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/

Akamai Edges Into the Cloud, Surveys State of the Internet

Akamai Technologies, the Web content and applications delivery company based in Cambridge, MA, today revealed more details of it partnership with OpSource, a Santa Clara, CA, provider of computing infrastructure for Software-as-a-Service companies. It’s a deal that could help Akamai (NASDAQ:[[ticker:AKAM]]) move closer to the center of the cloud-computing trend, by helping to ensure that … Continue reading “Akamai Edges Into the Cloud, Surveys State of the Internet”

In Advance of New Massachusetts Privacy Law, Liquid Machines Offers Enterprise-Class Security Software to Mom-and-Pop Businesses

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) has taken pity on recession-dazed business owners in the state, putting off the deadline for meeting new data encryption regulations from January 1, 2009, to May 1, 2009, and then postponing enforcement again until January 1, 2010. Sooner or later, though, all Massachusetts … Continue reading “In Advance of New Massachusetts Privacy Law, Liquid Machines Offers Enterprise-Class Security Software to Mom-and-Pop Businesses”

Tweets from the Edge: The Ins and Outs (and Ups and Downs) of Twitter

If you already know all about Twitter—if you spent mid-March in Austin tweeting away with your pals at South by Southwest, if you can explain the differences between Twhirl and Twitterrific and Tweetdeck, and if you’ve already mastered thinking in 140-character fragments—this week’s column is not for you. It’s for all the other people, the … Continue reading “Tweets from the Edge: The Ins and Outs (and Ups and Downs) of Twitter”

Dimdim: A Clear Future for Multimedia Web Conferencing for the Masses

One sign that Xconomy is in the right business is that there are many more companies building innovative products in our home cities than we have time to cover. Unfortunately, though, our decisions about which companies to cover sometimes come down to little more than intuitive guesses. Back in December 2007, I interviewed the founders … Continue reading “Dimdim: A Clear Future for Multimedia Web Conferencing for the Masses”

Visible Measures Sees $10M C Round

Boston-based Visible Measures, the Web video audience tracking firm we profiled in January 2008 shortly after it closed its $13.5 million Series B round, said today that it has raised a $10 million C round. Participants in the round included new investor Northgate Capital and existing investors General Catalyst Partners and MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures. “This … Continue reading “Visible Measures Sees $10M C Round”

Kaspersky Lab Launches Malware News Site Threatpost

Randy Drawas, chief marketing officer at Moscow, Russia-based antivirus company Kaspersky Lab, shared some disturbing statistics with me earlier this week. In 2007, he said, Kaspersky’s researchers detected as much malicious software activity on the Internet as they had in the previous 11 years combined. In 2008, malware volume doubled yet again. And in 2009, … Continue reading “Kaspersky Lab Launches Malware News Site Threatpost”

Spark Capital Launches Startup Seed Fund

[Updated with interview material from Spark Capital general partner Bijan Sabet, see below.] It’s almost the equivalent of the “microloans” phenomenon for the venture world: the profusion of startup schools, bootcamps, incubators, and seed funds that give teams small amounts of money—from a few thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand—to get their ideas up … Continue reading “Spark Capital Launches Startup Seed Fund”

Locale Android App Gets Skyhook

Boston’s Skyhook Wireless and two forty four a.m., the startup behind the Locale location-awareness application for the Google Android mobile operating system, announced today that Locale now includes Skyhook’s XPS hybrid location-finding software. Carter Jernigan of two forty four a.m. says Locale originally tapped into the native GPS and Wi-Fi-based location finding capabilities of Android … Continue reading “Locale Android App Gets Skyhook”

SS&C Buys Evare

SS&C Technologies, a maker of financial management software based in Windsor, CT, announced yesterday that it has acquired Evare, a Burlington, MA company that handles financial data acquisition and transformation for banks, corporations, and asset managers. The companies didn’t reveal the terms of the deal.

