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Jeff Bezos-backed 3D-printing company MakerBot acquired for $403M
Minnesota-based 3D printing manufacturer Stratasys today acquired MakerBot for $402 million based on Stratasys' stock price in a deal that could accelerate the arrival of 3D printers to the mainstream market. It's also good news for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who had invested in MakerBot during a $10 million round via his investment arm Bezos Expeditions. MakerBot makes 3D … Read More...
Kim Thompson, 1956-2013: Fantagraphics co-publisher helped shape the comic book industry
Kim Thompson, the pioneering comics publisher who along with Gary Groth helped define the comics book industry though their Fantagraphics publishing house, has died of lung cancer at the age of 56. "Kim leaves an enormous legacy behind him," said Groth, who worked alongside Thompson for 36 years. "Not just all the European graphic novels that would never have been … Read More...
Looking for fun, geeky stuff to do?
Have you checked out the GeekWire calendar yet? It’s your one stop shop for latest and greatest events taking place in the Pacific Northwest and beyond — meetups, hackathons, fan conventions, tech industry events and a whole lot more! Best thing of all, it’s self serve, so add your geeky event today!
Intellectual Ventures sues Google’s Motorola Mobility for the second time
Intellectual Ventures has extended its streak of legal filings after filing a pair of patent infringement cases for the fourth time in as many weeks. This week's targets are Google-owned Motorola Mobility and Capital One bank. The patent holding firm, which is owned by former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, has come under scrutiny in the last month for its practices … Read More...
POLL: Microsoft just made big policy changes — now will you buy an Xbox One?
Earlier this afternoon, Microsoft surprised the tech world by reversing its stance on some Xbox One policies that had angered many gamers for the past few weeks and gave Sony firepower to poke fun at its rival. Now, you won't need to connect to the Internet once every 24 hours like Microsoft originally planned. Nor will there be any restrictions on sharing, trading … Read More...
Microsoft ditches Xbox One online requirement and game sharing restrictions
You complained, and Microsoft listened. In an incredible turn of events, Microsoft has changed its mind on a handful of the Xbox One policies that had many gamers up in arms. Don Mattrick, the president of the company’s Interactive Entertainment Business, just wrote a blog post detailing the huge changes, which are also reflected in the updated Xbox One … Read More...
Microsoft will pay you $150,000 to fend off hackers and find security flaws in its software
Calling all hackers: Microsoft wants your help and will pay you some big bucks for it. Starting June 26, the Redmond software giant today will debut three "bug bounty" programs that encourage computer engineers to help the company keep its products safe from a security standpoint both before and after launch. The “Mitigation Bypass Bounty,” will award $100,000 … Read More...
Apple lands $30M iPad contract with L.A. schools despite pushback
As Microsoft continues to try and get Surface tablets in the hands of educators and students, Apple has just landed a contract with the second-largest public school system in the country. The Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education approved a $30 million contract with Apple Wednesday night. Under the terms of the contract, Apple will provide iPads … Read More...
Adobe says shift to Creative Cloud subscriptions is working, despite controversy
Slowly but surely, Adobe's Creative Cloud is gathering steam. The company says the subscription-based replacement to its Creative Suite now has 700,000 subscribers, up from 479,000 in the first quarter of 2013. As Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen told CNet, that's ahead of their expectations. "The results overall say we're ahead of where we thought we would be when started … Read More...
Newly-released video shows Steve Jobs in 1994 discussing the rapid pace of change in the tech industry
A new video of an interview done with Steve Jobs in 1994 shows the then-CEO of NeXT considering how his legacy would affect the future of technology. His choice of metaphor: sedimentary rock. "All the work that I have done in my life will be obsolete by the time I'm 50," Jobs said. "It's sort of like sediment of rocks, you're building up a mountain, and you get to … Read More...
Meet Zubii, a new platform that helps you find the perfect real estate agent
When you're looking to find a real estate agent to either buy or sell a property, there are lots of places to find them. But for many, that process can be a little strenuous and stressful when tracking down a reliable professional. Which is exactly why the folks at Zubii think they have a perfect solution. The Seattle startup, which launches in beta on Thursday, is an … Read More...
This map shows where venture capital dollars are flowing in the U.S.
Check out this cool map, produced by The Atlantic in partnership with the Martin Prosperity Institute, which shows where venture capital dollars flowed in 2012. As one would expect, the East and West Coasts have the biggest pockets, led, of course, by San Francisco/Oakland (No. 1) and San Jose (No. 2). Based on the 2012 data, Seattle ranked 7th, with 3.3 percent of … Read More...
