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/

Bing Is the Buggiest (But Second-Best) Search Engine, Say Software Testers in uTest Report

Tomorrow, Boston-based uTest, a startup that crowdsources software quality-assurance projects to a global community of 19,000 freelance testers, is expected to announce the official results of its first “Search Engine Bug Battle.” Xconomy got an early look at the data today, and the folks in Redmond and Bellevue, WA, may not be happy about the … Continue reading “Bing Is the Buggiest (But Second-Best) Search Engine, Say Software Testers in uTest Report”

EMC Snags Intel Exec, Shuffles Top Office to Deliver Blended Technologies

EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]), the Hopkinton, MA-based information infrastructure company that anchors Boston’s infotech industry, today unveiled a series of executive-level changes intended to better integrate its disparate businesses, which range from storage, content management and archiving, security, and IT management to cloud computing services. Most significantly, the company said it has hired veteran Intel executive … Continue reading “EMC Snags Intel Exec, Shuffles Top Office to Deliver Blended Technologies”

ULocate Releases Traffic App

Boston-based uLocate, maker of the “Where” platform for location-based applications on mobile devices, today announced the launch of a new iPhone application called Traffic.com. Using maps and data from Navteq’s website of the same name, the application detects the user’s location and shows which local roads and highways are congested. The app, which appeared in … Continue reading “ULocate Releases Traffic App”

GreenBytes Closes Round, Rolls Out Storage Appliance

Battery Ventures of Waltham, MA, said today that it has completed an $8 million Series A funding round for GreenBytes, an Ashaway, RI, startup specializing in energy-efficient storage devices that reduce storage requirements through data deduplication. Xconomy reported the funding in May, based on a regulatory filing. In a second announcement today, GreenBytes unveiled a … Continue reading “GreenBytes Closes Round, Rolls Out Storage Appliance”

Soane Energy Raises Funds

Soane Energy, a Cambridge, MA, startup that says it’s applying polymer chemistry and surface science to the development of cleaner and more efficient techniques for extracting oil and gas, announced today that it has obtained Series A venture backing from Intervale Capital and CTTV Investments, the venture arm of Chevron Technology Ventures. The amount of … Continue reading “Soane Energy Raises Funds”

Innovative Spinal Technologies’ Assets Sold

The story of ill-fated spinal implant startup Innovative Spinal Technologies of Mansfield, MA, appears to be drawing to a close. Integra Life Sciences Holdings (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IART]]) of Plainsboro, NJ, said today that its subsidiary Integra Spine has acquired “substantially all of the assets” of IST in a bankruptcy auction for $9.25 million in cash. As … Continue reading “Innovative Spinal Technologies’ Assets Sold”

MIT Spinoff, 1366 Technologies, Reaches Efficiency Goal, Shines More Light on its Solar Cell Design

Back in February, Lexington, MA-based solar energy startup 1366 Technologies won an award from the U.S. Department of Energy worth as much as $3 million. The catch: it had to show that its techniques for making more efficient photovoltaic cells, born in the laboratory of MIT mechanical engineer Emanuel “Ely” Sachs, would actually work on … Continue reading “MIT Spinoff, 1366 Technologies, Reaches Efficiency Goal, Shines More Light on its Solar Cell Design”

Marathon Hopes to Go the Distance with New CEO

In 2004, Marathon Technologies abandoned its old hardware business to focus on “fault tolerance” software for Windows servers—programs that switch computing work from one server to another almost instaneously in the case of a hardware failure. Last year, in a move to adapt to the virtualization movement sweeping through the corporate IT world, Marathon brought … Continue reading “Marathon Hopes to Go the Distance with New CEO”

Apperian Builds iPhone App to Lead You to New England Hikes—and Timberland Retailers

Chuck Goldman, CEO of Boston-based mobile app development house Apperian, called me this week to let me know about the launch of Timberland Expedition. The new iPhone application, which went live in Apple’s iTunes App Store today, was designed by Apperian to appeal to the outdoor-enthusiast types whom Stratham, NH-based Timberland (NYSE: [[ticker:TBL]]) considers the … Continue reading “Apperian Builds iPhone App to Lead You to New England Hikes—and Timberland Retailers”

