San Francisco-based Say Media, which is building a network of advertising-supported niche publishing sites, said yesterday that it has acquired Dogster Inc., which runs the Dogster and Catster social networking sites for pet owners. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed; Say Media CEO Matt Sanchez said Say Media intends to continue running the sites. “This … Continue reading “Say Media Buys Dogster, Catster”
Author: Wade Roush
Between 2007 and 2014, I was a staff editor for Xconomy in Boston and San Francisco.
Since 2008 I've been writing a weekly opinion/review column called VOX: The Voice of Xperience. (From 2008 to 2013 the column was known as World Wide Wade.)
I've been writing about science and technology professionally since 1994. Before joining Xconomy in 2007, I was a staff member at MIT’s Technology Review from 2001 to 2006, serving as senior editor, San Francisco bureau chief, and executive editor of TechnologyReview.com. Before that, I was the Boston bureau reporter for Science, managing editor of supercomputing publications at NASA Ames Research Center, and Web editor at e-book pioneer NuvoMedia.
I have a B.A. in the history of science from Harvard College and a PhD in the history and social study of science and technology from MIT. I've published articles in Science, Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Technology and Culture, Alaska Airlines Magazine, and World Business, and I've been a guest of NPR, CNN, CNBC, NECN, WGBH and the PBS NewsHour. I'm a frequent conference participant and enjoy opportunities to moderate panel discussions and on-stage chats.
My personal site: waderoush.com
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Twitter: @wroush
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Qwiki Hits the iPad
You haven’t used Qwiki, the multimedia reference service bankrolled by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, until you’ve tried it on the iPad. The San Francisco startup announced this morning that Apple has approved the new mobile version of its “rich media narrative” technology for distribution through the iTunes App Store. Owners of iPads can download the … Continue reading “Qwiki Hits the iPad”
Order Your Next Burger on a Tablet Computer from E La Carte
If you’ve got a touchscreen-based tablet computer, odds are you’ve noticed the way it speeds up tasks like managing e-mail. Doctors and other professionals like them too, for browsing or entering information in the workplace. And now the devices are starting to show up in a more surprising setting—your local burger joint. E la Carte, … Continue reading “Order Your Next Burger on a Tablet Computer from E La Carte”
Silk Road Medical Collects $8M
Silk Road Medical, a stealth-mode developer of medical devices for neurovascular conditions in Sunnyvale, CA, has raised $8.2 million in equity-based financing in a round that could reach as high as $41.2 million, according to a regulatory filing. Silk Road was spun off in 20007 by the Vertical Group, a medtech- and biotech-focused venture firm … Continue reading “Silk Road Medical Collects $8M”
Listia Racks Up $1.75M
San Jose, CA-based Listia, an online swap service that helps users give away things they don’t want in return for credits that they can use to bid on stuff they do want, said today that it has raised $1.75 million from a group of investors led by Andreessen Horowitz. Also contributing to the round were … Continue reading “Listia Racks Up $1.75M”
HealthTap Seeks to Arm Healthcare Consumers with Better Answers, and Better Questions, Before They Go to the Doctor
When is too much information worse than none at all? When it comes to health advice on the Internet, apparently. Databases like PubMed, health-oriented social networking sites such as PatientsLikeMe, and consumer sites like WebMD, HealthCentral, and RevolutionHealth offer an enormous flood of data about diseases, symptoms, and treatments. Yet according to a study last … Continue reading “HealthTap Seeks to Arm Healthcare Consumers with Better Answers, and Better Questions, Before They Go to the Doctor”
Google Puts $100M into Oregon Wind Farm
Continuing its run of massive alternative-energy investments, Mountain View, CA-based Google (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GOOG]]) said in a blog post today that it has invested roughly $100 million in the Shepherds Flat wind farm project under construction south of the Columbia River near Arlington, OR. Developer Caithness Energy, which is headquartered in New York, hopes the facility … Continue reading “Google Puts $100M into Oregon Wind Farm”
Wal-Mart Buys Kosmix, Forms @WalmartLabs
The Brisbane, CA-based online operation of Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: [[ticker:WMT]]) said today that the company has acquired Kosmix, a Mountain View, CA-based startup that helps users filter social media updates by topic. Kosmix founders Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman, who sold their first startup Junglee to Amazon in 1998, will join Wal-Mart as part of … Continue reading “Wal-Mart Buys Kosmix, Forms @WalmartLabs”
Join Us After Work Today for Xconomy San Francisco’s Spring Open House
The snacks are ready, the beer and wine are cooling in the fridge, and I’ve got a fresh stack of business cards to hand out—so come on over to Xconomy’s Potrero Hill/Dogpatch office for our spring open house, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm today. All friends and fans of Xconomy are welcome. For our last … Continue reading “Join Us After Work Today for Xconomy San Francisco’s Spring Open House”
