Trends I'm Watching

Retirement: Defined-Contribution Plans Replacing Defined-Benefit Plans

Intangible Wealth comments on retirement plans:

By now, it’s pretty clear that defined-benefit pension plans are an endangered species (see this article). Even relatively healthy firms are switching to defined-contribution plans to transfer investment risk to workers.

Is this a good thing? Sure, if the average Joe was equipped to make smart financial decisions. However, there’s a lot of research that suggest the average investor makes plenty of costly mistakes, such as overlooking costs (this piece provides a nice summary). In that regard, traditional company pension funds, which are usually large and managed professionally, may provide better performance.

Deposit accounts denominated in the Renminbi

Link: John Robb's Weblog.

Everbank offers deposit accounts denominated in the Renminbi. The financial markets are really being thrown wide open for the individual investor.

Synthetic Vision Can Reduce Plane Crashes

Link: Synthetic Vision is no fake.

Synthetic Vision combines a high-resolution display, databases of terrain and Global Positioning System technology to show pilots exactly where they are and how the plane is oriented. The system also has an integrity-monitoring system that ensures that the information Synthetic Vision is displaying corresponds to where the plane actually is.

The basic idea for Synthetic Vision has been around since the 1950s, but until recently implementing it had not been technologically possible, Baize said.

Virtually all avionics companies are preparing to launch Synthetic Vision products, Baize said. The first generation of synthetic vision is available from Chelton Flight Systems of Boise, Idaho. Chelton is part of Cobham plc of Wimborne, England.

The business jet industry likely will be an early adopter of Synthetic Vision, and others will follow, said Tim Etherington, a systems engineer with Rockwell Collins Inc., one of NASA's industry partners on the project.

Synthetic Vision is expected to eliminate the types of accidents that happen in all kinds of aviation. Even experienced commercial pilots who have all the instrument and commercial ratings can make mistakes that lead to an accident, Baize said.

Like Weed?

Link: eHomeUpgrade | Perspective: Microsoft Needs to Buy Weed.

Weed is a WMA software license, developed by Seattle-based Shared Media Licensing (SML), that allows people to download full, high-quality audio (the technology can also be applied to video) tracks they're interested in and play them up to three times before being prompted to purchase them for about a dollar. However, unlike tracks downloaded from current online services, users are able to burn their music to unlimited number of CDs, transfer them to compatible devices, and can even stream the files over a home network without a problem.

But here's the best part: SML's backend technology compensates artists 50% of all revenue and buyers can resell their tracks and earn a 20% commission! What better incentive can you give music fans to spread the word, and at the same time leverage their bandwidth to distribute your music files? What's more, Weed isn't just a one way street for professional music labels. If you are a musician, you can become a “Weed artist” and encode your music tracks with Weed and have all your music ready to sell online in matter of minutes.

Sun to purchase Linux distributor

Link: Today in Investor's Business Daily stock analysis and business news.

Suggestion lifts software makers Red Hat (RHAT) rose 1% to 16.01 and Novell (NOVL) climbed 2% to 6.93 after Merrill Lynch proposed that Sun Microsystems (SUNW) acquire one of the companies to boost its Linux software offerings. The investment firm reasoned that Sun should move more aggressively to tap into enterprise demand for Linux, an open-source software that proponents contend is far cheaper to use than proprietary products, such as those sold by Microsoft. Sun rose 1% to 5.40.

Switching off bulbs for LEDs

Link: MercuryNews.com | 12/06/2004 | Switching off bulbs for LEDs.

Federal studies estimate that replacing light bulbs with white LEDs could save $17 billion a year in energy costs, or the equivalent of 30 power plants. That could reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 155 million tons annually.

Nanotech Startups Eye Solar Energy Spotlight

Link: Yahoo! News - Nanotech Startups Eye Solar Energy Spotlight.

With crude oil prices hovering near record highs, some cutting-edge startup companies are seeking new sources of solar energy based on breakthroughs that use nanotechnology.

Nanotech is a fast-growing field that combines physics and chemistry to create products manufactured on an atomic scale. One nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.

Many materials and processes display unique traits at such tiny sizes. Some nanotech consumer goods already on the market include clear sunscreen lotions and stain-free fabrics. Nanotech also is used to make computer chips and flat-screen displays.

At least three startups -- Nanosolar, Nanosys and Konarka Technologies -- are using nanotech to try to make solar energy more viable. In time, such work could become "world changing," said Josh Wolfe, a managing partner of nanotech-focused investment firm Lux Capital in New York. Lux has

PalmSource's Future

Link: Treonauts | Dedicated to your Treo 650 & 600. The Perfect All-In-One Communications, Information & Entertainment Tool.: Paradigm Shift: PalmSource's Future.

PalmSource last Wednesday announced the acquisition of China MobileSoft (CMS) a leading mobile phone software company operating in the single largest and fastest growing mobile phone market in the world (China has over 320 million mobile phone users) and which has been developing a version of Linux optimized for mobile devices. Where PalmSource has taken a strong lead in the development of a robust OS for current and next generation high-end smartphones such as our Treo, CMS has for its part been developing a version of the Linux operating system for low to mid-end mobile devices. The rationale for PalmSource's acquisition is to combine the companies' development efforts so as to provide existing and prospective licensees an end-to-end portfolio of mobile phone software capable of powering the entire spectrum of mobile phones - from 'basic' phones (voice calling only) to 'feature' phones (camera, video, MP3, movies, etc.) to 'smart' phones (all-in-one communications, information and entertainment).

Comparing Diesel, Hybrid and Gasoline

Link: Green Car Congress: Comparing Accords: Diesel, Hybrid and Gasoline.

Comparing Accords: Diesel, Hybrid and Gasoline After posting about the Honda clean diesel ad (earlier post), I decided to do some quick side-by-side comparisons using three models of the Honda Accord: the Accord Diesel featuring the new, clean 2.2 i-CTDi engine touted in the ad (picture at right), the new Accord Hybrid, and two gasoline sedans. The outcome: the Accord Diesel (using petroleum diesel) offers the lowest fuel consumption and the lowest CO2 emissions, even surpassing the Accord Hybrid.

SunPower keeps Silicon Valley on cutting edge

Link: SiliconBeat: SunPower keeps Silicon Valley on cutting edge.

SunPower keeps Silicon Valley on cutting edge The world's energy supply has become a hot topic recently (see latest coverage in the NYT), so we've been on the prowl in Silicon Valley looking for companies that are trying to find solutions. We're assuming this is the place, with its cutting-edge technology, eager entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, that would devise some cool breakthroughs.