0 Amazon Echo Speech-Technology Stems from Kendall Square

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Amazon Kendall Square office space in Cambridge

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Did you know that Amazon’s Echo came from Cambridge?

The voice recognition technology in Amazon’s Echo is a key focus of the company’s Cambridge office…The high-tech brains that make it work come from [Rohit] Prasad’s team. He runs Amazon’s speech science efforts from the company’s Kendall Square office, overseeing the scientists, engineers, and data specialists who make the Echo something you can talk to.

The Echo is a critically acclaimed hit for Amazon. The canister-shaped device can turn on a smart TV, play your favorite album, or fetch the weather report, all by listening to your voice. And Amazon plans to add even more functions to its growing list.

0 Monitor Cambridge Office Developments Online

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Cliff Notes for real estate? Well, in a way, yes. coUrbanize is a conduit into filing packages for city development projects, without forcing the reader to take the time to read a 400-page memorandum. The system will allow readers to view a summary of the project and leave their comments behind.

site to track Cambridge office development online

Property page on coUrbanize

A Banker&Tradesman article reports “coUrbanize is partnering with the city to post summaries and details of 42 projects that are in permitting or under construction, including the 1-million-square-foot Kendall Square urban renewal plan and approximately 3,000 new residential units across the city…Over the past year, Cambridge planning officials have been sharing their open data system with coUrbanize, which built a website showing the location and details of all development proposals and construction projects.”

B&T summarized the key point thusly: “The platform gives residents a new avenue to participate in the process outside the traditional public hearing forum.

0 Biotech Real Estate Soaring in Kendall Square

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Wil Catlin

The global hot spot for Bio Pharma space is Kendall Square in East Cambridge with 130 life sciences companies in 2.5 square miles.

Credit: CNBC

From CNBC:

“Of the top 20 pharmas I think probably somewhere between 50 and 75 percent have a presence in and around Cambridge,” said Joel Marcus, CEO of Alexandria Real Estate, the landlord with the biggest market share in the area.

“As tight as the lab market is in Kendall Square, the office market is even more tight, in part because Microsoft and Google are expanding their operations,” MassBio’s Abair said. At the same time though, he noted the proximity of tech and life sciences companies enable cross-industry collaboration.

Follow the link to view a related video on CNBC.

0 Facebook’s Cambridge Office Space Hits One-Year Mark

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Facebook

So you have just been funded and you are in the hunt for the perfect office to grow the team. Have a look at the new digs for Facebook in Cambridge for some ideas.

Ryan Mack, the site lead for Facebook Boston notes in a blog post, “we look forward to hosting some of these events at the Facebook office, where we have a newly expanded space to support our growing engineering team. In the coming year we’ll continue hiring experienced engineers for our Boston team to work on data infrastructure, core systems services, location, and language runtimes, as well as new grads.”

You can also check out photos of Facebook’s office space in Cambridge on its site.

0 Kendall Square Office and Lab Space in High Demand

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Wil Catlin

office space on binney street in east cambridge

Credit: BBJ

East Cambridge is host to some of the best know pharma and tech companies. Lab space has become a very limited commodity and Amgen is in the hunt for 150k RSF. According to CoStar the lab vacancy rate among the 17 buildings is 7.1 percent on a direct basis or 17.3 percent including sublets.

The BBJ puts the competitive Kendall Square real estate market in perspective:

The East Cambridge office and research market includes only 6.4 million square feet — meaning…three deals alone could lock up about 10 percent of the neighborhood’s entire inventory when all is said and done. The activity, along with strong leasing among major information-technology players, is fueling a pricing surge in East Cambridge that has seen average annual rents surpass $58 per square foot, by far the highest in the region and among the highest for any neighborhood in the country, according to market data provided by Cassidy Turley in Boston.

The full article is available on the Boston Business Journal, here.

0 Google Opens New Cambridge Office

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BetaBoston

“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” and with that, their new office in Cambridge inspire. The following are the 10 items about Google philosophy, and some things to think about as you type in your next query:

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.

2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well.

3. Fast is better than slow.

4. Democracy on the web works.

5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.

6. You can make money without doing evil.

7. There’s always more information out there.

8. The need for information crosses all borders.

9. You can be serious without a suit.

10. Great just isn’t good enough.

Interior of Google's cambridge office in Kendall Square

Credit: BetaBoston

Betaboston offers a report on the opening of Google’s new Cambridge offices:

“Google opened up its new offices in Cambridge today which connects three Cambridge Centers into one expansive campus sitting above Kendall Square. The key space in the complex is the (somewhat controversial) “Connector” built across the once fully public rooftop garden between Four and Five Cambridge Center.”