Free Zinc Browser and Pro Version of ZvBox Breathe New Life into ZeeVee’s Internet Video Technology

ZeeVee, the Littleton, MA-based startup focused on helping people watch high-definition Internet video on their TVs, today introduced a new version of its free video browser. Formerly called Zviewer—and originally designed for the ZvBox, the firm’s PC-to-TV-over-coaxial-cable appliance—the browser is now called Zinc, and runs on any Windows XP or Vista computer. (A Mac version … Continue reading “Free Zinc Browser and Pro Version of ZvBox Breathe New Life into ZeeVee’s Internet Video Technology”

Extreme Reach Wins Funding

Needham, MA-based Extreme Reach, whose Web-based software tracks, manages, and delivers video ads across Web, television, and on-demand platforms, announced today that it has raised additional venture funds from a group including new investor Greycroft Partners and existing investors Village Ventures and Long River Ventures. The size of the round wasn’t disclosed, although a company … Continue reading “Extreme Reach Wins Funding”

Few Carbonite Customers Lost Data in Drive Failure, CEO Says

Saturday’s Boston Globe contained news of a lawsuit filed by Boston-based online backup company Carbonite against two companies that supplied allegedly defective disk drive arrays. Carbonite CEO David Friend confirmed today that that a suit has been filed, but he says he’s concerned that the Globe story—which has been widely re-reported in outlets such as … Continue reading “Few Carbonite Customers Lost Data in Drive Failure, CEO Says”

Boston Scientific: $50M Settlement over Stents

Back in February 2008, a Texas jury told Natick, MA-based Boston Scientific (NYSE: [[ticker:BSX]]) it would have to pay $431 million in damages to Dr. Bruce Saffran, who alleged that the company’s Taxus Express and Taxus Liberte drug-eluting stents infringed on patents he owns. Boston Scientific appealed the ruling, and a Federal Circuit panel reviewed … Continue reading “Boston Scientific: $50M Settlement over Stents”

Net Traffic Spikes–Something About That Funny Game with Nets

Internet news sites are experiencing their fourth biggest traffic day ever, as millions of people who should be working instead point their browsers to online video coverage of the “March Madness” NCAA basketball playoffs, judging by the Net Usage Index: News, a Web traffic monitoring service maintained by Cambridge, MA-based Akamai Technologies. The index indicated … Continue reading “Net Traffic Spikes–Something About That Funny Game with Nets”

Google Voice: It’s the End of the Phone As We Know It

[Update 12:00 pm 3/20/09: We were swamped with hundreds of e-mails in response to our offer of 100 free Google Voice beta accounts this morning. Thanks everyone! We’ll be in touch with the winners as soon as possible with details about their new accounts.] Brace for impact, again. Google is about to change the way … Continue reading “Google Voice: It’s the End of the Phone As We Know It”

MITX Expands Scope of Technology Awards to “Promising” Early-Stage Companies; Entries Due April 3

For the past five years, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) has held an awards ceremony to recognize the most innovative technology companies in New England. Past winners have included significant regional players with established technologies—companies like BladeLogic, BBN Technologies, Progress Software, McAfee, Turbine, and Skyhook Wireless. But this year MITX is expanding the … Continue reading “MITX Expands Scope of Technology Awards to “Promising” Early-Stage Companies; Entries Due April 3″

Cyberkinetics Loses Energy

According to a report today in the Boston Globe, Foxborough, MA-based Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems (OTC:[[ticker:CYKN]])  is shutting down. In January, it sold the rights to its Andara Oscillating Field Stimulator technology, a device designed to regenerate nerve cells in patients with severe spinal injuries, to Waltham, MA-based NeuroMetrix for $350,000. The FDA hasn’t yet approved … Continue reading “Cyberkinetics Loses Energy”

