Science Exchange is a startup that focuses on providing a market place for scientists and researches who are looking to outsource part or their whole experiments. Scientists are not the only potential customers who can ousource their experiments, doctors hospitals also can request certain experiment to be performed and tested using this service. This startup connect qualified providers with potential customers so they can connect with each other and order their service securely. There is a also a review process where providers can be graded for their past work and the results are presented for the cutomers to select the most qualified providers. Moreover, users can compare the list of many provides and also they can compare their estimates for the project before ordering.

If the customer select a provider they both can communicate with each other within the Science Exchange platform to finalize the agreement. Why potential scientists, colleges, and researches outsource their projects in the first place? The answer is obvious, it is to reduce costs and find qualified providers to perform those experiments. Furthermore, some experiments may require certain tools that some institutions don’t have the fund to purchase. Moreover, why purchase expensive tools to perform an experiment once? After that first experiment is conducted, those expensive tools will set in warehouses unused. There has been many successful startups that capitalized on providing outsourcing services for almost everything, science exchange can be one of them. There is a big market for outsourcing science experiments and this startup has the potential to attract many users who are looking for this service.

Samsung finally announced it’s anticipated new device the Samsung Smartwatch today in Berlin Germany. We all know that Samsung has been working on the smartwatch for over a year to expand the play field with Apple. Apple on the other hand have new devices coming in September 10th during Apple’s annual conference where Apple announce it’s new products. Apple has been working on the smartwatch also for sometime. Will apple introduce the iWatch in September 10th? Apple hinted that it will introduce new iPhone and a smaller and cheaper iPhone.

Samsung smartwatch will be shipped to consumers on September 25th. Will a smart watch be the new hot thing in technology where other companies introduce similar versions of the smart watch?
Consumer taste will be the judge to answer that question but there are few points to mention about the smartwatch with such a small screen. It will all depends what kind of functions the smartwatch will have to convince consumer to slash $299 to buy it. Samsung said that it’s watch will work as a supplement it it’s galaxy note III.

Microsoft surprised the tech world by announcing the purchase of the Finland based mobile phone maker Nokia for $7.2B. Why Microsoft decided to slash that much cash for a successful but a struggling mobile phone manufacturer?

History

Microsoft teamed up with Nokia in 2011 to establish a presence in the smartphone market in the U.S that is still dominated by Apple, Samsung, and Google.

Nokia introduced the Nokia Lumia that was based on the window phone operated system made by Microsoft. Furthermore, Nokia was playing catch up to improve it’s smartphone business and place a foot before its too late with help from Microsoft. Microsoft also was looking to reinvent itself after the rapid decline of the PC business by trying to become a major player in the mobile phone business both in software and hardware.

Both Nokia and Microsoft lost few years of good planning to establish themselves in the smartphone revolution. Given that, Microsoft still the world’s biggest software company, however it’s mobile windows operating system only has 3.5% share in the smartphone business.The majority of smartphones are based on Apple iOS and Google Android. Nokia on the other hand lost it’s spot as the world’s biggest mobile phone maker to Samsung. However, Nokia is still in second place after Apple as the world’s second largest mobile phone maker. The majority of Nokia sales are outside of the U.S market, especially in Europe and the emerging markets of China, India, and Brazil and that is where Microsoft is planning to use Nokia to gain more market share.

The Competition is high to gain market share between Microsoft, Google, Samsung, and Apple.
The current winner of those giant corporations is Google. Google was quick to act to diversify it’s business model and not depend solely on search engine. The smartest move that Google made was the purchase of the Android operating system early in the game. Google capitalized on that purchase and made Android the world’s most popular smartphone operating system taking over Apple spot. Google then partnered with Samsung and the later built it’s flagship smartphone the Galaxy to be based on the Android operating system. Google then went and purchased Motorola mobile phone business and start making it’s own smartphones especially for it’s Android market.

Will Microsoft and Nokia succeed in establishing themselves in the smartphone market ?
Microsoft mobile operating system is not popular and it requires modification and enhancement to be able run smooth on the Nokia platform. Unless Nokia smartphones that run on window platform offer discounted prices, consumers will be less convinced to turn away from Android and Apple smartphones.

