On October 21, 2009, The Catholic University of America announced that more than 1,000 solar panels would be installed on several campus buildings before the end of year to reduce energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions. This project, implemented by Herndon, VA-based Washington Gas and Gaithersburg, MD-based Standard Solar, has now been completed – resulting in the largest solar panel system in the metro DC region in terms of the amount of electricity produced.

According to data released by Standard Solar, the system will produce about 340,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year and result in 294 fewer tons of carbon dioxide being emitted annually. The avoided emissions will be the equivalent of reducing the use of 30,300 gallons of gasoline in 2010.

Standard Solar, the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest designer and installer of solar electric systems completed the installation right before this past Christmas. The four arrays that were installed consist of 1,088 3-by-6-foot panels on the roofs of the Raymond A. DuFour Athletic Center, the academic building Aquinas Hall, and the dorms Gibbons Hall and Flather Hall. Under the terms of the arrangement, The Catholic University of America,  the national university of the Catholic Church in America with over 6,700 graduate and undergraduate students, will purchase the energy produced by the solar panels from Washington Gas at guaranteed prices.

In addition to the economic and environmental benefits, Catholic University also used the installation process as an educational experience for students studying solar power and renewable energy. Students received instruction from Standard Solar and Washington Gas on the technology, and will continue to get hands-on experience in the years ahead.

“As climate leaders from around the world take stock of the climate meetings in Copenhagen, it is fitting the University and Washington Gas Energy Services are ‘walking the talk’ about sustainability,” said Scott Wiater, Standard Solar President. “We look forward to helping other colleges and universities connect what’s going on in the classroom to what we can help their schools achieve on many rooftops all over campus,” Wiater added.

Frank Gruber, one the most popular Washington, DC tech figures and a product manager of AOL’s Lifestream Platform, has revealed on his blog, Somewhat Frank, that he is leaving AOL to pursue new interests.

Saying that his New Year’s resolution “is to be bold”, Gruber writes that he will devote much of his time to growing TECH Cocktail, which he started with Eric Olson in 2006, prior to joining AOL three years ago. TECH Cocktail is a community building startup that offers events and community-powered projects open to bloggers, technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs & professionals interested in technology in under-served technology communities.

In addition to TECH Cocktail, Gruber writes that he has “co-founded Shiny Heart Ventures, a startup focused on building products that remind us of the joys of life.” The company’s first product was Thankfulfor, “a social gratitude journal which launched in September” and according to Gruber, “has been growing into a strong community.” Last month the company also lunched Shiny Maine Lobster which is designed to “help bring a family business online for fresh lobster” that can be shipped direct by mail.

Gruber writes in his blog, “I have racked up a lot of airline miles bouncing between DC and the West Coast. It has been a good run and a great learning experience working in a large organization and I have met so many great people along the way. I am proud of our accomplishments at Aol. As anyone who has ever worked at a large company can attest, it is not easy to launch a product in a big organization and I did it a few times in just three years.”

In his blog, Gruber thanks AOL for the opportunity to work for them and bring new products to millions of people across the world. He said, “I am so proud of our accomplishments and look forward to Aol doing it’s own start-up thing in 2010.”

Maryland-based iBiquity, a developer of HD Radio™ technology, had excellent news to report this month. Not only have sales of its HD radio receiver doubled from last year, but Ford announced yesterday that it was adding both iTunes tagging and crystal-clear radio sound through iBiquity’s HD Radio technology as some of the latest features to be available in 2010 on Ford cars.

Over 730,000 HD Radio receivers were sold in 2009, with half a million of those sold through September and another quarter of a million sold in the last couple of months. The sales mean that 1.3 million HD radios have been sold since the technology became available. No details were immediately available on how many receivers would be installed by Ford in 2010.

Ford’s decision is driven by the company’s focus on providing advanced radio technology to consumers. The digital technology provided by iBiquity enables broadcasters to offer near-CD quality sound, without static, fadeout and other problems associated with analog signals. The receivers also display information on the music playing, such as song title and artist. By merging this technology with iTunes Tagging, Ford customers will be able to capture songs they hear on the HD Radio receiver by tagging them and storing them in the radio’s memory. Up to 100 tags can be stored at a time. A person can then sync the radio with their iPod, view the tagged songs and decide if they want to purchase them in iTunes.

In response to the deal, iBiquity COO, Jeff Jury said, “Ford continues to lead the market in bringing advanced capabilities to popular vehicles. We are very pleased that HD Radio technology is an integral part of Ford’s broad offering of new features.”

