Project Email will also include a new option for support of smartphones, but has not yet optimized the browser view for the small screen. Some smartphones have less real estate but email can be tracked on them.

Also keyword support has been added for email messages and project files, with a new keyword activity center for quick access for all tagged items.

Virtual Server Deployment

Virtual server installations are fully supported with the Seventh Edition. This will allow the deployment of Project Center Server on the cloud.

Top News of the Week

Autodesk, Inc. and the Open Design Alliance (ODA) announced an agreement to settle pending disputes related to Autodesk's DWG Trademark. Autodesk initiated proceedings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in 2007 to cancel the ODA's DWG-based trademark registrations to avoid confusion with Autodesk's established DWG brand and trademark. The ODA has agreed to cancel its DWG-based trademark registrations and cease use of DWG and DWG-based trademarks in its product marketing and branding, and Autodesk has agreed to withdraw the cancellation proceedings with the TTAB. The settlement does not preclude ODA from developing interoperable software or from using the .dwg extension in its file names. Terms and conditions of the settlement agreement are confidential.

Autodesk, Inc. announced the launch of Autodesk Homestyler - free** online software for 2D and 3D home design and remodeling projects. Autodesk Homestyler is an easy to use web service that helps home owners and design professionals create room layouts and floor plans with generic and branded content including appliances, fixtures, furnishings, and other building products from Dacor, DuPont, FLOR, Inc., Kohler, Merillat, Sherwin-Williams and other leading manufacturers. Previously available on Autodesk Labs as a technology preview known as Project Dragonfly, Homestyler is now available at www.homestyler.com.

Alliances, Agreements, Acquisitions

Meridian Systems announced a new Consulting Partner Program for qualified technical services companies implementing construction project management solutions. Meridian's adoption of extensible Web services platforms has created a growing demand from customers who want to take advantage of the flexible integration capabilities of the Prolog and Proliance software solutions.

Ameri-CAD, Inc. - An ITW Company and Construction Research Group (CRG) have partnered to offer the residential industry a promotional offer for six FREE CRG estimating templates. Requests for this limited-time promotional offer must be received prior to April 30, 2010 through the CRG quantitytakeoff.com website.

Announcements

Miami, June 10-12 -- AIA 2010 National Convention and Design Exposition presents an array of relevant continuing education topics concerning sustainability and design, including FR041 "Organic High Density Housing: Squatter Communities and Shantytowns-What Works, What Doesn't, and the Imperative of Design Solutions to a Global Challenge”-a relevant subject in the wake of recent natural disasters that have left many survivors homeless.

FMI, management consultants and investment bankers for the construction industry, releases the Construction Outlook: First Quarter 2010 Report. Unfortunately, the outlook for put in place construction for 2010 remains bleak. Total construction in 2010 will be down after declining in 2009. Residential construction is expected to begin recovering in 2010. Nonresidential construction will continue to decline in 2010. Nonbuilding construction will continue to be a positive contributor, increasing another 4% in 2010.
The construction industry should prepare for another year of decline in nonresidential construction. Construction lost 64,000 more jobs in February. It was the 31st consecutive month of significant job losses, bringing the construction unemployment rate to 27.1%. An increase in residential construction in 2010 could begin to turn the employment situation, but it is unlikely that it would do much to offset the losses from nonresidential construction.

Autodesk has begun the transition of VB customization from VBA to .NET technology. This transition will occur over a few years. During this time, Autodesk will provide documentation and other assistance to help our customers and developers migrate from VBA to this new automation technology. Starting with AutoCAD 2010, VBA is no longer part of the default AutoCAD installation and must be downloaded and installed separately. If you utilize VBA macros in your work environment, they will no longer work unless the VBA module is installed on your system.

Autodsys, Inc. announced the availability of a competitive upgrade to the latest version of AcceliCAD from any version of Cadopia. All Cadopia levels and versions qualify for the upgrade from version 2000 onward and any level including Standard, Pro, and Premium. The competitive upgrade is also available for any other IntelliCAD platform or version.

Meridian Systems announced the keynote speakers for its 2010 User Conference, taking place May 24 - 26 in Washington D.C. The conference general session line-up will include leadership representatives from the General Services Administration (GSA) Public Buildings Service (PBS), Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), and Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc. (KFA). Meridian customers can view a detailed conference and educational track session agenda by going to: http://www.meridiansystems.com/newsevents/UC2010/track-sessions.asp.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of WinterGreen Research, Inc.'s new report " Cloud Computing Virtualization - Market Strategies Shares, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2010-2016" to their offering.

Deltek, Inc. announced that it will release its first quarter 2010 financial results on Thursday April 29, 2010. The Company will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss these results.

The dial-in number for the conference call is 1-877-381-6419 in North America and 1-706-643-9496 outside North America. No password is required to join the call. The conference call also can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of Deltek's website. Those unable to participate in the live call may hear a replay through May 6, 2010 by dialing 1-800-642-1687 in North America and 1-706-645-9291 outside North America (pass code: 68715452). The replay also will be available through May 6, 2010 on Deltek's website.

People

The CAD Society announced that Roopinder Tara is the winner of the 2010 CAD Society Joe Greco Community Award, for his achievements as a pioneer of online CAD resources and communities and his philanthropic work for the entire CAD industry across the last 11 years.

New Products

Autodesk, Inc. announced the 2011 releases of its creative finishing products for visual effects, editorial finishing and color grading: Autodesk Flame, Autodesk Flare, Autodesk Flint, Autodesk Smoke and Autodesk Lustre. The 2011 releases offer new creative tools, improved interoperability and introduce an end-to-end stereoscopic 3D (S3D) finishing workflow for TV and film.

Bricsys, the Bricscad company, and Simtra, the leading software company for airside planning and vehicle turn paths, announced that all Pathplanner software from Simtra is now available for Bricscad V10. Until today, the software had been available for MicroStation and AutoCAD only.

IMSI/Design announced that an upgraded TurboCAD Deluxe 17 is now available. TurboCAD Deluxe 17 contains dozens of new features and enhancement, including:

• new Layer Filters
• new Index Color Support
• new Color Table (CTB) Print Style Support
• improved Paper Space Templates
• improved Multi-Text, Text
• improved Layer Management
• improved Walls
• improved Shrink/Extend Tool

Newforma announced that, following the successful completion of an early release program with 11 Newforma customers, Newforma Project Center Seventh Edition will be generally available in late April, 2010. Seventh Edition offers more efficient, robust indexing of a customers' entire company network, and expands email management capabilities beyond Microsoft Office Outlook to include Novell Groupwise, Google Gmail, Lotus Notes and Domino Server, and other email platforms employing IMAP-compatible servers.

Intergraph CADWorx 2010, the newest version of its plant design solution for smaller projects, is now compatible with AutoCAD 2011, the latest AutoCAD release from Autodesk to offer users the improved capabilities of both software editions.



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-- Susan Smith, AECCafe.com Managing Editor.