The Future

Microsoft and Nokia together will have a bumpy road ahead of them, but both companies joint venture have great potential to succeed in the mobile phone business, but not likely to dominate it any time soon. Microsoft greatest assets are it’s long software experience and the army of talented software engineers. Microsoft can mobilize it’s big assets to score major improvements to it’s mobile phone operating system. Furthermore, Microsoft has to improve and expand it’s mobile App community of developers to create more advanced and users friendly Apps. Expanding windows Apps incentive programs will help create popular Apps to attract more users. Nokia once was the largest mobile phone company and it is still has loyal customers who will continue to buy better Nokia phones. The majority of Nokia business is out side the U.S and Microsoft can use that advantage to expand sales as competition in those markets not as tough as it is in the U.S.

5ideas.in is a stratup based in India and it’s aim is to provide support for tech startups in India. Most startups in early stages need many forms of support beside funding to be able to to succeed. For any one starting a new company any type of support is welcome, help can be of any sort such as advice on how to handle pressure, how to manage day to day business transactions, and how to manage employees . 5ideas.in partnered with some startups and provided capital of over $ 500k. It also brought in experienced professionals to act as mentors to help new businesses manage and expand growth.

 
India has established itself as a great technology startup hub since the turn of the century. In India there are huge numbers of skilled work force who possess many skills in programming and technology. The majority of those skilled engineers turn to be successful entrepreneurs outside of India especially in the U.S. There are many successful U.S based startups that co-founded by individuals from Indian descent. A great example is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Vinod Khosla who was born in India and finished his graduate education in the U.S. Sun Microsystems was later acquired by Oracle and co-founder Vinod Khosla wealth is estimated to be over $1.6 billion. (Vinod Khosla Co-founder of Sun Micosystems. Source: Web 2.0 Conference)

The Financial disaster of 2007 which was followed by a deep recession in the world economy has produced many changes to the work place. High unemployment numbers hit the developed world especially in the U.S and Europe. The job market became highly competitive and the high supply of workers encouraged employers to go to the extreme of what they expect from their current and future employees. A new working class of people has emerged and expanded, that group of workers are the underemployed, over worked and under payed.

The incident that happened in the Bank of America’s branch in London and was first aired on CNN, where a German intern died at the age of 21 due to high stress and long hours at work is a great reminder of the harsh reality of the post recession work place. In the U.S the class of underemployed underpaid workers are in the millions. The history of the struggle of the working class since the start of the industrialize revolution is long, it is filled with many achievements to improve the conditions of the working class. Sadly, It is known that during financial disasters workers lose some of their rights to the rich and powerful due to the law of supply and demand. When there are few jobs and many workers those who are lucky enough to find work will not negotiate better working hours and better pay. During economic hardship governments loosen restrictions in enforcing labor laws in favor of employers to help create more jobs as it is happening in the U.S.

There have been spikes of work place violations which resulted in major accidents where employees got hurt or died in companies that produce or manufacture chemicals such as those took place in Texas an Florida recently. What if the employee got hurt from other work related stress and from being over worked? Given the unfortunate incident of the German intern, it is hard to prove wrong doing by the employer and that is Bank of America in this case.

Since the start of the great recession back in 2007 the U.S economy experienced the biggest job loss since the great depression of the 1930’s.The massive number and volume of the type of jobs that have been slashed by companies caused a big damage to the world economy. Despite the fact that the recession has ended in 2009 – according to economists- the U.S economy is still growing at a very slow speed and the economic shocks of the great recession are still live and well in people’s lives. Why the economy hasn’t recovered three years after the the recession has officially ended?. Economists debate the answer to this question with several views that come from the federal reserve to other distinguished economists and money managers. The majority of economists surveyed agreed that sustained jobs growth is the key for any sustained recovery and that bring us to the important question of why the U.S economy hasn’t produced enough job growth to recover from the massive job loss of the great recession? There are three answers to this question and the first one is the housing sector hasn’t fully recovered to produce monthly jobs growth comparable to the healthcare sector. The second answer is that the uncertainty of the economic outlooks in the U.S and abroad makes it harder for companies to hire new full time employees who they may have to lay off later if the demand for their products doesn’t increase. The last answer is the vast increase of productivity of the American workers. How increased productivity can be a job killer? The answer is clear and common if we ask many employees who experience the changing working environment of the high unemployment age. Many U.S workers believe that their work loads have increased three or four times more than they had before the recession. Many employees also reporting that they have to accept lower pay to keep their jobs which explain the big decline in the U.S average income since the start of the great recession. Many employees reporting abuse from their employers who are taking advantage of the current high unemployment rate knowing that their employees have little to no options of finding other employment. Less protection for U.S workers is increasing especially with many more states joining the right to Work labor laws.