TechStars’ First Class of Boston Startups Launched at Microsoft-Hosted Gala

One of the big tickets in town last night for the tech startup community was the TechStars Investor Evening at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center in Cambridge. (The other was a big Polaris-hosted party at Fenway Park for Woburn, MA-based LogMeIn, celebrating its July IPO.) The TechStars event, where the Boulder, CO-based venture … Continue reading “TechStars’ First Class of Boston Startups Launched at Microsoft-Hosted Gala”

Seven Projects to Stretch Your Digital Wings: Part Two

Whether the fall is back-to-school season for you or not, there’s always more to learn. In last week’s column I outlined three fun weekend projects involving new technologies for digital self-expression. My suggestions covered art (digital “finger painting” with an iPhone app called Brushes), writing (“lifestreaming” with Posterous and Friendfeed), and photography (building three-dimensional photographic … Continue reading “Seven Projects to Stretch Your Digital Wings: Part Two”

Startups Gear Up for Scavenger Hunt of Boston’s Innovation Hotspots, to Benefit Young Entrepreneurs

Boston-area technology entrepreneurs may not get much work done on Friday, October 9. If Highland Capital Partners can drum up enough interest, hundreds of high-tech employees will be spending that afternoon combing Boston for digital clues as part of what it is calling “The Quest for Innovation.” It’s a high-tech scavenger hunt intended to raise … Continue reading “Startups Gear Up for Scavenger Hunt of Boston’s Innovation Hotspots, to Benefit Young Entrepreneurs”

Mzinga Adds $6.1 Million

Mzinga, the Burlington, MA, startup that offers tools for online community management and corporate learning management, has raised $6.1 million in new equity financing, according to regulatory forms filed yesterday. Executives told Mass High Tech that the financing is an extension of Mzinga’s $32.5 million Series A round of March 2008 and involved two existing … Continue reading “Mzinga Adds $6.1 Million”

Spire Sells Off Catheter Biz

Spire Corp. of Bedford, MA, said today it is divesting its hemodialysis catheter business in order to focus exclusively on making equipment for solar photovoltaic module manufacturing. Bard Access Systems is buying the catheter division for $15 million. “The divestiture of the hemodialysis catheter business at this time is clearly in Spire’s best strategic interest,” … Continue reading “Spire Sells Off Catheter Biz”

A123 Unveils IPO Terms: The Power of Nine?

A123Systems, the Watertown, MA-based advanced battery manufacturer that hopes to provide lithium ion batteries for the next generation of electric and hybrid vehicles, today revealed the expected stock price for its initial public offering. The company will seek to sell 25 million shares of its common stock at $8.00 to $9.50 per share, according to … Continue reading “A123 Unveils IPO Terms: The Power of Nine?”

09/09/09: A Big Day in the Life of the Boston Video Game Industry

It’s a banner day for the Boston-area gaming industry. In what’s either a bizarre coincidence, a piece of arcane marketing numerology, or just a sign that the enormous PAX gaming conference in Seattle has ended, three local companies in the console and online gaming markets picked 09/09/09 to take the lid off big new products. … Continue reading “09/09/09: A Big Day in the Life of the Boston Video Game Industry”

PlumChoice Plucks $14.7M

PlumChoice, a Billerica, MA-based company that provides remote technical support to home and business computer users, announced today that it has raised $14.7 million in Series E funding from existing investor Edison Venture Fund and others. An unnamed limited partner at Edison also provided “a substantial first-time investment,” according to the company. PlumChoice most recently … Continue reading “PlumChoice Plucks $14.7M”

Heartland Robotics Confirms $7M Funding Round; Charles River Ventures in Lead Role

Heartland Robotics confirmed today that it has raised $7 million in a Series A-1 venture financing round, a story first reported by Xconomy on August 21. The lead funder in the round was Charles River Ventures of Waltham, MA, according to Heartland president Patrick Sobalvarro. Bezos Expeditions, the Seattle-based venture investing operation of Amazon founder … Continue reading “Heartland Robotics Confirms $7M Funding Round; Charles River Ventures in Lead Role”

