Kodak in $525 million patent deal, eyes bankruptcy end

(Reuters) – Eastman Kodak Co agreed to sell its digital imaging patents for about $ 525 million, a key step to bringing the photography pioneer out of bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.

The deal for the 1,100 patents allows Kodak to fulfill a condition for securing $ 830 million in financing.

The patent deal was reached with a consortium led by Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corp, and which includes some of the world’s biggest technology companies, which will license or acquire the patents.

Those companies are Adobe Systems Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Fujifilm, Google Inc, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, HTC Corp, Microsoft Corp, Research In Motion Ltd, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Shutterfly Inc, according to court documents.

Kodak still must sell its personalized and document-imaging businesses as part of the financing package, and also has to resolve its UK pension obligation.

Kodak said the patent deal puts it on a path to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2013.

“Our progress has accelerated over the past several weeks as we prepare to emerge as a strong, sustainable company,” said Antonio Perez, chairman and chief executive of the Rochester, New York-based company.

The patent portfolio was expected to be a major asset for Kodak when it filed for bankruptcy in January. An outside firm had estimated the patents could be worth as much as $ 2.6 billion.

Kodak’s patents hit the market as intellectual property values have soared and technology companies have plowed money into patent-related litigation.

For example, last year Nortel Networks sold 6,000 wireless patents in a bankruptcy auction for $ 4.5 billion and earlier this year Google spent $ 12.5 billion for patent-rich Motorola Mobility.

But Kodak’s patent auction dragged on beyond the initial expectation that it would be wrapped up in August. One patent specialist blamed those early, overly optimistic valuations, which he said encouraged Kodak’s team to set their sights too high.

“Unfortunately (Kodak management) was misled into thinking it was worth billions of dollars and it wasn’t,” said Alex Poltorak, chairman of General Patent Corp, a patent licensing firm. “I think they sold them at a very good price.”

He said after Google acquired Motorola, the search engine company no longer needed patents at any price, deflating the intellectual property market.

Kodak traces its roots to the 19th century and invented the handheld camera. But it has been unable to successfully shift to digital imaging.

It will likely be a different company when it exits bankruptcy, out of the consumer business and focused instead on providing products and services to the commercial imaging market.

The patent sale is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.

The Kodak bankruptcy case is in Re: Eastman Kodak Co. et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Nick Zieminski,; John Wallace and Peter Galloway)

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Tappan Zee mystery

Nicole Gelinas

In the runup to Christmas, Gov. Cuomo just presented a great bargain for New York “shoppers”: The state Thruway Authority will build the new Tappan Zee Bridge by 2018 for $3.1 billion, plus $500 million to $800 million in a reserve for financing and unexpected costs — when the pricetag as recently as this summer was at least $5.3 billion.

But as with everything else in Albany, what could trip Cuomo up is where, when and how to get the cash.

The governor deserves huge credit for announcing this cost underrun — unusual even at this early stage for a mega-project. If (and only if) he sticks to time and budget, it could be a model for other projects in New York and around the country.

A bargain, but: The winning proposal for a new Tappan Zee Bridge carries a surprisingly cheap pricetag — but there’s still no cash to pay for it.

Why the savings?

Technical reasons, partly: A lighter structure made of steel, not concrete, will require less dredging and thus take less time (without costing more down the road).

And workers will assemble much of the steel off-site, allowing them to work longer hours without disrupting commutes and nearby residents’ sleep. That, too, saves time and money.

Plus, the governor got Albany to pass new legislation governing construction contracts. The winning contractors — American Bridge Co. and Fluor — will be financially responsible for constructing the project they’ve drawn up themselves.

That’s a departure from normal New York practice: Usually, one architectural firm produces a design, then the state hires other contractors to build the thing.

That disconnect can cause huge cost overruns. Just think: If the designers who came up with the “soaring” Calatrava PATH station downtown knew they actually had to build it, they’d have stuck to basics in their drawings.

(Of course, no contracting structure can completely control for government incompetence. If the governor decides to change the bridge specs halfway through, taxpayers would still have to pay for the overruns.)

Most important, though, is that Cuomo (unlike his three predecessors) made clear to everyone — Thruway honchos and bidders included — that he cares about getting the Tappan Zee done.

