BUSINESS BRIEFS
Avatar displaying Blue Mars game
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Avatar Reality Inc., a Honolulu-based online game developer, is giving other developers a sneak preview of its Blue Mars product at this week's Game Developers Conference at San Francisco's Moscone Center.
Avatar is showing the latest 3D scenes and demonstrating several attractions from Blue Mars, which falls into the massively multiplayer virtual world category of online games.
The game is set on Mars in the year 2177 and will allow players to interact with other characters in a virtual world. The beta-version is scheduled for release by the end of this year.
REFERENTIA OPENS SAN DIEGO OFFICE
Referentia Systems Inc., a Honolulu-based software engineering firm, said it's opened a four-person office in San Diego to help the company service its Navy, government and corporate customers there.
Referentia said it has employed staff in the Southern California city since 2005 and that its growth in San Diego warranted a larger office.
Referentia employs about 60 people at its Hawai'i offices near Honolulu International Airport and about another 15 people in offices elsewhere in the world.
NAVY AWARDS REPAIR CONTRACT
Allied Pacific Builders Inc. of Honolulu and David's Custom Roofing and Painting Inc. of Pearl City have won a U.S. Navy contract for roof repairs and maintenance at facilities on O'ahu.
The agreement covers work to be completed in the next year, though the contract may continue into 2013 because there are options to extend it. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command awarded the contract, which could be worth up to $20 million.
SEIZED ITEMS TO BE AUCTIONED OFF
An auction of cars, jewelry, televisions and designer bags seized by the state Attorney General's Criminal Justice Division is scheduled for this weekend at the Blaisdell Center's Pikake Room.
Rosen Auctions has scheduled a preview of the items starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, with the auction beginning at noon.
Among the items to be sold are Coach handbags, a ladies Rolex watch, 'ukulele, coins and assorted jewelry.
KAUA'I AG PARK USE STUDY TO BEGIN
Kimura International, an O'ahu-based firm, was recently hired by Kaua'i County to work with stakeholders to determine the best use of a 75-acre agricultural park in Kilauea, county officials said in a news release.
The planning process will be under way in March, with a master plan for the project expected to be completed in about six months.
The long-awaited project was made possible through a transfer of acreage in the Crater Hill area to the county in the fall of 2006, according to the news release.
HAWAI'I BEEF PRODUCTION INCREASES
Hawai'i's beef production totaled 452,000 pounds in December 2007, up 0.4 percent from the same month a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.
For all of 2007, beef production was 6.4 million pounds, up 5 percent from 2006.
Pork production fell to 332,000 pounds in December, down 8 percent from the same month a earlier. Pork production for 2007 totaled 3.4 million pounds, down 10 percent from 2006.
