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Seattle’s gaming industry: A hidden success story that keeps on growing
Seattle's gaming industry doesn't always get the respect it deserves. But the industry is a very big business, and it is growing. A preliminary report from The Washington Interactive Network found that there are now more than 350 gaming and interactive media companies in the region, up from 150 in 2007. Revenues at these companies were estimated to be $9.7 billion in … Read More...
Report: Amazon close to Viacom deal, moving toward standalone video subscription service
Amazon is set to announce a web video deal with Viacom, according to a report this afternoon by Reuters -- which describes the deal as one of the final steps prior to Amazon launching a standalone video subscription service. The move would boost Amazon's competition with Netflix, which has said in the past that Amazon isn't making a noticeable dent in its … Read More...
Entrepreneur Of The Year® nominations are open!
If you’ve been inspired by a successful entrepreneur, recognize his or her achievements with a nomination. If you lead a high-growth or innovative company, your self-nomination is also encouraged. For 26 years, Ernst & Young has celebrated the game-changing men and women who create jobs and drive growth.
Submit a nomination or apply today. The deadline is March 9, 2012.
Colorado real estate group explains why they booted Zillow’s Diverse Solutions
Why did Metrolist -- the largest Multiple Listing Service in Colorado -- cut ties with Zillow-owned Diverse Solutions? Online real estate watchers, including several on GeekWire, have been wondering about the motivations of that decision ever since word spread earlier today. I was curious as well, so I touched base with Metrolist marketing director Melissa Olson … Read More...
Who is buying e-readers? Not me, but paralegals, dietitians and iPod owners sure love ‘em
As I've noted in the past, I am not a big fan of electronic reading devices. (In addition to having little time to read books these days, I just can't stomach the idea of carrying around yet another device). BlueKai, the online advertising company with operations in Seattle and San Francisco, just released an infographic showing who is actually buying Nooks and Kindles … Read More...
Seattle outranks San Francisco for title of geekiest (and smartest) people
San Francisco may have better restaurants, weather, shopping and cocktails. But here's one area where Seattle outshines the city by the bay. According to a survey by Travel + Leisure magazine, Seattle has the most tech-savvy people in the country. Yep, we're geekier in Seattle than our counterparts in San Francisco (which actually finished second). Seattle also is #1 … Read More...
Microsoft ready for ‘Flight’ — calls new PC title ‘a step up’ from efforts of the past
Microsoft is gearing up for the debut of its new "Microsoft Flight" franchise for Windows PCs, announcing a Feb. 29 launch and providing new details on the free experience and premium content that will be available at launch. Leading up to the official release, the company has had a tough time winning over fans of Microsoft Flight Simulator -- the pilots and … Read More...
A banner year at Urbanspoon as foodies conduct millions of mobile restaurant searches
We've seen a number of high-profile online services get shuffled into the dust-bin of history in recent weeks after their corporate parents decided to pull the plug. (Namely Picnik, TeachStreet and Summify). But here's a counter example. Urbanspoon, the Seattle-based online restaurant directory which was gobbled up by IAC in 2009, is alive and well. In fact, the company … Read More...
Here’s what Jay Inslee wants to do to keep the state’s tech industry humming
There's no shortage of ideas in Jay Inslee's economic plan for Washington state. The Democratic candidate for governor released a 30-page jobs plan -- divided into seven subsections -- on Monday at the MacDonald-Miller factory in Seattle. Among the priorities: Clean Energy, Aerospace, Life Sciences, Military, Information and Communication Technology, Agriculture and … Read More...
Study: ‘App Economy’ has created 466,000 U.S. jobs — like a 21st Century construction sector
A new study out today documents the impact of apps on the U.S. economy, concluding that 466,000 jobs have been created by the "App Economy" since 2007 -- including programmers, marketers, interface designers, managers and support staff working on apps and infrastructure for platforms including Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry, Facebook and Windows Phone. The New York … Read More...
Backlash continues against Zillow as real estate group cuts ties with Diverse Solutions
Zillow is once again finding itself in the news after a Denver-based Multiple Listing Service notified members that they plan to pull the plug on a listing feed arrangement with Diverse Solutions. You may recall that Zillow gobbled up Diverse Solutions last year, paying $7.8 million for the Irvine, California-based real estate services company. But that's apparently … Read More...
Microsoft merges voice-response tech into 24/7 Inc., promises smarter self-serve calls
Microsoft is merging its interactive voice-response technology into 24/7 Inc. and taking an equity stake in the Silicon Valley company. The deal, announced this morning, includes an R&D partnership between the companies and a patent licensing agreement that gives 24/7 broader access to Microsoft's speech technologies. An undisclosed number of Microsoft employees … Read More...
Spoken Communications dials up $11 million in funding
Spoken Communications, a 7-year-old Bellevue company led by former HyperQuality and PhotoWorks CEO Howard Lee, has raised $11.5 million in funding from Ignition Partners and Ignition Capital. Spoken Communications uses speech recognition technologies to automate processes in call centers, with the company saying that the service processes millions of minutes of customer … Read More...
