Assured Labor, a Boston-based online services marketplace that launched in January 2009, said today that it has raised $1 million in seed funding from a group including Nexus Venture Partners, Kima Ventures, former Skype CEO Michael Van Swaaij, and OLX.com CEO Fabrice Grinda. The MIT Media Lab spinoff, which Xconomy profiled shortly after its launch, … Continue reading “Assured Labor Raises $1 Million in Seed Funding for Jobs Marketplace”
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
My social media coordinates:
Twitter: @wroush
Facebook: facebook.com/wade.roush
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/waderoush
Google+ : google.com/+WadeRoush
YouTube: youtube.com/wroush1967
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/wroush/
Pinterest: pinterest.com/waderoush/
News or Noise? Gather CEO Tom Gerace on New England’s Fastest Growing Web Property
For a while now I’ve been curious about Gather, a privately funded news and social networking site based in downtown Boston. I knew that Gather was founded by marketing pro Tom Gerace, that it is owned in part by the public radio operator American Public Media, that it has an unusual way of paying users … Continue reading “News or Noise? Gather CEO Tom Gerace on New England’s Fastest Growing Web Property”
$30M for Joule
Cambridge, MA-based Joule Unlimited, which is developing a technology that mimics photosynthesis by turning carbon dioxide into ethanol, has collected $30 million in a second round of funding from Flagship Ventures and unnamed additional investors, according to a report today in VentureWire. Formerly known as Joule Biotechnologies, the company launched last summer and is building … Continue reading “$30M for Joule”
Motorola to Put Skyhook’s Location Technology into Android Phones, Bypassing Google
For Google, it’s been a good news/bad news week. The good news is that the search leader’s open-source Android mobile operating system is catching on fast, with more manufacturers and carriers selling Android-equipped phones and more consumers buying them. The bad news is the story isn’t playing out exactly the way Google planned. Yesterday the … Continue reading “Motorola to Put Skyhook’s Location Technology into Android Phones, Bypassing Google”
Central Square’s Barron Building Emerges as Startup Hub
If there were a heat map showing how high-tech entrepreneurs are distributed around Boston, there would be a new red spot at 614 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge’s Central Square. From the outside, the four-story office building is distinguished mainly by its white-tiled facade and its large plate-glass windows. Deep inside is the office of Carl … Continue reading “Central Square’s Barron Building Emerges as Startup Hub”
Breaking the Myopic Mold: Q&A with David Egner of Detroit’s New Economy Initiative
If you ask people who’s lighting the innovation fires around Detroit, pretty soon you get directed to the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan. This coalition of 10 community and philanthropic organizations was formed in 2008 with the goal of pooling resources to “restore southeast Michigan to a position of leadership in the new global … Continue reading “Breaking the Myopic Mold: Q&A with David Egner of Detroit’s New Economy Initiative”
Awesome Foundation, Spreading Awesomeness Across the Universe, Expands to West Coast
For Boston-area Web developers, the place to be last Friday night was the Barron Building at 614 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square. Home to Conduit Labs, Oneforty, Shareaholic, and several other Web startups, it’s become the newest pin in Boston’s entrepreneurship map. On Friday, it was the scene of a rollicking joint housewarming party for … Continue reading “Awesome Foundation, Spreading Awesomeness Across the Universe, Expands to West Coast”
Small Explosion, Evacuation at E Ink
A small explosion at E Ink forced an evacuation of the company’s Cambridge, MA, offices and manufacturing facilities near Fresh Pond this afternoon. No injuries were reported, but employees have been sent home for the weekend as the company deals with water damage from the building’s sprinkler system. The company said in a statement released … Continue reading “Small Explosion, Evacuation at E Ink”
Athenahealth Hires IBM
Watertown, MA-based Athenahealth (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ATHN]]), which provides electronic health records and billing systems to physicians’ practices, has turned to the Managed Process Business Services wing of IBM (NYSE: [[ticker:IBM]]) for administrative and IT support, the companies announced today. IBM will help Athenahealth with tasks like data entry and physician billing. The deal “will enable Athenahealth … Continue reading “Athenahealth Hires IBM”
Mascoma Collects $3.4M in Debt Round
