Wozniak shuts down Wheels of Zeus

Not everything turns out to be Apple.

Wheels of Zeus, the start-up formed by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak a few years ago, has been closed.

The Ravix Group, a consulting firm that provides financial and human resources advice, is helping WoZ wind down its affairs, a representative for Ravix said. No one at WoZ could be contacted, but the company's phone number has been changed to the phone number at Ravix.

Formed in 2002, WoZ hoped to bring to market a compact, somewhat inexpensive GPS system for consumers. It also dabbled in RFID. Motorola took out a license with WoZ, but it is unclear whether Motorola, or any other company, ever used any WoZ technology in a product.

Wozniak, however, is not retiring. Instead, he is part of Acquicor Technologies, a shell company that hopes to buy a small company or companies and develop it or them into a larger concern. Wozniak is one of the three principals. The other two are Gil Amelio and Ellen Hancock, two former high ranking Apple execs who were hired (and fired) long after Wozniak left the company. Amelio is one of the largest stockholders of Acquicor.

In Acquicor's amended prospectus, filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company made no mention of Wheels of Zeus' shutdown.

"Since 2002, Mr. Wozniak has been the president and chief technology officer of Wheels of Zeus, a global positioning system and wireless technology licensing company, which he co-founded," the company said in the filing.

An Acquicor representative was not immediately available for comment.

CNET News.com's Ina Fried contributed to this report.

[Andrew J Glina]

Shame

I was looking forward to seeing more of thr genius of Steve. I hope he has more luck next time, in addtion to a clear product.

[Maxwell Studly]

WOZ, A man with interesting ideas....

....but can't run or manage a business to save his life.

[nicmart]

Serial failure

After Apple, Wozniak has had one failure after another. Yet he still <br />fancies himself an expert on what Apple should do. And then there <br />is the recent problem with his claim that he was misquoted to the <br />effect that Apple should spin off the iPod, but then the reporter <br />posted the recorded interview. Maybe what he should work on isn't <br />foremost technology.