170 Systems Sold to Kofax

Irvine, CA-based Kofax (LSE: [[ticker:KFX]]), which helps businesses digitize paper-based work flows, said today that it has acquired 170 Systems, a Bedford, MA, startup that makes software for automating accounts payable, accounts receivable, and other financial processes. Polaris Venture Partners of Waltham, MA, put $14 million into 170 Systems back in 2002. Kofax said it … Continue reading “170 Systems Sold to Kofax”

Imaginatik’s Technology Helps Companies Keep Their Crowdsourcing Initiatives Inside the Box

Evidently, a lot of companies have trouble innovating—or there wouldn’t be so many startups offering “enterprise crowdsourcing” and “innovation management” tools to help them. Several of these startups are right here in New England and have been featured in Xconomy. For example, there’s Innocentive, which helps companies stage international competitions to solve discrete problems like … Continue reading “Imaginatik’s Technology Helps Companies Keep Their Crowdsourcing Initiatives Inside the Box”

Ironwood Takes in $25M

Cambridge, MA-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a drug to treat irritable bowel syndrome, has collected $25 million in a new venture financing round, according to regulatory documents posted yesterday. The investors weren’t named in the documents, but Terry McGuire, a partner at Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham, MA, is listed as a board member. … Continue reading “Ironwood Takes in $25M”

Seven Projects to Stretch Your Digital Wings: Part One

I love September. There’s a back-to-school crispness in the air that always gets me jazzed to learn something new, even though I’ve been out of school for 15 years. Maybe you feel it too. And with a long holiday weekend coming up, perhaps you’ve got a few hours free to experiment with a new tool … Continue reading “Seven Projects to Stretch Your Digital Wings: Part One”

Massachusetts Business Czar Greg Bialecki’s Innovation Agenda: The Xconomy Interview, Part Two

Gregory Bialecki is Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, and leads an ungainly collection of agencies charged with everything from promoting affordable housing in Massachusetts to attracting international business investment to the state. Here at Xconomy, we cross paths with Bialecki quite a bit, since he’s also responsible for many of … Continue reading “Massachusetts Business Czar Greg Bialecki’s Innovation Agenda: The Xconomy Interview, Part Two”

Thermo Fisher Hears B.R.A.H.M.S.

Waltham, MA-based Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:TMO]]), one of the world’s leading makers of diagnostic devices and lab equipment, said today that it has purchased Hennigsdorf, Germany-based B.R.A.H.M.S. for €330 million (US $470 million). B.R.A.H.M.S. is known for making a line of in vitro diagnostic tests based on patented biomarkers, including a test for sepsis … Continue reading “Thermo Fisher Hears B.R.A.H.M.S.”

Massachusetts Business Czar Greg Bialecki’s Innovation Agenda: The Xconomy Interview, Part One

From his corner office on the 21st floor of the MacCormack State Office Building on Beacon Hill, Gregory Bialecki has what is probably the best view of any state official in Massachusetts. To the south, the floor-to-ceiling windows peer over Boston Common, Downtown Crossing, the South End, and South Boston; to the east, they look … Continue reading “Massachusetts Business Czar Greg Bialecki’s Innovation Agenda: The Xconomy Interview, Part One”

Dimdim Takes on the Webinar Big Boys

Though it may be one of the most grating neologisms of the Internet era, the “webinar” has grown into an important, often profitable, way for group leaders to reach employees and/or followers and for companies to reach existing and potential customers. The leading providers of webinar hosting technology are the WebEx division of Cisco Systems … Continue reading “Dimdim Takes on the Webinar Big Boys”

40 Years After Sparking the Internet, BBN’s Long Search for a Home Ends…At Home

If you had to pick a birthday for the Internet, September 2, 1969—40 years ago today—would be a good candidate. That’s the day a team of researchers at UCLA sent the first computer-to-computer transmissions using the Interface Message Processor (IMP), the grand-daddy of all packet-switching routers and the foundation of the military-university Arpanet, which paved … Continue reading “40 Years After Sparking the Internet, BBN’s Long Search for a Home Ends…At Home”

