CT Industry
:: PEOPLE
SUN GROUP VP.
Sun Microsystems has
appointed company
veteran Joe Hartley
as VP of global education,
government,
and health care. Hartley replaces
Kim Jones, who is now president
and managing director for Sun's UK
and Ireland operations.
NEW ANYSTREAM CEO. Fred
Singer, former SVP and COO of AOL
Studios, is taking
the reins as CEO of on-demand
video solutions provider Anystream.
HONORED. The Association for
Communications Technology Professionals
in Higher Education has recognized Sandra
Roberts, director of telecommunications
at Wellesley College (MA), with
its Ruth A. Michalecki Leadership
Award. John Bradley, retired from
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY), has received ACUTA's Bill D.
Morris Award, recognizing dedication,
vision, professionalism, and
leadership.
:: NEWS
SECOND IDENTITY. Linden Lab has unveiled a
new identity verification system for
Second Life residents. The voluntary system, from
verification technology and data services
vendor Aristotle, will provide an additional layer
of trust for residents and businesses in
the virtual world, and will help ensure
that minors do not gain access to
restricted content.
SPOTLIGHT ON EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS. A recent
ACUTA member survey found that colleges
and universities are aggressively
upgrading their emergency communications
systems. The areas where most
institutions are focusing their attention:
e-mail and text alerts, voice alerts,
alarms and sirens, and emergency
annunciator systems.
GROWING THE GRID. The Southeastern
Universities Research Association and Dell have partnered to expand SURAgrid,
a high-performance grid computing
infrastructure for the research and education
community throughout the Southeastern
US. Under the three-year
agreement, more than 60 SURAgrid
member universities will be able to purchase
Dell high-performance computing
clusters specifically configured for use on
the SURAgrid.
MINI-PROJECTOR FORECAST.
Display market research firm Pacific
Media Associates is predicting explosive
growth for a new breed of front projectors:
pocket- and mini-projector devices.
Though the devices will offer only 500
lumens of brightness or less, the number
of units shipped is expected to rise
from only 18,000 in 2006 to more
than 6.5 million in 2011. Read more
here.
CMS ALTERNATIVE
GOES NATIONAL.
Once focused in the
mid-Atlantic states,
software service
provider WebStudy has launched its course management
system and product suite nationwide.
WebStudy's fully hosted offerings
include the WebStudy CMS, CourseStream (for managing and delivering
streaming video), CourseLive (for creating
online interactive content), and WebCouncil (for meetings and conferences).
:: M & A, Etc.
TANDBERG ACQUIRES
CODIAN. Visual communication vendor
Tandberg has
acquired Codian, a
developer of HD videoconferencing and
infrastructure products.
INTRODUCING ECHO360. Apreso,
the higher ed division of Anystream, has announced
the acquisition of Australian lecture capture
developer Lectopia. The combined entities will be
renamed Echo360, a
move that will formalize the separation
of Anystream's media and education
business units.
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
PAIRING. Hobsons has acquired AY Recruiting
Solutions, a
provider of
admissions
and recruitment
technologies.
ACER
TO ACQUIRE
GATEWAY. PC vendor Acer has agreed to acquire
Gateway. In a separate
transaction, Gateway's professional
business has been acquired by MPC
Computers.
For daily industry news, go to campus-technology.com/mcv/news/
