Long Island Technology Briefs: December 13, 2002

Long Island Business News, Dec 13, 2002 by Ken Schachter

Cablevision Systems' New York Rangers have fallen from first place. Not in the National Hockey League's Atlantic Division, where they sit in third place behind the Devils and the Flyers, but in the Forbes listing of the most valuable NHL franchises.

The business magazine tagged the value of the Detroit Red Wings at $266 million, an 18 percent jump, putting that team ahead of the second-place Rangers, whose value slid 5 percent to $263 million.

Meanwhile, the value of the New York Islanders, co-owned by Computer Associates CEO Sanjay Kumar and former CEO Charles Wang, held steady at $156 million and was ranked 13th of 30 franchises.

Tech sector hopes to reap rewards from summit

Technology firms see positive signs emanating from the cooperative spirit at the Long Island Economic Summit Dec. 5, said Peter Goldsmith, president of LISTnet and the Long Island Technology Network.

Attending the event at Bethpage State Park were Peter Sylver, deputy Nassau County executive, and George Gatta, Suffolk's deputy county executive for economic development, planning and environment. That marked the first time in memory that the two counties had coordinated their technology planning.

Yacov Shamash, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SUNY Stony Brook, chaired the technology forum.

Now, said Goldsmith, it's a matter of seeing how Sylver and Gatta take the initiatives "and drive them home."

Olympus and Canon join direct-print coalition

Melville-based Olympus America and Lake Success-based Canon USA, sales and marketing units of two Japanese electronics giants, have joined a coalition of digital photography companies in support of a standard to let pictures be printed via a connection between cameras and printers.

Others endorsing the standard, which eliminates the need to download images to a personal computer, are Fuji Film, Hewlett- Packard, Seiko Epson and Sony.

Currently, each company has its own scheme for connecting cameras and printers. For consumers, the agreement means that in the future they will be able to buy a digital camera from one manufacturer and print its images with a device from another manufacturer.

John Knauer, senior product manager at Olympus America for digital, noted that digital photography already is wildly popular and has moved into the mass market.

The new specification, however, will "increase the flexibility and versatility," he said.

Knauer said final details on the specification still need to be hammered out and that resulting products might not reach consumers until the spring or later.

CA signs up for online expo on terrorism and technology

Computer Associates International will be among the exhibitors at Terror & Technology Online, a showcase of anti-terrorism and security technologies March 10-13, 2003.

Sponsored by IDPartners, the show will be conducted entirely online, with virtual exhibition booths and seminar rooms.

The keynote will be by R. James Woolsey, vice president, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and former director, Central Intelligence Agency.

"Especially since 9/11, everyone is concerned with terrorism and security," said Ido Ganor, ID Partners' managing partner. "Terror & Technology Online creates an efficient, effective and safe way to exchange ideas, present solutions and viewpoints, and find products and services you need. This online event requires no travel; sponsors, exhibitors, speakers throughout the world can participate and network with a global audience from the safety and convenience of their computer."

Data Storage Corp.names new president

Data Storage Corp., which is marketing outsourced data storage services, has named Earl Sullivan as president.

Sullivan previously served as executive vice president of North American Telecom with responsibility for engineering and sales. Prior to joining North American Telecom, he worked for Bell Atlantic/ NYNEX for more than 25 years in sales and systems management positions.

Chief Executive Officer Charles Piluso said Sullivan's experience in "business development, account management and strategic product sales" provide Data Storage with "strong leadership."

Finnair taps Mindpearl for customer service

Melville-based Mindpearl USA has been chosen to provide customer- service to the Finnair's customers in the United States and Canada.

"It is a testament to the quality of our people and technology that Finnair has asked us to act as their customer service face in North America," said Vinnie Gaines, president of Mindpearl USA.

Mindpearl USA's parent, Mindpearl AG, headquartered in Switzerland, will handle Finnair reservations using Dominus, an application developed by Mindpearl for airline-reservation systems. Customer inquiries will be fielded by Mindpearl agents.