Free VTA Rides New Year's Eve

You just got one more reason to party hard in San Jose this New Year's Eve... free VTA rides.  Between 7pm on Dec 31 and 4am on Jan 1, light rail and bus service will be free of charge!

EnVerv Raises $12M

San Jose's EnVerv has just closed a $12M round of Series B funding. The company is a fabless semiconductor company that is making SoC (System on a Chip) solutions for smart grid and metering applications. In other words, they make chips that would go in smart meters like the ones PG&E is now using.

For more info, click here.

Wednesday Wishlist: High-rises Outside of Downtown

As the population in San Jose continues to grow, we will inevitably need to increase density throughout the city, not just Downtown. The intermediate solution is to build medium density buildings (4-5 stories), which is what is happening right now for both residential and commercial buildings. The long term solution is really opening up high-rise development in areas that are traditionally much less dense, even suburban. The ideal location for these developments would be in places near retail and public transit (Vendome Towers on First pictured below). There is plenty of immediate potential around Eastridge Mall, Oakridge Mall, and Alum Rock shopping centers. In the end this would let us grow in an efficient and sustainable way... not to mention pretty up the skyline.

San Jose Gets $27M For Environmental Center

The city of San Jose is about to receive a substantial chunk of cash in order to build an Environmental Innovation Center that will focus on showing off emerging clean technologies as well as selling sustainable construction materials. San Jose will be the first municipality to receive state tax credits for this type  initiative.

Construction of the Environmental Center is expected to be completed December 2012. For more info, click here.

San Jose's Stion Raises $130M

Stion is a San Jose green-tech company that makes high-efficiency, thing-film solar modules. They just finished a $130M equity round which will no doubt help them grow. If you want to check out their product, they are part of the green showcase across the street from city hall. For more info, click here.

Merry Christmas San Jose!

Happy holidays to all of the San Jose families out there (and the non-San Jose ones too). If you want to see the best Christmas displays San Jose has to offer, then look no further than this page!

Fresh & Easy Coming Downtown, Whole Foods Not Far Behind

The good news train continues to roll. Fresh & Easy will now definitely be coming to Downtown San Jose. I finally visited one in Sunnyvale, and I find it a very similar concept to Trader Joe's. I think it will be hugely beneficial for Downtown. Even if you're not a fan, you have to admit it will help clean up the area Albertons/Su Vianda left behind and help keep the Market's prices low. A second Fresh & Easy will also be coming to North San Jose in the new @First complex.

In addition, we finally got confirmation that Whole Foods will continue to open a 30,000sqft store on the Alameda right on the edge of Downtown. You'll have to wait a few year before they open their doors, but at least we know it's coming. More info can be found here, and thanks to everyone that sent in this news!

AT&T Expanding Wireless Service in San Jose

If you happen to be an AT&T subscriber, I have some good news. AT&T just added 3 new cell towers in San Jose, in addition to upgrading over 100 cell sites within the city limits (220 in Santa Clara County). These investments will enable 4G wireless connections and improve service for all subscribers. There are even some photos below of the new equipment.

Hopefully we will continue to be one of the first markets to get these infrastructure improvements going forward, being the capital of Silicon Valley and all (I'm looking at you 5G technology).

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SAN JOSE RESIDENTS BENEFIT FROM AT&T NETWORK UPGRADES WITH MORE COVERAGE, MORE CAPACITY

Three New Cell Sites in San Jose Will Improve Connectivity and Performance

for Mobile Voice and Data Network

SAN JOSE, CA. DECEMBER 7, 2011 — AT&T today announced network upgrades in San Jose designed to provide its customers faster speeds, increased reliability and best-in-class wireless service. 

AT&T’s network enhancements include three more new cell sites in the city of San Jose.  The first new cell site provides improved coverage to the area bounded by Highway 101, Brokaw Road and I-880.  The second new cell site provides improved coverage and capacity to the Eastridge Mall along Capitol Expressway to the area bounded by Quimby Lane, Glen Dundee Way and North of Tully Road.  The third new cell site provides improved coverage and capacity in the Old Piedmont area of San Jose along Piedmont Road between Landess Avenue and Hosteller Road     

In addition to expanded coverage and capacity from the three new cell sites in San Jose, AT&T has added additional capacity to more than 100 cell sites in San Jose and to more than 220 cell sites in Santa Clara County. 

“Adding more capacity to a cell site is like adding more lanes on the freeway so that voice and data traffic flows faster,” said Terry Stenzel, AT&T Vice President and General Manager for Northern California and Northern Nevada. “Whether customers are talking, texting, e-mailing, surfing the net, streaming music or video, using their favorite apps, or conducting business we want to make sure they have a good mobile broadband experience.”

In addition, AT&T continues upgrading cell sites with fiber optic and Ethernet connections back to the central switching facilities, enabling faster 4G speeds in San Jose and across the greater Santa Clara County.

“We’re investing in our network in San Jose and Santa Clara County because we’re committed to providing best-in-class wireless voice and data service to our customers,” said Ken McNeely, AT&T’s California President.  “AT&T has invested nearly $775 million in its San Francisco Bay Area wireless and wireline networks from 2008-2010, and we will continue investing and making network improvements.”

AT&T’s mobile broadband network provides several important advantages for customers, including the ability to talk and surf at the same time. For instance, customers can look up directions to an event while still talking on the phone, or browse social media sites will chatting with a friend.  AT&T also provides access to voice service in more than 225 countries and data service in more than 200 countries.  Business Traveler magazine recently named AT&T as having the “Best Mobile Coverage in the World” – the fourth time AT&T has received the distinction.

In addition, most AT&T smartphone customers have access to more than 29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspots across the country, and more than 860 across the San Francisco Bay Area at no extra charge.  With more than half of AT&T customers now using smartphones, the popularity of Wi-Fi is soaring.  AT&T customers are now making more than 100 million connections a month to the AT&T Wi-Fi Network.   San Francisco leads the nation with nearly 10 percent of all the Wi-Fi connections coming from the greater Bay Area.