Futuremark, a privately held Finnish company, was acquired by UL (Underwriters Laboratories). The strategic move by UL into the software development industry gives it a leg up in meeting increased demand for performance data.

Futuremark bench marking company is now part of Underwriters Laboratories.

We are accustomed to looking for the assurance of the UL label on anything that uses electricity or supplies power. Now the integrity of that company will stand behind the efforts of Futuremark.

The UL symbol assures us that our Christmas tree won’t catch on fire.

Stephen Kirk, VP and GM of UL Consumer Technology Division said: “Software quality is a significant driver of product safety and performance and we believe that benchmarking is an important way to help our customers to improve the performance of their products.”

Global competition to improve product performance and the need to differentiate products has driven market demand for benchmarking services. Futuremark has built its reputation for quality testing of desktop computers, notebooks, tablets, and smart phones over the past 17 years. UL has been around for 120 years and has become a premier global safety science company.

The UL symbol promises your refrigerator won’t short out and allow your food to spoil.

UL plans to expand the range and depth of Futuremark’s benchmark offerings by investment in the company’s product development. Partnering with UL will allow Futuremark to offer its products and services in the Asian market. Asus headquartered in Taiwan and Beijing-based Lenovo are already involved in their program.

Asian made products seek UL approval. Futuremark hopes UL will encourage more Asian manufacturers to utilize its benchmarking software.

Jukka Mäkinen, Futuremark CEO, said that the company has seen its software adopted by the European Commission as well as national governments. Many of the world’s leading technology companies have joined their Benchmark Development Program. Although proud of what Futuremark has done on its own, Mäkinen said, “With UL, we’re in an even better position to achieve our goals.”

UL and Futuremark pride themselves on not being influenced by third parties. “Both UL and Futuremark have a longstanding tradition of neutrality and independence,” Kirk at UL professed. “I think this common cultural trait makes the two companies a great fit for each other, our employees and our customers.”

Mäkinen said, “We will be able to create more benchmarks with more features for more platforms. Our benchmarks will also benefit from UL’s labs, quality assurance, and marketing. But most important of all, we will continue making benchmarks with integrity within an organization that values neutrality as highly as we do.”

UL backs up their concern for consumer safety with a survey. In The Product Mindset 2013, the company found that 92 percent of the surveyed manufacturers and 73 percent of the surveyed consumers agree that product safety is a priority that is becoming more important. However, 58 percent of the consumers believe that manufacturers need to improve product safety.

Concern for safety is indicated by our use of surge protectors – ones that have the UL certification.

UL hosted a seminar at the WTconference 2014 in Taipei on Wearable Technologies featuring product testing and certification saying since wearable devices use a variety of wireless and mobile communication technologies, this also forms a key factor in product differentiation. UL proposed three main keys for successful wearable device suppliers. Maxi Tsai, business development manager for UL’s Consumer Technology Division said: “Manufacturers should have a well-planned strategy for the three aspects including the compliance of national regulatory requirements, the delivery of exceptional product quality and performance, as well as the creation of the most delightful user experience,”

Benchmarking wearables only increases the impact of Futuremark on the industry. The company cooperates with many of the world’s leading technology companies to develop industry standard benchmarks that are relevant, accurate and impartial. Results submitted by millions of users are stored in the world’s largest and most comprehensive hardware performance database which is maintained by Futuremark. This information helps consumers make informed purchasing decisions.

We wouldn’t want to operate most of our devices – cameras, smartphones, or laptops – without UL certification.

User reactions to the acquisition of Futuremark by UL have been positive including this one with a plug and for, and opinion on, Futuremark’s product: “Congratulations! I hope this means existing FM staff remain and have more time to focus on improvements upon 3DMark, it’s great but it could be even better.”

That user can rest assured. UL has stated that all employees will remain at Futuremark as a part of Underwriters Laboratories.

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Pepcom, a popular CES venue, held their ghoulish-holiday-themed show at Moscone Center in San Francisco this week. The horror of it all was that the event was not well attended.

Journalists usually flock to see the big name vendors up close and personal along with some newer companies all lined up booth-to-booth in one room. Not this time.

Free booze and tables of diet-destroying hors d’oeurves didn’t even draw a crowd. When the show closed, the leftovers could have gone into doggie bags for everyone who did attend.

Open bar on the left didn’t guarantee attendees.

Vendors had their wares spread out on 4×8 tables to draw everyone’s attention. We’ll briefly talk about a few things before doing more in depth coverage of those items that caught our interest.

Lenevo’s Yoga 2 tablet comes with an f2.2 8MP rear camera with Auto focus and glare reducing glass. There is also a 1.6M HD front camera. The tablet runs the Intel Atom Processor Z3745 (2M cache, 4 cores, up to 1.86 GHZ) and Android 4.4 KitKat. Sound projects from twin large chamber front facing Dolby Audio speakers. The Yoga 2 claims a battery life of 18 hours on a single charge.

Aimed at the business world, Lenovo’s ThinkPad Helix for business comes with Windows 8.1 (64 bit) and runs an Intel Core M processor. It has a digitizer pen and optional finger print security.

For both business and play, take a look at the Horizon 2s, an all-in-one tabletop PC at 15mm thin. It has an Aura multi-user interface and Android compatible multi-device sharing. Plus, it comes with more than 40 multi-user gaming and education applications.

Plantronics’  Voyager Legend UC headset can be used with multiple devices: PC, smartphone or tablet. The voice command menu lets you vocalize commands, such as answering calls, checking battery level, and redialing. Noise cancellation is accomplished with enhanced DSP (Digital Signal Processing).

Creative’s Sound Blaster is always a favorite for gamers and audiophiles. The Inferno and X7 were on hand for inspection. The Muvo mini was shown in four colors. It is a wireless, portable, and water proof speaker that passes IP66 standards for weather conditions.

LifeTrak  wearables include the Brite R450 featuring light exposure monitoring, advanced sleep monitoring, ECG heart rate, and fitness tracking. Its claim to fame is that the device needs no recharging and is waterproof. The light exposure reading is important as it checks exposure to overall and blue light levels, letting you know if you need more or less natural light which can enhance your mood and energy levels during the day as well as prepare you for a good rest at night.

Charlotte Johs, Logitech global vice president of computer peripherals, said of their wireless mouse M320: “We used a handcrafted process … and this design technique allowed us to achieve a dynamic, curved shape with a soft rubber grip that is naturally comfortable for the hand.” It efficiently puts itself to sleep automatically when not used to preserve battery time.

If mousing is getting to you, the Logitech Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480 can be used with your computer, smartphone and tablet via its Easy-Switch dial. The universal keyboard connects to three different Bluetooth wireless devices simultaneously. They can be a Windows, Mac or Chrome OS computer and an Android or iOS tablet or smartphone.

Escort is for those bad boys who try to beat the system. Their Passport radar detectors strive to be a stay-out-of-jail device with English and Spanish voice alerts to help you hit the brakes in a timely manner. The sticky-cup, windshield-mount detectors are designed around the company’s DSP patent and promise fewer false alerts. Their latest model the Max2 retails for $599.95.

A smart camera with Wi-Fi video keeps tabs on Tabby, but only alerts you if there is human – or zombie? – encroachment. Face detection technology eliminates movements of pets, cars, trees, and other non-human forms from its alert system. Simplicam streams live video to your smartphone from the Closeli Cloud and alerts you of any human movement entering our home. Images are saved in the Closeli Cloud for one, 11, or 21 days depending on the yearly subscription you prefer with rates of $49.99 to $229.99. Peace of mind, priceless. The video shows how it works.

Stay tuned to BSN* for more Pepcom coverage.

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