Startup advice from Haiku Deck CEO: It’s not about the product — it’s how you make people feel
Adam Tratt's first slide at yesterday's Seattle Tech Meetup was simple: A picture of himself with the words "Don't Be Like Me." No, he wasn't talking about the Adam Tratt of today, who is running an up-and-coming iPad presentation helper that won GeekWire's App of the Year. Rather, he was referring to the Adam Tratt who started a company a few years back that, in his … Read More...
Where great geeks meet sweet gigs: The story behind our new site, GeekWork
Walking into the Seattle Tech Meetup at the HUB Seattle to present our new site GeekWork last night, the first thing I overheard was someone talking about how tough it is to find the right developer for their startup. As people networked and made announcements in advance of the program, it was obvious that a substantial portion of the audience was there to find their … Read More...
Microsoft cites Windows 8 progress as new apps debut — but will it ever get first dibs?
Music video service VEVO already has apps for the iPad and Android, but the company is pointing to its launch today on Microsoft's Windows 8 as a milestone that opens up additional capabilities for tablet users, including the ability to stream videos off to the side while checking email or browsing the web. VEVO's use of Windows 8's SnapView is a small example of what … Read More...
Cha-ching: Double Down posts big profits again, expands social casino globally
Things are rolling for Double Down Interactive. The Seattle-based maker of casino-style social games that was gobbled up by Las Vegas-based International Game Technology for as much as $500 million last year saw its second quarter revenues increase sequentially by 31 percent to $54 million. This comes after the company pulled in $128 million within 12 months … Read More...
Tred looks to transform car shopping with at-home test drives
Is this the future of car shopping? Tred today is taking the wraps off a new service in the Seattle area, which allows car shoppers to test drive a variety of vehicles — everything from Hondas to Jeeps to BMWs — at their homes or offices for just $19 per car. The six-person company, a TechStars Seattle grad that's backed by Maveron; former General Motors … Read More...
Jason Goldberg’s Fab raises $150 million in bid to rival Amazon with ‘emotional commerce’
Jason Goldberg sure has come a long way since Jobster, the Seattle startup company he founded in 2003. Now, at the helm of New York-based e-commerce upstart Fab, the charismatic and controversial entrepreneur just pulled in a whopping $150 million funding round at a reported valuation of $1 billion. Investors in the deal include Andreessen Horowitz; Atomico and new … Read More...
Amazon: No, we won’t release entire TV seasons all at once like Netflix
Netflix has recently been dropping entire season's worth of episodes all at once — Arrested Development, House of Cards — allowing people to engage in "binge viewing." Amazon isn't following suit. While the Seattle online giant released all 14 pilots of its original comedy and children’s series at the same time when seeking customer feedback, the company … Read More...
Google asks court to allow FISA disclosures, citing First Amendment
As pressure on the federal government continues to mount over requests for user data from major technology companies, Google has decided to swipe back at the government. The search giant has submitted a motion to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, asking it to lift a gag order that prohibits Google from disclosing the number of requests the company receives … Read More...
Shadowrun Returns release delayed to July, will allow for create-your-own-adventure campaigns
It’s been more than one year since veteran game designer Jordan Weisman and his company, Harebrained Schemes, raised more than $1.8 million on Kickstarter to develop new versions of Shadowrun Returns for tablets and PCs, which blew past the original goal of $400,000. And now we know when gamers can finally start playing. Originally slated for a June release, the … Read More...
Nintendo 3DS tops Xbox 360 in May, but Microsoft still rules home consoles
While the Xbox 360 continues to dominate the U.S. console industry inside the living room, Nintendo's handheld 3DS was actually the top-selling platform across hardware and portables for the first time ever last month. For the 29th consecutive month, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling at-home console in May, according to the latest numbers from NPD market research firm. … Read More...
LivingSocial closes Seattle office; employees told to work remotely
Amazon.com-backed LivingSocial, the Washington D.C.-based daily deals site, has shut down its Seattle office. The news was first reported by Forbes and we've reached out to the company for confirmation. Less than 40 employees who worked at the office were not let go, but rather told to work from home, Forbes reported. The company is still hiring for three positions … Read More...
Q&A: Rich Barton and Nick Hanauer on why Seattle is a great ‘startup cake’ (and NYC has a ‘sell out’ culture)
We had a blast catching up with Seattle technology entrepreneurs and investors Rich Barton and Nick Hanauer on last weekend's GeekWire podcast and radio show. Barton, the former CEO of Expedia and co-founder of Zillow, and Hanauer, an early investor in Amazon.com and aQuantive, like to think big as they look at ways to be provocateurs in business. We talked about a … Read More...
