The Five Most Disruptive Innovations at CES 2016

Forbes | Paul Nunes & Larry Downes (contributors) | January 8

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bigbangdisruption/2016/01/08/the-five-most-disruptive-innovations-at-ces-2016/

“We faced a dilemma this year picking the five most disruptive innovations from over 2 million square feet of exhibit space. At previous CES shows, we’ve been spoiled by entirely new kinds of disruptive innovation that seemed to spring up from nowhere, often led by a visionary start-up…So instead of disruptive individual products, this year we’re grouping our findings into the most disruptive trends we saw this year, all of which cross several traditional industry boundaries (a trend in itself).

Without further introduction, here they are:

1. Autonomous vehicles go mainstream.
2. Providers become platforms.
3. Invisible but essential 5G infrastructure.
4. Random experiments accidentally collide into products.
5. Moore’s Law is the uber-disruptor.”

To see more details on these five disruptive trends, click here

 

Why Oculus Rift’s Huge Launch is Great News for Puget Sound-Area Startups

Puget Sound Business Journal | Ashley Stewart | January 7

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2016/01/why-oculus-rifts-huge-launch-is-great-news-for.html

“When Facebook’s Oculus Rift began accepting pre-orders this week, so many people were trying to buy the $599 virtual reality headset that the website crashed. That’s good news for Seattle VR companies, which in the past have had trouble convincing investors to back the emerging technology…Now, that’s changing as virtual reality products including the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive – developed by Bellevue video game company Valve – gain momentum. Facebook sent a signal to the investment community, Berry [co-founder and CEO of Envelop VR] said, when the company acquired Oculus Rift for $2 billion…Seattle is emerging as a leader in virtual and augmented reality technology. Industry leader Oculus Rift opened a Seattle development office earlier this year; Microsoft is breaking into the industry with augmented reality headset HoloLens; Valve this week brought HTC Vive to CES; and Puget Sound region startups VRcade and Atomic VR are helping to establish the industry.”

 

US Recruits Tech Leaders to Help Disrupt Islamic State Group

The Seattle Times | Brandon Bailey & Julie Pace (Associated Press) | January 7

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/us-recruits-tech-leaders-to-help-disrupt-islamic-state-group/

“With extremists finding fertile ground for recruitment online, the White House is dispatching top national security officials to Silicon Valley to seek the tech industry’s help in disrupting the Islamic State group and other terrorists. At a high-level session Friday, industry leaders and government officials will discuss ways to use technology to stop terrorists from radicalizing people online and spurring them to violence, according to a meeting agenda obtained by The Associated Press. But it’s unclear what will come of the meeting: While tech industry leaders say they want to be good citizens, they don’t want to undercut free speech or be viewed as government agents.”

 

Here Are the Most Innovate States in America

Bloomberg | Michelle Jamrisko | January 7

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/here-are-the-most-innovative-states-in-america?bcomANews=true

“Massachusetts is the most innovative state, with California scoring a close second and Washington, New Jersey and Connecticut rounding out the top five states, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg. Mississippi, West Virginia and South Dakota are the three least innovative states. ‘You’ve got these major, world-ranked institutions that have played a big role in terms of churning out some very, very well-qualified, bright people,’ feeding an innovative atmosphere, said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts…The Bloomberg U.S. Innovation Index scored each of the 50 states on a 0-100 scale across six equally weighted metrics: R&D intensity; productivity; high-tech density; concentration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) employment; science and engineering degree holders; and patent activity.”

 

The Top Seattle Tech Stocks of 2015: A Surging Amazon Leads the Pack

GeekWire | John Cook | January 3

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/the-top-seattle-tech-stocks-of-2015-a-surging-amazon-leads-the-pack/

“It was a mixed year on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were relatively flat for the year, with each falling slightly. The S&P 500 was down 0.7 percent, and the Dow was off 2.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, was a bright spot as large tech titans surged, most notably: Amazon.com. The Seattle online retailer and cloud computing powerhouse — whose CEO Jeff Bezos speaks of the company’s long-term thinking and willingness to be “misunderstood” for long periods of time — was a Wall Street darling in 2015. The stock soared 117 percent during the year. Of the 22 tech stocks tracked by GeekWire, 12 showed positive gains in 2015.”

Check out the 22 tech stocks here