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SHIPPING industry technology pioneer Safelash has taken out the top award in the 2014 Australian Technologies Competition.

Safelash invented a safer, cost-saving lashing system – the Targ Safelash System – that could save the shipping industry 10 billion litres of fuel a year and help prevent deaths and container losses at sea. It took home the Australian Technologies Competition (ATC) 2014 Company of the Year Award.

The Sydney-based company was born following a tragic death at a container port where the founder, Robin Bean was working in 2010. Mr Bean was compelled to do something about the global shipping problem of secure leashing,which injures hundreds of people each year and regularly causes fatalities.

Safelash CEO Robin Bean said such tragedies were “entirely unnecessary”. He said the Targ Safelash system is a simple, failsafe lash system that guarantees containers are secured, resulting in fewer container losses at sea and much quicker turnout times in and out of ports. Safelash is working with its first customers in Europe and Asia and have big plans to go global very quickly.

“We are thrilled to be named Technology Company of the Year and to have gained the experience from the Business Accelerator program,” Mr Bean said. “For us, this isn't about winning an award; it is an opportunity to get practical assistance and coaching to improve our business.

“We gained not only from an expert mentor who has great experience in start-ups, but also the benefit of meeting in a collegiate, positive environment where you can learn from the experiences of your peers as well as expert presenters and judges such as James O’Loghlin,” he said.

“The competition has already helped us take the next step in obtaining new investment both through becoming a finalist and from significant improvements in our business plan”.

The Australian Technologies Competition, now in its fourth year, has the Australian Department of Industry as its core partner and the principal sponsor is Autodesk’s  Cleantech Partner Program. With a long list of supporters including AusIndustry Group and Engineers Australia, the ATC is seen as the leading emerging technology business accelerator program in Australia.

Each year the competition receives hundreds of applicants for its eight month development program which culminates in recognising Australia’s best game-changing technology companies.

The 2014 ATC Showcase featured a suite of world-class inventions, including a life-saving shower, smaller batteries with up to 50 percent more storage, and carbon nanotube enriched concrete that is 200 times stronger than steel.

The entries were all judged by a panel of experts during the live finals to determine which companies have the greatest potential to become a global success story in their industry.

There were six industry winners. The Manufacturing Award went to Rheology Solutions; the Mining Technologies Award to Minnovare and the Built Environment Award went to CINTEP.

The Food Technologies Award was won by Microbiogen, the Energy Award by Raygen Resources and the Water Technologies Award went to Calix

The People’s Choice Award was also won by Raygen Resources and the Alumni Award by Aeratron.

Raygen Resources is the Melbourne-made solar power generation system that costs half the price and delivers twice as much power as alternative options.

Raygen’s product is so impressive that it is being imported by China for a solar project near Shanghai. The company also announced it had won a boost from its Chinese partner with an accelerated delivery of its $60 million deal with Intense Solar – a business partner introduced to the company through the 2013 ATC Trade Mission to China.

Competition organiser and managing director of Australian CleanTech, John O’Brien said, “The competition this year has been incredible. An excellent cross section of Australian technology businesses comes together for this annual program, which is being increasingly recognised as a successful platform for developing and showcasing cutting edge Australian technology companies and growing their global access.”

A highlight of the awards event was the entertaining keynote by Australian Matt Barrie, CEO of Australian internet sensation, Freelancer. He gave an inside view on how his team managed to “achieve world domination on a shoestring budget” turning a simple idea into a multi-billion dollar technology business.

“The rate of technology adoption is unparalleled in history – and accelerating. It is fantastic to see an initiative fostering home-grown talent and innovation here in Australia,” Mr Barrie said.

“If we play it right, technology will be the real growth opportunity for Australia in the future.”

Principal sponsor of the competition is Autodesk, a leading software company that strives to help people imagine, design and create a better world. In addition to offering highly subsidised access to its design software through the Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program, the company mentors competition finalists on how they can use technology to optimise product.

www.austechcomp.com

MORE ON THE WINNERS

RAYGEN RESOURCES

Raygen Resources won the inaugural ATC People’s Choice Award.  

Developing the world’s lowest cost energy. Raygen’s Concentrated Solar Photovoltaics (CSPV) combines the best elements of two leading solar power technologies, without their shortcomings. CSPV power stations use mirrors to concentrate light onto a dense array of ultra-efficient photovoltaic cells, 1500 times more powerful that standard ones.

This system will produce clean energy with twice the efficiency of standard photovoltaics and much lower costs. World solar capacity is growing exponentially. A mass of 3GW of solar capacity was added in 2013 at a cost of over $100 billion. It is a huge market and Raygen is developing a genuine breakthrough product.

RHEOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Rheology Solutions Pty Ltd is a specialist sales and service organisation dedicated to the science of materials characterisation. They are the exclusive Australian distributor for the product names HAAKE, NESLAB and Thermo Scientific from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Optical Control Systems, Marimex Industries Corporation and Schleibinger Gerate range of equipment and instruments.