Mascoma, the Lebanon, NH-based developer of advanced methods for making ethanol from wood fiber and other non-edible plant matter, has raised $3.4 million toward a $10 million round of convertible debt financing, according to regulatory documents filed April 21. The funding presumably puts the company in stronger position to move forward with construction of an … Continue reading “Mascoma Collects $3.4M in Debt Round”
Detroit: America’s Laboratory for Innovation
What the heck is Xconomy doing opening a bureau in Detroit? The same thing we’ve been doing all along: seeking out technology innovators in key cities and chronicling the work they’re doing to turn their ideas into businesses that will drive the economy forward, both regionally and nationally. There’s no question that Detroit falls short … Continue reading “Detroit: America’s Laboratory for Innovation”
The XSITEment Returns on June 17 at Babson College—X Prize Founder Diamandis to Keynote Xconomy Summit
Most Xconomy events last only an afternoon or an evening. Barely enough time, in other words, to scratch the surface of all the amazing work technology entrepreneurs are doing around New England, in areas as varied as cloud computing, health IT, mobile commerce, smart grid technology, and the future of drug development. But our flagship … Continue reading “The XSITEment Returns on June 17 at Babson College—X Prize Founder Diamandis to Keynote Xconomy Summit”
Patrick Admin Officials Hold Open Office Hours
The Patrick Administration announced today that representatives of the Massachusetts: It’s All Here campaign to support business growth in the state will be available for meetings with college students, entrepreneurs, and small business executives at their new location in the Cambridge Innovation Center at One Broadway, Cambridge. Officials who will be available by appointment for office … Continue reading “Patrick Admin Officials Hold Open Office Hours”
Bill Gates Pushes His Foundation’s Health, Education, Energy Agenda at MIT—Podcast and Report
Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates visited MIT today as part of his College Tour, a three-day trip to universities across the United States. In his talk, Gates emphasized the importance of getting more bright young people to innovate in critical areas such as global health, education, and energy—all areas where the Bill and Melinda … Continue reading “Bill Gates Pushes His Foundation’s Health, Education, Energy Agenda at MIT—Podcast and Report”
The Xconomists Reach Out to Detroit
One of Xconomy’s unique strengths is our network of Xconomists, leaders in the worlds of innovation and entrepreneurship who have accepted our invitation to act as occasional guest bloggers, story sources, and informal editorial advisers. We’re proud to count 61 Xconomists in Boston (our original home base), 50 in Seattle, 42 in San Diego, and … Continue reading “The Xconomists Reach Out to Detroit”
Report: Google Courting ITA
ITA Software, the Cambridge, MA-based maker of airline fare search software, is in talks with Google about a potential acquisition, Bloomberg reported this morning. ITA, whose investors include General Catalyst Partners, Battery Ventures, Spectrum Equity, PAR Investment Partners, and Sequoia Capital, is seeking as much as $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed … Continue reading “Report: Google Courting ITA”
One Studio to Rule Them All: Warner Bros. Buys Turbine, Secures All Rights to Tolkien Games
The Burbank, CA-based Home Entertainment Group of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a unit of media giant Time Warner (NYSE: [[ticker:TWX]]), has purchased Westwood, MA-based online game maker Turbine. The companies announced the deal after markets closed tonight. Turbine is best known for its massively multiplayer online (MMO) game world Lord of the Rings Online, based … Continue reading “One Studio to Rule Them All: Warner Bros. Buys Turbine, Secures All Rights to Tolkien Games”
Ford App Controls Smartphones
Ford Motor Company’s wireless division announced today that AppLink, a downloadable application for its Sync in-car communications and “infotainment” system, will allow drivers to use voice commands to control certain apps on their mobile phones. Available first on the 2011 model Ford Fiesta, Applink will work initially with Android and BlackBerry devices, and will allow users … Continue reading “Ford App Controls Smartphones”
Twitter Pitch Contest at MIT
The organizers of the MIT’s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, which is celebrating its 20th year in 2010, announced last week the newest addition to their lineup of contests: a $500 Twitter pitch or “Twitch” competition. Anyone can enter by tweeting their business idea in 140 character or less, reserving 11 characters for the required hash tag … Continue reading “Twitter Pitch Contest at MIT”
