GameSalad Creator is now available on the Windows operating system.
The GameSalad Creator, developed by Austin-based GameSalad, lets anyone design, publish and distribute games online, regardless of their skill level, with easy to use, drag and drop tools that require no coding. GameSalad games can be published to all kinds of platforms including iOS devices like the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, Mac desktops, or to the Web.
So far, people have built and published tens of thousands of games with the GameSalad Creator. That includes more than 40 top 100 games in Apple’s App Store.
The GameSalad Creator on Windows is the same tool for making games for the Mac but with a new, improved user interface. And the Windows and Mac versions of Creator are fully compatible.
For more on GameSalad, check out this profile I did on the company back in February.
Category: Austin (Page 291 of 318)
Gazzang released its latest security software product: Gazzang zTrustee, a security management system.
The Austin-based startup says the software as a service offering provides companies with a “universal key manager that stores and manages all cryptographic keys, certificates, configuration files, tokens and any other “opaque objects” an enterprise maintains to secure its most sensitive data.”
Gazzang designed the product after receiving feedback from customers “who wanted to extend the 
reach of the Gazzang zNcrypt™ Key Storage System to manage other important IT objects alongside their Gazzang keys.”
With the increased popular of cloud, software as a service products and big data sites, companies are seeking ways to secure their data online and that’s what Gazzang’s products do.
Gazzang zTrustee helps companies restrict access to sensitive data and gives companies, not cloud or software providers, keys to access their information online in a secure way.
“The growing number of virtual images, cloud instances, servers, mobile devices and other connected systems in the enterprise has created an explosion of keys, certificates and other information objects,” Scott Crawford, managing research director at Enterprise Management Associates, said in a news statement. “Getting this ‘key sprawl’ under control requires organizations to take a more holistic approach to the storage, management, tracking and access policies associated with those objects.”
Silicon Hills News Reporter Yasmin Ghahremani recently did this profile of Gazzang.
ESO Solutions lands $4 million in funding from Austin Ventures in a Series B round.
Chris Dillie, CEO, ESO Solutions, Inc.
ESO Solutions makes electronic medical record software that lets healthcare providers access patient records. The software is aimed at better informing hospitals and emergency response workers about patients’ health and how to best treat them in emergency situations.
“Our customers in EMS and fire have moved from paper-based processes to the electronic age over a very short period of time and are now looking to collaborate with other parts of the health care system in real time,” Chris Dillie, President and CEO of ESO Solutions, said in a statement. “ESO will be using this funding to make certain that we remain the leader and innovator in the area of pre-hospital health care data management.”
Valence Technology reports it has received notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market that the company may be delisted for not complying with the $1 minimum balance for its stock price.
The Austin-based company, which makes energy storage systems, initially received notification from the Nasdaq on Dec. 13, 2011 that the bid price for its stock had closed at less than $1 a share during the previous 30 business days. That means that Valence Technology was not in compliance with Nasdaq’s listing rule. The stock exchange gave the company 180 days to meet its minimum bid requirement. Valence was not able to do that. The company also has negative stockholders’ equity and so it doesn’t meet other listing standards for the Nasdaq market.
Valence is appealing the ruling and that will stay the suspension of the company’s stock pending the appeal panel’s decision.
A lot of consumers want smartphones to access data on the go.
But smartphones only work well if they are connected to a smart network that can handle the bandwidth demand from consumers downloading videos, photos and music onto their mobile devices.
Sprint Nextel Corp. has created a smart network, known as Network Vision, that will provide advanced 3G and 4G LTE service in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta by the end of the month. Service in Austin should be available by the end of the year. Sprint expects to roll out the 4G LTE service to 173 million users by the end of the year.
Deborah Neal, director of sales for Sprint Nextel in Irving, TX
In the U.S., people own 327.5 million mobile devices, that translates to 104 percent market penetration, Neal said.
Right now, Sprint operates three completely separate cellular networks, Neal said. The Network Vision ties all of those networks together and lets a device operate on any of them. The Vision Network is an entirely new nationwide network.
“It allows a device to take advantage of all the spectrum Sprint owns,” Neal said.
