Ohio Internet start-up pitches social competition

TechLifeOhio

Connected Life Labs (CLL), an Internet start-up based in Columbus, announced the beta launch of Traxier.com, a social networking platform that lets users compete and interact with each other based on real-life activities.

"Life is all about competition," said Tanya Cinco, Traxier Product Manager. "Traxier.com lets people compete with each other on the normal, everyday things they do."

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Wi-Fi to lure fests back to river

Columbus Dispatch

The festivals that have vacated the city's riverfront during construction of the Scioto Mile will have one more incentive to return next year: free wireless Internet.

The $44 million project is creating parkland on the east side of the Scioto River from Broad Street to Bicentennial Park. Water and electrical hookups were already planned to accommodate festivals. With the addition of wireless Internet, festival vendors will have easier access to swipe credit cards.

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T-Mobile improves wireless speeds in Ohio cities

InformationWeek SMB

T-Mobile has been rolling out HSPA+ to markets aggressively this year. T-Mobile says that 16 devices in its portfolio can "benefit" from the HSPA+ network, though T-Mobile has yet to announce any full HSPA+ capable handsets.

The lastest batch of cities to gain access to the improved wireless speeds include: Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Waco, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La.; Birmingham, Al.; Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton, Ohio; Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville, Fla.; Greenville, S.C.; Honolulu, Hi.; Indianapolis, Ind.; St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.; Milwaukee, Wi.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; and Wichita, Kan.

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Central Ohio created Twitter application "ChumpDump" featured in CrunchGear

Midwest TechBiz

Even though I am on vacation this week, I enjoy keeping up with events and people that impact my world, or at least keeping up with the things that interest me. So, it was with delight that I saw a post at TechCrunch Sunday on ChumpDump, an idea birthed at this past April's Startup Weekend III in Columbus, Ohio. We have a solid track record of success at SWColumbus and I expect we'll see more successes, as we have a vibrant, innovative community in Central Ohio.

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Two Columbus residents create new Facebook app

MidWestTechBiz

Two friends in the Columbus area, Daryl Kulak and Steve Sarafa, decided that if all these Silicon Valley types could create apps for the new platforms like Facebook, iPhone, Android and Twitter, so could they. They put a little money together, hired a few developers and got busy.

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Exacter partners with utility repair firm

Business First of Columbus

A company that helps electric utilities find trouble in their transmission lines has found a partner to help make repairs.

Columbus-based Exacter Inc. formed an alliance with Par Electrical Contractors Inc., a company with national reach that specializes in high-voltage transmission and distribution lines and electrical substations.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Par Electrical is part of Quanta Services Inc., a Houston-based infrastructure services company with operations in the electric power, telecommunications, broadband cable and gas pipeline industries.

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