World's first radio show was in... San Jose

SJtoday had a great post last week about a San Jose invention most people don't realize came from San Jose, the radio. Well, there is some debate on who invented the actual radio technology, but at minimum the first radio broadcasts were in San Jose. 

It all went back to the early 1900s, well before the Silicon  Valley era. Charles David "Doc" Herrold was the first radio broadcaster in the world and in 1910 created the first radio show. At one point, he had to tap into San Jose street car power lines for transmission. It's an interesting story and you can check it out at the source link below.

Source: SJtoday

Samsung is launching new AI-focused smartphones in San Jose

Samsung is gearing up to launch their newest flagship devices on January 17th at their North American headquarters, right here in San Jose. The theme is "Galaxy AI is coming." 

It's not entirely clear how Samsung will spice up their lineup but is easy to speculate that they will have components similar to ChatGPT or Google Bard. The new phones could also have new hardware to accelerate AI functionality or apply AI to phone use itself (e.g. predicting what you are going to do and setting up automatic routines). Whatever happens, they'll be filming here.

Samsung's North American Headquarters is located in North San Jose at 3655 North First street.

Source: The Mercury News

San Jose metro is still the best for tech

Once again, San Jose is the top metro in the United States for tech productivity. In 2019 San Jose brought in $30 billion more than the runner up, San Francisco. 

This statistic is even more impressive considering we now only have the 5th highest count of tech workers. New York, LA, Washington, and the San Francisco metros all have between double and quadruple our population and in the case of New York nearly double the number of tech workers. Despite this, we still have a greater economic output in the tech industry. The death of Silicon Valley has been severely exaggerated.

Source: SVBJ

Google expanding to North San Jose

Google has a long term vision of building an epic 8 million SQFT campus in Downtown San Jose near Diridon. That project that will probably take a decade to come to fruition. Fortunately, there is another Google project in North San Jose with a much shorter horizon.

Google has just secured leases on three buildings totaling 611,535 SQFT that have yet to be constructed at 60 North Brokaw (near Casino M8trix). Peery-Arrillaga, the developer, has already requested permits to start construction. Two of the buildings would be eight stories tall, while the third is four stories.

The buildings could accommodate up to 4,900 employees, and they could start moving in as early as 2021. That sounds like ages from now, but is less than two years away. Since Mountain View real estate is completely tapped out, this is the first step in a long journey for Google to move the majority of their Silicon Valley operations to San Jose. Without major changes in building policies up north, San Jose is without a doubt Google's future.

Sources: SVBJ, San Jose Inside

Daimler and Bosch will trial autonomous taxis in San Jose

All roads are headed towards robotaxis. Every major auto manufacturer is investing heavily in self-driving technology, and services are coming far sooner than you think. Waymo--which is owned by Google--will be the first to launch a paid service using autonomous vehicles. Arizona will be the first to get the service over the next couple months, followed by the Bay Area.

Right on the heels of Waymo, Daimler and Bosch are doing a pilot in San Jose during the second half of 2019. They will use a fully autonomous Mercedes Benz S Class to transport passengers between Downtown San Jose and the San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor (Santana Row & Valley Fair). That is probably the route in San Jose in greatest need for a transit upgrade.

Unlike Waymo, who is already running some cars with no safety driver--they will have two safety drivers in each vehicle. You will be able to summon a car by using an app and presumably the service will be either very low cost or free during the trial period. Welcome to the future.

Source: Engadget, SVBJ

Electric car company grows in San Jose

NIO, a Chinese EV startup, is doubling down in North San Jose. They are moving into a 100,362 SQFT building at 3100 N. First Street, which was previously home to Broadcom and Hitachi. NIO already employs 520 people in San Jose, so this is a positive sign that more high-tech jobs will be opening up soon.

NIO currently only manufactures a single car, the EP9. It's a $1.2M supercar with 1,341 horsepower that currently holds the electric car record for the Nurburgring and for the fastest autonomous lap at the Circuit of the Americas. Like Tesla they decided to start with a halo car and work their way down to cars the masses can afford. Their next car will be a 7-seat SUV called the ES8 that will compete with Tesla's Model X.