Conclusion

Economics is a very complicated discipline to understand and comprehend and there is no quick fix to economic problems . However it is important for policy makers to test all the available options to increase economic growth and eventually decrease the high unemployment. The economy is a cycle that all sectors contribute and affect each other, however the government has to balance each sector to avoid economic shocks and maintain a healthy economy. High productivity increases the U.S competitive edge over other countries, However when companies overkill the productivity concept and abuse their workers to full fill their unlimited greed and kill jobs, productivity become a disadvantage. Consumers present close to 70% of the total U.S economic output, therefore increase consumers spending is the the key for sustained growth. It is a fact that consumers can’t spend if they can’t find good paying jobs that boost their purchasing power which at the end will increase the demand for products that are  produced by those employers and  companies.

The website for the New York Times went down due to an internal error in the server that host the news paper organization website early today. The website is back on line and the issue seems to be resolved. Readers can access the website and the mobile App.

Students have a variety of undergraduate degrees that they can pursue at the collegiate level. But education is an investment and for that reason students should find the answer to the question of which degree is going to produce the most job offers and the highest starting salaries? Should college students major in computer science, software engineering, IT or some other niche in order to snare the top prize four years from now: a six-figure starting salary, perhaps with stock options?

The finding we present is from researching colleges and asking professors across various tech disciplines about industry demand for their graduates. We pored over starting salary data from the PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13. We also looked at unemployment rates by college major compiled by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

One trend is clear: The more challenging the tech-oriented major, the more job opportunities available to newly minted graduates … as well as higher starting salaries. Students who take more math, science and engineering courses in college, tend to earn higher salaries upon graduation. Of course, whether a senior in college has multiple job offers with signing bonuses and other perks depends on their grades and internships. Also, graduating from a highly selective technical college helps tremendously with on-campus recruitment.

“Our computer science majors last year had upwards of eight to 10 offers, and they could have had more if they would have pursued them,” says Kevin Hewerdine, director of career services at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, one of the nation’s top-ranked undergraduate engineering schools. In 2012, the average starting salary offered to Rose-Hulman computer science grads was $76,368 and software engineering grads was $71,930.

“This year, 90% of our seniors in those majors have multiple job offers already,” Hewerdine says. “They’re being hired by Microsoft, Texas Instruments, National Instruments, Amazon, Google and defense contractors. … There is more demand and salaries are higher for computer science and software engineering than any other major.”

Here is our list of tech degrees by salary potential, from least to greatest:

Information Technology

Avg. Starting Salary: $48,900*

Mid-Career Salary: $81,700*

*Source: PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13

The information technology major is geared toward technology-oriented students who don’t have the background, ability or interest in math required to pursue a computer science degree. IT majors develop skills such as systems administration, networking and database development, while computer science students delve into the algorithms and programming behind these systems.

“Our folks figure out how to deploy operating systems, while computer science majors write the operating systems,” explains Ray Trygstad, director of the IT degree programs at Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT) School of Applied Technology. “IT majors are going to be implementers of technology.”

The job placement rate for graduates with IIT’s Information Technology and Management (ITM) major was 100% last year, the highest at the university. The ITM degree is increasingly popular, with 130 undergraduates enrolled out of a total undergraduate population of 2,800.

“Lots of our students are working in financial services firms,” Trygstad says. “A lot of them are going to small software development companies, and some students are starting their own companies.”

Nonetheless, IT majors have lower starting salaries than other techie college graduates. That may be because this academic discipline is relatively new. Brigham Young University was first to launch a bachelor’s of science in IT in 1989; today, 225 colleges offer accredited programs.

“Any kid that I talk to at age 17, I ask them how much do they love math. If someone really loves math, they belong in computer science or computer engineering because those are mathematically-intensive disciplines. IT is not as mathematically oriented. The math we use is probability and statistics,” Trygstad says.

Information Systems

Avg. Starting Salary: $50,900*

Mid-career Salary: $86,700*

*Source: PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13

One tech-oriented major that’s less popular these days is Information Systems (IS), which is typically offered in business schools. The degree teaches students how to use technology to gain a competitive advantage in business rather than how to create new technology.

Most IS majors from the University of Indianapolis are finding jobs, particularly within the IT departments or business units of such companies as OneAmerica, Eli Lilly, Anthem and Interactive Intelligence. Average starting salaries last year were between $45,000 and $50,000.

“About 95% of our students graduated with jobs last year,” says Professor Jerry Flatto of the Information Systems Department at the University of Indianapolis. “You’ve always got an odd one or two who are not well suited for corporate environments or who didn’t do particularly well in school.”