CINTEP

CINTEP’s Recycling Shower system is possibly the world’s first life-saving shower system. It reduces water and energy consumption from showering by 70 percent without reducing flow rate, temperature, or time in the shower. This can translate to a family household saving of $937 every year, along with 73,000 litres of water and 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide. Its potential to save lives however, was what caught the attention of the US Army. Now

in negotiations with CINTEP, the US Military estimates that this recycling shower could reduce operational fatalities by 20 percent due to the drastic reduction in supply convoys who primarily move large qualities of water to the front line.

MINNOVARE

Minnovare has found that by using the latest in military grade north seeking gyro technology, drill rig operators can use its Azimuth Aligner’s real time display to accurately align a rig in under five minutes and replace the need for GPS, compass, foresight backsight markers, pegs or flagging tape. Geologists and surveyors are no longer required to supervise surface or underground drill rig alignment setups.

By automating what is traditionally a manual and labour intensive process the Azimuth Aligner significantly improves ‘bit on bottom’ time, safety, efficiency and overall drilling productivity.

The Company was founded in 2012 for the purpose of developing, producing and distributing the Azimuth Aligner. As a result of the successful launch in Australia, Minnovare has now expanded use and distribution of the product internationally.

CALIX

Calix’s mission is to simplify how things are made. Refined minerals help make almost everything, and yet they are expensive and energy intensive to use. Calix has developed an elegant technology that creates mineral ‘popcorn’ – fluffy tiny mineral particles that combine more readily into products and innovative new materials, while capturing carbon dioxide. Calix’s first product-to-market is a magnesium-based fluid, a superior additive for the treatment of waste water, that delivers price and energy savings of at least 25 percent against current methods.

AERATRON

Aeratron has developed an energy saving, noise reducing fan-turbine technology suitable for applications in IT, server cooling, medical devices, defence, and many other applications.

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LENOVO has completed its acquisition of the Motorola brand, lifting it to the third largest manufacturer of mobile smartphones and devices in the world.

Motorola's portfolio of innovative smartphones like Moto X, Moto G, Moto E and the DROID series – a licensed trademark from Star Wars movie maker Lucasfilm Ltd – as well as the future Motorola product roadmap, positions Lenovo as the world’s third largest maker of smartphones. 

Lenovo, headquartered in China, will operate Motorola as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Motorola’s headquarters will remain in Chicago.

With the completion of the acquisition, Lenovo has taken on Motorola’s 3,500 employees around the world – including about 2,800 in the US – a mix of designers, engineers, sales and support staff.

“Today we achieved a historic milestone for Lenovo and for Motorola – and together we are ready to compete, grow and win in the global smartphone market,” said Lenovo chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing.

“By building a strong number three and a credible challenger to the top two in smartphones, we will give the market something it has needed: choice, competition and a new spark of innovation.

“This partnership has always been a perfect fit. Lenovo has a clear strategy, great global scale, and proven operational excellence. Motorola brings a strong presence in the US and other mature markets, great carrier relationships, an iconic brand, a strong IP portfolio and an incredibly talented team. This is a winning combination.”

Lenovo made its reputation when it bought IBM’s personal computer business about a decade ago.

Google CEO Larry Page said, “Motorola is in great hands with Lenovo, a company that’s all-in on making great devices.”

Liu Jun, Lenovo executive vice president and president of Lenovo’s Mobile Business Group, is chairman of the Motorola Management Board. Rick Osterloh, a Motorola veteran, will remain president and chief operating officer of Motorola.

“Motorola has already built solid momentum in the market, and their recent results show consumers are excited about their exceptional products that stand out for their design and simplicity,” Mr Liu said.

“With the complementary strengths of our two companies, we expect to sell more than 100 million mobile devices this year – including smartphones and tablets – by leveraging the Lenovo brand’s leading market position in China, our shared momentum in emerging markets, and Motorola’s strong foothold in mature markets like the US.”

Mr Liu said Motorola already has strong momentum in the marketplace led by highly successful new product launches and ground-breaking innovations, which have provided solid growth.

Beyond smartphones, the Moto 360 watch has captured consumer attention and established Motorola as a company expanding into emerging mobile device areas.

Lenovo expects to make the Motorola business profitable in four to six quarters.

Google will maintain ownership of a majority of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio, while Motorola will receive a licence to this rich portfolio of patents and other intellectual property.

Motorola will retain over 2,000 patent assets and a large number of patent cross-licence agreements, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.

The total purchase price at close was about US$2.91 billion, subject to certain post-close adjustments, including US$660 million in cash and 519,107,215 newly issued ordinary shares of Lenovo stock, with an aggregate value of US$750 million, representing about 4.7 percent of Lenovo’s shares outstanding, which were transferred to Google at close.

The remaining US$1.5 billion will be paid to Google by Lenovo in the form of a three-year promissory note. A separate cash compensation of US$228 million was paid by Lenovo to Google primarily for the cash and working capital held by Motorola at the time of close.

The transaction has satisfied all regulatory requirements and customary closing conditions, including clearance by competition authorities in the US, China, EU, Brazil and Mexico, and by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

This is the fifth time since 2005 Lenovo has been cleared by CFIUS to acquire a US business.

www.lenovo.com

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MOST businesses are only utilising about 40 percent of their existing computing capability, according to business and information technology (IT) application consultancy Coritsu Group.

