PAGE 4 | THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014 | THE BALL STATE DAILY NEWS | BALLSTATEDAILY.COM
NEWS
Amazon unveils Fire Phone to its services for AT&T 4.7-inch smartphone offers up technology for object recognition | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEATTLE — Amazon unveiled its first smartphone ever Wednesday, a device that assists shoppers by using six cameras that can make sense of its user’s face and the world around it. “We wanted to make a device that’s great for one person,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said about the Fire Phone. “It’s like a certain person likes chocolate and another person likes vanilla. The customer can choose.” The phone’s most significant feature, called “Firefly,” employs audio and object recognition technology to identify products and present the user with ways to purchase the items through Amazon. Users can simply snap a photo of a book, for instance, and Firefly will offer up its title and author, give more information about it and provide ways to buy it. Seven years after Apple’s iPhone took over the category, Bezos said there is room in the market for something different. Even with the dominant leads that Apple and Samsung hold, Bezos told The
Associated Press in an interview, “it’s still early” in the wireless device business. People change phones all the time, he said. It’s not about taking market share right away, but making a phone that is ideal for a certain customer and hoping it takes hold. While the new Fire Phone comes with some features that are practically industry standard — like a slim profile, a sturdy glass touchscreen, minimalist buttons and one camera for facing toward and away from the user, it breaks new ground in other areas. The phone’s Firefly object recognition feature can identify items and product names captured with the device’s camera. It can also pull in useful information, such as phone numbers and website addresses. The company has catalogued more than a hundred million items that Firefly can recognize and has tweaked the technology to recognize words and characters in a variety of real-life situations. Another feature, called “dynamic perspective,” uses four infrared, front-facing cameras that tell the phone where the user’s face and eyes are located. The feature adjusts the user interface so that tilting the screen relative to the viewer’s face can toggle through screens, scroll
through websites, make on line video game characters fly up or down, and render buildings and other custommade art in 3-D. Both features will be available for developers to build into their own apps. The entry-level Fire Phone costs $199 with a two-year AT&T contract, which places it at the high end of smartphone pricing. But the phone comes with 32 gigabytes of memory, double the standard 16 GB. It also comes with 12 months of Amazon Prime, the company’s free shipping, video, music and book subscription plan, which normally
ers during three months of negotiations. The quick deal resulted from unique circumstances, he said, including the availability of substitute ingredients. “I just concluded that maybe this was one of those issues where it would be smart to try to work something out,” he said. Disagreements over details are delaying similar bills in California and New York, while a measure in Ohio has gained little traction. Still, all sides expect deals in most cases, and that given those states’ outsized place in the market, microbeads will disappear from U.S. products as the industry swallows the cost. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, introduced a bill Wednesday proposing a nationwide ban that would take effect in 2018. Environmentalists hope the collaborative experience carries over to debates concerning the Great Lakes’ other ills. Biel’s group last year helped scuttle a proposal to restrict flame retardants, which some consider an emerging contaminant in the freshwater seas. Still, he said the microbead talks nurtured a better working relationship, as have negotiations over fending off invasive species like the Asian carp. “There is room for common ground,” he said. It’s been known for years that the world’s oceans teem with masses of floating plastic. But microplastics in the Great Lakes were discovered only when scientists dragged the surface of all five lakes in 2012 and 2013
with specially designed nets and found the specks everywhere. Barely visible without a microscope, the bits flow through wastewater treatment plant screens and into the lakes. Sherri Mason, an environmental scientist with State University of New York-Fredonia who was a leader of the research team, said the beads are showing up the stomachs of Great Lakes perch and in fish-eating birds like the doublecrested cormorant. Her group is studying whether the particles are absorbing toxins in the lakes. Because treated wastewater flows into so many waterways, Mason said, “Every river and every inland lake you look at is going to have some plastic in it.” The plastic exfoliants apparently came into widespread use in the 1990s, preferred because they are smoother to the skin than natural ingredients. Laurent Gilbert, director of advanced research at L’Oreal, said they have “no proven environmental toxicity.” Still, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate, Unilever and L’Oreal are among the companies announcing plans to replace microbeads with natural substances such as ground-up fruit pits, oatmeal and sea salt. The industry has yet to endorse a California bill that wouldn’t make an exception for biodegradable microbeads, which the industry said are on the drawing board. A ban has unanimously passed New York’s state Assembly, but is awaiting Senate action while the industry pushes for a slower timetable. The measure
| THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Environmentalists in Illinois expected a battle royal over their call for a statewide ban on “microbeads” — tiny bits of plastic used in personal care products such as facial scrubs and toothpaste that are flowing by the billions into the Great Lakes and other waterways. Discovered only recently, they’re showing up inside fish that are caught for human consumption, scientists say. But instead of resisting, leading companies quickly collaborated on a ban that was enacted by the state legislature this spring. And with similar measures now pending in at least three other large states and in Congress, the extinction of microbeads is taking shape as one of the unlikeliest events in the politics of nature: a low-stress compromise by interest groups that are often at each other’s throats. “To have that happen in one year is rare,” said Jen Walling of the Illinois Environmental Council, recalling the pessimistic response when she initially sought legislative sponsors. “I was not predicting we’d get it done at all.” Don’t get used to it, said Mark Biel of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, which represented the product manufactur-
would prohibit most cosmetics with microbeads by 2016. The Illinois phase-out is more gradual, running from 2017 to the end of 2019. The companies said it can take years to develop new mixtures and get them to market. But with microbeads apparently on their way out, ban supporters said the lesson is that public pressure can pay off. “People say, ‘Wait, there’s plastic in my face wash? In my toothpaste?’” said Mason, who teamed with the Californiabased organization 5 Gyres on the research.