EMC to Buy Kazeon

Hopkinton, MA-based EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) announced today it has agreed to buy Kazeon Systems, a Mountain View, CA, maker of “eDiscovery” software for litigation support inside large corporations and law firms. EMC said Kazeon will become part of its Content Management and Archiving business unit, and that Kazeon’s technology will complement the company’s existing line … Continue reading “EMC to Buy Kazeon”

Raytheon to Acquire BBN

In a convergence of two legendary Boston-area technology concerns, Waltham, MA-based defense contracting giant Raytheon (NYSE: [[ticker:RTN]]) said today it will acquire Cambridge, MA-based BBN Technologies in a deal expected to close by the end of this year. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. BBN pioneered the development of the Arpanet, the predecessor to today’s Internet, and … Continue reading “Raytheon to Acquire BBN”

Frame Media Reinvents Itself as Thinking Screen, Goes After Larger “Connected Screen” Market

Wireless digital photo frames, considered one of the hot new categories in consumer electronics back in 2006 and 2007, haven’t taken off as quickly as expected. People love digital frames, but they’ve tended to buy them as gifts pre-loaded with photos they uploaded to the Web, meaning many frames still don’t come with their own … Continue reading “Frame Media Reinvents Itself as Thinking Screen, Goes After Larger “Connected Screen” Market”

Report: Oxford Bioscience Partner Leaves After Securities Trading Breach

[Updated 8/31/09 6:10 p.m., see below] Jeffrey Barnes, a former general partner with Boston-based Oxford Bioscience Partners, has resigned from the firm, PE Hub‘s Dan Primack first reported today. According to the report, Barnes was asked to leave after the firm discovered that he had engaged in personal trading of securities in Oxford Bioscience portfolio … Continue reading “Report: Oxford Bioscience Partner Leaves After Securities Trading Breach”

How Much Wood Would WoodPellets.com Sell If It Had $11M in New Venture Funding?

There are a couple centuries of progress separating wood-burning stove technology from MIT-bred logistics software. But the two are more closely related than you might think. In Goffstown, NH, a startup that just raised millions of dollars from two Boston-area venture firms is using the latest in supply chain management technology to build a national … Continue reading “How Much Wood Would WoodPellets.com Sell If It Had $11M in New Venture Funding?”

Richard Egan, EMC Co-founder, Dies at 73

[Updated, August 29, 1:40 pm—see below] Xconomy is saddened to note that Richard Egan, the “E” in EMC, has passed away. The co-founder, with Roger Marino, of the Hopkinton, MA-based data storage and information management giant, Egan was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in May. He died at his Boston home yesterday, according to an … Continue reading “Richard Egan, EMC Co-founder, Dies at 73”

Vidly, Formerly TwitVid, Raises $500K

San Francisco-based Vidly, which helps users to share videos over social media services such as Twitter, announced yesterday that it has raised $500,000 in funding from renowned angel investor Ron Conway and other investors. The startup, launched in 2008 in Cambridge, MA, through the Y Combinator startup training program, recently changed its name from TwitVid.

RockPort Ups Investment in Think

Think, the Oslo, Norway-based startup developing long-range electric vehicles, announced yesterday that it has exited bankruptcy protection and raised $47 in new funding, with cleantech venture firm RockPort Capital Partners of Boston as one of the return investors. New investors in the round included New York-based lithium ion battery developer Ener1 (NASDAQ: [[ticker:HEV]]), Finland’s Valmet … Continue reading “RockPort Ups Investment in Think”

Webloyalty Customers Eligible for Payments Under Class-Action Settlement

Back in 2007, Xconomy ran a story by freelance contributor Seth Shulman about a class-action lawsuit unfolding against Norwalk, CT-based Webloyalty, an online marketing company. The comment section of that story became something of a clearinghouse for ongoing complaints against Webloyalty, which runs many of the discount programs pitched to consumers as they are finishing … Continue reading “Webloyalty Customers Eligible for Payments Under Class-Action Settlement”

Should Cloud Computing Startups Beware Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud? No, Says Cloudswitch