Mobile Meets the Marathon
Everyone around Boston gets into the marathon spirit on Patriot’s Day, even startups. Today, two Boston-based mobile companies are using the event to highlight their technologies. One is Skyhook Wireless, which makes the software that iPhones, Dell notebook computers, and other mobile devices use to determine their locations based on GPS and Wi-Fi signals. Last … Continue reading “Mobile Meets the Marathon”
Oracle Scoops Up Phase Forward for $685 Million
Phase Forward (NASDAQ: [[ticker:PFWD]]), the Waltham, MA-based maker of software that helps pharmaceutical companies manage clinical trials of new drugs, will be acquired by California database giant Oracle (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ORCL]]), the companies announced today. Phase Forward, which is fetching a price of $685 million or $17 per share, will become part of Oracle’s Health Sciences … Continue reading “Oracle Scoops Up Phase Forward for $685 Million”
Online Notebook Smackdown: Evernote Vs. Springpad
I’m a digital pack rat, which means I tend to get unreasonably excited about online notekeeping systems. I’m driven by the conviction that there’s got to be one best way to use the Internet to save and retrieve every bit of information I might want to look at later, whether that means Web clippings, important … Continue reading “Online Notebook Smackdown: Evernote Vs. Springpad”
Daily Grommet Raises $3.4 Million
The Daily Grommet just hit the daily double. The Lexington, MA-based startup, which scouts out consumer products from colorful, progressive, relatively unknown manufacturers and promotes one such “grommet” each day through online videos, announced today that it has closed the first tranche of its Series A funding round at $3.4 million. Existing investors LaunchCapital and … Continue reading “Daily Grommet Raises $3.4 Million”
Casual Games Maker WorldWinner Falls into Facebook’s Orbit
When I visited WorldWinner back in March 2008, executives at the Newton, MA-based game developer were excited about the company’s ongoing integration with the Game Show Network (GSN) and by its success attracting huge numbers of people—some 26 million each year—to its tournament-based online casual games. But chief technology officer Michael Enright, answering a question … Continue reading “Casual Games Maker WorldWinner Falls into Facebook’s Orbit”
Schupbach Takes NEA Role
Jason Schupbach, the first state official in the country tasked with promoting the “creative economy,” will be leaving his position with the Massachusetts Office of Business Development effective May 5 to become director of design at the National Endowment for Arts in Washington, D.C., the NEA announced today. Schupbach’s role at the endowment will be … Continue reading “Schupbach Takes NEA Role”
OLPC’s Negroponte Honored by Lego Group
It seems only fitting that the creators of one of the most popular children’s toys in history would want to honor the creator of the most successful children’s computer in history. Today the Denmark-based Lego Group, of plastic brick fame, announced that it has awarded its $100,000 Lego Prize to Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the … Continue reading “OLPC’s Negroponte Honored by Lego Group”
MeLLmo’s Roambi Business Visualization App Comes to iPad, Links to More Data Sources
If you want your company to buy you an iPad or an iPhone, here’s a tip. Get someone from MeLLmo to stop by and show its data visualization software to your firm’s CEO, CFO, or COO. The Del Mar, CA-based startup’s mobile business app, called Roambi, plugs into enterprise business-intelligence systems and creates interactive charts … Continue reading “MeLLmo’s Roambi Business Visualization App Comes to iPad, Links to More Data Sources”
SpaceClaim Captures $5 Million Series D Funding to “Democratize” 3D Modeling
Concord, MA-based SpaceClaim has raised an additional $5 million in Series D funding, bringing its total venture pot to just over $30 million, president and CEO Chris Randles told Xconomy yesterday. The four-year-old startup sells 3D modeling software for non-engineers, and has been enjoying explosive growth over the past year, according to Randles. The funds … Continue reading “SpaceClaim Captures $5 Million Series D Funding to “Democratize” 3D Modeling”
Google’s Cambridge Office Assumes Growing Role Inside Search Giant
If you glanced at the software engineering job listings page for Google Boston, you might think that the company’s Kendall Square office has only two positions open. That would be wrong. Site director Steven Vinter says the office has been hiring aggressively since December. The growth would have started sooner if it hadn’t been for … Continue reading “Google’s Cambridge Office Assumes Growing Role Inside Search Giant”