Putting political capital behind the project reduced the political risk that the bidders had to take — that is, the risk that he’d suddenly cancel it.

That encouraged three separate bidders to submit thoughtful proposals, without having to worry that they were wasting their money. Competition is (almost) always good for costs.

Good so far — so let’s see if it works on the ground.

Now the bad news: Behind the mockups of a shiny new bridge, there are already some seriously rusty finances.

Even at the low end, $3.6 billion is a lot of money. Assume the Thruway can borrow at around 4.5 percent for 30 years, and that the state gets a federal loan for the project. The debt then would cost about $200 million a year, plus a little extra to keep bond analysts happy.

But the Tappan Zee — with its current $4.75 round-trip toll — only takes in about $130 million a year. Yes, expenses may fall on the new bridge. Still, raking in close to $200 million more would require more than doubling the toll, bringing it to $11 or so.

So you’d think the governor would be easing some toll hikes in now, to build up some cash and avoid an abrupt hike. Instead, Cuomo said clearly over the summer that he doesn’t want bridge tolls going up much — and he didn’t say much at all on the subject this week.

In fact, on the rest of the Thruway system, the governor is going in the wrong direction. Monday, the Thruway announced “a new cost-saving plan that does not include any toll hike.”

Doing more for less, part of the governor’s plan, is fine. But a big reason the Thruway won’t hike tolls this year is that Cuomo has decided to give the public authority some money out of the general state budget.

The state will start reimbursing the Thruway for state-police costs as well as other operating costs, totaling $85 million a year. That’s not a real “savings,” though — it’s just hoping that taxpayers won’t notice the cost and scream, where tollpayers would have.

The governor’s stand on Tappan Zee tolls shows one thing: Nobody ever likes to raise tolls — and that probably won’t change in the next few years.

But we’re still waiting to see what legerdemain he’ll come up with to pay for the new Tappan Zee. Expect the financial engineering on the bridge to be far more complicated than the actual engineering.

Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to the Manhattan Institute’s
City Journal.

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Accelerator planned for healthcare-tech start-ups

A new start-up accelerator focused on the intersection of healthcare and technology is coming to Miami next year.

Project Lift Miami, designed to help develop young companies and prepare them for investment opportunities, is a partnership between Lift1428, an innovation design, strategy and communications firm; the Miami Innovation Center at the University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park and its developer, Wexford Science + Technology; and the UM Miller School of Medicine, said Robert Chavez, the project’s executive director. “We’re being proactive and trying to support innovative ideas and companies. … We’d like to keep them here and really help to transform the area into a healthcare innovation hub.”

The accelerator will offer entrepreneurial teams a structured 100-day program of classes, workshops and training directed by national and local healthcare experts as well as mentoring and strategic support that will continue well beyond the program, said David McDonald, CEO of Lift1428 and co-founder of Project Lift Miami.

“This meets a critical unmet need in innovation,” said Norma Kenyon, chief innovation officer at UM’s Miller School, explaining that novel ideas often don’t find appropriate mentors and funding until they are pretty far along. “Where do you go if you have a great idea that really could be transformative? This provides much-needed support for these very early-stage technologies.”

Ten to 15 start-ups will be selected for the first class, which will start in May. Each will be offered seed funding — probably $20,000 to $30,000 in cash and services in exchange for a small equity stake — and will get free office space at the research park, Chavez said. The program will run through August, closing with a Demo Day, when entrepreneurs present their businesses to potential investors.

“There’s so much regulation and there are privacy issues and other barriers to entry that are different in the healthcare industry. Having the access to the environment we have here to test your idea and prove your concept is a great advance,” said Chavez, who is also executive director of business intelligence at UM’s Miller School. “That kind of mentoring you won’t get at a general accelerator.”

If Miami’s program goes well, future Project Lift programs could be rolled out at other Wexford science and technology parks across the country, said Bill Hunter, Wexford’s regional director of leasing. “Project Lift is directly aligned with our mission to cultivate innovation in our community. You need investment in those early-stage opportunities.”

Entrepreneurs interested in applying for the inaugural 2013 class can contact Chavez at rchavez@lift1428.com or 305-345-8670, or stop by the Miami Innovation Center at the UM Life Science & Technology Park, 1951 NW Seventh Ave., Suite 300. There is also more information at www.lift1428.com/projectlift.

