Early-morning tweet and ‘farmer talk’ leads to Microsoft-Mojang deal
May 16, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
SEATTLE — Microsoft’s acquisition of “Minecraft” began with a tweet and a text. Markus “Notch” Persson, the man behind the smash hit world-building game, posted a tweet out of frustration with the fame of running a company with obsessive fans. “Anyone want to buy my share of Mojang so I...
Entrepreneurship has grown on biotechnology firm’s CEO
May 9, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
SEATTLE — Leen Kawas was initially confused when her Ph.D. adviser at Washington State University suggested she help start a company focused on the research their team had been developing for the past several years. Entrepreneurship, or any sort of startup work, wasn’t a career path when Kawas w...
For these startups, Silicon Valley’s diversity problem brings big business
May 2, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
SAN JOSE, Calif. — It’s one of the tech industry’s biggest embarrassments. But for a handful of startups, Silicon Valley’s lack of diversity is also a money-making machine. Capitalizing on the pressure Bay Area tech companies face to hire and promote more women and people of color, a new class o...
3-D technology is game-changer for recruiting future engineers
April 25, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
MINNEAPOLIS — Stratasys Ltd. employees ran a marathon of sorts earlier this month as they dashed to dozens of Twin Cities schools to introduce 3,500 students to the wonderment of 3-D printing. The effort was the company’s first large-scale effort to instantly reach out to thousands of students ...
Large fries? Extra sauce? Why McDonald’s wants to track all your dining habits
April 18, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
CHICAGO — You know a lot about McDonald’s, but McDonald’s doesn’t know much about you. At least not yet. By year’s end, the world’s largest burger chain will roll out nationwide a mobile ordering system that will collect a wealth of data about the habits of customers — everything from w...
Inside the car-eat-car world of self-driving technology
April 11, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
SAN JOSE, Calif. — First, it was just a dream. Then it became a quirky research project undertaken by a handful of the nerdiest engineers in the robotics industry. Now self-driving cars are on the brink of transforming transportation. The industry creating the technology for autonomous vehicles has mor...
T-Mobile moves the needle in its research lab to compete with larger rivals
March 28, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
SEATTLE — For a couple of minutes in a small, nondescript T-Mobile US conference room, the future of wireless is here. Two phone-book sized pieces of equipment stand about 8 feet apart, one representing a cell tower, the other the smartphone of the future. A nearby screen shows the transceiver is beam...
Amazon invests in Costa Rica as tiny nation carves out profitable niche in world economy
March 21, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — In the 19th century, the customs house here brimmed with the imported wares that first helped this tiny Spanish-speaking nation become part of the wider world economy. During a balmy weekend last month, the old brick and iron warehouse was packed again, this time with multilingual...
Biotech firm carves a large niche in tools for research
March 16, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
MINNEAPOLIS — More than 600,000 times, researchers have cited Bio-Techne Corp. in academic papers as a manufacturer of tools that helped in their search for new tests and treatments. The company, Minnesota’s biggest biotech company, makes tiny bits of biology plus analytical machines and kits used in...
Spooked by spike in cyber extortion, businesses are stockpiling bitcoin for payoffs
February 21, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
By Tim Johnson McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS) SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. corporations that have long resisted bending to the demands of computer hackers who take their networks hostage are increasingly stockpiling bitcoin, the digital currency, so that they can quickly meet ransom demands rather than los...
Low-cost mobile carrier CEO finds his calling
February 16, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
By Ronald D. White Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES — The gig: David Glickman, 51, is co-founder and chief executive of Ultra Mobile, a prepaid mobile carrier that provides low-cost, no-contract SIM cards with a focus on immigrants living in the U.S. The company, headquartered outside Los Angeles, l...
Snapchat’s young users are at once its greatest asset and one of its biggest risks
February 9, 2017
Filed under Business, Technology
By Tracey Lien and Samantha Masunaga Los Angeles Times (TNS) Kids don’t use email any more. Facebook is for Mom and Dad. And Yik Yak is so 2015. When it comes to communication in 2017, Snapchat is where it’s at. Snap Inc.’s ability to court a young demographic with its ephemeral photo and...
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