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Consumer Electronics Daily News Tuesday, January 9, 2018 1 6 Genovation Cars: The Green Car Company By Steve Keyes, Communications Director, Centigrade for Genovation Cars Genovation's long-term goal is to be a pre- mier provider of high performance sustain- able automobiles. Genovation is commit- ted to advancing the state of the art in EV technology with the knowledge that per- formance EVs will accelerate the delivery of sustainable products for future genera- tions. The Genovation GXE Corvette all electric supercar has broken several signif- icant world records on multiple occasions while reimagining an American icon. Genovation is raising the bar in energy storage, propulsion, composite and sus- pension technologies. We ask our cus- tomers to join us on this journey. In recent years, several issues have converged to create a demand for the kind of vehicle Genovation builds: Climate change, due to high carbon dioxide emissions, is now a widely accepted fact. As a global community, we must all take whatever actions we can to reduce harmful greenhouse gases. A recent draft report from the US Government titled Climate Science Special Report finds it "extremely likely that more than half of the rise in temper- ature over the past four decades has been caused by human activity." There has been an increase in the awareness of the negative effects of air pollution, especially on the young and old. The World Health Organization has estimated that up to 2.4 million people a year die from causes directly attributed to air pollution. Research has shown a correla- tion between air pollu- tion and the incidences of asthma, particularly among children. As atmospheric CO 2 levels rise, the gas dissolves into our oceans, causing the water to become more acidic. Ocean acidification nega- tively impacts biodiversity and is partic- ularly damaging to shellfish and kelp, putting fisheries around the globe at risk. The Genovation team is comprised of a small and capable group of engineers and automotive experts that are commit- ted to building world class products. In order to achieve this goal, Genovation has teamed with one of the world's preeminent contract manufacturers, The Prefix Corporation, to make the GXE a reality. Steeped in Detroit and European automotive know how, Prefix is helping make the GXE a stylish, robust, world class electric supercar. At the same time, we have teamed with a number of small- er technology companies, like Stafl Systems, that bring a fresh approach to innovation in the automotive sector. The combination of large and small, of traditional and new organizations, has resulted in the creation of the world's fastest certified street legal electric super- car, the Genovation GXE. For more information, visit www.geno vationcars.com, call 301.279.0229 or stop by booth #3938. ASHA Raises Concern about Potential Impact of Popular Tech Overuse, Misuse on Hearing The American Speech-Language- Hearing Association's (ASHA) Healthy Communication and Popular Technology Initiative focuses upon the potential dan- gers of popular technology overuse and misuse. What is the concern with respect to hearing? Previous polling by ASHA indicated that many young people are using popular technology for hours daily, every day, at high volume. That sort of usage could produce hearing loss. Additionally, for years ASHA has put on "safe listening" concerts in middle and elementary schools to encourage safe listening to popular technology. Again and again, educators embraced the message and understood the need for it based on what they observe daily and know about their students' usage habits. What are the consequences of hearing loss? Hearing loss can have severe effects on a child's development. It can delay other communication skills, impede academic achievement, cause social isolation and even affect future employment. Children with hearing loss devel- op their vocabulary more slowly, and have more trouble learning abstract words or words with multiple meanings. Also, the vocabulary gap between them and children with nor- mal hearing widens with age. What are some tips for enjoying technology while avoiding dangers to hearing? The most effective step is to keep the vol- ume down. Regularly listening to music over 75 decibels for extended periods can cause hearing loss over time. A good rule of thumb is to keep the volume level on a device at no more than half. It is also important to set parameters that encourage things like listening breaks, and technol- ogy-free times and zones at home. Parents should also model healthy technology usage themselves. How can people learn more about this initiative? CES attendees are invited to stop by booth #44658 (Sands, Halls A-D). They can also check out www.communicationand tech.org. Collaborations with the tech industry that help spread the word about safe usage of popular tech are welcome. For more information, go to www.asha.org or stop by booth #44658 (Sands, Halls A-D). Meet Mike Watts, Founder of Three Multi-Million Dollar Startups An interview with Mike Watts, Founder, LoveHandle. CEDN: Tell our readers about how you started as an entrepreneur and what keeps you going. MW: About 17 years ago, my wife and I set a simple goal to be a family with income that allowed her the flexibility to stay home and invest in our children. We decided to start using the weekends to sell goods at consumer shows, and so began our journey into the field of entrepreneurship. Today we look at our three amazing children and our inde- pendent lifestyle as proof that this goal was worth every sacrifice and risk we took along the way. CEDN: What was your first big product? MW: We spent the first few years trying a wide variety of products to sell, includ- ing garden decorations, moisture-absorb- ing polymers for watering plants, wood- en crafts from Vietnam, ornamental plants and decorative gifts. The problem was that we were just resellers and con- stantly faced new competitors with the exact same product. Then one day I met the inventor of a product we later named the PivoTrim, a universal trimmer head for cutting and edging grass. The unique feature of this product was preventing broken trimmer lines, which frustrated weekend warriors who cut their own grass can attest to. We licensed the patents and began the process to bring the PivoTrim to the market, and just four years later, it led total sales in the entire product category. CEDN: What happened to that product? MW: You can still buy the PivoTrim at Home Depot, Walmart and Lowes today, but we sold the company a few years ago to our largest distributor. CEDN: What are you working on these days? MW: Our latest and most exciting startup to date is the LoveHandle smartphone grip. In 2014, we partnered with the inventor of this amazingly useful and simple product with the same goal of making it the No. 1 selling product in its category and making it in the USA. This company is growing faster than any pre- vious startup and we have been able to hire over 20 full-time employees and have seen a huge response in the promotional products category and at retail for this ultra-useful product line. CEDN: What's next and where can people learn more about you? MW: I am focusing on investing in tomor- row's generation of entrepreneurs by building a practical curriculum for aspir- ing youth to make their own dreams come true. I have partnered with Daymond John of SharkTank on this effort and am excited to launch a book and speaking tour soon. People can follow me at @mike100watts on Instagram or reach out through www.lovehandle.com. For more information, visit www .lovehandle.com or email sales@ lovehandle.com. Avnet Announces New IoT Services Avnet, a leading global technology dis- tributor, announced its comprehensive set of end-to-end IoT services to uniquely enable the seamless delivery of innova- tive solutions to market through each stage of the IoT lifecycle. "Because IoT projects are so different from conventional IT solutions, profession- al engineers, businesses and startups have struggled to incorporate IoT technology into their business models and ultimately into their products," said Lou Lutostanski, Avnet's Vice President, Internet of Things. "Avnet has developed a full suite of IoT services to help customers overcome chal- lenges related to design, connectivity, delivery, data analytics, project complexity and other issues. To date, IoT adoption has been slowed by the complexity of the IoT ecosystem, which Avnet has addressed and simplified through these IoT services and our technology partnerships." Through these new and enhanced IoT capabilities, Avnet offers end-to-end solutions that guide customers from idea through every stage of their design to deliver connected IoT products into the hands of consumers around the world, delivering on the promise to help busi- nesses reach further. About Avnet From idea to design and from prototype to production, Avnet supports customers at each stage of a product's lifecycle. A com- prehensive portfolio of design and supply chain services makes Avnet the go-to guide for innovators who set the pace for techno- logical change. For nearly a century, Avnet has helped its customers and suppliers around the world realize the transformative possibilities of technology. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com.