Technology news about Austin and San Antonio
By LESLIE ANNE JONES Reporter with Silicon Hills News On a sunny Saturday, 12 children and young teens convened in MakerSquare’s classrooms for a little weekend coding. “What do we think these are?” teacher Drew Robinson asked a room full of kids seated before laptops. “Opening and closing HTML tags,” an elementary school boy speedily […]
AT&T announced Monday plans to roll out its ultra-fast fiber network and AT&T U-Verse TV service to San Antonio and 20 other major metropolitan areas. The company already delivers its 1 Gigabit per second broadband Internet network to Austin. It began to offer service there after Google announced plans for a 1 Gigabit network in […]
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News The geeks might inherit the earth eventually, but for now, they’ve got their own building in downtown San Antonio. On Monday, two Geekdom flags flew from the top of the historic Rand Building at 100 E. Houston St., signifying the move in of Geekdom members. It’s their […]
For the first time in its more than two year history, Geekdom will close its doors Friday at 2 p.m. But don’t fret. It’s only temporary. Geekdom, the downtown technology incubator and co-working space in San Antonio, is moving to the historic Rand building, which dates back to 1913, this weekend. It will reopen on […]
In 2008, Microsoft opened a $550 million, 470,000 square foot data center in the Westover Hills area of San Antonio. At the time, a Microsoft executive said that was just the beginning of Microsoft’s investment in San Antonio. She was right. This week, Microsoft announced a $1 million donation to the University of Texas at […]
By LESLIE ANNE JONES Reporter with Silicon Hills News It might be the biggest online entertainment production house you’ve never heard of. Rooster Teeth celebrated its eleventh anniversary on April 1, and its much-loved series Red vs. Blue, which debuted in 2003, is now the longest-running American sci-fi show and has sold 1 million DVDs. […]
By TIM GREEN Reporter with Silicon Hills News If the Dell Medical School were a startup, it would have cleared some important milestones. It’s funded. Construction will soon start on its campus. And it’s got a leader in Dr. Clay Johnston. Before being named dean of Dell Medical School, Johnston had been the associate vice […]
Bazaarvoice announced Tuesday its acquisition of FeedMagnet, a social media curation company in Austin, for $9 million in cash. The privately-held company, FeedMagnet, lets brands collect, curate and display consumer generated images, video and social content on their websites and other marketing properties. With the acquisition of FeedMagnet, Bazaarvoice reported it wants to harness the […]
By ZACH REED Reporter with Silicon Hills News After work, Punit Sheth taught himself how to build mobile apps. “It all started when I realized how much we rely on mobile applications; in almost any industry, you can see how mobile apps have helped streamline and optimize the processes they’ve been using for many years.” […]
RideScout, an app that helps people find transportation, announced it is expanding to the San Francisco area. The Austin-based company has also recently expanded its coverage to include “Sidecar, Silvercar, Muni, BART, Caltrain, Golden Gate Transit, AC Transit, Blue & Gold Fleet, Baylink Ferry and SamTrans — along with Flywheel, City CarShare, Bay Area Bike […]
By JONATHAN GUTIERREZ Reporter with Silicon Hills News A growing skills gap exists in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields for workers in the U.S. One reason for this is because there is a lack of U.S. born students pursuing STEM degrees. Peter French believes something needs to be done to fill this gap. […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News A group of 30 investors from Shenzhen, China, heard pitches from tech companies Tuesday and Wednesday at the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa. Members of the Boshang Group, which comprises about 6,000 businesses and is managed by the alumni association of Tsinghua University, spent several days […]
OP3Nvoice, the London company that last year moved to Austin has become one of six startups accepted to participate in BBC Worldwide Labs, 2014. Ironically, the company met BBC executives at SXSW Interactive. BBC Interactive provides acceleration for companies chosen for their natural alignment with BBC Worldwide’s existing business units and international brands. It integrates […]
Thank you to all of our Kickstarter backers for making the first print edition of Silicon Hills News possible and to all of our advertisers a big thank you. The magazine was a huge success at South by Southwest Interactive in March. On April 18th, we’re hosting a celebration at Ino’z in downtown Wimberley. We’ll […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News At a restaurant like Swift’s Attic, when someone is an especially good customer—perhaps because they come in a lot, host big parties or drink expensive Bourbon– you don’t reward them with a punch card good for a free muffin. You might send out a complimentary appetizer, said […]
By JAIME NETZER Reporter with Silicon Hills News Boxer’s motto is, “Email isn’t broken, it’s just unfair.” It’s about an overload problem, says Boxer CEO and co-founder, Andrew Eye. “People are all frustrated by overload, and they tend to pick a scapegoat,” he says. “Email is a convenient scapegoat, people say it’s old, it’s broken, […]
By LESLIE ANNE JONES Reporter with Silicon Hills News Remote diagnostic tools have been available to big companies with complex computer networks for many years, but the options for your average residential IT support provider were limited. It’s a waste of time and expense for the IT guy when he has to go to a […]
By ZACH REED Reporter with Silicon Hills News Nathaniel Medrano wrapped up a recent internship feeling that, while the experience gave him great exposure, the job’s DIY learning model-via telecommute no less-still had him looking for ingrained traction in the technology. His work setting up search engines for local directories at a telecommunications company had […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News Picking a co-working space is like a cross between choosing a place to work and finding your favorite hangout. What’s important to you? Ergonomic chairs? Community? The vibe? The snacks? Or, as one Yelper explained, the fact that they “play the same tunes I have on my […]
