Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, is partnering with PayScale, a Seattle-based salary comparison company, to help Bing users find answers about job salaries. Bing debuted last week, and has continued to add new features and capabilities as it attempts to compete with Google and become what Microsoft calls a “decision engine.” Under the terms of … Continue reading “PayScale and Bing Give Each Other a Raise”
Author: Eric Hal Schwartz
Twitter’s Growth May Be Illusory, Says HubSpot Report
“Tweet, tweet,” chirped the robin outside my window yesterday. Given the Wall Street Journal’s report last month that 32.1 million people now have Twitter accounts, it seems like much of humanity is poised to join the robin and his avian cohorts in tweeting. Not everyone who has a Twitter account is using it though, according … Continue reading “Twitter’s Growth May Be Illusory, Says HubSpot Report”
Microsoft Shuts Down MS Money
Microsoft announced today that it will stop selling its personal finance program, MS Money, at the end of this month. The Redmond, WA-based company cited banks and websites which provide similar services as the reason for discontinuing the program, which had already been removed from retail stores last year and is available only online. This … Continue reading “Microsoft Shuts Down MS Money”
SpectraWatt Gets $500K Grant
SpectraWatt, a Hillsboro, OR-based maker of photovoltaic cells, received a $500,000 contract from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory yesterday. Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the contract is for the company to develop ways of improving solar cells without changing current manufacturing processes. SpectraWatt was one of 13 companies to receive money from … Continue reading “SpectraWatt Gets $500K Grant”
Vu1 Gains $500K, Replaces CEO
Vu1, a Seattle-based developer of energy-efficient light bulbs that don’t use mercury, announced today that it has raised $500,000 from Full Spectrum Capital as part of a convertible debt financing agreement. Full Spectrum could choose to loan as much as $7 million. Vu1 also announced the resignation of CEO and director David Grieger, who joined … Continue reading “Vu1 Gains $500K, Replaces CEO”
SonoSite Buys CardioDynamics for $12.3M
Sonosite (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SONO]]), the Bothell, WA-based maker of portable ultrasound machines, announced today it will purchase San Diego-based CardioDynamics International (NASDAQ: [[ticker:CDIC]]), a developer and manufacturer of noninvasive medical diagnostic tools for cardiovascular disease. SonoSite paid $1.35 per share in cash, or about $10 million. The total deal is worth $12.3 million when accounting for … Continue reading “SonoSite Buys CardioDynamics for $12.3M”
Amazon Solicits Customers for TV Ad Ideas
Amazon.com wants your brain. Well, actually it wants your creative ideas for a television advertisement. The “Your Amazon Ad Contest” announced yesterday is giving customers of the Seattle, WA-based internet retail giant a chance to send in their own ads for the website. Two winners, one picked by Amazon and one voted on by people … Continue reading “Amazon Solicits Customers for TV Ad Ideas”
Snow Leopard Growls at Windows 7
Apple announced today at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco that its new operating system, Snow Leopard, will ship in September, just a month before Microsoft’s Windows 7. In the speech unveiling Snow Leopard, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Bertrand Serlet said Snow Leopard represents real improvement over the current Apple … Continue reading “Snow Leopard Growls at Windows 7”
Zumobi Makes Apps for Palm Pre
Seattle-based Zumobi, a mobile software startup, announced today it has created two new applications for the Palm Pre. Released Saturday, the Palm Pre is the first smartphone to run Palm’s operating system. The new apps are the Today Show and Sporting News Baseball, which provide news and information from their respective hosts. The Zumobi network … Continue reading “Zumobi Makes Apps for Palm Pre”
MOD Systems to Sell Music, Movies Without DRM in Retail Stores
Digital rights management took another hit today. MOD Systems, a Seattle, WA-based creator of digital delivery systems for media, announced it has signed deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music, along with several groups of independent labels, to sell more than 5.2 million music tracks and 4,000 movies … Continue reading “MOD Systems to Sell Music, Movies Without DRM in Retail Stores”
Her Interactive’s Nancy Drew Games Help Solve the Mystery of Girl Gamers
On a desk, two magnifying glasses lie atop a small stack of books bound in a style reminiscent of a stately Victorian library. In any other video game company’s office they might seem out of place, but Bellevue, WA-based Her Interactive makes video games based on the written adventures of girl detective Nancy Drew, whose … Continue reading “Her Interactive’s Nancy Drew Games Help Solve the Mystery of Girl Gamers”
No Cash or Credit? Try Dibits, an Alternative Currency
There’s a place on the Internet where you can arrange for an hour-long massage, a ride to the airport, and a tour of the haunted parts of Seattle, all without spending a dollar. Dibspace, a relatively new Seattle startup, makes this possible by creating its own currency, the “dibit,” by which people can barter goods … Continue reading “No Cash or Credit? Try Dibits, an Alternative Currency”
