Technology
The 2014 Tech Impact Awards: Cloud
WINNER Microsoft Azure Location: Redmond | Employees: 102,000 (worldwide) 43,000 (Puget Sound area) When Satya Nadella was named CEO of Microsoft last February, the reaction of more than a few people was: Satya who? Compared to other candidates for the job, such as Fords then-CEO, Alan Mulally, Nadella wasnt among the most prominent. But the…
The 2014 Tech Impact Awards
Seattle Business magazines Tech Impact Awards celebrate individuals and companies whose grasp of technology and its ability to make our lives better is inspiring and impossible to ignore. From cloud computing to big data and from home repair to health care, the advances are spectacular and the benefits even more so. Congratulations to the Tech…
Bright Idea: Boogio Takes a Leap
Make your shoes smart. That is the tagline on Boogios marketing material. And smart here doesnt necessarily mean stylish. Boogio (boogio.com) isnt selling footwear. Its selling a means of making shoes provide information that could enhance ones enjoyment of recreational activities or even save a life. Boogio is an insole sensor that captures body movements….
Spotlight: Vambrace’s approach to security
The keycard you use to enter your office or apartment building may soon be replaced by an app on your smartphone. The new technology, dubbed Vambrace and developed by a Redmond technology development firm called Posh Consulting, uses a smartphone to generate visual or radio codes that can be read by door sensors in existing…
Sales Are Soaring at Eden Labs
Earlier this year, butane explosions caused $100,000 in damage to an apartment in Kirkland and lifted a house off its foundation in south Seattle. They were two of many accidents caused by the dangerous gas now widely used to produce the cannabis oil that is increasingly included in medical products, edibles and electronic cigarettes. Butane,…
Bright Idea: Get the Picture
A hand-me-down guidebook may lead travelers to a shuttered storefront. Hashtags may hint that something is #delicious but dont necessarily provide directions or answer questions. Enter social travel guide Trover. Its an image-sharing site (trover.com) and app with content produced by explorers for explorers, compete with GPS-tagged recommendations to help travelers decide where to go…
Analyze This: Seattle as the Epicenter of Big Data
It affects the foods we eat, the politicians we vote for and the roads we drive on. It has changed the amount of legroom were allowed on airplanes and the speed at which life-saving medicines are invented. Its a safeguard against terrorist attacks but finds time to recommend a new shirt we might like, given…
OpenCar builds a platform for auto apps
In a sort of David v. Goliath effort, Seattle startup OpenCar is going up against Microsoft, Google and Apple with a technology platform that lets third-party developers build apps for cars. Its Open Car Connect Platform allows drivers to replicate the one touch lifestyle theyve become accustomed to with their smartphones, using apps to do…
Bright Idea: Innovega’s iOptik system
There were plenty of Google Glass competitors at this years Consumer Electronics Show, the annual expo and bellwether of tech trends. But the iOptik system from Bellevue-based Innovega stood out for its ambition. Where Google Glass offers a small digital display in a corner of the users vision, iOptik takes a different tack. Through a…
Wave Broadband is rapidly becoming a force in high-speed internet
The adage stay low and move fast holds special meaning for Kirkland-based WaveDivision Holdings, which does business as Wave Broadband. During the past decade, Wave has quietly acquired 15 telecom companies on the West Coast, slowly setting itself up as a future competitor to Comcast and CenturyLink. The company owns about 200.000 miles of fiber-optic…
Bright Idea: SNUPI Technologies & Wally
The so-called internet of things, in which objects transfer data without requiring human interaction, is so hot that Google recently invested $3.2 billion in Nest Labs, which sells a smart household thermostat that learns the owners behavior to reduce energy use. This infatuation isnt lost on SNUPI Technologies, which is debuting its Wally home-sensing network…
On Reflection: Facebook for Families
Social networks have long sought a balance between openness and exclusivity. Facebook started with its gates raised high regarding enrollment and privacy, only to lower them to net more users and advertisers. As this change occurred, everyone from Google+ to upstarts like WhatsApp saw an opportunity and sought to offer a preferable path one where…
Bright Idea: Data Processing
We give people an unfair advantage, reads a T-shirt worn by Stephen Purpura. Thats the marketing mantra of Context Relevant, the Seattle startup Purpura launched last year. The company says it offers that edge by using machine-learning technology to quickly uncover critical relationships from among massive amounts of client data. Our product allows companies to…