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/

Ditch That USB Cable: The Coolest Apps for Sending Your Photos Around Wirelessly

For average consumers, the big complaint about digital photography has always been that it’s too hard to extract the pictures you’ve taken from your camera or phone so you can show them to the rest of the world. But the truth is there are so many ways to move, share, and display digital photos today … Continue reading “Ditch That USB Cable: The Coolest Apps for Sending Your Photos Around Wirelessly”

A123 Asks for $1.8B in Federal Loans

Battery manufacturer A123 Systems of Watertown, MA, said yesterday that it has applied to the Department of Energy for $1.84 billion in federal loans under the department’s “green car” program. A123 says it wants to use the money to build a factory in southeastern Michigan that will manufacture lithium ion batteries for up to 5 … Continue reading “A123 Asks for $1.8B in Federal Loans”

Play Hard Sports Scores $8M B Round

Play Hard Sports, the Foxborough, MA-based online gaming startup founded last April by former Turbine CEO Jeffrey Anderson, has closed an $8 million Series B round, according to a report today in Private Equity Hub. Play Hard is developing as-yet-unreleased multiplayer online games and an online fantasy sports network. Existing investor New Enterprise Associates of … Continue reading “Play Hard Sports Scores $8M B Round”

Polaris Antes Up for JibJab’s Third Round

When I got an “ElfYourself” e-greeting from my brother’s family before Christmas 2007, I remember being surprised that the free greeting, though sponsored by OfficeMax, was actually powered by JibJab, the Venice, CA, Web startup that made its name during the 2004 presidential campaign with its irreverent “This Land” video.” The switch from animated parodies … Continue reading “Polaris Antes Up for JibJab’s Third Round”

Press Ganey Buys PatientFlow

Boston-based PatientFlow Technology, which makes software that helps hospitals deal with backups in emergency rooms, ICUs, and other care settings, has been acquired by health care improvement consulting company Press Ganey of South Bend, IN, according to an announcement today. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal, but said that the acquisition … Continue reading “Press Ganey Buys PatientFlow”

EMC Cuts Put 2,400 Out of Work

EMC, the Hopkinton, MA-based data storage company that is one of the state’s largest tech employers, said today in an after-hours announcement that is cutting 2,400 people from its worldwide workforce. That’s a 7 percent reduction, based on the company’s size as of September 30. Though it expects to book record revenues of $4 billion … Continue reading “EMC Cuts Put 2,400 Out of Work”

Kronos Cuts 250 Workers

Workforce management company Kronos is reducing its own workforce. The Chelmsford, MA-based company has laid off 250 people worldwide, including 100 in Chelmsford, according to a report today in Mass High Tech. That’s about 8 percent of the company’s overall staff. We’ve updated the Boston Tech Layoff Tracker with this new data.

ClickSquared, RatePoint Close Series B Rounds

Two local Internet-based marketing companies disclosed news of Series B funding rounds this week. ClickSquared, based in Needham, MA, said in a release yesterday that it has closed an $11 million Series B round led by JMI Equity, ABS Venture, and Flybridge Capital Partners. The company offers a software-as-a-service system that clients can use to … Continue reading “ClickSquared, RatePoint Close Series B Rounds”

The Lowdown on Angel Capital from CommonAngels’ James Geshwiler

For startup entrepreneurs who need less than $5 million in capital, the venture capital industry might as well not exist. The average U.S. venture capital fund has doubled in size since 2000 to over $200 million, according to Dow Jones/VentureOne. That means most venture partners see investments of under $5 million as a waste of … Continue reading “The Lowdown on Angel Capital from CommonAngels’ James Geshwiler”

Five Bands Selected to Compete in Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2

The suspense is over—or is just starting, depending on your point of view. After reviewing dozens of MP3s and MySpace pages, and convening an epic, knock-down, drag-out selection meeting, Xconomy’s editors and guest judges have picked five bands—Anomopoly, The Dirty Truckers, EneROCK, The Main Drag, and Seymore Willie—to compete for audience approbation and big prizes … Continue reading “Five Bands Selected to Compete in Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands 2”

New RNAi Drugs, Major Cutbacks at Targanta, Big Partnerships for Arqule and Archemix, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News

