Tria offers software cost calculator

Cleveland-based software developer Tria Group, which has an office in Rochester, introduced its new online 2004 budget calculator. The calculator generates software-development cost quotations for free. Visitors to www.triagroup.com/calculator. html, are able to plug in approximate development hours and desired percentage of project management. The calculator automatically calculates comparisons between Tria Group development costs and those of other companies.

Re.Source moves to larger space

Re.Source Partners, an information technology hardware asset manager, moved from a 5,500-square-foot facility in Canton to a larger technical facility at 175 Malow in Mt. Clemens. Re.Source Partners nearly tripled its warehouse space to 16,000 square feet to accommodate the thousands of computer units the company processes each month.

World Systems teams with Arizona police force

Troy-based New World Systems Corp. has landed a $900,000 contract to provide its software to the Goodyear, Ariz., Police Department. Goodyear has licensed New World Systems software for computer-aided dispatch, records, mobile computing, field reporting, mapping and data analysis.

Ann Arbor firms get capital

EDF Ventures, an Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm, said it invested $6.6 million in nine companies during 2003. The companies included:

-- Ardesta LLC, an Ann Arbor maker of microsystem devices.

-- Avail Networks Inc., an Ann Arbor maker of broadband equipment and information technology services.

-- Entivity Inc., an Ann Arbor maker of software for manufacturing.

EDF Ventures also contributed money to technology companies in Madison, Wis., San Francisco and Allen, Texas.

Chamber sponsors job-posting sites

Michigan employers and employees are beginning to find each other through a new online service called www.michigan-talent.com and two related sites, www.college-talent.com, and www.university-talent.com. The sites are sponsored by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and by 24 of the state's community colleges, colleges and universities. The new service is a job-posting board. Employers can use michigan-talent.com to post their openings, while job seekers can register and search for jobs at any of the three sites. Michigan-talent.com charges employers only when a job seeker and employer agree to an interview. There is no charge for job seekers to use the service.

Women in Technology gets sponsorship

The Michigan Council of Women in Technology received a $10,000 sponsorship from R.L. Polk & Co. The platinum-level sponsorship is to benefit the Auburn Hills-based professional women's organization's scholarship and leadership programs for students pursuing technology careers. The Michigan Council of Women in Technology sponsors scholarships for college students, technology camps for elementary school-age children, and monthly information-technology programs for high school students.

Compuware updates Vantage 9

Detroit-based Compuware Corp. has released a new version of Vantage 9, its system-monitoring software. The program helps IT organizations identify and resolve problems before they impact the business, the company said.

Wireless Internet coming to Metro Airport

Travelers at Detroit Metropolitan Airport will be able to access the Internet via wi-fi technology, thanks to an agreement between Boingo Wireless Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., and Concourse Communications Group of Chicago. Concourse will make these access points and others it operates available to users of the Boingo Roaming System. Concourse operates access points at LaGuardia Airport, JFK International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport. Boingo, established by Earthlink Founder and Chairman Sky Dayton, offers its wi-fi service to business travelers at airports, hotels, restaurants and cafes. The company has more than 5,000 hot spots under contract worldwide.

Got a local news story? Let us know about it. Send your local news to dan@computeruser.com.