiled the Blackjack II, marking more than 30 Windows Mobile phones that have been announced this year. Available later this year exclusively through AT&T for as low as $149.99 (ERP), the Blackjack II is a new Windows Mobile 6 phone featuring GPS that will be updatable to support Mobile Device Manager. The AT&T Tilt and other Windows Mobile 6 smart devices to be introduced by AT&T later this year also will support Mobile Device Manager. Other recently launched phones in the U.S. are the HTC Advantage, Mogul by HTC, Touch by HTC, T-Mobile Wing, and from Verizon Wireless the Samsung SCH i760, Motorola Q Music 9m, SMT5800 and XV6800.

Windows Mobile is expected to be the fastest-growing mobile operating system over the next five years, according to the analyst firm IDC.

Industry Shows Broad Support for Mobile Device Manager

AT&T announced today that it will support Mobile Device Manager for business customers next year, and Sprint also announced it will enhance its portfolio of Windows Mobile phones in 2008 to support Mobile Device Manager. In addition, new phones or updates to support Mobile Device Manager are expected to be available beginning the second quarter of 2008 from HP, HTC, i-mate, Intermec, Motorola, Palm Inc. and Samsung. Service partners Avanade, CSC, EDS, Getronics, HP and TCS have announced support for Mobile Device Manager.

“For AT&T, success in the mobile space means making powerful solutions available to business through which they can mobilize their workforces, and the Windows Mobile platform delivers service offerings that provide our customers with a robust and differentiated experience,” said Kent Mathy, president, Business Markets Group, AT&T. “By supporting Mobile Device Manager on several levels, including by making our entire Windows Mobile 6 portfolio updatable to Mobile Device Manager and ensuring that those smart devices are compatible with AT&T’s network and other wireless data services, we are building upon our long and successful alliance with Microsoft to provide businesses with a compelling mobile solution.”

“System Center Mobile Device Manager will enable our enterprise customers to manage their Windows Mobile HTC devices in the same way they manage PCs and laptops and, at the same time, be able to help their businesses use a greater variety of wireless applications more securely,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corp. “HTC will make a Mobile Device Manager software update available for the AT&T Tilt and HTC TyTN II starting in the second quarter of 2008 with additional device updates to follow so that customers in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region will be able to take advantage of all the capabilities their mobile phone has to offer.”

The new server, a first for the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft, is expected to be available in the first half of 2008.

Enterprise Mobile to Provide End-to-End Support for Custom Business Mobility Needs

To help deploy Mobile Device Manager and Windows Mobile as part of custom, end-to-end mobile solutions, Microsoft is also working with Enterprise Mobile to make it easier for businesses to purchase, deploy, manage and support mobile phones. A new service provider and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Enterprise Mobile has been working with Microsoft and customers on early pilot programs and offers a complete service solution for developing, delivering and managing solutions based on the Windows Mobile platform.

“Mobility is the future of business,” said Rosenthal, CEO of Enterprise Mobile. “The Windows Mobile platform and System Center Mobile Device Manager, coupled with mobile operator and device maker partners, are the core elements of a strategic solution. At Enterprise Mobile, we can help businesses develop and actualize a solution tailored for their needs.”

Mobile Device Manager Enhances Management, Security and Access to Data

Mobile Device Manager is a single solution for managing Windows Mobile phones that addresses business’s needs to manage complex environments by enabling IT departments to do the following:

Server Helps Secure Windows Mobile Phones

Mobile Device Manager offers new features and tools to help IT professionals control and protect sensitive corporate information on Windows Mobile phones. As security remains a top priority, Mobile Device Manager helps businesses do the following:

erver to Give Mobile Workers Access to the Data They Need

Using the new Mobile VPN, Mobile Device Manager provides security-enhanced access to data behind the corporate firewall, opening up a world of possibilities for businesses to offer a variety of line of business and productivity applications available for Windows Mobile such as Flowfinity, Formotus Inc., Microsoft Dynamics Mobile, Mobitor Corp., Pyxis Mobile, SAT Corp. and TrueContext. Built specifically for performance and security important to IT departments deploying a variety of mobile applications for Windows Mobile, Mobile Device Manager is designed to enable the following:

New technology at work: a help or a hindrance?