The University of Indianapolis has 45 IS majors enrolled and another 30 students who are earning a minor in IS out of 150 students in its School of Business. These numbers have risen over the last few years but haven’t reached the levels of 1999 and 2000 before the dot-com bust.

“We’re focusing on how IS impacts business, and that includes non-profits, cities and states,” Flatto says. “We’re focused on how to use technology to improve your competitive position. It’s hard to outsource that capability to India or China.”

Nationwide, IS majors have a harder time finding jobs than others with technical degrees. A Georgetown University study reported unemployment rates of 11.7% for recent college graduates with an IS degree.

“The IS program has sort of fallen off the map,” says Professor Shawn Bohner, director of graduate and undergraduate programs in software engineering at Rose-Hulman. “The perception is that it’s more business-oriented, and that students don’t have the math skills needed to do the heavy lifting. Lots of systems today are very complex. It used to be that you could be a programmer and not need to deal with the scale of these systems. But today things are moving toward the fundamental math and algorithms.”

Even Flatto admits that his students aren’t as math oriented as computer science majors. “Computer science requires a lot more math and physics and calculus. A lot of people can’t get through it anymore,” Flatto says, adding “there’s some technical snobbery” aimed at IS students.

Computer Science

Avg. Starting Salary: $58,400*

Mid-career Salary: $100,000*

*Source: PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13

What differentiates computer science from IT or Management Information Systems is that it’s an engineering degree, with harder math and science requirements and fewer business-oriented classes.

“Computer science is hot again, not just for geeky students but also for really talented math, engineering and science students,” says Matthew Bauer, director of the undergraduate computer science program at IIT. He added that IIT’s undergraduate computer science program has doubled from 30 to 60 majors in the last four years.

Bauer says recent computer science graduates who are commanding $70,000-plus starting salaries have held multiple internships and a summer job in the IT industry.

“We urge students to get internships. It’s not just your degree that’s important. It’s also about summer jobs,” Bauer says. “In computer science, a degree is not enough. You’ve got to show you have talent. You can’t go home and be a lifeguard at the pool every summer if you want a job at graduation.”

IIT’s computer science grads are being hired by Google, Microsoft and Motorola as well as financial services firms such as Goldman Sachs.

“The computer science degree shows an accomplishment in technology and engineering and math, and having that background is more valuable to start than having a business background like an MIS degree,” Bauer says. “We’re building the communications and leadership skills in our computer science majors so they can become the managers of [MIS majors].”

Software Engineering

Avg. Starting Salary: $59,100*

Mid-career Salary: $90,700*

*Source: PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13

Like computer science, software engineering is a more mathematically oriented degree than alternatives offered in business schools such as IT, IS or MIS degrees. But it’s slightly less popular than computer science. For example, Rose-Hulman is graduating 60 computer science majors each year compared to 45 or 50 software engineers.

“In computer science, I am writing languages for computers and lots of algorithms, such as Google’s search algorithms. In software engineering, I’m building a system that’s larger than I am in computer science. It’s like building a skyscraper vs. a house,” Bohner explains.

While Google is recruiting Rose-Hulman’s computer science grads, Microsoft favors its software engineering majors. Other companies hiring recently minted software engineers include aerospace firms and car manufacturers.

“With a software engineering degree, I can not only write software, I can build systems,” Bohner says.

Bohner says he’d recommend either a software engineering degree or a computer science degree to any 17-year-old who likes math and technology.

“With these two degrees, the broadness of the jobs you can work on would be greater than studying Information Systems,” he says. “With your undergraduate degree, you should always start broad and then specialize in your master’s degree.”

Computer Engineering

Avg. Starting Salary: $62,700*

Mid-career Salary: $105,000*

*Source: PayScale College Salary Report 2012-13

Computer engineering majors take the hardest math and science classes – including multiple courses in physics and calculus — because their specialty is hardware, rather than software. Because the degree is so rigorous, demand for recent graduates is high and so are starting salaries.

“The very best job offers are going to the computer engineers,” says Professor Charlie Boncelet, associate chairman of the Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments at the University of Delaware. “They have the ability to do both circuit design and programming, which makes them more desirable. That combination is a useful set of skills.”

Last year, 50 students graduated from the University of Delaware with Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or double majors. The best starting salaries were around $100,000, with the average at $60,000.