NIO has already raised $1 billion and are rumored to be gearing up for a US IPO that could raise another $2 billion. It's clear that the auto industry is going to look a lot different in 5-10 years than it does today. If NIO turns out to be another disruptor like Tesla, then San Jose has a lot to gain as the brand grows.

Source: SVBJ

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is returning to Downtown San Jose

WWDC 2018 will take place in San Jose for the second year in the row. This is Apple's largest event and it will take over the McEnery Convention Center as well as various other parts of Downtown from June 4-8.

The conference starts with a keynote that goes over the latest software releases for MacOS and iOS devices. Often times, major new hardware is announced as well. Last year the Apple Homepod as well as new iPads and an iMac Pro were all revealed.

The 2017 event appeared to be a huge success. Thousands of attendees roamed Downtown and multiple parallel events related to the Apple community also took place in the area. Feedback from attendees on location was very positive. The true test of success was that Apple chose to run the event in San Jose again this year instead of returning the conference to Moscone in San Francisco. Hopefully the 2018 event will be even better than last year's conference.

If you are a developer and are interested in attending, all you need to do is sign up for a lottery by March 22nd for a chance to spend $1,599 on a conference pass.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: 2017 Meta Post

It's that time of year again to look back and see the top "Saturday Stats" of 2017. The list is pretty impressive yet again. San Jose ranked as the top city for productivity, tech jobs, and economic momentum. Happiness and health are also up there. 

You can also see the full list of "Saturday Stats" (including previous years) with article links over here.

San Jose is the #1 Best Place for Tech Jobs

In what should come as no surprise, San Jose took the top spot again in Nerd Wallet's annual study of best cities for tech jobs. They looked at the largest 381 US metros and evaluated the percentage of jobs in tech, annual median wage for tech jobs, and gross rent. Despite having astronomical housing costs, we still came in way ahead of the competition. We have about double the number of tech jobs per capita as any other city in the top 10 and our median annual tech salary blew away every other city at the top of the list. Even SF was a distant 9th place.

Source: Nerd Wallet

New San Jose high-tech 'megafactory'

Veoldyne LiDAR has chosen South San Jose as its location to manufacture cutting-edge sensors for advanced tech such as self-driving cars. LiDAR is similar to radar, but uses light from a laser instead of radio waves to create a three-dimensional image. Next time you see a prototype autonomous vehicle on the freeway, look for the spinning disk on the roof. That is a LiDAR sensor. It is also used for drone aircraft and industrial robots.

Manufacturing will take place in a 200,000 SQFT building at 5521 Hellyer Avenue, formerly home to Nanosolar until 2013. Hundreds of high-paying San Jose jobs will be created and production is expected to begin soon.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: 2016 Meta Post!

It's that time of year again to look back and see the top "Saturday Stats" of 2016. The list is yet again quite impressive. San Jose ranked as the top city for salaries, jobs, life expectancy, and economy. Even Trick-or-Treating got a shout-out this year. Below are my favorite rankings for the year.

You can also see the full list of "Saturday Stats" (including previous years) with article links over here.

Rank

Stat

Source

Year

Notes

#1	Longest Life Expectancy in the US	SVBJ	2016
#10	Best Place to Live	US News & World Report	2016	SF #9
#1	Fastest Growing Private Economies	Headlight Data	2016	SF and NY not in top 10
#2	Best City for Young Professionals	Forbes	2016	SF #1
#10	Best Place to Live	U.S. News	2016	SF #9
#3	Best Places for STEM Grads	Nerdwallet	2016	SF #6
#1	City for Jobs	Glassdoor	2016	SF #2
#2	Best City for Jobs	Forbes	2016	SF #1
#1	Top City for Small Business	CNBC	2016	NY #2, SF #3
#3	Best Metro for Entrepreneurship Growth	Kauffman	2016	SF #6
#2	Healthiest City in America	24/7 Wall St.	2016	SF #14
#3	Most Educated City in the US	WalletHub	2016	SF #7
#1	Fastest Growing Economy in the US	CNBC	2016	SF #5, NY #23
#1	Best City to Trick-or-Treat In	Zillow	2016	SF #3
#1	Best City for Web Developers	Zippia	2016	SF #5
#1	Best Performing City in the US	Milken Institute	2016	SF #3

Inside San Jose's BriteLab

First off, let me say that I have really missed Nathan Donato-Weinstein's articles in the SVBJ. I am thrilled to see him writing again in the SJ Economy blog.