First Flight Brings Terrafugia “A New Level of Credibility,” Says CEO Dietrich

After Terrafugia’s heavily attended press conference this morning announcing the maiden flight of the company’s drivable aircraft, the Transition, I buttonholed founder and CEO Carl Dietrich for a one-on-one interview. He said the flight, which took place on March 5, is probably “the biggest single milestone” that Terrafugia could have achieved—and that the company is … Continue reading “First Flight Brings Terrafugia “A New Level of Credibility,” Says CEO Dietrich”

Stylefeeder Partners with Elle Publisher

Stylefeeder, the Cambridge, MA-based personalized shopping engine that raised a $2 million Series A round in January 2008, has formed a partnership with Hachette Filipacchi Media (HFM) U.S., the publisher of Elle, Car & Driver, Woman’s Day, and a number of other fashion, automotive, health, and hobbyist magazines. Under the deal, announced today by HFM, … Continue reading “Stylefeeder Partners with Elle Publisher”

Terrafugia Achieves Maiden Flight—Live Blogging from the Boston Museum of Science

[Update, 2:30 p.m., March 18, 2009: We’ve just published an extensive followup interview with Carl Dietrich, Terrafugia’s founder and CEO.] Ever since my first visit to Terrafugia’s Woburn, MA, warehouse last May to see the startup’s Transition “roadable aircraft,” I’ve been pestering CEO Carl Dietrich to clue us in about the craft’s first flight. He … Continue reading “Terrafugia Achieves Maiden Flight—Live Blogging from the Boston Museum of Science”

With Loudcrowd, Nabeel Hyatt Sees Mult-Billion-Dollar Opportunity in Music Gaming: “This Thing Is Ours to Screw Up”

I don’t care whether I’m good enough at Dance, one of the online games that’s part of the new music site Loudcrowd, to impress other users. What I want to know is whether I dance better than Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. As part of his January 30 tour of the Cambridge Innovation Center, the Govinnovator … Continue reading “With Loudcrowd, Nabeel Hyatt Sees Mult-Billion-Dollar Opportunity in Music Gaming: “This Thing Is Ours to Screw Up””

Verenium Struggles to Make Ends Meet

Verenium (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRNM]]), a biofuels startup based in Cambridge, MA, and San Diego, warned in an annual 10-K income statement filed with the SEC yesterday that independent accountants hired by the firm have raised “substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.” Losses are piling up from the company’s research and development … Continue reading “Verenium Struggles to Make Ends Meet”

Shaking Off Defensive Image, Black Duck Aims to Accelerate Software Development with Open Source

When I first wrote about Black Duck Software about five years ago (pre-Xconomy), the company was pitching its open-source code tracking system as a protective measure. Many software companies wanted to incorporate open-source code into their products—why reinvent an e-commerce module for taking credit card numbers, for instance, if there’s already a perfectly good open-source … Continue reading “Shaking Off Defensive Image, Black Duck Aims to Accelerate Software Development with Open Source”

MobileCamp Boston 2

Spring is the season for “un-conferences” like MobileCamp Boston 2, where participants demo anything and everything they’re working on and learn from each other. Sessions may include: Mobile messaging: SMS and new alternatives Agile development for mobile apps Flash Lite Analytics for Mobile apps Building mobile commerce applications Mobile Widget development Community Wireless Mesh Networks … Continue reading “MobileCamp Boston 2”

Quattro Wireless Hits “Hockey Stick” Growth, Raises Additional $10 Million

Quattro Wireless of Waltham, MA, announced today that it has raised $10 million in new venture funding to help expand its mobile content and advertising network. Despite the withering economy, Quattro hit a “hockey stick” in customer acquisition and revenue growth in late 2008 and needs the money to invest in sales, marketing, and technology … Continue reading “Quattro Wireless Hits “Hockey Stick” Growth, Raises Additional $10 Million”