There was quite a bit of news this week relating to RNA-interference drugs, and to FDA approval (or non-approval, as the case may be) of drugs under development by local biotechs. Without further ado: —It was sports week for Ryan. First, he interviewed biotech hedge fund founder Rich Aldrich, part of the group that owns … Continue reading “New RNAi Drugs, Major Cutbacks at Targanta, Big Partnerships for Arqule and Archemix, & More Boston-Area Life Sciences News”

New Privacy Regulations A Burden for Most Massachusetts Companies, A Blessing for Others

If not for a reprieve granted in mid-November by the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR), most businesses in the Bay State would be spending these last two weeks before the New Year rushing to meet state mandates requiring the encryption of personal data about Massachusetts residents stored on laptops or transmitted … Continue reading “New Privacy Regulations A Burden for Most Massachusetts Companies, A Blessing for Others”

Sermo, Taking a Page from Google, Creates Flu Tracker

Looks like Cambridge, MA-based startup Sermo is trying to one-up Google, at least when it comes to tracking flu outbreaks. Back in November, Google researchers revealed that for the last year or more they’ve been keeping track whenever users enter search terms related to common flu symptoms. Working with flu experts at the Centers for … Continue reading “Sermo, Taking a Page from Google, Creates Flu Tracker”

The Greater Boston Mobile Technology Cluster

Though we in Boston can’t claim to host a major handset maker like Nokia or Motorola or a major wireless carrier like Verizon or AT&T, the New England area is nonetheless one of the world capitals of the mobile business. As Xconomy’s lead infotech writer for the East Coast, I spend at least a quarter … Continue reading “The Greater Boston Mobile Technology Cluster”

Putting XO Laptops Under Christmas Trees—and into Classrooms—via Amazon

As the holidays approach, the Cambridge, MA-based One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC) has revived its Give One, Get One program, designed to encourage consumers in industrialized nations to buy the foundation’s XO laptops for schoolchildren in the developing world while also securing one for a child in their own family. The foundation, which is … Continue reading “Putting XO Laptops Under Christmas Trees—and into Classrooms—via Amazon”

CRV Funds Scribd

Waltham, MA-based Charles River Ventures is the lead investor in a $9 million Series B financing round for Scribd, a San Francisco startup and Y Combinator graduate whose “iPaper” document reader allows users to upload documents such as Word, PDF, and PowerPoint files to the Internet and share them by embedding them in Web pages. … Continue reading “CRV Funds Scribd”

Video: Local CTOs Mull the Future of Mobile Software in Boston

On December 1, I moderated the dinner conversation at a gathering of some 20 CTOs from Boston-area companies that create software and services for mobile devices. Organized by Mobile Monday Boston and sponsored by Flybridge Capital Partners, the dinner at the Lenox Hotel’s Azure restaurant was an opportunity for many of the local mobile community’s … Continue reading “Video: Local CTOs Mull the Future of Mobile Software in Boston”

The 3-D Graphics Revolution of 1859—and How to See in Stereo on Your iPhone

Gadget lovers and other technology enthusiasts suffer from a curious myopia about the past. The general assumption—fostered by the admittedly blinding pace of progress in computing and software—is that everything really cool must have been invented in the last decade or two. Marvels like wearable virtual-reality displays with force feedback gloves are often described as … Continue reading “The 3-D Graphics Revolution of 1859—and How to See in Stereo on Your iPhone”

Targanta Cuts 75 Percent of Staff

Cambridge, MA-based Targanta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TARG]]) received a harsh blow last week as the FDA declined to approve it sole drug candidate, an antibiotic called oritavancin intended to treat antibiotic-resistant infections like MRSA. Today Targanta announced staff cutbacks intended to help the company conserve capital while it seeks approval for oritavancin in Europe and tries … Continue reading “Targanta Cuts 75 Percent of Staff”

“Boston Bullet” Wins Local Motors Design Competition

Local Motors, a Wareham, MA, startup that has incorporated Web-based community collaboration into its unconventional new process for designing consumer automobiles, today announced the winner of its latest online auto design competition, which challenged community members to come up with a design fit for Boston’s narrow streets and urban lifestyles. Mihai Panaitescu, a Romanian who … Continue reading ““Boston Bullet” Wins Local Motors Design Competition”