He recently visited BriteLab, a high-tech South San Jose manufacturing company that makes everything from 3D printers to electric skateboards. The 55,000 SQFT space is a startup incubator that helps new companies bring their products to market. BriteLab provides product-development, design, engineering, manufacturing, and support services. Currently BriteLab employs 75 people, but they are planning to grow to 150.

For all the details, check out Nathan's article over here.

Source: SJ Economy

SJC now has robot helpers

San Jose International now has three robots to help "Silicon Valley's Airport" feel more like, well, Silicon Valley's Airport. The set of robots cost $120,000 and are named Norma, Amelia, and Piper. They conveniently speak six different languages and can help travelers find their way, locate places to dine, and provide helpful information. They'll even take photos and email them to you. This is a neat little way to make the airport more interesting to visitors.

The robots were programmed by a Milpitas-based company called 22 Miles and manufactured by Korea-based Future Robot.

You can find SJC's newest robotic attractions near Gates 11, 21, and 25. For more info, you can follow the trio on Twitter at #SJCRobots.

Source: SVBJ

1st Annual Timmy Awards

The 1st Annual Timmy Awards is a new event recognizing the best places for tech professionals to work. There will be cocktails, hor d'oeuvres, music, and product demos. The moderator for the night is Katie Roof from Tech Crunch and the award presenters are Kerry Davis from Engadget, Marc Acton from Mix 106.5, and Jennifer Elias from the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Categories include Best Tech Startup, Best Tech Work Culture, and Best Tech Manager.

The event will take place this Thursday, September 22nd from 6pm-9pm at the San Jose Women's Club. For more information head over to the Tech in Motion site. You can RSVP for free over here.

We're excited to present Silicon Valley's 1st Annual Timmy Awards in an effort to recognize the best places for technology professionals to work. We asked the Silicon Valley tech community to weigh in by nominating companies they believe deserve to win and then voting for the finalists!

Organizations and individuals will be crowned the winners of each of the categories below on September 22nd. The evening will begin with cocktails, hor d'oeuvres, music and product demos from the best of the best in Silicon Valley tech.

Silicon Valley's Best Technology Manager

Bill Hu – CEO of Kika Tech
Erik Kostelnik - Founder & CEO of TextRecruit
Han Jin - CEO of LucidCam
Venkatachalam Rangasamy – Principal Software Architect at Equinix
Waqaas Al-Siddiq - CEO of Biotricity

Silicon Valley's Best Technology Startup 

Avegant
Blue River Technology
Cloudian
DataVisor
Datos IO
Engagio
Liquid Robotics
Loop Commerce
Primary Data
Rubrik

Silicon Valley's Best Technology Work Culture 

Branch
Drawbridge
Identity Guard
Kespry
MATRIXX Software Inc.
Peloton Technology
Pinger, Inc.
Retail Solutions Inc. (RSi)
Shipwire
Whipsaw, Industrial Design and Engineering

General Assembly is building a training campus in San Jose

General Assembly, an "Edtech" startup founded in 2011, already has 25,000 graduates from their 15 campuses across the globe. They train their students with practical skills that can be applied immediately to the most in-demand corporate jobs today (coding, web/app design, data science, marketing, et cetera).

They are expanding to 25 campuses by the end of the year and one of those will be in San Jose. The location is yet to be determined but they will host classes, workshops, and events at the new campus. Until the final space is acquired, they will be leveraging San Jose's co-working spaces--something they should be familiar with as General Assembly was originally going to be a co-working company.

General Assembly's only other Bay Area campus is in San Francisco.