Boston-Power HP Battery For Sale

Back in December, Westborough, MA-based Boston-Power announced a major deal to manufacture new longer-lasting, eco-friendly laptop batteries for Hewlett-Packard. The new $150 battery, called the Enviro, is compatible with 17 notebook computers in the HP Pavilion, HP HDX, Compaq Presario and HP G lines, and goes on sale today at HP’s e-commerce site, hpshopping.com. Starting … Continue reading “Boston-Power HP Battery For Sale”

Weaving Words with Wordle: A Talk with IBM’s Jonathan Feinberg

Xconomy chose to set up shop in Kendall Square because we wanted to be at the epicenter of investment and innovation in the Boston area. But it was just luck that we ended up right across the street from IBM’s Cambridge research facility at 1 Rogers Street, which is home to both the Collaborative User … Continue reading “Weaving Words with Wordle: A Talk with IBM’s Jonathan Feinberg”

Good Data Raises Round, Leaves Cambridge

Good Data, a startup developing user-friendly, Web-based tools for analyzing business intelligence data, has raised an undisclosed amount of venture financing from Cambridge, MA-based Generaly Catalyst and Boston-area technology investor John Landry (an Xconomist), according to a March 12 report by Scott Kirsner. The company formerly had an office at the Cambridge Innovation Center, but … Continue reading “Good Data Raises Round, Leaves Cambridge”

Brigham Docs Share Medical Scans Remotely Using IBM Web Browser Technology

For hundreds of years, students and spectators could gather in operating theaters like the Ether Dome at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital to watch doctors perform surgery. Now IBM and researchers at another famous Boston hospital, Brigham and Women’s, have developed a tool that lets many physicians gather virutally to get a good look at a … Continue reading “Brigham Docs Share Medical Scans Remotely Using IBM Web Browser Technology”

Top 9 Tech Updates: Photosynth, Geocaching, Google Earth, and More

I’ve been writing World Wide Wade for almost a year now; this is the 44th installment. A year is a long time in the technology world—long enough for many of the gadgets, services, and websites I’ve covered in the past to evolve cool new features. So I thought I’d revisit a few of my previous … Continue reading “Top 9 Tech Updates: Photosynth, Geocaching, Google Earth, and More”

Invention Machine and the Case of the Failing Toilet Flapper

If you follow Xconomy you might remember a story I wrote a year ago called “Invention Machine and the Case of the Boxed-Up Box Spring.” That piece talked about Goldfire Innovator, the expert-system software for product engineers made by Boston-based Invention Machine, and how mattress manufacturer Leggett & Platt had used the system to solve … Continue reading “Invention Machine and the Case of the Failing Toilet Flapper”

New Group Aims to Bring More Women into Energy and Cleantech

The energy and environmental sectors, like all too many other parts of the business world, have a dearth of women in leadership positions. But a new networking group dedicated to changing that situation is launching officially tomorrow in Boston. Called New England Women in Energy & the Environment (NEWIEE), the group’s goals are to foster … Continue reading “New Group Aims to Bring More Women into Energy and Cleantech”

Bessemer, Spark Are In Like with OMGPOP

New York-based OMGPOP, an online gaming and social networking destination for teens and twentysomethings that was known until recently as “I’minlikewithyou,” has raised $5 million in Series B funding, according to a report at PaidContent.org. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, which has an office in Wellesley Hills, MA, and was joined by … Continue reading “Bessemer, Spark Are In Like with OMGPOP”

Obama’s 50-State Ad Campaign, Animated Shopping Carts, Baby Pictures on Steroids, and More News from the Web Innovators Group

Soon there will be no point in writing up stories about the Web Innovators Group meetings organized by Venrock’s David Beisel. Last night’s gathering in Cambridge was so crowded that it seemed everybody who could conceivably be interested in reading about the event was actually there. But for the stragglers and those stuck at home … Continue reading “Obama’s 50-State Ad Campaign, Animated Shopping Carts, Baby Pictures on Steroids, and More News from the Web Innovators Group”

