Portland startup, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
[Editor’s note: The following is a guest post from Duane Benson of Screaming Circuits.]
Oregon has a long history with electronics hardware design, going back to the early days of Tektronix and Intel. Those two technology pioneers begat hardware startup companies like Radisys, InFocus, Planar, and a host of others. But over the last two decades, the local tech startup scene has been much more about the Internet and software than it has been about chips and solder.
It’s true that the Portland startup community is experiencing a bit of a hardware renaissance, but fact of the matter is, there’s been a strong and consistent undercurrent of that startup activity for years. A no one has been a more ardent champion of that activity than Portland startup Crowd Supply. So it only makes sense that they would be behind the effort to get that community together. Meet Teardown.
Even though there’s less focus on it than previous years, Portland is—and remains—the de facto hub of open source activity. It’s just something in our blood. So it only stands to reason that—as more things become open—Portland would be a great spot for those open pursuits to congregate. Take for example Open Hardware Summit. Read More
Among many interesting developments announced at the Intel Developer Forum (in San Francisco, where the technology discussion was largely about what Intel is doing in Oregon) was the announcement that Intel’s somewhat understated Custom Foundry business would be building processors for ARM and its customers, including LG, servicing the mobile and IoT markets. While this is not as big as a win as having the dominant branded design, it underscores Intel’s continuing leadership in manufacturing technology—led by Intel’s Hillsboro Ronler Acres site. Read More
In my first post, I made a mild dig at my former hometown (Silicon Valley) for perhaps becoming a bit soft(ware) and distant from the science and tech base it started from. That’s not the whole story, of course, and in any event the home of Apple and Google (great software companies that ended up doing their own great hardware) doesn’t need my help to philosophize on this topic. Read More
It’s no secret that Portland loves its crowdfunding campaigns. We love it so much, we even build platforms for facilitating it. And those platforms wind up hosting any number of interesting projects. Like the campaign currently running on Portland based Crowd Supply, The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen. Read More
One of Portland’s biggest problems in terms of knowledge sharing is that whole “West Hills Tunnel Problem.” In a nutshell, that’s the issue where people from Portland don’t collaborate with folks in the suburbs as much as they could. And vice versa. That’s why I’m always happy to see new events that help bridge that divide. Like the new Nike Tech Talks series. Read More
It’s no secret that Portland and the sun have an odd relationship. We love it and all. It just doesn’t show up that often. So when it does, it would be awesome to have a way of making the most of it—without overindulging. That’s the idea behind Ultra’s Violet, the first-ever wearable device that helps track your UV exposure and measure sun-generated vitamin D. Read More
The Portland area has no shortage of startup accelerators. But the vast majority of them are focused on products that could be best described as ethereal. What about folks working in the physical world? Well, meet e1ectr0n, a Beaverton based accelerator designed to help folks working on hardware-based technology. Read More
While there are any number of amazing things happening in the Portland startup scene with Web and mobile, the glimmers of a hardware renaissance are upon us. And that harkens back to the days that when the Silicon Forest garnered its moniker. Read More