Local Motors Tackles Carbon Crisis with Lightweight, Crowdsourced Cars

While capitalist systems are, in theory, open to any entrepreneur with an idea for a better mousetrap, most investors are pragmatists. They aren’t likely to pony up for a garage tinkerer with a way to build passenger jets better than Boeing’s or supercomputers better than Cray’s. The reality, in other words, is that certain high-tech … Continue reading “Local Motors Tackles Carbon Crisis with Lightweight, Crowdsourced Cars”

ITA Software: The Travel Company Everyone Uses and No One Knows Reinvents Airline Reservations, Again

In the heart of Cambridge, MA, a few blocks from the MIT campus and across the street from the missile-guidance labs at Draper Laboratories, there’s a 10-story brick office building with a brand-new corporate logo near its crown. It’s the ITA Software building, and the LED-backed logo, with its distinctive airplane-tailed @ sign, was switched … Continue reading “ITA Software: The Travel Company Everyone Uses and No One Knows Reinvents Airline Reservations, Again”

Axeda Buys Questra

Foxborough, MA-based Axeda announced today that it has acquired Questra of Redwood City, CA. Both companies make software-as-a-service systems that allow software administrators to remotely upgrade and service enterprise IT systems and software. The terms of the acquisition were not published.

EMC Appoints Leader for Decho, Cloud Services

Storage giant EMC (NYSC: [[ticker:EMC]]) of Hopkinton, MA, said today that veteran software executive Harel Kodesh has been appointed president of the company’s Cloud Infrastructure division and CEO of Decho, a new subsidiary formed in November from the combination of EMC’s Mozy and Pi divisions. Kodesh is the former chief products officer at Missouri-based telecommunications … Continue reading “EMC Appoints Leader for Decho, Cloud Services”

Legislator Drafting Bill to Outlaw Non-Compete Agreements in Massachusetts

Many Massachusetts companies require new employees to sign agreements saying that if they leave, they won’t go to work for a competitor for at least a year. The idea behind these non-compete agreements is to prevent a company’s competitors from gaining access to trade secrets and key personnel. But there’s a growing chorus of entrepreneurs, … Continue reading “Legislator Drafting Bill to Outlaw Non-Compete Agreements in Massachusetts”

Everypoint Introduces Slick Mobile Apps for the Non-iPhone Crowd

There’s a reason why the excitement in the mobile application development world has shifted to new platforms such as the Apple iPhone and Google’s Android operating system. It’s because it’s relatively easy to write and disseminate cool software for these systems, which offer a) lots of support for powerful graphics and communications, b) access to … Continue reading “Everypoint Introduces Slick Mobile Apps for the Non-iPhone Crowd”

Fairchild Slashes 1,100 Jobs

Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: [[ticker:FCS]]) of South Portland, ME, said last week that it will cut its worldwide employee base by 1,100 jobs, or about 12 percent, as part of a restructuring plan intended to help the chipmaker weather the economic downturn. There was no word on how many of the layoffs will affect Fairchild employees … Continue reading “Fairchild Slashes 1,100 Jobs”

Scallop Imaging Security Cameras Give New Meaning to All-Seeing

With only two eyes apiece, spanning a mere 180-degree field of view, humans have an innately limited understanding of what it means to see. Some insects have compound eyes with hundreds or thousands of facets that can form a nearly 360-degree picture of the world around them. The shells of many scallop species are rimmed … Continue reading “Scallop Imaging Security Cameras Give New Meaning to All-Seeing”

TechTarget Cuts 76, Shutters Two Magazines

Needham, MA-based technology media publisher TechTarget (NASDAQ: [[ticker:TTGT]]) said in an SEC filing Thursday that it plans to cut costs by laying off 76 employees, or about 12 percent of its total workforce. The company also said it will shut down its two print publications, Storage Magazine and Information Security Magazine. We’ve updated the Boston … Continue reading “TechTarget Cuts 76, Shutters Two Magazines”