Maker of the fastest espresso machine in the world perks up with $6.5 million in funding
Now here's an entrepreneurial story that's perfectly brewed for Seattle. Concordia Coffee Systems on Monday announced that it raised $6.5 million in fresh funding from Marker Hill Capital, Fluke Capital Partners, Swiftsure Capital and several Seattle angel investors, money that it will use to continue to develop and market its line of self-serve espresso … Read More...
Amazon.com announces price cuts on S3 storage service
Amazon Web Services is cutting prices ... again. The company just announced a series of price reductions related to its S3 storage service, with Jeff Barr of AWS explaining the rationale in a blog post. S3, which stands for Simple Storage Service, is used by companies to store everything from Web applications to digital content. "With this price change, all Amazon S3 … Read More...
UW spin-out born out of doctor’s frustration with paper-based records
The University of Washington is spinning out a new startup company by the name of TransformativeMed which has developed a new way for physicians more effectively communicate about patients. The technology -- currently in operation at more than a half dozen hospitals, including Harborview Medical Center, the University of Washington Medical Center and Sinai Grace … Read More...
Are you Kinning me? Microsoft beats trademark lawsuit over Kinect
Guest Commentary: Microsoft makes the Kinect motion controller for Xbox 360, and for a while tried out a mobile phone named Kin. Kinbook makes a Facebook app that is intended to capture and organize family memories. Kinbook discovered Facebook's overzealous position that it owns the -book suffix, so Kinbook changed its product name to Kinbox. It alleged that Microsoft's … Read More...
Coinstar buys NCR assets for $100M, shares soar on Redbox sales growth in Q4
It has been a very busy day at Coinstar. The Bellevue maker of coin-counting machines already announced a strategic partnership between its Redbox video rental business and Verizon. Now, the company has released strong financial results for the fourth quarter along with the purchase of assets from NCR's entertainment business. The asset purchase includes Blockbuster … Read More...
Report: HTC continues skid with sales expected to fall in the first quarter
HTC Corp., the giant Tawain-based smartphone maker that maintains its North American operations in the Seattle area, said Monday that revenue may drop as much as 36 percent in the first quarter as it continues face challenges from Samsung and Apple. Sales are now expected in the range of $2.2 billion to $2.37 billion. Reuters reports that the problems are expected to be … Read More...
Seattle’s Melodic Caring Project streams personalized concerts to hospitalized kids
On Friday, Dec. 2 at Seattle Children's Hospital, 11-year-old Braydon Hutchison was crying. It wasn't because of his leukemia, which kept him quarantined, or the nausea and vomiting that had made him sick all day. A musician he'd never met was playing a concert across town in his honor, calling out his name to the crowd. Braydon could see the live stream on his laptop from … Read More...
Lessons from Om Nom: How ‘Cut the Rope’ shows the future of Windows and the web
Om Nom is a lovable little monster, a character who can keep people playing "Cut the Rope" for hours under the simple premise of trying to satisfy his sweet tooth. But behind the scenes, the game by ZeptoLab is anything but basic. Swinging ropes, floating bubbles, a subtle realism and other complexities require an underlying physics engine different from any other in the … Read More...
Zillow discontinues listing feed: Redfin says it is not ‘crazy about the decision’
The shifting sands in the online real estate industry continue to morph. The latest development involves Zillow which recently notified Redfin and other real estate sites that it will no longer distribute for-sale-by-owner listings to their Web sites. Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman explains in a blog post: Zillow primarily gets listings directly from individual brokers, not … Read More...
Farewell to the Start button? Windows 8 leak points to another big change
Windows 8, the next version of Microsoft's PC operating system, will be a radical change for people who pick it up for the first time, with a primary screen based on tiles similar to the Windows Phone interface -- relegating the old-fashioned yet familiar Windows desktop to a secondary status. Go ahead and laugh, but given the degree of change, it has actually been … Read More...
Another big brick-and-mortar bookseller says it won’t carry titles from Amazon.com
Books-A-Million, the second largest brick-and-mortar bookseller in the U.S. with 251 stores in 30 states, has joined with Barnes & Noble in its fight against Amazon.com. The Birmingham, Alabama company, which reported sales of $301 million for the first nine months of 2011, does not plan to carry titles from Amazon.com's new publishing line or Houghton Mifflin … Read More...
Can Paul Allen bring a Super Bowl to Seattle? Maybe if the billionaire can change the weather
Super Bowl Sunday could find its way to Seattle some time after 2015 if the Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen has his way. Q13 reported Sunday that the Seahawks have submitted paperwork to the NFL expressing an interest in hosting a Super Bowl. Now, here's the real kicker. According to Q13, the Super Bowl Advisory Committee requires an … Read More...
EquaShip suspends service after package delivery times upset customers
EquaShip has suspended its package shipping service, a move that comes just four months after the Seattle upstart launched with claims of rates that were up to 80 percent cheaper than FedEx, UPS and DHL. The venture-backed company has laid off its customer service and inside sales teams as it plans to reengineer its transportation network, a process that CEO Ron Wiener … Read More...
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