EMC Execs, iRobot Upgrades, and Zipcar & Denzel: Some Tech Tidbits

A few Boston-area public tech companies we’re keeping an eye on this week…

—Some rumors coming out of Hopkinton, MA-based EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) and Palo Alto, CA-based VMware (NYSE: [[ticker:VMW]]). EMC president and chief operating officer Pat Gelsinger is replacing Paul Maritz as VMware CEO, according to a report in CRN. And the companies are planning to spin out VMware’s Cloud Foundry platform-as-a-service division and EMC’s Greenplum data analytics assets into a separate company, according to GigaOm. The idea is to compete better with cloud services from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, the report says. Naturally, EMC and VMware are not commenting on any of this yet.

—Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]) has received a $7.7 million order from the U.S. Navy to upgrade its military PackBots with sensors and software that will make the robots more autonomous. In terms of revenues, the company’s balance between consumer and military robots is something to watch in the coming year.

—Cambridge, MA-based Zipcar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ZIP]]) acquired Austrian firm Denzel Mobility CarSharing last week. The company has been expanding in Europe recently, with moves in Spain and the U.K. as well. Zipcar Europe is headed up by its president, Frerk-Malte Feller.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.