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Codeup, a 12-week boot camp to teach technical skills to people, won the 2014 InnoTech Beta Summit on Wednesday afternoon. Michael Girdley launched Codeup last year and the first class of 28 men and women is about to graduate. The startup, based at Geekdom, charges $9,850 per […]
Spredfast has merged with Mass Relevance to create one of the largest independent social marketing companies, and will operate going forward as Spredfast. Mass Relevance has created social media management platforms for more than 350 major brands including Pepsi, Campbell’s, GE, Target, Walgreens and Microsoft. Spredfast also provides its customers with a social media platform […]
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News On the first Tuesday of every month, a group of people interested in the latest technology developments in San Antonio gathers at Geekdom for the San Antonio New Tech meetup. The hour-long program showcases some of the latest startups in the city along with other interesting projects. […]
BY LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News ENTvantage Diagnostics won the Emerging Medical Technology Symposium’s pitch competition on Tuesday afternoon. “ENTvantage Diagnostics provides primary care and ENT physicians with critical information on the causes of ear, nose and throat illnesses,” said Joseph Skraba, its CEO. The Austin-based company’s first product is a test its […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News Kerry O’Connor, Austin’s new Chief Innovation Officer, defines innovation as “any project that is new to you and has an uncertain outcome.” Her job as innovation officer, she said, is “bringing smart people together to feel around in the dark.” O’Connor spoke at a party to welcome […]
BY STACY ALEXANDER EVANS Reporter with Silicon Hills News The Lefsetz Letter is no Slashdot or Ars Technica. Yet the blog’s founder, Bob Lefsetz—a modern day philosopher of sorts, who proselytizes on everything from popular music to aging—has some compelling thoughts with surprising relevance for the tech world and business. “If you can tell a […]
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Seven startups will pitch at the eighth annual InnoTech Beta Summit on Wednesday. The event, which takes place at 3 p.m. at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, will showcase some of the best and brightest new technology startups in San Antonio. Each team will have five […]
We can make @lyft & @uber work in San Antonio. They'll need to meet strong safety/quality standards. SA is moving fwd, not standing still. — Mayor Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) March 28, 2014 By LAURA LOREK Founder Silicon Hills News On March 21, Lyft, the riding sharing service, launched in San Antonio. Last week, Police Chief […]
By STACY ALEXANDER EVANS Reporter with Silicon Hills News One look around the offices at Mass Relevance in downtown Austin, and its clear this is where the cool kids come to work. Surrounded by colorful lockers embellished with skater-style stickers and loft-like exposed vent ducts, the employees here—like new hire Courtney White who recently moved […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News According to the PWC Money Tree, Texas was the sixth highest investment region in the country in 2013. With $1.3 billion invested it was a small player compared to Silicon Valley’s $12 billion in investments. A fact that continues to gall Austin’s startup community. The good news […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News The topic was supposed to be How Millennials are Sparking Change, but while the panels addressed the challenges of entrepreneurship, the dearth of STEM in the education system, the growing Hispanic population and the Austin startup culture, little was said about how millennials are sparking change until […]
By AMY MCCULLOUGH Reporter with Silicon Hills News While the science behind Austin’s Adometry might be complex, the company’s goals are simple: To help marketing executives answer the questions, “How’s my marketing doing?” and “What should I do different?” Sales executives have Salesforce.com. Financial executives have Oracle Financials. But marketing officers have never had a […]
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News San Antonio has a long history of innovation when it comes to the biotechnology and the medical industry. Dr. Julio Palmaz, then a professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center invented the heart stent, which restaurateur Phil Romano later backed and they eventually sold it […]
By SUSAN LAHEY Reporter with Silicon Hills News Intellectual property should be a sexy asset to sell. After all, you’re peddling pure potential: “Take this patent and make yourself a star…or at least solve some problem faster and more cheaply than you would have been able to yourself.” But in reality, IP sellers and buyers […]
By AMY MCCULLOUGH Reporter with Silicon Hills News Aseem Ali was a carless freshman at the University of Texas at Austin living in an apartment complex. When he could work around friends’ schedules and borrow cars to get to the grocery store, he could get fresh food and produce. But due to the inconvenience, he […]
Tim Jenison will be the featured speaker at Startup Grind San Antonio at noon on March 25th at Geekdom in downtown San Antonio. Jenison is the founder of NewTek, a video graphics software and hardware company. He is an inventor, entrepreneur and now artist and filmmaker, in San Antonio. Jenison is the star of the […]
By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News Founded in late 2011, Geekdom has served as a catalyst for San Antonio’s technology startup industry. Graham Weston, chairman of Rackspace and Nick Longo, founder of CoffeeCup Software, founded Geekdom. Lorenzo Gomez now serves as the director of Geekdom. It hosted the Techstars Cloud program, which graduated […]
Lyft, the ride sharing app, launched Friday in San Antonio, its third city in the Texas market. Lyft is also available in Dallas and Houston. The company held a party earlier this week at the Hotel Havana downtown to celebrate its service in the San Antonio area. “San Antonio has been a longtime supporter of […]