Envivio Files for IPO
Envivio, a South San Francisco company that makes Internet video distribution software, has filed S-1 registration papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation for a public offering. The 117-employee company, founded in 2000, has developed compression and networking software that helps mobile, landline, and cable operators transmit Internet-based video to multiple devices. The … Continue reading “Envivio Files for IPO”
TuneUp Expands, ShowYou Debuts, Students Go to E-Bootcamp—The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
Last week was mobile video week at Xconomy, with news of ShowYou’s new iOS video browsing app, plus a video news report from a Stanford entrepreneurship conference produced on the iPad 2 by yours truly. But first, a couple of event notices: —We hope you can join us tonight for the Xconomy San Francisco Spring … Continue reading “TuneUp Expands, ShowYou Debuts, Students Go to E-Bootcamp—The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Mobile Spinach Eats Up $1 Million
San Mateo, CA-based Mobile Spinach, which makes mobile software that helps consumers get discounts at local businesses, said today that it has raised $1 million in new venture funding in a round led by Blumberg Capital. Quest Ventures and Launch Capital also contributed. Mobile Spinach users can buy offers at a discount then use Mobile … Continue reading “Mobile Spinach Eats Up $1 Million”
VideoSurf Catches a $16M Wave
San Mateo, CA-based VideoSurf said today that it has raised $16 million from Pitango Venture Capital and strategic investors, bringing its total financing to $28 million. Using a patended computer vision algorithms to identify Web video content, Videosurf has built a search index that it says is used by 12 million visitors per month. VideoSurf … Continue reading “VideoSurf Catches a $16M Wave”
Flipboard Pulls in $50 Million, Partners with Oprah
It’s a big week for Flipboard, the Palo Alto, CA, company whose eponymous social news browsing application for the iPad is widely praised as a category-defining app for the new tablet era. In an exclusive story given to Kara Swisher of AllThingsD, Flipboard said it has collected $50 million in new venture funding, mainly from … Continue reading “Flipboard Pulls in $50 Million, Partners with Oprah”
Reporter’s Notebook: A Dozen Digital Media Discoveries
Every day, I come across loads of interesting material that I’d love to blog about but can’t because I don’t have the time or the right venue. I usually just stick this stuff into Evernote and tell myself I’ll write about it later. Well, it’s later. In today’s column I want to round up a … Continue reading “Reporter’s Notebook: A Dozen Digital Media Discoveries”
Beyond Mobile: Announcing Xconomy’s May 17 Forum on the 10-Year Future of Computing
In computing, it’s hazardous to try to peer more than a couple of years into the future, let alone a decade. After all, if microchip makers find ways to keep miniaturizing transistors at the rate we’ve seen since the 1960s, there’s time for five or six more doublings in computer power by the year 2021. … Continue reading “Beyond Mobile: Announcing Xconomy’s May 17 Forum on the 10-Year Future of Computing”
Jive Acquires Proximal Labs
Palo Alto, CA-based Jive Software, which makes social business applications, said yesterday that it has acquired Proximal Labs, also of Palo Alto. Founded last year, Proximal is developing analytics software that connects people with similar interests based on their social media activity; Jive plans to build Proximal’s technology into the next release of its own … Continue reading “Jive Acquires Proximal Labs”
Join Xconomy San Francisco on Monday for our Spring Open House
It’s Thursday already, which means Xconomy San Francisco’s spring open house is coming in just four days. So here’s your friendly reminder: All of our Bay Area fans are invited over to our Potrero Hill/Dogpatch office after work on Monday, April 18, for some wine, cheese, and great conversation. The festivities start at 5:00 p.m. … Continue reading “Join Xconomy San Francisco on Monday for our Spring Open House”
Sequoia, IVP Put $15M into Sugar
San Francisco-based Sugar Inc., which owns a hugely popular network of women-oriented websites including PopSugar, ShopStyle, PopSugarCity, and Fashionologie, announced today it has collected $15 million in growth-stage financing from Sequoia Capital and Institutional Venture Partners. The funding brings Sugar’s total venture pot to $46 million. “Brian and Lisa Sugar [the company’s founders] are entertaining … Continue reading “Sequoia, IVP Put $15M into Sugar”
Tiny Speck Gets $10.7M for Glitch
San Francisco- and Vancouver-based Tiny Speck, founded two years ago by Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield to build a massively multiplayer online game called Glitch, announced yesterday in a blog post that it has picked up $10.7 million in Series B funding from existing investors Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. “This new investment allows us to … Continue reading “Tiny Speck Gets $10.7M for Glitch”
Clover Collects $5.5M
Stealthy Clover Network of Mountain View, CA, has raised $5.45 million in equity-based financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company was founded by Kelvin Zheng and Leonard Speiser and is backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and Morado Venture Partners.
