“Silicon Valley” Tech Actually Made by Massachusetts Companies

The Boston tech community thinks of itself as a net exporter of innovation—and that includes to places like Hollywood.

Those of you watching this season’s “Silicon Valley” TV show will be interested to learn that “the box” product being made by the fictional startup Pied Piper is based on a Massachusetts company’s design. That would be Westborough, MA-based SimpliVity, maker of the OmniCube, which it describes as a “fully integrated hyperconverged infrastructure appliance” for data centers. Stay tuned next week for the product’s big reveal on the show.

The photo above is of the “Silicon Valley” set, with actors Kumail Nanjiani and Zach Woods chatting with a crew member. SimpliVity engineers and marketers worked with the TV crew and designers to get the details right on the new product—which should contribute to the show’s authenticity with tech fans.

Meanwhile, in this season’s opening scene, two of the main characters are driving on a dark road when they crash into what looks like a deer. But it turns out to be a four-legged robot with antlers tied on—you guessed it, a robot made by Boston Dynamics, which Google acquired in 2013. One of the characters, played by T.J. Miller (who appeared last fall at a Boston tech event), proceeds to kick the robot in what may be the highlight of the whole season.

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.