Nearly 2,000 radio stations in the U.S. currently broadcast in digital HD Radio sound, with more than 1,100 stations also airing HD2/HD3 channels. Approximately 85 percent of the U.S. population is served by a station broadcasting with HD Radio technology.

This story originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/ibiquity_hd_radio_chosen_by_ford.aspx

QBurst, a web and mobile application development company based in Fairfax, VA, has launched theapps.mobi, a searchable directory of iPhone apps ranging from Education, Business and Entertainment to Travel, Weather and Lifestyle.

Theapps.mobi provides a sophisticated web site that provides users the ability to browse through a detailed catalog of iPhone and iPod Touch applications, reducing the need to browse the Apple store for applications.

What’s more, the site provides iPhone application developers a chance to be recognized via search engines as well as through its changing “featured” and “latest” application highlights, which are shown prominently on the main screen beneath the app search bar.

The site was designed by QBurst to run on Google’s App Engine platform, and the company will manage the site.

QBurst, which also has offices in India and the UK, consists of a team of over 200 professionals that help design and develop custom applications for companies of all sizes.

This article originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/qburst_launches_iphoneipod_searching.aspx

Wireless Matrix, a Herndon, VA-based provider of software solutions designed to improve service fleet delivery metrics, and Colorado-based GeoNav Group International, announced yesterday their first client since establishing a formal business partnership several days ago that is designed to maximize data and navigation capabilities for their clients.

The companies new joint solution will be implemented for the Victory Electric Cooperative, which serves southwestern Kansas residents with electricity. The goal of the implementation is to combine Wireless Matrix’s in-cab navigation and messaging solution, TechConnect™, with GeoNav’s Utility Navigator – a solution that utilizes data in a Garmin Personal Navigation Device. The system to be installed will incorporate infrastructure data from the Victory Electric Cooperative and enable its fleet to see poles, meters, transformers and other critical infrastructure on a Garmin device.

According to a press release posted on their website, J. Richard Carlson, president and CEO of Wireless Matrix said that, “Utility companies like Victory Electric expect and demand more from their mobile resource management providers than dots on a map. Our solution has become an integral part of their day-to-day operations and by partnering with GeoNav, together we can provide valuable data to the utility marketplace, enabling them to better operate and drive bottom-line results.”

AOL’s board officially approved layoffs of approximately 7,000 workers (about 1/3 the company’s total workforce) yesterday. The company had announced the layoffs previously, but this was the first official act by the board since AOL became a separate company from Time Warner a few weeks ago.

The news pushed AOL’s stock higher in the NYSE this past week, however, AOL faces a number of challenges as seeks to stand on its own two-feet.

Namely, AOL was the only top 5 web property in the US to have year over year declines in visitors to its web sites. In fact, AOL has suffered a 28% year over year decline in its subscriber base.

Despite the layoffs and some declines in subscribers,  AOL continues to adapt and reshape itself. A recent Wall Street Journal report noted that the company was in talks to sell its ICQ instant-messaging service in a deal that could inject some fresh capital into the company – ranging from $175 million to $300 million.

BoxTone, a Columbia, Maryland-based company that develops software for smartphone device management, announced it has established a public sector unit designed to serve federal, state and local governments as well as other public sector organizations and the military.

The Company, which recently surpassed 500,000 enterprise-connected BlackBerry smartphones that are being managed, tracked and controlled by the BoxTone software suite, has over 230 businesses and government agencies as clients. In addition to supporting BlackBerry users on an enterprise level, BoxTone also supports the ActiveSync platform, which features iPhone, Android, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile devices.

With the rapid growth of smartphone deployment through the government and public sector, BoxTone has seen the need for a mobile platform that supports emergency communication, mobile applications and other critical needs rise. Already the provider for the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol Police, General Services Administration, and state and local government clients, BoxTone sees the rollout of a public sector unit as a logical step to help provide enhance services and support.

In a recent press release, BoxTone vice president for the public sector practice, Brian Murphy, confirmed as much, saying, “With an existing client base of top-tier federal, state and local governments and military organizations using our software to harden their mobile platforms, BoxTone is now launching our Public Sector Practice to focus increased resources on the support and success of all mobile government professionals.”

This article originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/boxtone_launches_mobility_management_unit_for_public_sector.aspx

Centrifuge Systems, a leading provider of business intelligence software and interactive analytics based in McLean, Virginia, announced Vince Barrett and Chris Walton had joined their senior management team.