ShowYou—The iPad Social Video Browser That’s Taking On TV
If you have an iPhone, an iPod Touch, or an iPad, and you’re active on Facebook and Twitter, and you like to watch videos from places like YouTube, Vimeo, and TED, and you have a Wi-Fi network at home with a fast broadband connection, and especially if you have an Apple TV, then there’s a … Continue reading “ShowYou—The iPad Social Video Browser That’s Taking On TV”
TuneUp Media Moves Beyond Music Cleanup Into Sharing and Information Discovery
Back in 2008, TuneUp Media in San Francisco created a piece of software so cool that more than 3 million people have registered to use it. The freemium program sifts through your iTunes music library and automatically fixes missing or incorrect song, artist, and album data. It also grabs missing cover art from the Web. … Continue reading “TuneUp Media Moves Beyond Music Cleanup Into Sharing and Information Discovery”
GiftRocket, Practice Fusion, & Sundance Meets Netflix—The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News
As weeks go in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco business and technology world, last week was a pretty busy one, featuring some big investments and some big acquisitions. In roughly reverse chronological order: —The Department of Justice finally approved Google’s proposed takeover of Cambridge, MA-based travel software company ITA Software, but with some strings attached, as … Continue reading “GiftRocket, Practice Fusion, & Sundance Meets Netflix—The 1-Minute Version of Last Week’s Bay Area BizTech News”
Siobhan Quinn Says “Technology is the Underdog” in New York; A Check-In with Foursquare’s First Product Manager
If you’re a software engineer turned product manager who’s overseen the seventh-most-visited website in the world—Google’s Blogger platform—what do you do for an encore? You move to New York to work for a little startup trying to change the world through mobile check-ins, of course. Siobhan Quinn got her BS in computer science at the … Continue reading “Siobhan Quinn Says “Technology is the Underdog” in New York; A Check-In with Foursquare’s First Product Manager”
Will One of These Be the Next Google? Student Entrepreneurs Compete at Stanford [Video]
This morning I headed down to Palo Alto with iPad 2 in hand to check in with students and speakers at the Stanford BASES BT National Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. For this event, more than a hundred student delegates from campuses around the country gathered at Stanford for an intensive weekend of workshops and talks given by … Continue reading “Will One of These Be the Next Google? Student Entrepreneurs Compete at Stanford [Video]”
GoldSpot Media Raises $12M
Goldspot Media, a Sunnyvale, CA-based startup developing software for creating, distributing, and tracking rich-media ad campaigns on smartphones and tablet devices, said today (PDF) that it has closed a $12.05 Series B funding round. Exa Ventures and Berg Enterprises were the backers. Carl Berg from Berg Enterprises has joined Goldspot’s board. The company said the … Continue reading “GoldSpot Media Raises $12M”
Video Search Provider Blinkx Buys Burst Media’s Ad Network for $30 Million
Blinkx, the San Francisco-based video search engine, has taken a big leap into the online advertising business—and expanded its operations to the Boston area in the process. The company said today it has acquired Burlington, MA-based Burst Media, which manages an online advertising network catering to niche or “long tail” Web publishers. Burst distributes ads … Continue reading “Video Search Provider Blinkx Buys Burst Media’s Ad Network for $30 Million”
With iMovie on the iPad 2, Video Editing Is Fun Again
As much as I loved the original Apple iPad, there was one thing about the device that stuck in my craw: the missing cameras. It was an easy guess when the original product debuted 12 months ago that Apple would rectify the omission in a near-future version. What annoyed me was the certainty that at … Continue reading “With iMovie on the iPad 2, Video Editing Is Fun Again”
Ron Shulman, Five More Patent Attorneys Jump Ship at Wilson Sonsini, Land at Latham & Watkins
[Updated 4/7/11, 9:25 pm PT, with comment from Wilson Sonsini, see below] In a notable shakeup for the Silicon Valley legal world, six patent litigators from high-profile Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati have defected to rival Latham & Watkins. The news, first published by the legal publication The Recorder on April 5, … Continue reading “Ron Shulman, Five More Patent Attorneys Jump Ship at Wilson Sonsini, Land at Latham & Watkins”
GiftRocket Seeks to Take the Pain (and Loss) Out of Gift Cards
