Tech

You know how Facebook works: friends, family, “friends” all posting a steady stream of What’s Going On.

Well, ThingWorx is like that - but with machines instead of people.

“We joke: the Facebook for devices,” says ThingWorx marketing director Chris Kuntz. “These are cars, these are buildings, these are appliances. They’re medical devices, they’re windmills, they’re bridges.

“There’s a lot of value in businesses securely connecting to and communicating with smart things.”

That’s where ThingWorx comes in.

In our latest Innovation Trail report for New York NOW, we looked into a new bill to expand the state's DNA databank.

Prosecutors say adding DNA from more convicted offenders to the databank helps the police solve more crimes. They call it a "sword and a shield:" convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent.

So why would a  man who was exonerated of murder with DNA evidence after spending close to 20 years in prison say the bill falls short?

See this week's full episode of New York NOW.

They weren't quite the Transformers from the movies, but once the bell rang inside the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, the robot's wheels turned, gears spun and metal arms extended.

The VEX Robotics Competition was the culmination of weeks of engineering and problem solving for central New York students. 

Today in your Trail Mix: 

Kodak says goodbye to the camera making business.

The governor admits he slowed down the process on fracking.

The Buffalo Auto Show kicks off.

And six SUNY schools are best buys.

Kevin Purdy makes connections.

When we sat down with the former editor of Gawker's Lifehacker blog at TEDxRochester in November 2011, he had just wrapped up organizing Buffalo's TEDx.

Purdy talked to us about what he's doing when he's not writing about tech, food and "Other Freelance Nonsense."

Top of the list: hooking people up (not like that).

Like the music? It's "The 19th letter - no words" by Buffalo-based Fourem.

All but a done-deal - just not quite, was the message from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) as he tries to build hype over the possibility of a high-tech chip manufacturer landing in central New York.

APIC Corp. of California proposes it will create 200 jobs, building the chips, at a site just north of Syracuse.

But the region landing its first nanotechnology firm hinges on APIC first securing a contract with the Defense Department.