Vince Barrett has joined Centrifuge as Vice President of Business Development and is responsible for growing the company’s partner relationships and commercial market penetration. Barrett was with QlikTech, a business intelligence company based in Pennsylvania with over a dozen offices globally. Barrett has more than 15 years experience in marketing, business development and building alliances. In addition to QlikTech, Barrett has worked at SAP, Mediaguide and Siebel Systems, and oversaw development of mission-critical systems for the B-1 and B-2 aircraft as a US Air Force officer. Mr. Barrett has a BS in Economics from the US Air Force Academy, a Master’s in Public Management from University of Maryland, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

In addition to Barrett, Chris Walton was promoted to Vice President of Intelligence Operations. Walton has been with Centrifuge for 3 years as Director of Professional Services, handling deployments for government clients. Walton will now manage all operations involving Intelligence markets for state and local governments, as well as the US Government. Walton also has a military background, flying surface surveillance, counter narcotics and antisubmarine missions for the US Navy. He has a BS in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy.

This article originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/centrifuge_announces_hire_of_vince_barrett_as_vp.aspx

OutStart, a social business software and learning systems developer based in Boston, Massachusetts, has merged with Warrenton, VA-based Hot Lava Software, in a deal that will roll Hot Lava’s mobile learning application product line under the OutStart name. Hot Lava Software CEO, Bob Sanregret, will serve as Vice President of the OutStart Hot Lava division.

Hot Lava Software become an industry leader in mobile learning with a mobile desktop authoring solution that allowed users to build mobile content and applications that are deployable in 98 percent of all mobile phones. Hot Lava’s delivery and tracking services distribute mlearning content via WAP or directly to mobile devices, and automatically tracks who accessed the mobile content and can compile results from people who took surveys or tests using the Hot Lava built application.

According to a recent release, OutStart CEO Massood Zarrabian was quoted as saying that customers desired mobile applications. To meet the growing need of customers, Zarrabian said, “We identified Hot Lava Software as the leader in both mobile technology and, with over 1,000,000 registered users, customer implementations. Merging with Hot Lava enables us to leap far ahead of our industry in support of mobile requirements.”

Bob Sanregret said that “Merging with OutStart provides Hot Lava with additional resources and a link to OutStart customers who will enable us to better take advantage of the incredible potential that mobile offers.

This article originally appears in dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/outstart_merges_with_hot_lava.aspx

Today marks the last day that AOL will have a corporate connection to Time Warner. The two companies officially separate on December 10 and a “new” AOL will emerge on the New York Stock Exchange listed as a separate company.

Over the last several weeks, AOL has been aggressively moving to put the merger with Time Warner behind them. To accomplish this AOL has partnered with Wolff Olins, a brand management consulting firm, to give the company a more creative image – one with expression. Though the official transfer of AOL’s logo occurs tomorrow, the new imagery was unveiled last month (click here to see AOL’s new brand identity video), and demonstrates that the company is setting out on a course to redefine itself as more of a unique media and global web services company.

As part of this process, AOL has announced layoffs of roughly 2,500 employees across all its divisions, and began hiring more journalists and media professionals to help build staff for its new content management platform and media properties.

One such hire occurred yesterday as Saul Hansell, a former technology reporter and editor for The New York Times, joined AOL. He will be programming director for AOL’s Seed.com, a content management platform expected to be launched this month. Hansell will work to leverage Seed’s content throughout AOL’s media platforms. Seed, which is a platform for freelance journalists, photographers and videographers, is designed to give AOL’s media properties more of an edge in displaying fresh and dynamic content – as opposed to relying on just internal staff to cover content production for all its units. Seed has a few thousand freelancers and determines payment terms and edits content.

More information about AOL’s new independence is expected over the coming days. Many industry observers will be watching Chairman and CEO, Tim Armstrong, who is speaking this afternoon at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference at 12:00 noon, Eastern.  AOL is providing an audio webcast online at http://ir.aol.com. According to AOL, to listen to the live webcast, go to: http://ir.aol.com and click on the “UBS Global Media and Communications Conference” link under “Events and Presentations.”  AOL urges people to visit the site 15 minutes prior to ensure you can register and download any applicable software prior to Armstrong’s remarks.

This post originally appeared at dcTechSource at: http://www.dctechsource.com/aol_set_to_unveil_new_identity.aspx

It also has appeared on the Local Media Blog at: http://blog.kelseygroup.com/index.php/2009/12/09/aol-set-to-stand-on-its-own-and-unveil-its-new-identity/