This is the fourth in a series of profiles of Y Combinator Winter 2011 (YC W11) startups. Gift cards, also known as stored-value cards, may be one of the most popular types of gifts—Americans spend at least $80 billion on them every year. But let’s face it, the little plastic rectangles are so 1994. They’re … Continue reading “GiftRocket Seeks to Take the Pain (and Loss) Out of Gift Cards”
You’re Invited to an Open House at Xconomy San Francisco on April 18
It’s been almost eight months since the first time we threw open our doors here at the San Francisco office of Xconomy, so it’s high time for another gathering. All of our Bay Area fans and friends are invited over to our office after work on Monday, April 18, for some wine, cheese, and good … Continue reading “You’re Invited to an Open House at Xconomy San Francisco on April 18”
Engine Yard Adds Free Cloud Trials
In a bid to outflank competitor Heroku, Engine Yard, a San Francisco-based provider of hosting and support for Web applications written in the Ruby on Rails language, rolled out a new free trial program for its AppCloud service this week. In a blog post, the company said new customers can run their Ruby applications for up … Continue reading “Engine Yard Adds Free Cloud Trials”
Obama to Speak at Facebook
President Barack Obama will participate in a live “town hall” event at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, CA, on April 20, the company announced today in an event listing on its own site. Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg will host the event, in which Obama will answer questions … Continue reading “Obama to Speak at Facebook”
Zynga Hires MarketZero Team
San Francisco social game maker Zynga announced in a blog post today that it has hired the entire 16-member team at Austin, TX-based MarketZero, including founders Gustavo Abdala, Amir Elaguizy, Nir Leibovich, Timothy Sullivan, and Jason Wang. MarketZero is the creator of a popular online poker portal called PokerTableRatings, which Zynga is not acquiring. Rather, … Continue reading “Zynga Hires MarketZero Team”
Kiip Keeps $4M
Kiip, a stealth-mode San Francisco startup developing technology for in-game ads for mobile games, announced that it has collected $4 million in Series A funding. New investor Hummer Winblad Venture Partners led the round, which was joined by existing investors True Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Venture51. Hummer Winblad partner Lars Lecki has joined Kiip’s board. The … Continue reading “Kiip Keeps $4M”
Responsys Sets IPO Terms
San Bruno, CA-based marketing management software maker Responsys submitted amended regulatory filings this week indicating that it hopes to raise $76.1 million in a public offering of 7.61 million shares at $10 apiece. The 13-year-old company makes SaaS-based software for managing marketing campaigns across e-mail, Web, social, and mobile channels. It has raised $62 million … Continue reading “Responsys Sets IPO Terms”
Marin Software Collects $16M
Marin Software, the San Francisco-based maker of software for managing both search and display advertising online, said it has raised $16 million in Series E funding. The round was led by new investor Crosslink Capital, with existing investors Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Focus Ventures, and Triangle Peak Partners also contributing. Crosslink partner Eric Chin has … Continue reading “Marin Software Collects $16M”
Marseille Networks Collects $4.5M
Marseille Networks, a fabless semiconductor company in Santa Clara, CA, that designs video processing chips, said today that has closed a $4.5 million Series B funding round with participation from new and existing investors including Kumpulan Modal Perdana Sdn Bhd. The company says its “Virtual Silicon” rapid prototyping platform makes chip design faster for builders … Continue reading “Marseille Networks Collects $4.5M”
$6.6M for Rocket Fuel
Redwood City, CA-based Rocket Fuel, which provides targeting software for Web display ads, has raised $6.6 million in Series C funding in a round led by new investor Northgate Capital. Existing investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, Labrador Capital Fund, Nokia Growth Partners and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati also participated. Rocket Fuel raised $10 million in … Continue reading “$6.6M for Rocket Fuel”
Lightspeed, IVP in $400M LivingSocial Round
Lightspeed Venture Partners and Institutional Venture Partners, both of Menlo Park, CA, are among the firms contributing to a $400 million fundraising round for Washington, DC-based daily deals site LivingSocial, according to reports from Dow Jones VentureWire and other publications today. Lightspeed joined Amazon and other existing investors in the round; IVP is a new … Continue reading “Lightspeed, IVP in $400M LivingSocial Round”