Sprint offered an overview of its new network during a media luncheon Monday at Acenar Restaurant in downtown San Antonio. When asked why Texas cities are among the first to get the service, Neal said “Sprint has always done really well in Texas and in San Antonio specifically.”
Sprint first launched its 4G service in 2008. It also introduced the first 4G smartphone two years ago and now offers more than 25 4G-enabled smartphones, USB connection cards, notebook and netbook products, mobile hotspots and routers.
In 2009, Sprint and Time Warner both offered Clearwire’s 4G network in a partnership “to help fund the national build out of the company’s WiMax-based system, which Clearwire choose as its 4G network technology instead of LTE. Clearwire, which is majority owned by Sprint, also partnered with Comcast, Bright House Networks, Intel and Google as part of the deal,” according to the San Antonio Express-News.But the Wi-Max network isn’t as popular as the 4G LTE standard which both Verizon and AT&T rolled out last year, according to this WSJ story.
But the growth in wireless devices is not just coming from phones but from everything from e-readers to blood glucose monitors to Mi-Fi devices and smart picture frames. And the wireless tablet market is projected to grow between 50 percent to 80 percent annually.
Data traffic growth doubled last year and is expected to grow ten to twelve times between 2010 and 2015, according to Roberto Padovani, executive vice president at Qualcomm, who spoke at the Texas Wireless Summit late last year.
In fact, Sprint sees the largest increase for cellular use coming from companies using it for machine to machine devices, said Amy Strobietto, Sprint sales manager in San Antonio. Companies that use video surveillance systems and wireless tracking need cellular service, she said. Also, the explosion in smart meters for the home is also increasing the demand for cellular service, she said.
By SUSAN LAHEY
Special Contributor to Silicon Hills News
Nancy Giordano and Jeff Sharpe
The seminar covered topics from social media to strategy to designing the space you work in to include cooperative-brainstorming areas, play areas and areas for quiet reflection—similar to the space Capital Factory recently unveiled.
Nancy Giordano, CEO of Brand Futurist and Play Big Inc., started the day with a rapid fire summary of trends, saying we’re currently in a kind of trough between the way work used to be done, and the way it will be done in the future which includes massive cooperation, involving everyone in the process whether that’s collaborating on a project or social media—the epitome of inclusivity.
Also touched on:
• Collaborative work stations are replacing work in offices or cubicles.
• Entrepreneurialism and intrapreneurialism–empowering employees at all levels to bring independent thought and perspective into the process–is growing.
• The millennials are introducing a culture of relevance, purpose, passion and positivity—a combining of philanthropy and capitalism with a focus on fostering possibility.
• The millennial perspective on collaboration is “Yes…and” as in “Yes, that’s a good idea and we could also do this” rather than “Yeah…but” which kills creativity.
The focus sounds positive: Inviting everyone to join the conversation, embracing the idea of failing faster and failing forward, opening organizations up to ideas from all stakeholders: employees at every level, customers and vendors. But that requires an ongoing conversation that puts new demands on businesses.
“I’ll stay up until midnight doing emails and I fricking get responses back!” Giordano said. “I have clients who email me back in the middle of the night. And that’s the U.S., not global clients.”
Research shows that the constant disruptions from this ongoing dialogue leaves workers with 12 percent of the day for thought, “even though knowledge workers paid to think for a living.” Use of antidepressants is up 400 percent—though she didn’t say from when. And sleep deprivation is a huge contributor to fatal disease.
Between the explosive growth of technology, new ways to communicate and collaborate and rapid pace of change, humans are struggling to keep up. “We’re in an area of exponential growth,” Giordano said. “As humans, we’re able to adjust to linear growth. We’re not at all prepared for exponential growth.”
Giordano said the business world is demanding more quality, innovation, transparency, personalization and speed, for less time, money, complexity and energy. “That puts anybody who is a provider in a quandary.” Some brands aren’t making it across. And Baby Boomers, entrenched in old ways of doing business, are considered the biggest obstacle to moving forward. They are reluctant to embrace collaborative work, social media and failing forward.
During one session, a participant asked how failing forward could be implemented in highly regulated arenas such as the medical field or in banking. In those situations, said Jeff Sharpe, Director and Designer at JS WorkShop, the focus of experimentation could be on areas such as customer experience.