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Judge admonishes defendant in Rilya Wilson murder trial

A Miami-Dade judge admonished the woman accused of killing foster child Rilya Wilson after two brief courtroom outbursts Tuesday.

At the time, Geralyn Graham’s ex-lover, Pamela Graham, was on the stand testifying under cross-examination about why she was cooperating with authorities. The two are not related.

In front of the jury, Geralyn Graham yelled at Pamela Graham to stop lying. A few minutes later, Geralyn Graham again blurted out at the witness that the last time she saw Rilya, she “was in your arms.”

Geralyn Graham, 66, is on trial on charges of murdering the foster child whose disappearance a decade ago roiled the state’s child-welfare agency and led to a series of reforms. Rilya’s body was never found.

Pamela Graham, who was Rilya’s legal guardian, has testified over two days that Geralyn Graham abused Rilya, tying her to a bed and keeping her isolated in a laundry room. She has also cast Geralyn Graham as a dominating, manipulative woman who forced her to lie that a child welfare worker took the child.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Scott Sakin, Pamela Graham admitted the early story she gave to police investigators “was all lies.”

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Nielsen to buy Arbitron for about $1.26B

NEW YORK (AP) — Nielsen, the dominant source of TV ratings, on Tuesday said it had agreed to buy Arbitron for about $ 1.26 billion to expand into radio measurement.

Arbitron pays 70,000 people to carry around gadgets that register what stations they’re listening to. Since Nielsen also collects cash register data, CEO David Calhoun said buying Arbitron will let Nielsen be a one-stop shop for advertisers who want to know how the radio advertising they buy affects product sales.

The acquisition will let Nielsen expand the amount of media consumption it tracks by about 2 hours per person per day to 7 hours, Calhoun said in an interview.

“You don’t find many mediums that allow for that kind of increase,” Calhoun said.

Arbitron’s operations are mainly in the U.S., while Nielsen operates globally. Calhoun said another major driver for the deal is that Nielsen wants to spread Arbitron’s tracking technology to other countries.

Evercore Partners analyst Douglas Arthur said Nielsen doesn’t need traditional radio measurement to grow, but Arbitron seemed like a willing seller, and it will be a “nice complementary but not ‘must have’ platform.”

Nielsen Holdings N.V. said it will pay $ 48 per share, which is a 26 percent premium to Arbitron’s Monday closing price of $ 38.04. Shares of Arbitron, which is based in Columbia, Md., jumped $ 8.99, or 23.6 percent, to close at $ 47.03.

Nielsen, which went public in January 2011, has headquarters in the Netherlands and New York. Its stock added $ 1.30, or 4.4 percent, to close at $ 30.92.

Nielsen said it expects the deal to add about 13 cents per share to its adjusted earnings a year after closing and about 19 cents per share to adjusted earnings two years after closing.

Abitron’s chief operating officer, Sean Creamer, is set to take over as CEO from William Kerr on Jan. 1. Calhoun said he hoped Creamer would remain with Nielsen after the deal closes.

Nielsen said it has a financing commitment for the transaction.

Nielsen was the prime source of audience ratings in the early days of radio, thanks to a device similar to Arbitron’s People Meter. The Audimeter was attached to the radio set. The company’s focus shifted to TV measurement in the 1950s.

On Monday, Nielsen announced a deal with Twitter to measure how much U.S. TV watchers tweet about the shows they’re watching. The “Nielsen Twitter TV Rating” will debut in the fall.

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The Voice Crowns a Winner

Cassadee Pope, Nicholas David and Terry McDermott sang their hearts out this season, but only one would take home the top prize Tuesday night on The Voice.

Following a star-studded live finale with special appearances by Smokey Robinson, Rihanna, The Killers, Avril Lavigne, Peter Frampton, Bruno Mars and Kelly Clarkson as well performances from contestants past, 23-year-old Cassadee Pope was crowned the winner of season three in the presence of the singer's friends and family.

Video: 'The Voice' Coaches Impersonate Each Other

"I'm feeling amazing. Thank you to everyone who voted for me," said a shell-shocked Pope after bringing in a second win for Team Blake. Last season, Shelton's mentee Jermaine Paul was also declared a winner.

