GeekWire

On this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we present an essay written and read by Frances McCue a Seattle-based poet, writer, co-founder of nonprofit community writing center Hugo House, and a teaching professor at the University of Washington. She is also the writer and producer of Where the House Was , a feature documentary about gentrification and poetry in the city. Find her online at f...

Seattle's tech community just reached a new milestone: 10 unicorns, privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion. Their characteristics say a lot about the direction and state of the tech industry in the region, both positive and negative. Read more: Seattle area boasts 10 fast-growing unicorns: Can you name the billion-dollar startups? Joining us as a guest commentator this week: Heath...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast: How the antitrust case against Facebook could impact the rest of the tech industry; the state of Seattle as "Cloud City"; and first impressions of SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband service from a user of the company's "Better Than Nothing Beta." Our guest commentator this week is Seattle-area angel investor Charles Fitzgerald , co-organizer of the Cloud City...

Did you get sick with flu-like symptoms in the first few months of this year, or know someone who did? Do you suspect it might have been COVID-19? On the Season 5 premiere of the GeekWire Health Tech Podcast, we revisit the early days of the pandemic in a quest to figure out a mysterious illness, and share what we learned along the way from experts at University of Washington Department of Medicin...

Amazon is often described as innovative, creative, experimental and ruthless. It's also very, very big — and getting bigger. With a market value of $1.6 trillion — nearly the equivalent of Russia's gross domestic product — Amazon now dwarfs many of its retail rivals who've struggled to compete with a fast-moving organization whose expansive appetite seems endless. But some retail...

This week on the GeekWire Podcast:   Salesforce strikes a deal to acquire Slack for $27.7 billion; Amazon Web Services makes some surprising news at its  annual re:Invent cloud conference ; and a new tech giant arrives in our backyard . Joining us on this episode is Matt McIlwain , managing director at Seattle-based venture capital firm Madrona Venture Group , offering his commentary on...

Amazon's big move into the pharmacy business last week wasn't a surprise at all, and it's just part of a larger plan to reinvent a trillion-dollar industry. Coming soon from Amazon: health insurance, predicts serial entrepreneur and NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway in his new book, "Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity." "Amazon knows a great deal about its best customers: what do they ea...

A group of architects released their concept for a Seattle skyscraper suited to life in the post-pandemic world, where you might live and work all in the same place. Seattle 2030 would stand 1,030 feet tall and have a cloud walk observatory and drone ports at the top. But will it ever be built? Wheels, the latest electric scooter share service to launch in Seattle, has a unique feature: a seat. We...

We’re excited to introduce you to our new podcast, 2025: Tomorrow, Today , produced by GeekWire Studios, and co-hosted by someone who will be a familiar voice to GeekWire Podcast listeners, GeekWire’s John Cook, along with Jordon Voss of Northern Trust, our partner on this new show. They will be exploring the future of retail, work and more on this new podcast with help from leading ex...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: OthersideAI thinks it can help you be more productive by using artificial intelligence to write your emails for you. But is that really a good idea? The months-old firm announced a $2.6 million seed round this week . It's one of several startups creating email products based on OpenAI's GPT3 language processing technolo...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: Just before the election, Joe Biden's campaign released a list of its top "bundlers," people who raise big donations to the campaign. Several well-known Seattle tech names were on the list. We look at who they are and why they were raising money for Biden. Amazon released a Smart Shelf that can keep track of things like...

The past year has brought a pandemic, a national reckoning over race, plus antitrust investigations and charges against major tech companies, with massive swaths of the tech workforce working from their bedrooms. But also record profits, a booming IPO market, and trillion-dollar valuations at the same time. Does this suggest a disconnect, or point to a “correction” in the future? ...

“I don't know when it's going to be announced. But the day there's a vaccine announced that people really believe in will be our highest booking day in history.” That was Peter Kern, the CEO of Expedia Group, the Seattle-based online travel giant, speaking this week at the GeekWire Summit. On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we’re featuring highlights from our conversation w...

This week's GeekWire Podcast features highlights from the first week of the virtual GeekWire Summit, including what's next in the quest for a COVID-19 vaccine, a conversation with Panos Panay, Microsoft's chief product officer, and Bill Gates' comments on what's keeping him optimistic in these tumultuous times. Full GeekWire Summit sessions are available on-demand exclusively to attendees of the v...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: A long-awaited report from a U.S. House antitrust subcommittee landed this week, and it slammed Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple for their alleged monopolistic practices in the online marketplaces they operate. Amazon responded with a scathing blog post that said the report featured “flawed thinking.” Hous...

Our signature technology conference,  the GeekWire Summit , kicks off next week. Now in its ninth year, this annual event is known for offering a glimpse of the future through the eyes of leaders in technology, science and business, and in these challenging and uncertain times, this annual tradition has never been more important. You may have seen the news that  Bill Gates has joined the...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: The results are in from the first-ever GeekWire 200 CEO Insights survey and they may surprise you . Startup CEOs in Seattle are generally optimistic about the state of the economy for the next 18 months. And they have some thoughts on who should be president. Amazon's latest offering is virtual tourism through its new A...

Mike Angiulo worked at Microsoft for 25 years as an engineering manager and vice president for products including Windows PCs, Microsoft Outlook, Xbox, Surface, and cloud and artificial intelligence technologies. But it was actually not the work Angiulo originally envisioned doing. He had planned to be a lawyer, delaying those plans after he started at Microsoft in his early 20s. Now, at age 47, n...

Ring, the Amazon-owned smart doorbell and security company, unveiled a flying indoor camera on Thursday morning. Sure, it's cool technology that may make your home safer, but what about the privacy implications?  There was big news in the gaming industry from Amazon and Microsoft this week. Amazon will try again to make its mark in games, this time with a new cloud-based gaming service called...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: Snowflake, the data warehousing company, came out with a bang this week in its public debut, raising $3.4 billion in the largest software IPO ever. It reignited a debate over the the IPO process and inequality in the allocation of shares when a company goes public. Snowflake's IPO was also a successful outcome for Seatt...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: The new Microsoft dual-screen Surface Duo device has arrived and we have our first impressions. We're intrigued, but it's pricey (starting at $1,399) and it needs more work. And do we really need yet another device? Microsoft is becoming the de-facto virtual fan experience enabler for sports leagues. First they deployed...

When Athira Pharma filed with the Nasdaq for a possible initial public offering , led by CEO Leen Kawas, it got us thinking: How many other women have headed Northwest companies that went for an IPO? Sadly, the answer wasn't surprising and it highlights a glaring shortcoming in the Seattle tech scene. This 35-year-old female CEO is about to crack the glass ceiling, shattering a dismal IPO track re...

Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week. Amazon surprised everyone by unveiling a new health band, the Halo, this week. The device will not only track your steps but also measure your body fat and even analyze your voice to assess your degree of “energy and positivity." But will it protect your private health info from prying eyes? Seattle startup V...

GeekWire's Taylor Soper was in the virtual stands -- and on the live national broadcast -- for Thursday's Blazers vs. Lakers playoff game, watching the action with Microsoft's Teams application alongside other fans doing the same. What was it like, and what does it mean for the future of live sports? We jumped online for this GeekWire Podcast discussion right as the game was ending to discuss the...

We finally got the price and date for Surface Duo, Microsoft's new dual-screen Android device (don't call it a phone!). It launches on Sept. 10 and at a price — $1,399 — that may put it out of the reach of many. Todd has ordered one but ... who else will be buying? And what is Microsoft up to with this device? Amazon announced they'll begin hosting third party podcasts on their Amazon...