2008-09-02T21:44:49Z

Wherever you work, and no matter what your position is within your organisation, you will almost certainly come face-to-face with the same basic questions concerning new technology.Investing time in new technology.

One of the first conundrums you are likely to encounter - perhaps you already have - is whether it is worth investing lots of time and energy in familiarising yourself with new technology, on the vague promise that, in the long-run, it will save you time.On the one hand, you may be tempted to feel that spending countless hours trying to master new software packages is bound to turn out to be a frustrating and fruitless exercise.

There's no guarantee, you might think, as you pour over densely worded manuals and laborious online tutorials, that your life will be made any easier at the end of the day.On the other, there's the appealing prospect of being able to streamline your working day, especially the aspects of it that are fast becoming time-consuming chores.

You also look around you and see others taking advantage of new technology, upgrades and energy-saving shortcuts, and you don't want to miss out.The trick is not to let new technology take over our lives, drive us half-crazy and stress us out completely. After all helpful technology should lead us to efficiency and harmony - not therapy!Helpful hintsIn the series of articles that follow, you will find a number of helpful hints that are generally applicable to anyone who is interested in how the working day can be improved, made simpler and more efficient.

Many of us may be familiar with a work colleague who is very diligent, likeable, hard-working and prepared to be flexible in their working hours to meet their workload. Over-stressed Suzie, let us call her, always gets in early to sort her overnight e-mails, but her inbox is always overflowing. Suzie often works late trying to reply to all her e-mails and never switches off her mobile phone either. Partly because her boss knows she'll still be in the office, somehow Suzie is the one who always gets given last-minute crises to solve. She's always tearing her hair out and doesn't take enough time to stop, step back and think about problem solving or prioritising.

When Suzie was asked to organise the office Christmas party, for example, she did a brilliant job researching various catering suppliers and entertainment companies. Unfortunately, for months afterwards, they all bombarded her with unwanted marketing e-mails. It was Spam that she couldn't get rid of. Suzie wasn't aware that helpful technology now exists to filter such e-mails away from your inbox, saving you a lot of time and bother.One of Suzie's responsibilities involves finalising the directors' monthly report and that adds up to a regular headache as her firm has 15 partners, each of who try to make last-minute amends to the document.

In the past, keeping track of all the changes has proved a horrendous task. Again, Suzie may not have been aware that software can make this task easy. Instead of chasing all those changes for her directors' report the hard way, by tracking them all individually, Suzie could change her life for the better by simply tapping into software that can allow a number of people to access and amend one document.

Thanks to this new technology, her troubles could be over - and her monthly routine of staying late at the office to meet the publication deadline.Another colleague whom some of us have seen around the office is, shall we name him Luddite Lenny. Now Lenny is a little wary of technological innovation, and tends towards the view that new technology is, more often than not, a hindrance. Lenny has always done things a certain way and is unaware that he could be saving himself time and effort if he were brave enough to explore alternatives.Lenny could make his life a lot easier by remembering that new technology is the future. With a little encouragement, many of us could be a little bolder perhaps, when it comes to checking out the market for ways to improve our ways of working.

How software can change your working life

Never be reticent when it comes to exploring upgrades and always go out of your way to follow up on possible alternatives when you hear about them. These are golden opportunities to improve your working life and practices, so seize them whenever you can. There are plenty of companies out there that offer free advice. You can download newsletters, packed with handy hints on how software can change your working life for the better.

In some cases, software is also available free on a trial basis.Also, don't worry that you are going to run into difficulties struggling to understand new technology packages because customer support is almost always on offer as an integral part of the deal. Don't forget that behind the computer technology there are friendly human beings waiting to help you!

This is especially true when you are dealing with the major players, such as Microsoft, who have the infrastructure and personnel to support you just when you need it.Embracing such improvements to your working life is about letting technology help you. It is not a hindrance. It will improve your and your company's performance.

The skills you can pick up will help you save time - and also achieve more in less time.And whether you are aged 16 or 61, staying open-minded enough to want to keep on learning is the name of the game.