was, the types of investments these contracts bill out are highly speculative, promising returns that no reasonable investor would have believed.” Howard said the case that U.S. Attorneys’ Office noticed involved a $5 million investment that Prizevoits made to Blackhawk Wealth Solutions Inc. Blackhawk was represented by company President Peter R. Sollenne in the contract, dated April 27, 2010. This putative contract states that Blackhawk would contact Sterling Capital LP for unrestricted U.S. government Treasury STRIPS. The university and Blackhawk would enter into a joint venture for buying TSTRIPS, with Ball State receiving 25 percent of the net profits. However, some of that money — $3 million — found its way to George Montolio of Sheridan
Capitals LLC. This company was to purchase T-STRIPS for two investment companies, both unnamed in the federal complaint, after receiving $3.8 million. Sheridan Capitals LLC never provided the T-STRIPS. Montolio, 46, was in possession a bank account that included the university’s $3 million, states the complaint the Daily News received from the university. The balance on that account was zero, according to records the criminal investigator, Scott F. Romonowski, obtained. On Sept. 23, 2011, Montolio was arrested on a charge of wire fraud. A Southern District of New York judge sentenced him March 7, 2013, to 36 months in prison. In order to repay the university, Montolio consented to the forfeiture of four separate Morris Avenue properties in Bronx,
N.Y., a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, an authentic baseball jersey signed by Mickey Mantle and an authentic pair of boxing gloves signed by Mike Tyson. These items were purchased as a result of his wire fraud, according to the record. The university also found Prizevoits’ $8.165 million contract regarding Seth Beoku Betts, 38. He received 51 months in prison for defrauding Ball State. Betts was ordered to repay the university. On Dec. 11, 2013, Betts’ 4,662-square-foot house sold for $1,050,000, according to a listing by Karen Kennedy of Lang Realty. “We’re still hopeful they’re going to find more bad people to bring to justice,” Taylor said. “We’re still hopeful that they may discover other assets that could be recovered.”
FEDERAL JUDGE SETS SENTENCE DATE FOR GUARDSMAN IN OHIO BOMB CASE
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge has set an August sentencing date for an Indiana Guardsman who pleaded guilty to having homemade explosive devices in his vehicle in Ohio. Records show that Andrew Scott Boguslawski had nine unregistered bombs and four devices that could be converted into bombs when he was stopped for speeding in January, on his way from Pennsylvania to Indiana. Federal Judge James Graham on Wednesday scheduled Boguslawski’s sentencing for Aug. 8. He faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
ANDREW SCOTT BOGUSLAWSKI, an Indiana Guardsman
BLOOD CENTER ACCEPTS BREAST MILK
MCT PHOTO
CEO Jeff Bezos unveils Amazon’s first smartphone, the Fire Phone, on Wednesday in Seattle. The entry-level phone will be available for $199.
FIRE PHONE AMAZON UNVEILED ITS FIRST SMARTPHONE WEDNESDAY
• AT&T • $199 to $649 • 5.5” x 2.6” x 0.35” • 4.7” HD LCD display • 5.64 ounces • 32 GB or 64 GB storage • 1080p HD video recording
costs $99 a year. Bezos insisted the company wants to play in the premium phone space and introduce a product that goes beyond what is already in the market. “This is a very aggressive price point for a premium phone,” he said.
