Technology
Top Innovators: Microsoft
Nintendos Wii took the couch out of video games. Now Microsofts Xbox Kinect is removing the controller. Formerly known as Project Natal, led by Alex Kipman in Microsofts Xbox unit, Kinect allows for what Microsoft calls full-body play. Unlike Nintendos Wii and Sonys PlayStation Move, which require handheld devices to manipulate action on the screen,…
Top Innovators: Clearwire
Clearwire, the Kirkland-based provider of wireless broadband services, has achieved a level of technology that is the envy of its competitors. The companys high-speed Clear 4G network is accessible in 52 markets across the United Statesmarkets that are home to 60 million people, collectivelyand it is expanding to new cities almost weekly. Clearwire increased its…
Top Innovators: Lightfleet
Thanks to John Peers and Iain Mackie, data may soon travel through computer systems at the speed of light, reducing power consumption and getting rid of bottlenecks that slow down operations. Peers and Mackie are two of the minds behind development at Lightfleet, a company developing a new optical system that eliminates the need for…
Top Innovators 2010 Board of Advisers
Connie Bourassa-Shaw, director, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Michael G. Foster Business School, University of Washington Cathi Hatch, president & CEO, Zino Society Len Jessup, chair, Department of Entrepreneurship and Information Systems, Washington State University Ed Lazowska, Bill and Melinda Gates Chair, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington Chris Rivera, president, Washington…
Isilon’s Third Quarter, and its Future
Isilon Systems Inc., the Seattle data storage company, posted its third-quarter earnings this morning, beating analyst estimates on Wall Street. In normal years, this would fall under the category of “yet-another-company-report-during-earnings-season.” But these aren’t normal years. By our count, more than 20 Washington-based businesses have been acquired this year by companies based outside Washington state….
BizXchanges Takes Barter Business Into Consumer Space
When the economy slows down, barter takes off. Here’s a press release decribing BizXchanges latest move to expand in the space: BizXchange Acquires Dibspace, Adding a Consumer Trading Platform to the B2B Barter Model Acquisition brings together two leading private currency companies to increase efficiency and spending power for members SEATTLE (October 20, 2010) BizXchange,…
Microsoft’s Top Technologist Steps Down
When Steve Johnson sent the manuscript of his book “Where Good Ideas Come From” to Ray Ozzie for comment, Microsoft’s top software architect, gave an interesting response. There are two kinds of innovation, Ozzie wrote, as Johnson recalled recently. One kind of innovation, the kind Johnson wrote about in his book, was applicable to emerging…
Inside Microsoft’s Kinect, and… Microbe?
A couple of good stories on the radar today. Wired magazine has an in-depth feature on Microsoft’s Kinect wireless-controllerless video game… uh… controller. The one where you jump around in front of the TV instead of sitting still and moving only your thumbs. The story is worth a read, as is most any story in…
Theres a Dark Cloud over Microsoft–Cloud Computing
When Microsoft sold Razorfish, the digital advertising firm it received as part of the aQuantive acquisition in 2007, Microsoft told the company it had to vacate the $5 million worth of computers it occupied in Microsofts data center. What at first seemed like a traumatic event proved to be a blessing in disguise. Tobias Klauder,…
Design for All Seasons
Here is a sampling: Back to “Under the Radar,” RFID Bicycle Detection: Stratos and the Dero Bike Co.partnered to develop a system for employers to give a benefit to bike commuters.A wireless RFID (radio frequency identification) system records the number oftimes a commuter arrives by bike, then sends the data to a website thatadministrators can…
Under the Radar
Stratos Product Development President Sean MacLeod hashelped build the company into a versatile custom shop for some of the toptechnology and manufacturing companies in the U.S. Suppose youre a smart, young mechanical engineer who wantsto build better high-tech gadgets and have an impact. You are intrigued bytricky consumer electronics and medical device challenges in the…
Annual Tech Sector Job Cuts
Despite how it may feel,the technology industry shed a relatively smaller number of jobs nationwide in2009, compared with the years 2001-02, after the collapse of the dot-comeconomy. By contrast, the number of mass layoffs reported in Washington state(those with 50 or more jobs cut at once, in any sector) reached a 10-year highin 2009.
The Student Advantage
GreenStone International, a company developing anaffordable, environmentally friendly product for paving roads, started as onebiochemists idea. It wasnt until 10 years after the products invention thattwo businesspeople took it to Seattle Universitys business plancompetitionwhere it won the $10,000 grand prizethat the concept finallycaptured the attention of investors. Indeed, student business competitions have become seriousbusiness. Steve…