Autodesk has released a new version of its AutoCAD WS mobile app for the Amazon Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire runs Google's Android OS, which the fire runs a heavily customized version of, but a separate app had to made for it to run on the Kindle Fire tablet PC and sold in the Amazon.com app store.

San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk, Inc., has acquired  technology-related assets from T-Splines Inc., a privately-held surface modeling software company, based in Provo, Utah. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The technology acquisition will strengthen our Digital Prototyping portfolio with more flexible free-form modeling and will help achieve even closer integration between industrial design and engineering workflows,” said Buzz Kross, senior vice president, Manufacturing Industry at Autodesk in a statement. “T-Splines technology will benefit designers and engineers that require watertight surfaces for downstream analysis and manufacturing.”

Manchester, NH-based Newforma recently released a new application for tablet devices to help construction professionals document and complete punch lists faster. Newforma Punch List is an extension of the company's project information management (PIM) solution that is today used by more than 50,000 AEC professionals.

Winners for the three categories in the Tekla Global BIM Awards Competition 2011 were chosen this week by a jury of experts. The winner of the BIM Project category was Skanska Finland’s head office, Manskun Rasti in Helsinki, Finland. The steel award went to the Peace Bridge project in Derry, Northern Ireland, and the concrete award to the Urban Superway in Adelaide, Australia. Special recognition was given to the Holmenkollen Ski Jump in Oslo, Norway.

Today, Esri released the ArcGIS Runtime Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Android platform. Available at no cost from the Esri Resource Center, ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Android enables organizations to build and deploy powerful geospatial solutions that extend GIS to a wider audience via Android Market

XP Software, a creator of water collection system modeling software, announced today the evolution of its global brand to XP Solutions. XP Solution’s package, XPSWMM, and its sister product, XPSTORM, are packages for modeling the generation of runoff and the transport of flows and pollutants, throughout drainage systems ranging from pipe drainage systems up to large river systems.

Corecon Technologies new collaboration tool connects employees and gives project owners and other outside team members secure, real-time access to project information increasing communication,construction quality and reducing changes in the field and shortening schedules.

GreenWizard – a cloud-based product management and information-sharing website that simplifies building material selection, collaboration, and building modeling to optimize green building and LEED credits – recently announced that it is now offering architects the ability to run assessments for design credits, in addition to traditional product-specific LEED credits.  

The National Institute of Building Sciences' High-Performance Building Data Collection Initiative released a report recently addressing the data needs of the building industry now that the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is no longer scheduled for release by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Trimble recently announced that a SITECH Technology Dealer has been established in Sweden. SITECH Sweden joins the network of SITECH dealerships—the first fully dedicated global distribution network offering a comprehensive portfolio of construction technology systems available to the heavy and highway contractor.