Coritsu managing director, Samuel Conway said the problems generally stemmed from a lack of integration with current systems, quick-fix solutions, staff have not been trained properly and solutions were “not being evaluated in the most effective and strategic way”.

“IT departments are often left in charge of integration of new process tools,” Mr Conway said. “However, business solutions need trained strategic business professionals to look at system implementation in a much more holistic fashion, rather than the narrow view most IT departments tend to take.

“There are thousands of IT-based solutions on the market now and they’re more affordable than ever. From automating everyday processes to creating customised solutions to rapidly increase efficiencies in your business, there’s never been more on offer….and there’s also never been as much confusion,” he said.

Mr Conway said Coritsu worked with organisations across Australia, US and the UK to help them scope, design and implement cutting edge whole-business solutions to address efficiency and productivity issues. It works with some big names including the University of Oxford in the UK on world-leading data visualisation software, to allow researchers to analyse thousands of images in a faster and more intuitive fashion.

The company has seen a gap in the market with regards to small and medium enterprises not using their IT systems – specifically MS SharePoint – to its full capacity and is reaping the rewards of engaging with these businesses.

In under three years the company has seen a 700 percent growth in revenue and this month has brought in a new customer relationship management (CRM) developer and is looking at high growth projections for the next financial year and beyond.

www.coritsu.com

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AS SPEECH recognition software finds its way into business systems, so innovators are finding new ways to use it to give their businesses an edge.

The speed of adoption of speech recognition systems has roughly matched the velocity of the software’s reliability in recent years – but now that reliability is there, it is the integration capabilities of particular speech recognition systems that determine its adoption. 

A good example is Nuance Communications Australia – a satellite of the US-based software developer that is a global leader in this field – which has just released its latest Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13. It now incorporates six accent recognition models, Australian, Southeast Asian, Indian, English, Canadian and American.

Version 13 aims to bring more accurate, natural and intuitive interaction with personal computers (PCs) and solidify Nuance’s reputation for being one of the fastest and most accurate speech recognition systems available for the PC

Productivity is the edge this new software version aims to provide, offering built-in microphone support, expanded voice capabilities for most popular web applications and with a more modern interface than previous versions.

Nuance’s chief marketing officer and general manager for Dragon, Peter Mahoney said with the help of Dragon, users were able to continue pushing the boundaries of productivity gains and ease of use with the PC.

“Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 offers increased accuracy, improved design and flexibility, and a robust web experience – and that adds up to a more intuitive and productive experience for customers,” Mr Mahoney said. 

“Dragon continues to serve as a complete voice solution for the PC, capable of impressive performance across programs, browsers and applications.

“Both new and long-time users of Dragon will find their interactions with the PC completely transformed, as they use their voice to get more things done in a faster and more natural way.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 aims to the PC experience by turning voice into text and actionable commands much faster than most people can type.  By making navigation and text-entry tasks dramatically faster and easier, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 seeks to enable people to get more work done on a computer, more accurately and in a shorter period of time than most people can achieve through a keyboard and mouse.

Dragon 13has been tweaked by the Nuance developers to makeit easier to navigate, command and control a PC by voice and it supports fast, accurate dictation for local applications, such as Microsoft Word, and web applications including email and social media. By leveraging the latest advancements in Nuance speech recognition science and technology, Dragon 13 is faster and more accurate.

Dragon 13 has significantly enhanced out-of-the-box accuracy, and continues to get smarter as it automatically adapts to personal writing style and preferences by learning the words and phrases that an individual uses most.  It opens up new possibilities for composing and editing documents, sending emails, searching the internet and updating popular social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Mr Mahoney said Dragon 13 offers support for many microphone options, including, for the first time, microphones built-in to many of the latest laptops, offering greater freedom and flexibility – no headset required.  Dragon 13 automatically detects which microphones are available to use, so a user selects a preference and can simply start talking.

Dragon 13 now also supports voice commands and what is called Full Text Control. This uses the primary user’s voice to perform direct dictation, text selection or correction and cursor movement within text – and this works in popular web applications such as Gmail, Outlook.com and Yahoo! Mail in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. 

A user can, for example, tell the computer to “open Internet Explorer” and, from there, speak to navigate to Facebook, scroll through a news feed and select photos and links.  Voice will open Gmail, address and compose a message, insert a personal signature and send a note – with no typing or clicking required.

Dragon 13 also features a contemporary, intuitive interface and helpful tutorials that make using Dragon easier than it has been in the past. 

In four steps, a Dragon profile can be set up. Helping to boost productivity is Dragon’s Learning Centre, which displays relevant help at the user’s fingertips. 

The English version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium is available for download or can be box-shipped, costing $199.95. It is also available through Nuance’s global network of reseller partners, software retailers and professional sales organisations.  Special upgrade pricing is available for current Dragon NaturallySpeaking registered users.

The English version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Home is also now available, starting at $99.95.

Additional language versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 Premium and Home will be available later this year. Dragon also has software tailored for Mac.

australia.nuance.com

www.getdragon.com.au

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