Terry McDermott, 35, also of Team Blake, placed third and Nicholas David, 31, of Cee Lo Green's team took the third spot.

Video: 'The Voice' Pays Tribute to Sandy Hook Victims

Pope's big win brings her $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.

Season four will premiere next spring. Shakira and Usher will take a seat alongside Shelton and Levine in Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green's absence. Check out the very first promo here!

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A postal pickle

The Postal Service works efficiently delivering the mail (“Postal Dis-Service, Editorial, Nov. 24).

80 percent of the red ink results not from postal operations, but from a 2006 congressional mandate compelling the agency to pay billions of dollars a year to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years into the future. No other agency or company is required to do anything like that.

Using no taxpayer money, the Postal Service provides the world’s most affordable delivery service. It is the centerpiece of a $1.3 trillion national mailing industry with 7.5 million private-sector employees, including 598,349 New Yorkers. Its Saturday delivery is critical to New York’s hundreds of thousands of small businesses.

The Post touts privatization, but doesn’t mention that federal mail delivery derives from the Constitution. If Congress addresses the pre-funding fiasco, the Postal Service can do what it’s done for 200 years — adapt to an evolving society.

Fredric Rolando

President

National Association of

Letter Carriers

Washington, DC

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Stocking stuffers and last-minute gift ideas

In the portable electronic world, stocking stuffers are easy to find. Here are some for those last-minute holiday gifts on everyone’s list.

•  WATER-POWERED CLOCK: Aside from telling time, the eco-friendly Bedol Water Clock is a portable alarm that is also waterproof in the event you feel like standing in a rain storm or showering with it.

It’s battery-free so all you do to keep the clock running indefinitely is just fill it with water.

A natural chemical reaction between two of its internal metallic plates generates enough power to keep it running indefinitely.

Details: www.bedolwhatsnext.com $17

•  CHAT OR SCROLL: Logitech’s Apple-friendly Broadcaster Wi-Fi webcam is great for online chatting and its wireless functionality makes it a great companion as a second angled video camera beyond what your computer, iPhone or iPad’s camera will do.

The camera has an internal battery, which is charged via USB for 2 hours of life and has a built-in mono microphone along with a port to add an external mic.

Video is captured in HD 720p and can be moved to any angle since it’s wireless.

Logitech has designed the camera to let users press a button to switch to the camera, giving your chatting partner a different angle.

The Broadcaster ($199.99) works with Mac video applications including QuickTime, Photo Booth, iMovie, Final Cut Pro or chatting with FaceTime, iChat or Skype.

• Logitech also has a few cool high tech-looking Windows 8 friendly mice with the t400 and t620.

The Logitech Zone Touch Mouse t400 ($39) has the functionality of a traditional mouse along with a touch strip to support horizontal and vertical scrolling.

Just click on the top of the touch zone for instant access the Windows 8 Start Screen and clicking on the bottom of the touch zone will scroll you through all your open applications.

The Touch Mouse t620 ($49) features a full touch surface letting you scroll horizontally and vertically from anywhere on the mouse, and to access the Windows 8 start screen you just swipe the edges of the mouse.

Details: www.Logitech.com

•  EARBUDS WITH A MIC: iFrogz EarPollution Plugz with Mic noise isolating earbuds are as simple as they get and work just fine.

You get three sizes of ear pieces to get the right fit along with an in-line microphone for cellphone use and most any portable electronic device.

The sound is decent and it makes a great hands-free choice.

Details: www.iFrogz.com $9.99 — in a big selection of colors.

•  TRAVEL POWER: Bracketron’s Universal USB Travel Power Kit ($26) includes an Apple 30-pin and Micro USB connections 3-foot cable for charging just about any device on the go.

The cable can be connected to a computer or the included USB AC adapter for 2.1 Amp charging, which includes power hungry tablets.

A 12V car charging USB adapter is also included.

Bracketron’s MetalDock ($18.91) is a contemporary-looking charging dock for the iPhone 4/4S, built with heavy-duty metal construction resulting in a lightweight and portable design.

It connects to any USB port for charging/syncing with its embedded 3-foot cable and works in landscape or portrait modes.

A company representative has emailed me that Dec. 12-17 everything on the Bracketron site is 40 percent off.

Details: www.Bracketron.com

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Miami-Dade court program helps young inmates change their lives

It was a graduation without pomp and circumstance.