Practice Fusion Gets $23 Million To Compete in “Winner-Take-All” Market for Electronic Medical Records Technology
Practice Fusion, a San Francisco startup that claims to be the fastest-growing maker of electronic medical records systems for physicians’ practices, may be able to supercharge that growth now, thanks to a $23 million infusion from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and a posse of other investors. The Series B investment, announced today, brings Practice Fusion’s … Continue reading “Practice Fusion Gets $23 Million To Compete in “Winner-Take-All” Market for Electronic Medical Records Technology”
Experience Project Launches BroadCause, Putting Social Media to Work for Charitable Causes—and the Corporations Backing Them
Can a company truly do well by doing good? That’s what San Francisco’s Experience Project hopes to find out with the official launch today of BroadCause. The site offers nonprofit groups free software tools to help with fundraising and administration, and makes money by selling marketing opportunities to corporations looking to promote awareness of their … Continue reading “Experience Project Launches BroadCause, Putting Social Media to Work for Charitable Causes—and the Corporations Backing Them”
$2.8M for Autonet Mobile
Autonet Mobile, a San Francisco-based company that makes Wi-Fi hotspots for personal, corporate, and emergency vehicles, has raised $2.8 million in an offiering of equity, debt, and options, according to a regulatory filing. The investors in the round weren’t named, but Autonet’s website lists Morgenthaler Ventures and Easton Capital as previous backers. Autonet was founded … Continue reading “$2.8M for Autonet Mobile”
HelloFax, Anyleaf, Gmail Fail—The 1-Minute Summary of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News
Time for the summary of last week’s news from Xconomy San Francisco. —On the heels of Y Combinator’s climactic Winter 2011 Demo Day on March 23, I continued my profiles of “YC W11” startups with a look at HelloFax, which lets users paste signatures into digital documents, thereby hastening the demise of the fax machine. … Continue reading “HelloFax, Anyleaf, Gmail Fail—The 1-Minute Summary of Last Week’s Bay Area Biztech News”
How Gigamon’s Founders Bootstrapped a Networking Hardware Company to Profitability
Ted Ho, the CEO of Gigamon, jokes that in its early days, the Milpitas, CA-based network appliance maker had four chief financial officers: the founders’ wives. “Every time we would run out of cash, we’d go back to our wives and say ‘Hey CFO, I need more money,” Ho says. But that’s the way it … Continue reading “How Gigamon’s Founders Bootstrapped a Networking Hardware Company to Profitability”
Lightbank Adds $1M to Qwiki Round
San Francisco-based Qwiki, which is building an automated multimedia encyclopedia on the Web, said yesterday that it has added $1 million to the $8 million funding around it originally announced in January. The new money came from Lightbank, the investment fund of Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky. The startup has now raised $10.5 million … Continue reading “Lightbank Adds $1M to Qwiki Round”
Affine Systems Raises $5M
San Francisco-based Affine Systems, which uses computer vision technology to identify the content of online videos and help advertisers match ads with related content, said yesterday that it has raised $5 million in Series B funding. New investor Crosslink Capital led the round, which was joined by existing backer Highland Capital Partners. The company has … Continue reading “Affine Systems Raises $5M”
Gmail Fail: The Problem with Priority Inbox
I was not one the pundits who heaped immediate praise on Priority Inbox, an e-mail management feature that Google added as an option in Gmail last August. TechCrunch instantly labeled it “fantastic,” TheNextWeb called it “outstanding,” and Venturebeat said it “lives up to the hype.” I was hopeful about it, but cautious. Having been burned … Continue reading “Gmail Fail: The Problem with Priority Inbox”
$200M for Brightsource Energy
Oakland, CA-based Brightsource Energy, which is building a massive solar thermal energy plant in the Mojave Desert, said yesterday that it has collected $200 million in Series E funding. Existing investors Vantage Point Venture Partners, Alstom, CalSTRS, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DBL Investors, Chevron Technology Ventures, and BP Technology Ventures took part in the round, which also included … Continue reading “$200M for Brightsource Energy”