Ballmer, Myhrvold make Top 100 list recognizing CEOs impacting science, tech education
Two Washington CEOs — and former Microsoft colleagues — made a Top 100 CEO list for executives that were recognized for making a difference in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) industries and education. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Intellectual Ventures CEO Nathan Myrhvold made the list, which was compiled by STEMconnector "to salute and … Read More...
15 hours on a single charge? New MacBook Air’s battery life gets rave reviews
While it certainly wasn't the biggest story out of WWDC, Apple's new MacBook Air notebooks are garnering rave reviews. On the surface, not much has changed with Apple's line of ultraportables. The Air still sports the same display, ports and form factor. According to Macworld's benchmarking, the computer's new Intel HD 5000 integrated graphics card brings a performance … Read More...
Amazon debuts group gift cards for birthdays on Facebook
Facebook already makes it easy to remember the birthdays of your friends. Now, with a little help from Amazon, you can send group-based gift cards, too. Amazon Birthday Gift debuted today as an easy way for anyone to start an Amazon gift card, and then recruit mutual friends on Facebook to add $1-to-$25 to the card. The end result is one big "social" gift card with a … Read More...
This startup mines your Twitter stream to tell you what books to read
Struggling to figure out what books to take to the lake house this summer? Well, you might want to consider BookVibe. The service, a product of San Francisco startup Parakweet, mines your Twitter feed to discover the most appropriate books that your friends are recommending or chatting about. Here's a look at my BookVibe, which couldn't have picked a better title for … Read More...
Microsoft updates ‘Socl’ network with new photo and video creation tools
Microsoft is rolling out a new set of features for "Socl," the social network from its Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Labs, saying it wants to give users new ways to express themselves by collecting, combining and putting their own spin on photos and videos. The tools include PicoTale (pictured above) which lets people create Cheezburger-style captioned images by … Read More...
Messages from our GeekWire members. Become a Golden Geek or Super Geek to put your message on the home page for the year.First Hill Partners: Capital raising and M&A for innovative high growth companies.
Nytec: Not Your Typical Engineering Company
Mary Jesse: Ivytalk. Powerful OTT messaging for business.
Seattle Interactive Conference 2013: Bringing our industry leaders back together Oct 28-30
Nat Burgess, Corum Group: Techmergers.com & World Financial Symposiums
David Niu, TINYpulse: Measure and Improve Company Culture
JP Nicols, Clientific: FinTech Future: Leadership, Advice, Innovation
Perry Atkins – Not Just Another Investment Geek
Spoken Communications: Keep every customer with our zombie-proof cloud. Save me.
Methodologie: Consulting in market strategy and brand differentiation. Stand out.
Bizible: Revenue attribution for offline purchases
Compensation Venture Group: Conscious Compensation ©, changing the workplace.
Redapt: Innovative Cloud and Data Center Infrastructure Solutions.
Matt Hulett, GameHouse: Entrepreneur turned casual game executive turned casino pit boss.
Context Relevant: Turning the big data dial to 11!
Keith Smith, BigDoor: Improving customer loyalty with gamification.
Carter Rabasa, Twilio: Changing business communications forever by empowering software people
Brad Sturgill, MarketFitz, Inc.: Maximizing returns on go-to-market investments.
Arrow: Private jet service to Silicon Valley, business class prices.
Brett Greene: Thoughts on society and our digital lives.
Lon McGowan, iClick: Be Remarkable
47 Degrees: Locally grown iOS & Android design and development, ready for the picking.
Matt Lucas: JobMonkey.com – Coolest Jobs on Earth!
Geir Hansen, Silicon Valley Bank: Supporting Geeks around the World since 1983
Patrick Husting, Extended Results, Inc. Personal Business Intelligence.
Paul Suzman, OfficeLease: We negotiate office leases for tenants.
William Carleton: America's #1 startup financing law blog is the daily Counselor@Law
Solveig Whittle: Social Media, Music and Marketing.
9Mile Labs – Pacific Northwest’s B2B startup accelerator.
Kent Hollenbeck: Be nice. Enjoy every sandwich. Create your own offense. Ok?
Madrona Venture Group — We support you, the builders of tomorrow
Andy Shawber, Summit Law Group: A different view from the Summit
Rich Barton: Zillow homes, Glassdoor jobs, Trover discoveries, Nextdoor neighborhoods, Avvo, Realself
Glenn Walcott: Double Down Interactive – Fun? Ohhhh Yeah!
PipelineDeals: Track Your Leads, Manage Your Sales Pipeline, and Sell More
Jawfish Games: Stop Playing With Yourself!
Institute for Systems Biology: How's your molecular health? Our science will reveal your future.
Alchemy Computer Solutions: WordPress theme developer Linux Sysadmin
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