Source: SVBJ

Coding Dojo doubled size of San Jose location

Coding Dojo launched its first San Jose location less than two years ago, running eight coding bootcamps a year with 15-20 students each (each bootcamp takes three months to complete). Today, more than 30 students a month are putting themselves through Coding Dojo's rigorous program.

In order to support all the extra demand, they doubled their footprint to 15,500 SQFT in a nearby building. The campus is now located at 1920 Zanker Road, Suite 20 and the program costs $13,495. For more info head to the Coding Dojo website.

Source: SVBJ

Vizio is now indirectly a San Jose company

America's largest TV company is now officially part of Silicon Valley. LeEco, which has their North America headquarters in San Jose, purchased Vizio for a cool $2 billion. It is unlikely that Vizio itself will move from Irvine to San Jose in the near term, but the purchase at least opens the door.

I have always had a lot of respect for Vizio. They started out as a budget brand focused solely on value and are now able to compete with the top manufacturers in the world. Vizio has always been among the first to drive cutting edge tech into products most people can afford (TV Apps, Ultra HD 4K, HDR, and now Smartcast). This is a company that belongs in San Jose, in North First, with all the other titans of the tech world.

Source: SVBJ

Home8 Smart Garage Kit

I'm a huge gadget nerd and extreme early adopter of new technology and came across something that might be helpful for a lot of people. San Jose has one of the lowest violent crime in the country (if not the world) for a city of over 1 million, but we have obviously struggled when it comes to theft and burglary. Home8 is a Silicon Valley company that creates smart security systems. They have just release a garage kit that comes with a smart garage door opener, HD camera, and siren.

I have to admit that I've forgotten to close my garage door more than once. With this kit you can check on your garage in real time and also remotely open and close it with a smartphone app. There is also a sensor that can set off the siren if you do forget to close the door and someone happens to go into your garage. The tougher we make it for criminals to get into our homes, the less likely we are to be a target for burglars. Check out the release below for more info.

Home8 Gives Consumers Unprecedented Security Access and Control of Their Garages
Smart Garage Starter Kit Pairs with Mobile App to Deliver Remote Control and Video Capabilities for Anytime, Anywhere Access

FREMONT, Calif.-- Home8, a new venture by MivaTek, today set a new standard in home security and awareness with the introduction of the Smart Garage Starter Kit. The smart protection platform features the Shuttle intelligent hub with a built-in siren, HD camera, and garage door opener, allowing users to not only visually check in on their garages via the Home8mobile app, but also open and close the garage door regardless of location. The Home8 Smart Garage Starter Kit retails for $229.99 and is available for purchase at www.home8systems.com. “Our Garage Door Starter Kit serves a dual purpose by taking steps to help prevent break-ins, while at the same time giving users exclusive smart features that can be used for practical, everyday living.”

Garages remain an enticing target for burglars as it gives them quick access to goods or can be used as an entry point into the actualhome itself,” said Daniel Wong, Worldwide Vice President of MivaTek. “Our Garage Door Starter Kit serves a dual purpose by taking steps to help prevent break-ins, while at the same time giving users exclusive smart features that can be used for practical, everyday living.”

The Home8 Garage Starter Kit delivers peace of mind bygiving users full control of their garages no matter where they are. The HDcamera allows users instant visual access to their garage to make sure the door is properly closed or that no one has entered the property. The Home8 garage door pairs with the mobile app allowing users to open and close the door from their smartphones. Uses include opening and closing the door for a delivery person, using it as a failsafe in the event a user is locked out of the house, or simply reassuring one’s self that the garage door was closed minutes after driving away from the house. To see how the Home8 Garage Starter Kit works,watch this video.

The Home8 Garage Starter Kit Includes:

• Shuttle Intelligent Hub: The Shuttle intelligent hub serves as an integrated bridge and smart controller, providing wireless access between a user’s devices and the Home8 cloud. It creates a closed network, protecting data with bank-level encryption and anti-sniffing technology, so that only users and those they authorize can access the Home8 system. The Shuttle is also equipped with a 110db built-in siren and 4GB of memory storage.
• Mini Cube HD Camera: The Mini Cube HD camera features motion detection, night-vision, and 2-way audio. A ball-and-socket mount makes it easy to swivel the camera in any direction.
• Garage Door Opener: The Home8 garage door opener makes your garage door smarter. It pairs with the Shuttle and the existing garage opening system to give users remote access.
• Mobile App: The Home8 mobile app allows users to stream live video and open and close the garage door remotely.