During an afternoon session, Aaron Strout, Group Director of communications company WCG, Ray Wolf, CEO of PeopleBrite and Lekan Bashua, Manager of Turnstone, talked about issues from strategy to keeping up with social media and news, to the proliferation of tools for everything from collaboration and communication to scheduling. The bottom line seemed to be that everything must line up with business’s core objectives.
Strategy, Strout said, must be flexible and adaptable over time. It must rest on frameworks and processes rather than tools and technologies. It must be informed by key stakeholders, especially those with daily customer contact. He makes sure he’s staying on top of industry change by regularly shifting what he reads to ensure he’s not getting stuck in one perspective.
Wolf, who has had a vast and varied career and a number of tech startups, said he visualizes what he wants: In his case, a business where he can work from a beach and drink good wine. But it’s important to recognize that you don’t reach your goal in a bound but in strategic stages. If you have a new app, don’t aim to be Facebook, aim for a reasonable goal such as gaining 1,000 users.
Each participant had some way of evaluating tools. Bashua suggested using a “maven.” His is his wife. If he mentions a tool 10 times, she points it out to him and he knows it’s probably a good one that’s serving a purpose.
The last session of the day was Peter Kim, Chief Strategy Officer of the Dachis Group and author of Social Business by Design speaking on social media.
Kim listed several key elements to a strong social campaign including:
• Everyone can participate
• It’s responsive: He told the story of the You Tube video showing how Mentos candy can make a geyser in Diet Coke spawning zillions more videos of Mentos geysers. The Mentos company embraced the craze and Coke responded coldly. By the time Coke figured out the benefit of the attention, it was too late.
• There are three “buckets” of messages that work: Making people laugh, entertaining; making people famous; tugging at their heartstrings.
A mature social media campaign, he said, will be enterprise-wide; will be scalable and will be able to identify ROI from social business solutions.
Bashua of Turnstone gave one takeaway most participants will remember and which summarized the future of business: So.lo.mo.big.fat which translated to:
Social, local, mobile, big data, fat pipes (large communication network). The future of business in a nutshell.
A new startup resource, Napkin Venture launched in Austin this month and aims to help entrepreneurs find services and solve problems.
The startup will help all types of entrepreneurs.
Napkin Venture will offer business classes on a variety of topics including business models, marketing, funding and how to pitch. The project sounds similar to what Startup America is doing on a national level.
Former city council candidate Tina Cannon, founder of PetsMd.com, is leading the venture along with a team of experienced entrepreneurs, designers, attorneys and others. They include Raúl Calvoz, a lawyer turned business executive, Chuck Miller, an entrepreneur, inventor, graphic designer, photographer, marketing guru, and musician and Eve Richter, who founded the Emerging Technologies Program in the Economic Development Division at the City of Austin.
“I’ve been there, done that, have the t-shirt,” Cannon said in a news statement. “I’ve struggled out there and learned my lessons, and want to help other startups to avoid some of the mistakes I made, and get on the fast track to success. I’m excited to finally realize my goal of helping entrepreneur dreams become reality.”
If you were wanting to get the pulse of the Austin startup community, who are in the top 5 you would talk to? Thanks!
— Damon Clinkscales (@damon) June 10, 2012
Damon Clinkscales recently complied this list when he tweeted out a question to the Austin high-tech community asking for recommendations of the top people to talk to about the Austin startup scene.
I agree with all the recommendations. My list in Austin is as follows:
Josh Baer, founder of multiple companies including OtherInBox, Capital Factory and author of Austinpreneur.
Jason Cohen, founder Smart Bear Software, founder of Capital Factory and founder of WP Engine.
Damon Clinkscales, software engineer and founder of AustinOnRails.
Bill Boebel, founder of Webmail.us, angel investor and manager at Capital Factory.
Julie Huls, president of the Austin Technology Council.
Bryan Menell, director of the Collaboratory at Dachis Group, founder of AustinStartup.com and the monthly High Tech Happy Hour.
Josh Dilworth, founder and CEO of Jones-Dilworth, Inc., an early-stage technology marketing firm.
Kevin Koym, entrepreneur and founder of Tech Ranch Austin.
Eve Richter, emerging technologies coordinator at City of Austin/Economic Development
Robert Reeves, founder at Datical, cofounder of Phurnace Software and formerly director of IT and Wireless at the Austin Technology Incubator.