The Death of the Focus Group? At Invoke Solutions, Apple Vet Makes Market Research User-Friendly, for the Surveyors and the Surveyed

Focus groups are such a standard part of our market-driven culture that they’ve long since become the subject of parody. Decision-makers are seen as being afraid to act without consulting them; surely, no political party would pick a candidate, no legislator would introduce a big policy initiative, and no movie studio would green-light a big-budget … Continue reading “The Death of the Focus Group? At Invoke Solutions, Apple Vet Makes Market Research User-Friendly, for the Surveyors and the Surveyed”

Seahorse Buys BioProcessors, Raises $6M

Seahorse Bioscience, a North Billerica, MA-based maker of instruments for studying mitochondrial function in cells from people with various health problems, announced yesterday that it has acquired BioProcessors Corp., a Woburn, MA, company that makes automated cell-culture equipment for pharmaceutical research. Seahorse didn’t say how much it paid for BioProcessors, but it did reveal that … Continue reading “Seahorse Buys BioProcessors, Raises $6M”

Scientia, a Life Sciences Management Consulting Firm, Provides Answers, Not Questions

The old joke about management consultants is that they’ll look at your watch, tell you what time it is, and hand you a bill for $50,000. But if you’re a healthcare company and you hire Scientia Advisors, here’s what’s more likely to happen: they’ll look at your watch, notice that it’s running slow, take it … Continue reading “Scientia, a Life Sciences Management Consulting Firm, Provides Answers, Not Questions”

FAST Search Founders Hope to Repeat Success with Induct Software’s Innovation Management Portal

Henry Chesbrough, the UC Berkeley business professor who wrote the influential 2003 book Open Innovation, argued that companies need to do a better job of incubating, cataloguing, and licensing the knowledge and inventions they have in-house, and of bringing in intellectual property from outside, if that’s what’s needed to jump-start product development. But while many … Continue reading “FAST Search Founders Hope to Repeat Success with Induct Software’s Innovation Management Portal”

Veracode Assembling $10M Third Round

Burlington, MA-based Veracode, which tests corporate software for back doors and other security holes by analyzing its raw binary code, has  collected half of a $10 million third financing round, according to a regulatory filing cited by PE Hub. The investors for the round include Atlas Venture, .406 Ventures, Macrovision, Polaris Venture Partners, and Symantec. … Continue reading “Veracode Assembling $10M Third Round”

Vitalize Vacuums Up R3

Reading, MA-based Vitalize Consulting Services, which manages IT implementation projects for big healthcare companies, announced today that it has acquired rival r3 Health Partners of Santa Ana, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Vitalize is backed by SV Life Sciences, Ferrer Freeman and Company, and Bank of America.

GlassHouse Nixes IPO

File this under “no surprise there”: GlassHouse Technologies, the Framingham, MA, IT consulting company that filed for a $100 million initial public offering in October 2007, has now pulled the offering, according to an SEC filing cited by Reuters. The firm cited “market conditions” in its decision. GlassHouse has continued to raise money and add … Continue reading “GlassHouse Nixes IPO”

Founded by Apple Vets, Apperian Gets Down to Business with the iPhone

The Apple iPhone is perhaps the most powerful mobile phone ever built, so it’s no surprise that big enterprises want to use it, both to make their mobile workforces more efficient and to help customers access their products and services in new ways. But Apple, for a variety of reasons, isn’t interested in catering directly … Continue reading “Founded by Apple Vets, Apperian Gets Down to Business with the iPhone”

Verivue Launches Media Delivery System, Scores $40 Million B Round

These days, there’s no sense in producing video for just one platform, like cable TV. Media companies also want to get their content out to consumers via the Web, mobile phones, game consoles, video-on-demand networks, and other platforms. The problem is that all of these channels use different video formats, protocols, and resolutions, which makes … Continue reading “Verivue Launches Media Delivery System, Scores $40 Million B Round”