In odd twist, industry agrees to ban ‘microbeads’ from personal care
Environmentalists talk with companies, make Illinois measure
AP|BRIEFS
LEGISLATURE MICROBEADS
Microbeads are tiny bits of plastic used in personal care products such as facial scrubs and toothpaste. These beads are making their way into the Great Lakes and other waterways and then into the stomachs of birds and fish that people eat. Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate, Unilever and L’Oreal are announcing plans to replace microbeads with natural substances. ILLINOIS
The state’s legislature enacted a ban of microbeads. The phase-out of microbeads is gradual, running from 2017 to the end of 2019. Other states, including California, New York and Ohio, and Congress are looking at similar bills.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A new partnership now makes sure that fragile infants have more access to both donated blood and donated human milk. The Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank and Indiana Blood Center announced their collaboration Tuesday at the blood center’s Terre Haute location, where members of the Breastfeeding Coalition of the Wabash Valley and the Le Leche League gathered to support the partnership. “We both provide a life-saving component for people in need,” said Amy Mason, ICB donor center specialist, noting that the blood center has existed for more than 60 years. “We see the Indiana Mothers’ Milk Bank as a younger version of ourselves.” Premature infants in hospital neonatal intensive care units are the primary recipients of pasteurized donor human milk, which is dispensed by prescription or hospital order when the mothers’ own milk is not available.
REPORT SAYS CHANGES IN VOUCHERS FOR SCHOOLS COST INDIANA $16M
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana Department of Education report shows that changes to the state’s private school voucher program are costing the state roughly $16 million. The report, which was released late Tuesday, said the voucher program saved the state $4.2 million in the 2011-2012 school year and $4.9 million in the 2012-2013 school year. But changes that allowed some students already attending private schools to begin receiving state aid ended up costing the state $15.8 million for the school year that just ended. “The Department is committed to a transparent accounting of how taxpayer dollars are spent,” Daniel Altman, a Department of Education spokesman, said in an emailed statement. “The update [in] today’s report reflects recent growth in the Choice program.” Voucher supporters questioned the report’s accuracy Wednesday. Jeff Spalding, director of fiscal policy and analysis at the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, said there are problems with how lawmakers established the formula that determines whether vouchers save money or not. Money for school vouchers is diverted from the state’s public school funds, but supporters note that vouchers cost an average $2,000 less than it costs for each public school student.
DELAWARE COUNTY TREASURER SAYS JUDGE ALSO MISHANDLED MONEY
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A Delaware County treasurer charged with mishandling public money wants the judge overseeing his case to step aside, arguing she did the same thing. Delaware County Treasurer John Dorer was charged in April with 47 counts, 44 of which involve failing to deposit public funds within 24 hours as required by state law. JOHN DORER, The Star Press reported Dorer’s lawyers have Delaware filed a motion asking Delaware Circuit Court County treasurer Judge Marianne Vorhees to recuse herself. The motion said state audits from 2005-2010 indicate that departments overseen by Delaware County’s five judges also deposited funds late. The county prosecutor’s office said it’s reviewing the motion. It also is seeking to have Dorer removed from office.
WORK TO RESUME ON FATAL TUNNEL INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A utility company says construction will resume today on a project to build a sewer tunnel 250 feet beneath Indianapolis where a worker was killed last week. Citizens Energy Group spokesman Sarah Holsapple said the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration never officially closed the Deep Rock Tunnel job site, saying the utility and contractor Shea-Kiewit JV stopped work out of respect to the family of 25-year-old William “Isaac” Simpson. The Marion County coroner’s office has ruled his death an accident, saying he died Friday of a “massive crushing blunt force traumatic injury of the head” on Friday. Citizens Energy has said no more information would be released about the accident itself until the investigation is finished.
FRAUD: Montolio, Betts to make restitution to university after charges of wire fraud
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Prizevoits was terminated Oct. 24, 2011, from her job after the university found she had made the putative investments. Her investments violated the university’s policy, including investing university funds in speculative trades. Her compensation as of Sept. 1, 2011, was $84,437. Prizevoits had attempted to conceal the transactions from the university by altering records after issuing them, Howard said. An example is changing a record to remove a semi-annual interest payment so that when the payment never showed up, it wouldn’t raise a red flag. “It was a fraud, so at the end of the day, there may have been really no real investment,” Howard said. “But even if there
THE $13 MILLION LOSS After the U.S. Attorneys’ Office contacted Ball State in September 2011, the university found two cases involving investments by Gale Prizevoits, former director of cash and investments. Prior to the investigation, Ball State had no idea the contracts existed.
2008 $8.165 MILLION
Prizevoits, representing the university, entered into three putative contracts with Seth Beoku Betts of Betts and Gambles. The contracts, dated July 3, July 24 and Dec. 9, totaled $8.165 million for buying collateralized mortgage
obligations and selling them to make a profit. Betts received a sentence June 5 for 51 months in prison for defrauding Ball State.
APRIL 27, 2010 $5 MILLION
Once again, Prizevoits created a putative contract — this time with Blackhawk Wealth Solutions Inc. for $5 million. The contract states the company would get federal Treasury STRIPS, with Ball State receiving 25 percent of the net profits. However, $3 million of this money found its way to George Montolio of New York. This case led to his sentencing of 36 months in prison for wire fraud.