Nokia Buys Metacarta
Cambridge, MA-based Metacarta, whose software searches digital text for references to place names and addresses, has been acquired by Nokia, the Espoo, Finland-based mobile hardware giant announced today. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it’s not yet clear how Nokia will integrate Metacarta’s technology into its mobile offerings, which include navigation services … Continue reading “Nokia Buys Metacarta”
With “Murder on Beacon Hill,” an iPhone App Debuts at Boston Film Festival
As far as anyone knows, it’s a first in movie history: a location-based iPhone application has been accepted as an entry at a major film festival. Walking Cinema: Murder on Beacon Hill, an app built around a 43-minute series of interactive videos, will appear on the big screen at the AMC Loews Boston Common theater … Continue reading “With “Murder on Beacon Hill,” an iPhone App Debuts at Boston Film Festival”
Veoh Assets Sold to 2Peer
The remaining assets of San Diego’s Veoh Network, which shut down in February after years of litigation with Universal Music Group, have been sold to Los Angeles-based social video startup 2Peer, according to a report today in VentureWire. Veoh had raised some $70 million from Boston-based Spark Capital as well as Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, … Continue reading “Veoh Assets Sold to 2Peer”
Foursquare Is No Fad, Argues Founder Dennis Crowley; Xconomy’s Podcast and Q&A
I may not be the CEO of Xconomy (that title belongs to our founder Bob Buderi), but at least I’m the Mayor. I won that distinction last week by checking into Foursquare from our office on Rogers Street in Cambridge, MA more times than anyone else. If you haven’t heard of Foursquare, you’re in a … Continue reading “Foursquare Is No Fad, Argues Founder Dennis Crowley; Xconomy’s Podcast and Q&A”
Plinky Goes Kablooie
Thing Labs, the California startup that launched both the Plinky prompting service and the Brizzly social media reader with support from Waltham, MA-based Polaris Venture Partners, announced late Tuesday night that it plans to stop updating Plinky, and that it may eventually shut the site down. In an e-mail to users, Thing Labs said its … Continue reading “Plinky Goes Kablooie”
The Apple iPad: Lightning Strikes Cupertino Again
How do you sell 300,000 of anything on the first day it’s in stores? By convincing people that it’s going to be even cooler than the last incredible thing you built. Steve Jobs and his crew pulled that off with the iPad, which has been breaking the sales records set by the iPhone in 2007. … Continue reading “The Apple iPad: Lightning Strikes Cupertino Again”
Polaris Ventures Doubling Capacity at Dogpatch Labs in Cambridge
Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, MA, opened its first Dogpatch Labs startup incubator space in San Francisco in late 2007. A Cambridge, MA, version opened last September, followed by a New York edition in December, and together the three locations are now home to about 100 entrepreneurs, according to Polaris general partner David Barrett. But … Continue reading “Polaris Ventures Doubling Capacity at Dogpatch Labs in Cambridge”
$2M, New CEO for Crimson Hexagon
Cambridge, MA-based Crimson Hexagon, a 2007 Harvard spinoff specializing in brand reputation monitoring on the Web and social media, announced today that it has completed a $2 million Series A-2 funding round, and appointed a new CEO, Scott Centurino. The funding came from Golden Seeds, Beacon Angels, New York Angels, CT Angel Investor Forum and … Continue reading “$2M, New CEO for Crimson Hexagon”
Apperian Readying “Enterprise App Store” for iPhones and iPads
In the 15 months since its launch, Boston-based Apperian has won a reputation as a leading creator of sophisticated business-to-consumer iPhone apps such as Timberland Expedition, Intuit’s TurboTax TaxCaster, and American Greetings’ e-card app. But the startup didn’t set out to be just another mobile app studio: the real vision of founder and CEO Chuck … Continue reading “Apperian Readying “Enterprise App Store” for iPhones and iPads”
My Victorious Apple Store Experience, and a Glimpse at Boston’s First iPad MPG
I’ve returned home victorious after my morning adventure at the Apple Store in Boston’s Back Bay. As I write this, my new iPad is synching with iTunes–a process that takes some time, if you have a lot of apps, music, and photos that you want to transfer over to your iPad. So I haven’t yet … Continue reading “My Victorious Apple Store Experience, and a Glimpse at Boston’s First iPad MPG”
Revolutionary or Evolutionary? The Results from Xconomy’s iPad Survey
