Category Archives: Tech News

Sotheby’s to Auction Historic Apple Corp Contracts

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Ronald Wayne

The original contract which officially created Apple Corporation, signed in 1976, and another contract drawn up and signed eleven days after, are going up for auction by Sotheby’s on December 13th.

Valued at About $150,000

It is expected that the two contracts will earn about $150,000 for their owner, a private collector. The second document is a contract which officially removed one of the then three partners from the deal.

Some feel that now is the right time to auction off these documents, in light of the fact that one of the signatories on the documents, Steve Jobs, died only a few months ago, in October.

“Because of Jobs being so focused on in the news, and his accomplishments, it just seemed like the right time,” said Richard Austin, the head of the Books and Manuscripts department at Sotheby’s.

“People have been reminded of how important and how influential he is – someone who contributed to technology and to social history and had such a profound impact.”

Apple Began with Three Partners

The first contract which was signed created Apple Computer Company. It states that Steve Wozniak and Jobs will each be given 45% of Apple’s shares. The remaining 10% was given to Ronald Wayne, who wrote the contract.

Third Partner Backed Out

Just a few days later, however, Mr. Wayne decided to no longer remain involved in the infant computer company. He was bought out by Jobs and Wozniak for $800, and then another $1,500 later on. His release from his contract is the second contract which is up for auction. Today his 10% share would be worth 2 billion dollars.

In 1994 Ronald Wayne sold those documents to a private collector. It is not yet known if Apple is planning on bidding for the documents.

“Wonderful things always sell and there are wonderful and unique things in this sale,” Austin said.

Mitek Revolutionizing The Financial Services Industry

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Mitek Systems Inc. (MITK) has come out with a great system for depositing checks via the iPhone.  The company is of course thinking much bigger than this and is integrating smart phone technology into the financial service industry. There are many uses for this kind of technology. The Mobile Receipt technology can also take pictures of receipts and convert the information into expense reports. The Mobil Phax technology lets you photograph a full size page and send it as a fax. There are more services available and I am sure that as time goes on, more and more services will be developed.
What about marketing these iPhone, banking products? So far seven of the top ten banks in the United States are using Mitek technology. In this last quarter, new customer signings have more than doubled, reaching 181 banks and financial organizations. Some of the client organizations are Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Capital One, and PayPal. Charles Schwab reported that in the first 6 months of use, mobile check deposits increased from zero to forty percent of all bank deposits. Mitek is changing the financial world very quickly.
Some of the managers and  directors of Mitek are Dr. Grigori Neponmniachtchi, Josh Roach, John M. Thornton, Drew Hyatt, James B. DeBello, Sally B. Thornton, William P. Tudor, and Russell C. Clark.

Chevy Volt Electrifies Consumers

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A Consumer Reports customer satisfaction survey puts the Chevrolet Volt at the top of its list, showing a whopping 93% of those polled saying they would “definitely” buy this car again if given the chance.

CR however released the results of their survey with this caveat: at the time when the survey was taken the Volt was only available in a few states, and had only been purchased by a few thousand customers. The car has only been in car dealer showrooms for one year, since December, 2010.

The Volt is a plug-in car, requiring electricity from an outside source to recharge its battery. Chevy says customers can expect to be able to drive about 40 miles on one charge, and for trips requiring longer drives there is a gasoline engine as a back-up.

McGraw Hill Goes To China

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The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (MHP) provides information services for educational, business and financial markets internationally.  It is a huge company which was founded in 1888 and has expanded over time.
The company has just signed a joint venture deal with New Oriental Education & Technology Group (EDU) to provide educational services in China. The two companies will teach technology and work skills to bring China’s children and youth up to 21st century capabilities. Both of these companies are international leaders in education services. The companies will operate “MaxEn Centers” to educate children from ages 4 to 15.

The company will help children with creative thinking, English, technological, and collaboration and team-building skills which are vital for academic and professional success.

Robert Bahash, the president of the Educational division of McGraw Hill said, “Businesses worldwide are rapidly adopting new technologies and moving at a pace that is bypassing traditional educational resources.” “Through our partnership with New Oriental, we will develop the tools and programs that provide students with the skills that are vital to their professional and even personal success. It will help them become life-long learners in a learning-centric world.”

Main managers at McGraw Hill are: Julie Romandetta, Alicia Hartjen, Michael Parcewski, Paul Konstadt, Robert J. Bahash, Gerald Pothier, Ehrick Wright and Larry McQuaid.

Major Innnovation In Transistor Technology

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Intel Corporation, one of the leaders in the computer parts business, has won the “Semiconductor Innovation of the Year Award” for its “Tri-Gate Transistor.” The tri-gate transistor is the first 3-D transistor and is a major improvement over the transistors which were developed fifty years ago. The tri-gate transistors will enter mass production by year end and will be produced in Intel chips.

Tri-gate transistors will improve performance and reduce power requirements for an entire spectrum of 22nm-based products from the miniature handheld devices to powerful servers.

The award is given by the Wall Street Journal which has three criterion for judging winning innovations.

1. Does the innovation break away from known ideas or processes already in use?

2. Does the innovation do more than marginally improve existing technology?

3. Will the innovation have a wide ranging influence on its field or on future technology?

Apparently Intel’s tri-gate transistor met these criterion fully.