In today’s Bulldog wrapup of tech and life science news:

  • RTI International wins contract to develop a health IT safety roadmap
  • AT&T to pay fine for “cramming”
  • Apple prepares to unveil new iPad
  • A UNC professor shares a $1 million solar prize from Israel

The details:

  • RTI Wins IT Roadmap Contract

RTI International has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a roadmap for development of a national health information technology safety center.

“Health IT is creating novel opportunities for patients and providers, while also raising new and important safety concerns,” said Doug Johnston, director of health IT policy in RTI’s Center for the Advancement of Health Information Technology, and the project director. “As a first step, the road map will define a path for creating a new center that helps gather information and share learning about the safety and safe use of health IT.”

RTI says it will work with safety researchers, patient advocates, providers, health IT vendors, medical liability and health insurers, government officials, and others as part of a task force.

  • FTC: AT&T To Pay $105M for Bogus Wireless Charges

Telecom giant AT&T will pay a hefty $105 million to settle government charges that the company unlawfully billed wireless customers for tens of millions of dollars in bogus charges – a practice known as cramming.

The multi-agency settlement includes $80 million in customer refunds and $20 million in penalties and fees to 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In its complaint, the Federal Trade Commission said AT&T billed millions of customers for charges from third-party companies for services customers never asked to receive or were duped into subscribing to – things like horoscope texts or flirting tips. The fees, usually $9.99 a month, were not easy for customers to find on their bills.

A penalty of $5 million will be paid to the Federal Communications Commission.

  • Apple Likely to Unveil New iPad Next Week

Apple is expected to step up its efforts to boost recently slumping iPad sales with the unveiling of its latest tablet computer at an Oct. 16 event.

The showcase also is expected to feature an update to the operating system for its Mac computers and the possible release of a new digital payment service called Apple Pay. The company’s new iPhones released last month include a wireless chip equipped to make the payments, but the service isn’t available yet.

In keeping with its usual practice, Apple Inc. isn’t saying what’s on the agenda. Instead, a cryptic invitation sent Wednesday to reporters and analysts simply said: “It’s been way too long.”

This is the time of the year that Apple typically releases its latest products to cash in on the holiday shopping season. The company’s last tablet, the iPad Air, came out nearly a year ago.

Although it’s Apple’s sleekest tablet yet, the iPad Air hasn’t proven compelling enough to accelerate the company’s tablet sales. After a solid performance in last year’s holiday shopping season, Apple’s iPads have faltered. Through the first half of this year, Apple had shipped 29.6 million iPads, a 13 percent drop from the same time last year.

Since the first model was released in April 2010, Apple has sold more than 225 million iPads. Many people are still using iPads that they bought several years ago because the recent generations haven’t prompted them to spend another $500 to $700 for a new tablet. Apple also has been facing tougher competition from a variety of tablet makers using Google’s free Android software, as well as from Microsoft Corp.’s rival device, the Surface.

Speculation about the next iPad has centered on the possible inclusion of a sensor that enables a device to be unlocked with a user’s fingerprint instead of a password. The feature, called Touch ID, has been available on Apple’s last two iPhone models. Apple also might offer an iPad with a gold-colored casing, another option already available on iPhones.

Apple’s most recent iPhone includes a hot-selling model with a 5.5-inch display screen. Some analysts believe the bigger iPhone might siphon sales from Apple’s iPad Mini, which has a 7.9-inch screen. The standard iPad boast a nearly 10-inch screen.

An operating system update called “Yosemite” is also due out for Apple’s line of Mac computers, making it likely that the software will also be a part of the Oct. 16 event to be held at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.

  • UNC Professor Shares $1M Solar Award

A professor from UNC and another from Switzerland are the co-recipients of a $1 million prize from Israel for their work in alternative fuels research.

Tom Meyer, the director of the Energy Frontier Research Center for Solar Fuels at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Michael Grätzel of the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne in Switzerland were honored on Oct. 6 as winners of the Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation.

“We are making a major multi-year effort so that we will not be dependent on fluctuations in the price of oil,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “This prize gives the researchers true appreciation for their efforts.”

Meyer and Grätzel are working on technology to improve solar cell conversion of sunlight to electricity for possible use in vehicles. These cells also split water into hydrogen and oxygen.