Prepared Response Prepared to Grow With Latest $6.3M Financing
Prepared Response, a Seattle-based crisis management and emergency preparedness company, has raised $6.3 million out of an $8.7 million equity offering, according to a regulatory filing today. Most of the money came from angel investors with the rest by Benaroya Capital. The money will be used to develop the company’s software products, as well as … Continue reading “Prepared Response Prepared to Grow With Latest $6.3M Financing”
Future of Xbox Looks Social and Spirited
Video game aficionados are notoriously hard to impress, but in its official press conference Monday at the E3 conference, Microsoft revealed two new developments that cracked the shell of some of even the most cynical gamers. —Xbox Live already allows users to play games with each other around the world, but soon they will be … Continue reading “Future of Xbox Looks Social and Spirited”
Windows 7 to Debut October 22
Microsoft confirmed today that the next version of its operating system, Windows 7, will launch October 22. Rumors swirling since April hinted at an October release date, as opposed to the original release plan of January 2010, but nothing had been confirmed by the Redmond, WA, company until today. The last version of Windows, Vista, … Continue reading “Windows 7 to Debut October 22”
Hydrogen Cars: Saving the Environment’s a Gas
Cruising north on Interstate-5 in a Chevy Equinox hardly sounds like a reason to be excited, but I felt lighter than air yesterday. That may just be an effect of the hydrogen fueling the car, or perhaps just the giddy sensation that comes from driving the future of General Motors on the same day their … Continue reading “Hydrogen Cars: Saving the Environment’s a Gas”
Chinese Boats, Qi Lu, and Competing With Google—A Bing Roundup
Although Microsoft made the official announcement about its new search engine Bing last week, the site won’t be fully functional until this Wednesday. Here are some tidbits about Bing collected from the Web to tide you over until then. —In his early test drive of Bing, The Seattle Times’ Brier Dudley concluded that the upstart … Continue reading “Chinese Boats, Qi Lu, and Competing With Google—A Bing Roundup”
MediQuest Grabs $2.3M
Mediquest Therapeutics, a Bothell, WA-based developer of topical treatments for inflammatory diseases, has sold $2.3 million of a $15 million equity offering according to a filing made today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Founded in 1994, the company is developing a treatment for Raynaud’s disease, a condition that causes numbness in the fingers … Continue reading “MediQuest Grabs $2.3M”
Response Biomedical Raises $3.9M
Response Biomedical, a Vancouver BC-based maker of quick medical diagnostic tools, has raised $3.9 million out of a total offering of $7.2 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. The money is from a combination of equity and options. Anthony Holler and Todd Patrick, the former top executives at … Continue reading “Response Biomedical Raises $3.9M”
SourceForge Acquires Ohloh
SourceForge, the largest open source software development website in the world yesterday announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire Ohloh, one of the biggest directories of open source projects at Ohloh.net. Based in Bellevue, WA, Ohloh was founded in 2004 and currently lists over 300,000 open source developers and products on its website. … Continue reading “SourceForge Acquires Ohloh”
Facebook Funds Seattle Startups
Two Seattle-based companies were awarded part of a $500,000 grant by Facebook today. The companies, Sortuv and Vittana, are two of the 20 startups and nonprofits receiving money through fbFund, a new program designed to help startups that make social websites and software. Sortuv is a search engine designed around plain questions rather than keywords, … Continue reading “Facebook Funds Seattle Startups”
Bing! Google’s Death Knell?
Microsoft today announced the launch of its new search engine, Bing. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, will be making the official announcement this morning at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, CA. Bing has been the topic of many rumors and speculations in the months leading to its unveiling—mostly people wondering whether it … Continue reading “Bing! Google’s Death Knell?”
Singing, Dancing, Careful Note-Taking: Students Express Life Science Ideas at Expo
The red blood cells traveled down the vein in their endless journey, moving oxygen and nourishment throughout the body. But some blood cells, thinner, curved, and more rigid were having trouble. They stuck to the blood vessel walls slowing this whole intricate process to a crawl. Actually these weren’t real red blood cells, or veins. … Continue reading “Singing, Dancing, Careful Note-Taking: Students Express Life Science Ideas at Expo”
Loctronix Helps Japan Find Itself
Woodinville, WA-based Loctronix revealed a new alliance with Japanese company NEC Magnus Communications that will allow NEC to use the single-chip, multiple source GPS technology developed by the American company in its products. The new products will be part of the effort by the Japanese government to create a “ubiquitous society,” where all of Japan … Continue reading “Loctronix Helps Japan Find Itself”