A recent study by Parks Associates finds a growing demand for smart garage systems. According to the study, 15 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a smart garage door opener in 2016, particularly homeowners under the age of 35. Further, of the 9% who already own a smart garage system, nearly 50% interact with it on an almost daily basis via a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

The Home8 Smart Garage starter kit is easy to install and works with most existing garage opening systems. Users can also purchase additional devices to customize their Smart Garage platform, control multiple garages from the same mobile app, and expand their system beyond the garage by installing HD cameras and sensors throughout the property for complete home security and awareness. For more information on the Smart Garage Starter Kit and other Home8 products and services, visit www.home8systems.com.

Social Media
Twitter: @Home8Systems
Facebook: facebook.com/home8systems
Instagram: instagram.com/home8systems
YouTube: https://youtu.be/vft_b0xR_rY

About Home8
Home8 delivers home awareness and smart protection through its smart living platform. Home8 solutions include sensor-initiated video recording, cloud and local storage options, notifications to multiple tiers of recipients, and can be used in multiple locations all accessible under one single mobile app. For Home8’s comprehensive and affordable alarm, awareness, and assurance solutions and services, please visit www.home8systems.com.

San Jose-based Nutanix May IPO This Month

Nutanix offers storage and visualization solutions that are used in data centers around the globe. The company will likely be one of the first Silicon Valley IPO this year and is hoping to raise $200 million. The company currently has 1,368 employees and revenues of $241 million a year. You will be able to find them under the NASDAQ symbol of NTNX.

The company is headquartered near SJC at 1740 Technology Dr #150. The infusion of money will mean more growth for the company, additional job openings, and an opportunity for current employees to cash in some of those shares and contribute to the local economy.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: 2015 Meta Post!

It's that time of year again to look back and see the top "Saturday Stats" of 2015. The list is yet again quite impressive. San Jose ranked as the top city for salaries (both before and after cost of living adjustments), tech jobs, job opportunities, job market, advanced industry sector employment, tech hub innovation, college students, and have the most future-ready economy in the US. Those were just the #1 rankings. There are many more below.

You can also see the full list of "Saturday Stats" (including previous years) with article links over here.

Rank	Stat	Source	Year	Notes
#1-10	Top 10 Happiest Cities in the World	National Geographic	2015	SF and NY did not rank
#13	Best City to Find a Job	WalletHub	2015	SF #20, NY #90
#7	Healthiest Place in America	NerdWallet	2015	SF #2, NY #15
#3	Highest GDP Per Capita in the World	SiliconBeat	2015	SF #12
#1	Advanced Industry Sector Employment	SiliconBeat	2015	SF #5
#1	Most Innovative Tech Hub in the US	NerdWallet	2015	SF #3
#6	Most Racially and Linguistically Diverse City in the US	WalletHub	2015	NY #4, SF #13, Oakland #14
#1	Best Place for Tech Jobs	Nerdwallet	2015	SF #6, NY #67
#1	Top Metro for Job Opportunities	Glassdoor	2015
#1	Hottest Job Market	SiliconBeat	2015	SF #2
#3	Best City to Raise a Family In	Healthline	2015	SF #9
#7	Economic Growth between 2008 and 2014	WalletHub	2015	SF #15, Oakland #13
#2	Best City to Trick-or-treat In	Zillow	2015	SF #1
#1	Highest Salary after Cost of Living Adjustments	SVBJ	2015	SF #9
#1	Future-ready City Economy America	Dell	2015	SF #2, NY #3
#1	"Richest City" in America (Greatest Gross Metropolitan Product [GMP])	Bloomberg	2015	SF #3, NY #8
#1	Best Mid-sized Region for College Students	American Institute for Economic Research	2015
#7	Best Place to Own a Home	Porch	2015	SF #47, NY #26