Idem Translations has partnered with Kiva.org to assist this organization with its translation needs.

Named as one of the top ideas in 2006 by the New York Times Magazine, Kiva.org is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, enabling individuals to make a loan (from just $25) to a developing world entrepreneur — such as a goat herder in Uganda or a carpet weaver in Afghanistan.

Idem Translations supports Kiva.org by providing translation services for projects requiring legal, financial, and other technical expertise. With its specialized network of professional translators, Idem enables Kiva.org to serve its Field Partners with expertly translated communications and documents, as well as offering support for Kiva’s due diligence process.

Originally posted on April 20, 2008 @ 12:17 pm

Inkling Incorporated, a prediction market software company, has been included in the recent list of “Cool Vendors” by Gartner, Inc.

Inkling Markets was included in the April 2008 report titled, “Cool Vendors in Emerging Technologies, 2008,” by Gartner analyst Mark Raskino. This report covers, “emerging-technology vendors that stretch from human interfaces, through infrastructure application and development, to network communication and acceleration technologies. All the vendors listed have potential value to clients looking to solve the specific problems that they address.”

Inkling Markets provides an easy-to-use prediction market platform for clients to improve sales and financial forecasting, decrease operating risk, gather competitive intelligence, and foster innovation.

Originally posted on April 21, 2008 @ 9:56 pm

Standing Dog Interactive has signed an agreement with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide to provide the hospitality company with ReviewAnalyst, an online dashboard for tracking consumer-generated hotel reviews, videos and images on popular travel and social sites.

According to a hospitality industry study, online hotel reviews are estimated to affect as many as 87 percent of travel site visitors’ buying decisions, with 90 percent of these reviews found accurate by customers. With reviews playing a greater role in online bookings, ReviewAnalyst is vital in giving hotel properties the ability to easily track, analyze and react to online reviews.

ReviewAnalyst will provide over 900 Starwood properties the ability to analyze these reviews. “We looked at a number of vendors, but ReviewAnalyst offered the most comprehensive solution, yet was still simple and intuitive,” said David Godsman, vice president of online marketing and business development for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. “It allows us to aggregate massive amounts of usable information, and provides us the information in a consolidated and concise dashboard that brands can act upon.”

In addition, ReviewAnalyst offers rating and ranking comparisons with a hotel’s top three competitors. This helps hotels gain a competitive advantage by being able to compare and contrast their rating with those of their highest competitors.

Originally posted on April 20, 2008 @ 1:17 am

Zaio Inc. has surpassed 20 million photos of individual parcels of real estate in its growing national database. Zaio is coordinating the photography, inspection and appraisal of properties throughout the nation. Zaio’s patent-pending technology is designed to be used by appraisers and help lenders obtain real time appraisals from a secure database much the same way they obtain credit reports.

Zaio photographs are taken to exact specifications and then are aligned with specific property information for analysis by a local appraiser expert. Zaio stores completed appraisals in the Appraisal Knowledge Warehouse™ which is quickly becoming the largest repository of official real estate appraisals in the world. Zaio’s patent-pending solution allows appraisers to update the value estimate of each property in an entire city, in real time, daily, weekly or monthly, as may be needed by the client. Updated interior inspections and photographs are also available when needed.

Originally posted on April 20, 2008 @ 10:03 pm