More newsprint and pixels have been sacrificed to iPad punditry than to any other tech subject in recent memory. I’m responsible for a good deal of the carnage myself (here, here, here, and here). With the device finally hitting stores tomorrow, though, there was no way my column today would be about anything else. The … Continue reading “Revolutionary or Evolutionary? The Results from Xconomy’s iPad Survey”
What Xconomy Readers Are Saying About the iPad
1. Are you planning to buy an iPad? Comments: “If I am going to buy it it will probably be in a couple of years.” “Waiting for the next, probably upgraded version.” “It’s not yet (1) cheap enough, and (2) versatile enough to make the purchase. I’m not interested in being the Guinea Pig for … Continue reading “What Xconomy Readers Are Saying About the iPad”
Skyhook Wireless Working to Make More Mobile Apps Location-Aware
Executives at Boston’s Skyhook Wireless, which supplies the GPS- and Wi-Fi-based location-finding technology used by dozens of mobile device makers, are convinced that mobile app developers have only begun to explore the uses of location data. To help that process along, they’re about to introduce a software toolkit called “Local Faves” intended to help iPhone … Continue reading “Skyhook Wireless Working to Make More Mobile Apps Location-Aware”
Hangout Hooks Another $2M
Hangout Industries, the Boston-based creator of a software platform for teen-oriented social games such as Fashion City, has raised an additional $2 million in venture funding, according to a regulatory filing published yesterday. Hangout CEO Pano Anthos told Mass High Tech that the money came from the company’s existing backers, who include Highland Capital Partners … Continue reading “Hangout Hooks Another $2M”
Litl Lays Plans for Channel Store to Offer New Kinds of Webbook Content
Litl made a big splash last November when it launched the Webbook. The home Internet appliance may look like a laptop, but it’s actually designed as a delivery platform for Flash-based “channels” that put useful information up front and hide details such as files, applications, windows, and operating systems. One of the clearest signs that … Continue reading “Litl Lays Plans for Channel Store to Offer New Kinds of Webbook Content”
What’s Your Take on the iPad? An Xconomy Survey
With the Apple iPad set to hit stores at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, you can probably guess what my digital media column, World Wide Wade, is going to be about this Friday. But this time I want to leaven the punditry with some populism—so I’ve put together a quick, 9-question survey at SurveyMonkey. Please head … Continue reading “What’s Your Take on the iPad? An Xconomy Survey”
$1M for CardStar Loyalty App
Canton, CT-based CardStar, which makes an application that consolidates consumer reward and loyalty card numbers on mobile phones, announced March 28 that it has raised $1 million in Series A venture funding. The lead funder was Mclean, VA-based Amplifier Ventures, with participation by Acta Wireless and LaunchCapital. CardStar received seed funding from Amplifier Ventures in … Continue reading “$1M for CardStar Loyalty App”
Lexalytics Moves to Boston to Exploit New Market for Sentiment Analysis
Lexalytics, whose text-analytics software can measure, among other things, whether a digital document is full of praise or insults, did not get off to a superlative start back in 2003. To begin with, its investors almost closed the company down. Lexalytics got started when the venture funders behind a Woburn, MA-based content management startup called … Continue reading “Lexalytics Moves to Boston to Exploit New Market for Sentiment Analysis”
Brightcove Sidestepping Lack of Flash Support on Apple iPad
Back in February I interviewed Jeff Whatcott, senior vice president of marketing at Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove, about the online video hosting company’s attempts to help its customers deliver video to as many Internet-connected devices as possible. At the time, the company was announcing software that will allow its customers to serve videos stored on its … Continue reading “Brightcove Sidestepping Lack of Flash Support on Apple iPad”
Happy Crowds of Gamers Pack PAX East—Day 1 Report, Plus Photos
One thing was clear from the moment conference organizers opened the doors for the PAX East gaming expo at the Hynes Convention Center Friday afternoon: they’re going to need a bigger venue next year. Lines to enter the massive meeting, a three-day festival for fans of console and PC video gaming, online gaming, and even … Continue reading “Happy Crowds of Gamers Pack PAX East—Day 1 Report, Plus Photos”
PAX East—The Slide Show
NEXT IMAGE >> Made in MA — The night before PAX East began, the Mass Tech Leadership Council welcomed a crowd of 800 game enthusiasts to a “Made in MA” party (held at Microsoft’s New England R&D Center) designed to celebrate the work of local game developers. photo by Wade Roush