Hotel Room Control With Voice

Posted by Michael Ballard on July 12, 2010March 9, 2015 Posted in Straight Talk Tagged cloveris, hotels, NEC, technology, VoIP

content-1268960291 It’s been a while since the last blog post. Sorry about that.

What do you get when you combine a great software-based voice platform and expertise in the hospitality industry? A single interface device in your hotel room where you can make phone calls, video calls, order room service, turn up the heat, and yes……order more towels!!!

CLOVERIS is an all in one software that connects to your hotel room’s HVAC control, property management system, reservations system and phone system to provide a new experience for the guest. Since I’m a visual person, check out the video demo we did at the HiTec conference.

YouTube Video

NEC – Detecting Earthquakes since 1979

Posted by Michael Ballard on April 20, 2010March 9, 2015 Posted in Straight Talk Tagged earthquake, NEC, ocean, technology, tsunami

alt You may already know about NEC’s submarine optical fiber project, which is over 2000 miles of fiber at the ocean bottom pushing about 10Gbps. NEC has put this technology to use in another capacity…earthquake and tsunami detection.

Working with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), NEC has put one of the most advanced earthquake detection systems in the world about 4000 meters beneath the ocean. The system contains state of the art seismograph technologies and water pressure meters which help in detecting and predicting major ocean events.

But this is not NEC’s first time at a project like this. In 1979 NEC planted its first earthquake observation system off the coast of Japan.

Press Release

Police Car of the Future…Powered By NEC

Posted by Michael Ballard on March 8, 2010 Posted in Straight Talk Tagged automotive technology, hvac, lcd, NEC, police, semiconductors, technology

alt NEC has been working with GM, LAPD and the Australian National Safety Agency to develop a next generation police vehicle. RoboCop it is not…but still very cool.

NEC has been a technology leader in automobile technologies for some time now. Projects include image recognition in vehicles and car 2 car communications. Now here’s the latest:

The solution is based on NEC’s Mobile Access Controller (MAC), an integrated voice and data communications platform.

The technology will also be available in domestic vehicles.

One of the key advantages of the solution is a large, purpose designed touch screen monitor which is embedded into the vehicle dashboard. The screen provides a consolidated user interface and solves key occupant safety issues by reducing equipment clutter.

In addition to the built in LCD display, NEC is providing the following as part of the vehicle package:

• High performance built in touch screen display
• MAC Applications Processor to provide rugged in-vehicle computing
• MAC IP Services Module to provide secure, reliable network connectivity
• MAC Intelligent Vehicle Controller to manage vehicle power and provide fleet management functionality.

Press Release

AutoBlog Article

Get Out Your 3D Glasses…for LTE troubleshooting

Posted by Michael Ballard on February 22, 2010March 9, 2015 Posted in Straight Talk Tagged 4g, lte, mobile, NEC, son, technology, VoIP, wireless

There has been a lot of technology advancements in LTE/4G wireless as of late. And leading that front is NEC. They can add another innovation feather to their cap. On the heels of announcing the world’s smallest LTE transmitter, NEC can now look at LTE transmission patterns in 3D. If you want to see the wave patterns of radio devices (like cell towers, WiFi access points, etc) you would usually have a tool that showed you the top-down (2D) layout. However, if you are trying to fine tune for better reception to the top of a high-rise building, 2D just isn’t going to cut it. NEC’s software gives the user both the horizontal and vertical patterns. And no 3D glasses are required J

Press Release

NEC and LTE

NEC’s Advancements in Facial Recognition

Posted by Michael Ballard on January 27, 2010March 9, 2015 Posted in Straight Talk Tagged biometrics, facial recognition, NEC, peparo, security, technology

Last week we installed one of the coolest demos I have had in the EBC since PaPeRo. It’s a facial recognition software that can detect your age, race and gender. This demographic information could be used, in a digital signage environment, to present you with targeted advertising based on your demographics.

For the most part the prototype has been pretty accurate. Every once and a while it thinks I’m the age of my parents (must be the reflection from my bald head). As long as I don’t start to get an ad that tells me I should take advantage of the new SENIOR DISCOUNTS, I’m OK with it.

NEC has been a leader in the biometrics space for over 40 years and recently won a content sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security for the greatest accuracy with facial recognition. Their False Rejection Rate was 2.1% and False Acceptance Rate was .1%. I’m still deciding if I should be afraid or excited.