25 Workers Let Go at GT Solar

GT Solar (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SOLR]]), a maker of equipment for manufacturing photovoltaic solar cells, said today that it will lay off 25 production workers at its Merrimack, NH, plant. The cuts, a reaction to requests from GT Solar’s customers for delayed shipment of solar furnaces, represent just over 8 percent of the company’s work force. We’ve … Continue reading “25 Workers Let Go at GT Solar”

Sonus Networks Cuts 50 Employees

Westford, MA-based Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SONS]]), which makes servers, switches, and software for Internet-based residential and business telephony, said yesterday that it will lay off 50 employees, or roughly 5 percent of its global workforce, as part of a cost-management plan. The company did not say how many of the affected employees worked from the … Continue reading “Sonus Networks Cuts 50 Employees”

Energy Innovation and the Economy: New England Speaks Out on Video

During the networking-and-refreshments portion of Xconomy’s forum on Energy Innovation at the British Consulate General in Cambridge, MA, last week, we pulled aside a few volunteers to share their personal thoughts about energy innovation on camera. We’ve rolled the most interesting responses together into the 10-minute video at the end of this post. Xconomy’s business … Continue reading “Energy Innovation and the Economy: New England Speaks Out on Video”

Lightwave Power Closes Series A Round

Lightwave Power, a Cambridge, MA, startup developing a roll-to-roll process for manufacturing solar cells on flexible substrates, said today that it has closed a Series A financing round led by Quercus Trust, a stealthy Southern California investment group. 21Ventures of New York was named as a co-investor. Lightwave’s announcement did not disclose the amount of … Continue reading “Lightwave Power Closes Series A Round”

Former “Daily Show” Producer Karlin is Humorist Behind WonderGlen Comedy Site

Since October, the Internet has been abuzz with discussion about WonderGlen, a fictional TV production company whose fake company intranet is a window onto the obsessions of a staff that takes dysfunction well beyond the levels of Dunder Mifflin, the fictional paper company in NBC’s “The Office.” Much of the buzz has focused on the … Continue reading “Former “Daily Show” Producer Karlin is Humorist Behind WonderGlen Comedy Site”

Spark Contributes to Tumblr’s $4.5 Million Series B Round

Boston’s Spark Capital and New York’s Union Square Ventures are the lead co-investors in a $4.5 million Series B financing round for Tumblr, a tiny New York-based startup that offers a stripped down, extremely user-friendly “microblogging” platform. The investment, announced this morning, is a huge boost over the startup’s $775,000 initial financing, led last year … Continue reading “Spark Contributes to Tumblr’s $4.5 Million Series B Round”

Online Communities Meet Clinical Trials: Inspire’s Co-Founder on Social Networking, “Health 2.0,” and Trust

One thing leads to another, especially for reporters. After we published our Boston Health 2.0 Cluster story in June, I started getting a lot of invitations to attend and/or moderate local events relating the Web’s influence on the healthcare market. One such event was a weekend brunch hosted by IC Sciences executive vice president Steve … Continue reading “Online Communities Meet Clinical Trials: Inspire’s Co-Founder on Social Networking, “Health 2.0,” and Trust”

A Car Company at the Web Innovators Group?

Last night’s 20th meeting of the Web Innovators Group at Cambridge’s Royal Sonesta Hotel was possibly the largest ever, spilling from the usual ballroom into the adjacent conference rooms and attracting a crowd so thick that it was difficult to see the demo tables. Perhaps the high attendance was to be expected, given the layoffs … Continue reading “A Car Company at the Web Innovators Group?”

Lucid Imagination Raises $6 Million for Open Source Search Support

Lucid Imagination, a startup in Newton Highlands, MA, that specializes in support and services for the open-source search technologies Lucene and Solr, has collected $6 million out of a $7.5 million Series A financing round, according to a report yesterday in Private Equity Hub. Lucid’s Series A investors include Granite Ventures and Walden International, both … Continue reading “Lucid Imagination Raises $6 Million for Open Source Search Support”

Boston-Power Strikes Deal with Hewlett-Packard to Market Longer-Lived, Eco-Friendly Laptop Batteries