There was marching in combat boots. No gowns.

The remarks by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Beth Bloom were full of the hallmarks common at any graduation. She spoke of goals and achievement and of the opportunity.

But were it not for the “I’m Ready” program, many of Monday’s graduates would not be anticipating their release from jail in a few short weeks.

The 13 young men in “I’m Ready’s’’ inaugural class had already been convicted of some crime and sentenced to boot camp. But each had some medical or psychological problem that made him ineligible.

Take, for example 20-year-old Franklin Robinson. After being sentenced to boot camp after he violated his probation, Robinson underwent several tests, including an EKG that showed there was difficulty pumping blood to his heart. That prevented him from being admitted to boot camp and could have meant him ending up back in jail with the general population.

Instead, he ended up at the six-month “I’m Ready’’ program, which offers youths ages 14-24 education and services. They undergo behavior modification, life skills, job training, counseling and treatment.

The day begins at 5 a.m. A routine of schooling and vocational training in automotive technology or carpentry carries them through until about 8 p.m.

“I’m Ready” participants are housed in a separate unit to accommodate program activities rather than with the general jail population. They are referred to as “students,’’ not “inmates.’’

“There is a reason why boot camp is able to reduce recidivism,” Bloom said. “It sets the tone that they are there to learn.”

It’s not so different from boot camp, said Officer Cathy Harpp, who oversees the program.

“You can’t do pushups, but you can clean the floor and the toilet bowl with a toothbrush,” Harpp said.

The hardest part was getting them to be receptive to change and adapt to the new rules, Harpp said.

“Once they knew I was not going to let up, eventually, they cave in,” she said. “Here, they’re accountable for everything.”

The idea for the program came to Bloom after she oversaw the case of an insulin dependent diabetic with a 10th-grade education.

After he was deemed unfit for boot camp because of his health condition, Bloom wanted to know what would happen to him.

Young offenders like him would have been incarcerated with the general population of inmates, where there would be no access to training and no structure.

“I’ve seen far too many youth return to the criminal justice system,” Bloom said Monday at the program’s first graduation ceremony. “All of you have met your goal. The community needs you to be the different persons that you are.”

The group of 13 will be released Dec. 28. Twenty-two new students will replace them in January.

Before the new graduates students left the room in a final marching formation, Harpp offered one lasting piece of advice: “This is where the difference begins.”

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Hillary Clinton’s head fake

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was set to face a grilling from Congress this week over the terrorist attacks in Benghazi when she started channeling the late poet Shel Silverstein.

“I have the measles and the mumps / A gash, a rash and purple bumps,” said Clinton, in effect, informing the House and Senate (with regrets!) that she was suffering too many maladies to testify as expected about the Sept. 11 attack in Libya.

America’s top diplomat was to provide her first public answers regarding the murder of US Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Now that won’t happen.

Hillary Clinton

Clinton’s story beggars belief: While traveling in Europe, she contracted a stomach virus . . . which made her dehydrated . . . which made her faint at home . . . which caused her to fall and hit her head . . . which gave her a nasty concussion.

So Clinton’s deputies will appear in her stead before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday to explain the State Department’s failures.

That is not nearly enough.

We’ve chided the Obama administration in the past for its lack of transparency — but this looks like one of the most transparent dodges in the history of diplomacy.

And if Congress allows the secretary of state to wriggle free from scrutiny in the last days of her tenure (she may be gone from Foggy Bottom before the next round of congressional hearings in 2013), it will be a shame on that body as well.

So it’s clear that Clinton needs to testify.

And the Republicans, at least, seem to realize it.

“We still don’t have information from the Obama administration on what went so tragically wrong in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of four patriotic Americans,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, when Clinton reported her noggin-bump. “This requires a public appearance by the secretary of state herself.”

Thursday’s hearing covers the State Department’s Accountability Review Board, the squad of DC luminaries who’ve been investigating the attack since October and who delivered their findings to Clinton yesterday.

The report may shed some light on the attack, but it behooves Clinton to explain why the administration spent weeks misleading the public by pinning blame for the strike on an obscure YouTube video.

No, she owes the public true accountability — not a paper press release from some former bureaucrats.

And that requires her to testify before Congress, before the public.

Nothing else will suffice.

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