Logic

Ten irrelevant technology companies

The great corporate graveyard is filled with hundreds, maybe thousands, of technology companies that managed to go public and then fizzled. Still, most of them weren't going anywhere and never should have gone public to begin with.

But venture capitalists funded them, investment banks underwrote them, analysts wrote glowing reports about them, and you and I bought into it, gullible lemmings that we are. Sorry for being such a negatron; that's just the way it is.

Anyway, what's different about these 10 companies is that they were once important, maybe even exciting. And now, for one reason or another, they're fading slowly and tediously into obscurity. Like people, most companies go out, not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Depressing, isn't it?… Read more

The gadget that really powers CES

As I get ready to leave CES and Las Vegas, I wanted to give a shout-out to the device that truly powers the convention: the smartphone. Doesn't really matter whether it's Treo or Blackberry, everyone was calling, texting and emailing all day long. At such a techie summit you could talk in any public space with impunity. I would have been lost from my CNET compatriots without it. [Side note, my iPhone had "no service" within the convention center but my Blackberry was fine, both on AT&T.]

So at the end of they day, … Read more

LogLogic hires software veteran as CEO

LogLogic, a software company with an open-source twist to the business of monitoring and analyzing server log files, has hired software industry veteran Pat Sueltz to be its new chief executive.

Sueltz has made the rounds in the software industry, working at IBM, Sun Microsystems, Salesforce.com, and most recently, SurfControl, which as CEO Sueltz sold to Websense for more than $400 million in April.

LogLogic sells proprietary software but also made an open-source move in 2006 with a component called Lasso, governed by version 2 of the General Public License (GPL).

LogLogic's acting CEO, Dominique Levin, now is … Read more

Hands-on with the Logic3 JiveBox

Remember that movie Cube? We think the designers of Logic3's new iPod speaker system were watching it and thought, "Guys, y'know what? The cube is such an awesome shape!" The result is the Logic3 JiveBox--a perfectly cuboid iPod setup with a big fat injection of '80s style.

Despite being a magnet for fingerprints, we like the glossy black finish to this box. The only controls sit on the front and include an off button (we love a good off button) and volume controls. For some reason--probably to do with style--all inputs are underneath the system. … Read more

Building the Bazaar: coding community into software

There is a persistent myth that open source operates like Linux, with a global team of developers holding hands and praying for world code peace. Most open-source projects don't work this way, looking much more like Eric Raymond's "cathedral" rather than the holy grail, the "bazaar," as Juergen of SnapLogic points out in an exceptionally insightful post on open-source software development.

The problem with many open-source projects is that while familiarity may not breed contempt, it can certainly breed institutional incompetence:

Why do so many open-source projects not have the active community of external contributors they are hoping for? Because they have been largely developed by co-located teams of hired software engineers, 100% dedicated to the project, managed and organized like any traditional software development effort. This seems to be especially true for the new crop of 'custom build' open-source companies, which would like to take advantage of the open-source business model. They might hope to also enjoy the advantages of the open-source development model one day, but achieving that requires a conscious effort.… Read more

iPod speakers or dressing-room mirror?

With all the attention paid to iPhone speakers and other related gear, one might imagine that the iPod has fallen off the planet. But rest assured, the cottage industry is still churning out various accessories for the media player; after all, if they're being made for the Zune, then certainly the iPod should be well equipped.

Logic3, which already has made its mark with several iPod-related items in its "i-Station" brand, is continuing that streak with the "i-Station Concert." This speaker-dock system isn't as sleek as previous products in the line, looking something like … Read more

Logic3 gives 5.1 sound in 15 speakers

Not taken with Yamaha's one-piece 5.1 surround-sound system for $2,000? Still want a cinema sound setup? We've been given an exclusive preview of Logic3's SoundStage speaker system, which incorporates a true 5.1 setup within a single meter-wide enclosure for a more than acceptable $500.

More interesting still is that this 150W beast works its magic with a full 15 speakers--13 mid- and high-range drivers, plus twin subwoofers.

Like Yamaha's YSP-1100, the technology works by bouncing sound around the walls of your living room, eliminating the need for individual speakers that can be problematic … Read more

Shiny office toys galore at Office 2.0

For a conference about getting work done, there are sure a whole lot of toys here at Office 2.0 in San Francisco. Sure many of them are old hat, like the the Nabaztag/tag, but there's some new stuff here too like Pano Logic's zero client desktop. This shiny metal cube is actually a computer--well kind of. Actually it involves setting up a a beefy server to give everyone in your office a full version of Windows sans hardware. Just give give them a keyboard, mouse, monitor and one of these shiny cubes and they're ready … Read more

Open APIs versus open source

Juergen Brendell over at SnapLogic writes insightfully about the value of open source versus open APIs (application programming interfaces). (This is a related argument to Savio Rodrigues' insistence on open standards.) Open source is nice and helpful in fostering development communities around a project, Juergen writes, but open APIs go that much further.

But Juergen isn't arguing that you can have one without the other (though if stranded on a deserted island, I think he'd choose open APIs). Rather, he's arguing that developers need open APIs first, with open source a nice complement to them:… Read more