After raising $70 million in venture funding and spending more than three years on the development of next-generation lithium-ion batteries, Westborough, MA-based Boston-Power has won its first big customer: It’s the supplier behind a new line of replacement laptop batteries from Hewlett-Packard. Branded as the “HP Enviro Series” but based entirely on Boston-Power’s Sonata technology, … Continue reading “Boston-Power Strikes Deal with Hewlett-Packard to Market Longer-Lived, Eco-Friendly Laptop Batteries”

Mobile Photo Community SnapMyLife Uploads Another $5 Million

Back in April I wrote about Mobicious, a Needham, MA, startup that once focused on publishing a directory of mobile applications but took a dramatic turn in direction by launching a free, advertising-supported photo-sharing community called SnapMyLife that’s optimized for mobile phones, especially the Apple iPhone. After just eight months, SnapMyLife has signed up more … Continue reading “Mobile Photo Community SnapMyLife Uploads Another $5 Million”

Venrock Leads $10M Aria B Round

Cambridge, MA-based venture firm Venrock is the lead investor in a $10 million Series B funding round just completed by Aria Systems, a Media, PA-based provider of Web-based billing services, the startup announced yesterday. Existing investors Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Dave Labuda joined the round, and Venrock managing general partner Ray Rothrock will join … Continue reading “Venrock Leads $10M Aria B Round”

City Trash Cans Go Solar—and Wireless—to Save Big Bucks on Garbage Trucks

The only solar-powered trash compactor that most people could name is Wall-E, the fictional lovestruck robot from this summer’s Pixar movie. But in Boston, San Diego, Seattle, and more than a dozen other major cities, you can meet the real thing: the BigBelly Cordless Compaction System, a 200-gallon robotic trash container manufactured by Needham, MA-based … Continue reading “City Trash Cans Go Solar—and Wireless—to Save Big Bucks on Garbage Trucks”

McAfee Integrates Liquid Machines Security Technologies

Waltham, MA-based Liquid Machines, a document protection company we profiled in February, announced today that its software will be incorporated into various products from Santa Clara, CA-based McAfee, including McAfee Data Loss Prevention. The company says the software will enable users of McAfee software to locate sensitive documents on corporate networks and prevent them from … Continue reading “McAfee Integrates Liquid Machines Security Technologies”

Brightcove Launches Developer Network, Competes with thePlatform

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove, told Xconomy back in October that the company had designed its new Brightcove 3 online video management platform to be extensible, using plug-ins from an envisioned “extended ecosystem” of third-party developers. Today the company formally launched such a network, the Brightcove Alliance, that gives outside developer partners access … Continue reading “Brightcove Launches Developer Network, Competes with thePlatform”

Finding Another Saudi Arabia Under Detroit: Amory Lovins on the Economic Logic of Energy Efficiency and the Overthrow of Bad Engineering

Xconomy had the great privilege last week of hosting energy guru Amory Lovins, the cofounder, chairman, and chief scientist of the famous Rocky Mountain Institute resource think tank in Colorado, for a “fireside chat” with local venture community leader Paul Maeder of Highland Capital Partners. There was no real fire or other unwarranted carbon emissions, … Continue reading “Finding Another Saudi Arabia Under Detroit: Amory Lovins on the Economic Logic of Energy Efficiency and the Overthrow of Bad Engineering”

GamerDNA’s New Discovery Engine Helps Gamers Find More Games They’ll Love

There’s a startup in Cambridge, MA, that’s quietly collecting gigabytes of data about the likes, dislikes, habits, and exploits of hard-core gamers. Given how lucrative console and online gaming have become—bringing in $1.3 billion for U.S. publishers in October alone, up 18 percent from the same month last year—you might guess that the startup intends … Continue reading “GamerDNA’s New Discovery Engine Helps Gamers Find More Games They’ll Love”

Coskata Collects $40M from Blackstone, ATV, Globespan, Greatpoint

Coskata, the Warrenville, IL, cellulosic ethanol startup that debuted with a bang at the Detroit Auto Show last January, has raised $40 million in additional capital in a Series C round led by the Blackstone Group’s new Cleantech Venture Fund, according to a report yesterday by Dan Primack at Private Equity Hub. The private equity … Continue reading “Coskata Collects $40M from Blackstone, ATV, Globespan, Greatpoint”