Jeff Harbach, executive director of Central Texas Angel Network
Rudy Garza, angel investor and founder and managing general partner of G-51, also known as TexasSuperAngel on Twitter.
Andrew Busey, successful serial entrepreneur, now venture partners with Austin Ventures.
Jacqueline Hughes, founder of Austin Startup Week
Laura Beck, owner of StripedShirt and seasoned technology PR professional who knows everyone.
Lori Hawkins, veteran technology reporter at the Austin American Statesman. She pens the Starting Blog.
Bob Metcalfe, co-founder of Ethernet, 3Com, professor of innovation at UT and cofounder of 1SemesterStartup.
Austin has a thriving high-tech startup scene. So many people contribute to the collaborate environment in the city and that makes it tough to name just a few.
In fact, I was just interviewed for an article in Fast Company Magazine on the startup scene in both Austin and San Antonio and I listed many of the people on Clinkscales list. But I also told the reporter that it was tough to make up a list because so many people in Austin help startup entrepreneurs.
I also listed the top people for the San Antonio area. They are as follows (and again I know I will leave off important people so please list them in the comments sections to add to this list.)
Graham Weston, chairman of Rackspace, founder of Geekdom and investor in lots of startup companies.
Pat Condon, founder of Rackspace, supporter of Geekdom and angel investor in startup companies.
Dirk Elemendorf, founder of Rackspace, supporter of Geekdom and angel investor in startup companies.
Jason Seats, founder of Slicehost, managing director of TechStars Cloud and angel investor.
Alan Weinkrantz, high-tech public relations professional who runs his own firm and splits his time between the startup scene in San Antonio and Israel.
Dr. Luz Cristal Glangchai, assistant professor and associate director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Trinity University and manager of 3DayStartup San Antonio.
Nick Longo, founder of CoffeeCup Software and director of Geekdom, a collaborative coworking space for high-tech entrepreneurs in downtown San Antonio.
Vid Luther, founder of ZippyKid, a WordPress hosting site.
The largest online coupon site, RetailMeNot.com has released its first iPhone app that lets consumers retrieve coupons while shopping inside stores.
The app is free and features “hot deals” from popular stores updated daily. The app contains more than 1,600 in-store mobile exclusives where consumers need to simply show cashiers the coupons on their iPhone
“With over 17 percent of our total site traffic coming through handheld devices, our new iPhone app is significant for two reasons: First, it provides consumers with an enhanced savings experience when accessing RetailMeNot through our mobile channel, which continues to grow by 200% every month year-over-year; second, with millions of busy, on-the-go consumers increasingly using their mobile device to make an online or in-store purchase, now is the time to double down on our investment in developing better mobile technology,” Cotter Cunningham, CEO and founder of WhaleShark Media, the operator of RetailMeNot.com, said in a news statement. “This first iPhone app is only our initial offering, and we plan on significant improvements and new features to come to support consumers interested in saving money while using mobile devices to shop online or within retail stores.”
In a survey with Ipsos Research, RetailMeNot found that 56 percent of U.S. adults have a smartphone and 62 percent of them download mobile apps.
About 71 percent of adults under 35 have smartphones, compared to 56 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 42 percent of those older than 55.
Smartphone owners are more likely to have incomes of more than $50,000 a year and 67 percent have children and college degrees and 66 percent work full time.
More than a third of adultas have used their smartphone or tablet to shop for or research a product or service.
RetailMeNot Coupons app for iPhone from RetailMeNot on Vimeo.
The Startech Foundation, based in San Antonio, serves as the South Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization, and in that role it is accepting applications from South Texas startups seeking financing from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.
That state fund provides early stage seed funding for technology startups, university faculty and others that have an emerging technology ready for commercialization.
“The state of Texas has about $50 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to invest into Texas innovation startups in the next 15 months,” Jim Poage, president and CEO of Startech, said in a statement. “With almost $43 million already invested into South Texas, several companies and universities have already taken advantage of the available funding from the ETF, more should do the same.”
To apply, please contact Erica Amaya at Startech at 210.458.2713 or ea@startech1.org for more details. The application deadline is midnight on July 24.