“Our best students are getting very good offers,” Boncelet says. “Apple has started recruiting our students because they have better-than-average circuit design skills. …They’re also being hired by small firms. There is no single industry that hires all of our graduates.”

Boncelet says the outlook for computer engineering students is solid given the wide range of systems that have microprocessors in them.

“Most of the computer science majors are going into Internet programming, Web applications, social networks and big data, whereas the computer engineers can work on any system with microcontrollers, device drivers, sensors or actuators,” Boncelet says. “Almost anything that has a battery or plug has a microprocessor, and it’s the computer engineers that program those microprocessors. So they can be employed in a wide range of industries.”

Teens who have strong math and science skills and can’t decide between computer science and computer engineering should start with computer engineering, Boncelet advises. “It’s generally easier to transfer from computer engineering to computer science because generally speaking computer engineering requires more math and science,” Boncelet says. “The biggest indicator is how well they can handle calculus.”

Adam Lieb is the founder of Duxter.com a gaming social networking site especially for gamers. At 26 he already had several businesses before starting Duxter. A high achiever in academia also with an MBA and law degree, he has his vision focused to achieve success.

How old were you when you started your first business?

I started my first business when I was 11 year old. My first business sold guides/cheats/reviews to gamers.

Did you have to struggle starting up? did you get any help?

The biggest struggle early on was telling a compelling story. In order to attract the best people you have to be able to paint the vision of your company. Learning to do that quickly and effectively was a struggle early on. We were fortunate enough to have advisors and mentors that helped craft the story.

Did you have setbacks? What motivated you to go on and succeed?

We had setbacks all the time. Users who don’t like the product. Vendors who don’t want to work with you. Investors that don’t believe in the opportunity. Ultimately it is about perseverance and belief. We have strong beliefs about what the gamer world should look like. We believe we can impact that future. Never wavering in that belief is what keeps you going in the face of setbacks.

How many people are working with you now in your company?

We have 11 folks total. 6 people are full time and 5 are part time.

Explain to us how Duxter works? Why every gamer should join Duxter?

Duxter connects your gamer life. It works by linking up your game networks (like XBOX live, or PSN), connecting with your friends, and tracking your favorite games. Duxter provides a platform for gamers to connect, engage, and earn rewards for doing the things they love in their gamer life.

Have you always been interested in video games growing up?

I have been playing games since I was about 4. It has always been apart of my life. Our team is comprised entirely from gamers.

Who is your start-up role model? Who is the best entrepreneur you admire the most?

Jim Sinegal, founder of Costco. Jim had an amazing vision that he executed perfectly. He didn’t listen to what outsiders said and constantly inspired people.

How did you come with the idea to start Duxter?

I had a previous business in the game industry. One of the problems we suffered was the inability to connect with gamers through mainstream social media (twitter/facebok etc..). Gamers told us they didn’t want to cross their personal life with their gamer life. We found out gamers wanted to be social and engage with social media, just not on the same network where their personal life was. Duxter was born from the idea that gamers needed their own social network to call home.

How different is Duxter from anything else in the gaming business?

Everyone is trying to do something social these days. The game industry is no different. Rather than trying to bolt social media on top of an existing offering, Duxter built its social platform from scratch.

Are you a programmer? what made you become interested in internet business?

I am. I don’t do programming at all anymore and haven’t in years. I learned web languages about 15 years ago and stopped keeping up with them about 5 years ago.

Do you believe entrepreneurship is nature or nurture?

Both. There are so many different types of entrepreneurs it is really difficult to generalize. Most of the best entrepreneurs I know, have been entrepreneurs most of their life. They spent their formative years solving problems and hustling.

How did you get investors to believe in your business idea in Duxter?

It is almost impossible to get smart people to believe in ideas. Attracting top investors is about showing them what you have is much more than idea. It is a business, validated by data.

What is the monetizing policy for Duxter?

Duxter sells products and services to gamers through our shop. Gamers can earn discounts on those goods by completing challenges and playing games.

How many people did you start the company with?

I started the company by myself. I quickly recruited an amazing team of talented engineers.

Do you consider your self a successful entrepreneur ? What are your success standards?

If the opposite of a successful entrepreneur is a failed entrepreneur, I guess I would say I am successful, at least until I fail.

Where do you picture your company five years from now?

In 5 years Duxter will be the largest network connecting millions of gamers across the world. In 5 years anyone who truly considers themselves a gamer will be connected through Duxter.

What is your advice for our readers at startupwizz.com from young entrepreneurs and start-ups?

Follow your gut, but listen to data.