Imaginova releases Starry Night

New York-based Imaginova Corp. released Starry Night Middle School for grades 6-8 and Starry Night High School for grades 9-12.

Both products feature student-driven interactive computer exercises that reinforce key concepts with real-time and accurate simulations. The company said they offer users the ability to manipulate time and location to view the universe from multiple perspectives.

Spectrum releases greeting-card software

New York-based Spectrum Digital Services recently released a product line of individual cards with over 100 selections and a variety of merchandising vehicles.

Marketed under the name SpinCards, the line of greeting cards includes a matching blank recordable compact disc (CD-R) with each greeting card. Greeting cards with matching recordable DVDs are currently being developed, the company said.

Netsmart gains software deal

Great River-base Netsmart Technologies Inc. was awarded a $260,000, one-year contract by Project Rehab of Grand Rapids, Mich., to provide and install software.

Netsmart's Creative Socio-Medics Corp., a supplier of enterprise-wide software for health and human services providers, will implement its Avatar software suite.

Project Rehab offers behavioral health programs.

IT workers cautious, managers optimistic

The Hudson Employment Index for IT workers fell 21 points in May from 114.2 to 93.2, the lowest reading ever recorded for the IT Index. This decline in confidence was due to a significant decrease in optimism about personal finances and hiring intentions, as well as increased concerns about job loss.

The study found that 19 percent of the workforce expects their organizations to lay off staff in the coming months, up from 17 percent in March and April. Similarly, the percent of workers nervous about losing their own jobs rose to its highest level in more than a year at 22 percent.

Despite workers' concerns, optimism continues to climb among managers. The percent anticipating their companies will hire in the coming months rose two points to 35 percent, while the percent expecting layoffs dropped a point to 18 percent.

Viatronix gains contract with Kodak

Stony Brook-based Viatronix Inc. signed a deal with Eastman Kodak Inc.'s medical division to distribute its 3D colonoscopy software and standalone workstations.

Viatronix's V3D Colon software has been integrated into Kodak's Picture Archiving and Communications System, which allows medical facilities to manage and store digital images.

Viatronix does "virtual colonoscopies," in which a patient's colon is viewed using a CT scanner and special software instead of a snaking tube with a miniature camera.

WiFi sales rise to record rates

Worldwide sales of wireless LAN equipment revenue rose 20 percent to $767.6 million between the fourth quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005, according to Infonetics Research's quarterly market share service.

The study also said that 12.2 million units were shipped, the highest quarterly volume to date. Revenue is expected to rise another 2 percent to $779.6 million by first-quarter 2006, and will hit $3.6 billion by 2008, as wireless LAN products continue to gain traction across most all product categories and across all geographic regions.

The number of wireless LAN switch ports in use rose 44 percent to 112,000; revenue grew 13 percent to $52.2 million and is expected to jump to $699.2 million by 2008.

The global broadband boom continues to generate more and more demand for wireless broadband routers, which saw a 34 percent increase in revenue between 4Q04 and 1Q05.

1-800-Flowers to beef up staff

Carle Place-based 1-800-Flowers.com will hire an additional 100 workers once it moves into its new location in Carle Place.

The Internet retailer, which currently employs 700, is relocating from Westbury to nearby 1 Old Country Road later this year. Its space will increase from 77,400 to 90,000 square feet.

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