Sometimes I worry too much about the fortunes of local technology startups. It usually turns out that they can take care of themselves. When I saw Amazon’s announcement yesterday about its new “Virtual Private Cloud” service—which is intended to make it easier for enterprises with expensive, existing data centers to tap into Amazon’s own, less … Continue reading “Should Cloud Computing Startups Beware Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud? No, Says Cloudswitch”

Quick Hit Will Let Players Pit Football Skills Against Legendary NFL Coaches

Even if you were a coach in the National Football League, you’d never get a chance to test your tactics on the field against famous coaches like Brian Billick, Bill Cowher, Jimmy Johnson, Tom Landry, or Dan Reeves—because they’re all retired (and Landry is deceased). But that’s exactly what players will be able to do … Continue reading “Quick Hit Will Let Players Pit Football Skills Against Legendary NFL Coaches”

Making Connections, Managing Risk in Startup Deals: A Visit to Boston Law Firm Mintz Levin

If you’ve seen from the inside how technology startups get created and funded, you know that law firms are involved at every step in the process. But to outside observers, it might be surprising just how central a role the attorneys can play—not just by helping entrepreneurs with incorporation papers and the other legal rigmarole … Continue reading “Making Connections, Managing Risk in Startup Deals: A Visit to Boston Law Firm Mintz Levin”

Venrock Adds Nordan as VP

Matthew Nordan, the co-founder and former president of technology consulting firm Lux Research, has joined the Cambridge, MA, office of venture firm Venrock as a vice president, the firm announced today. Nordan will focus on energy, environmental and materials technologies for Venrock, which originated as the venture investing arm of the Rockefeller family. (We profiled … Continue reading “Venrock Adds Nordan as VP”

Rothstein Joins Clean Energy Council

Peter Rothstein, a former entrepreneur in residence at Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, MA, has joined the New England Clean Energy Council as full-time senior vice president, the Cambridge-based organization announced today. At the council, Rothstein will focus on the Clean Energy Innovation Consortia, a project he launched to push for the creation of the “clean … Continue reading “Rothstein Joins Clean Energy Council”

Silverlink Raises $5M for Outreach to Healthcare Consumers

[Updated 11:00 a.m. August 24, 2009 with quotes from Silverlink CEO Stan Nowak] Silverlink Communications, the Burlington, MA-based startup whose healthcare communications services we profiled last month, has raised $5 million in series D venture funding, according to regulatory forms filed last week. Existing investors Sigma Partners, HLM Ventures, and Kaiser Permanente Ventures participated in … Continue reading “Silverlink Raises $5M for Outreach to Healthcare Consumers”

Extreme Reach Tries Video Ad Distribution Once More, With the Cloud

It’s not often in the startup world that you get to build the same company twice, with better technology the second time around. But that’s the basic story behind Extreme Reach, a Needham, MA, company that launched this January with a vision of helping video advertisers and their agencies distribute their ads to cable networks, … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Tries Video Ad Distribution Once More, With the Cloud”

MacLean Takes 38 Studios Helm

38 Studios, the Maynard, MA-based online gaming company founded by Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, said today that former CEO Brett Close has resigned, and that Jennifer MacLean, formerly the startup’s senior vice president of business development, has been appointed as his successor. Close has led development of 38 Studios’ massively multiplayer online fantasy game … Continue reading “MacLean Takes 38 Studios Helm”

Bezos Expeditions Contributes to $7 Million Round for Heartland Robotics

Regulatory documents filed today show that Heartland Robotics, the Cambridge, MA, industrial robotics startup founded by MIT computer science legend Rod Brooks, has raised just over $7 million in an equity offering. The documents don’t reveal the identities of the funders, and Heartland has not announced the names, but Xconomy has learned that one of … Continue reading “Bezos Expeditions Contributes to $7 Million Round for Heartland Robotics”

TipJoy Shuts Down

TipJoy, an Arlington, MA-based startup that created a micropayment system designed to allow Web users to reward content providers with small tips, announced on its blog yesterday that it is shutting down. Launched through the Y Combinator startup incubator program, TipJoy collected a Series A venture investment of nearly $1 million less than a year … Continue reading “TipJoy Shuts Down”