Ed Komenda

Story Archive

The next Silicon Valley

Here's the formula for Las Vegas' fast track to tech success

Monday, Jan. 26, 2015

Is Las Vegas data company Switch enough to put Nevada on the map as a tech contender that one day might compete with hubs such as Silicon Valley and Boston? Those who contend Las Vegas is poised for a tech revolution say the evolution has been a long time in the making ...

Las Vegas-based startup wants to bring social polling to Internet masses

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015

Using the Las Vegas-based application, Ross has polled residents on everything from liquor ordinances on Fremont Street to medical marijuana and whether the City Council should continue discussions on a Las Vegas Major League Soccer stadium ...

Venture capital funding to Las Vegas way up last year

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015

In five separate deals in 2014, investment firms funded startup companies with $37.7 million in the Silver State, according to data released by the National Venture Capital Association this week ...

Report: Las Vegas among worst metro areas for STEM workers

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015

Financial website WalletHub gathered data from the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. and compared them across 11 key metrics to compile the list.

Downtown Project communications director steps down

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015

Kim Schaefer joined the Downtown Project shortly after it began in November 2011, serving as the point person for media and members of the public interested in learning about efforts to ...

Try tech on for size

Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015

These days, fashion accessories can do more than just enhance your look — they can track your fitness, sleep patterns and pets, help you share documents, and maybe even replace your cellphone ...

Last day of CES: Robots that do all sorts of human things

Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015

The Consumer Electronics Show is generally known as the place for big brands to show off their latest technology. But on the second level of the Sands Expo Center, a slew of smaller companies ...

Best of CES Day 3: A tale of two cellphones

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015

At this year’s Consumer Electronic Show, it was all about two android devices totally focused on features other than size, one curved and one sealed ...

Best of CES 2015 Day 2: A robot human, insane televisions and cameras everywhere

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015

Walk around the Consumer Electronics Show long enough and everything starts to blend together. You start to wonder: What am I looking at? Is this new? But look closely and ...

Internal memo: Air Force severely lacking drone pilots

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015

The New York-based website cited an Air Force memo issued by Command General Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, who said the lack of manpower has been that way “for a long time.”

CES 2015 Day One: Realer than reality televisions, 3-D lasers and fighting drones

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015

At the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday, thousands of attendees flocked to packed exhibit halls to see the latest gizmos and gadgets from technology powerhouses like ...

Inside CES 2015: Crowds come out for futuristic phones, televisions, cars

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015

Much has been hyped regarding exciting technology — from televisions to cell phones to wearable tech — that will be displayed by more than 3,000 exhibitors at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show.

Rumor roundup: Five products to watch for at CES on Tuesday

Monday, Jan. 5, 2015

As the world’s largest consumer technology trade show lands in Las Vegas this week, the Internet has been rife with rumors about new technology that might soon be in your pocket. CES expects to ...

Startup provides the 411 on local grocery deals

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014

When he started Grocery411.com, a site aimed at helping local shoppers find the biggest bang for their food budget buck, Guerra found the transition from nursing to scouring grocery store circulars an ...

Q+A: Downtown Syn Shop founder talks Las Vegas makerspaces, benevolent hacking

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014

Las Vegas local Suz Hinton wants to change that. A software engineer at Zappos by day, Hinton is co-founder of the Syn Shop, a downtown Las Vegas hackerspace filled with 3D printers, a laser cutter, loom and an industrial-size sewing machine.

Spike in ecotourism among benefits of new national monument, leaders say

Monday, Dec. 22, 2014

Nevada has a new national monument — and state leaders hope it will drive more visitors to the Las Vegas Valley and stoke the local economy. Spanning more than 22,000 ...

Inventor’s fight for recognition ongoing but not all-consuming

Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014

Las Vegan Gilbert Hyatt has fought long and hard to be known as the father of the microprocessor and continues working on new technologies that are “really quite spectacular.”

Test site’s inaugural drone flight ends with a thud

Friday, Dec. 19, 2014

Magpie has seen better days. The orange unmanned aircraft was set to fly over the state’s most powerful leaders and a slice of desert today in Boulder City to commemorate the beginning of a new drone testing program. But just 10 feet after leaving ...

Las Vegas company could print your next car

Friday, Dec. 19, 2014

It’s here, just blocks away from the smoky casinos of Fremont Street and the Las Vegas Strip, where you’ll find the company responsible for the world’s first 3-D-printed car.

Move over, Zappos: There’s another online retailer in town

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014

Trend Nation is Las Vegas’ own e-commerce site, selling everything from wallets to bags to goblets decorated with plastic jewels. So far this year, the company has generated more than $19 million in revenue.

The sky’s the limit

What you need to know before flying a drone

Monday, Dec. 15, 2014

Drones are bringing science-fiction technology to Southern Nevadans’ fingertips, but the new frontier of unmanned aerial systems comes with a host of questions.

Are you in Las Vegas? You may be surprised

Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014

Just because you’re strolling down the Strip, doesn’t mean you’re in Las Vegas. When Las Vegas incorporated in 1911, landowners could choose to remain unaffiliated with the new city. That’s why today, most of the Strip — from Sahara Avenue to Mandalay Bay — sits in unincorporated Clark County. You’d think most locals would know that, but ...

CCSD students take a crack at coding with Disney-inspired lesson

Monday, Dec. 8, 2014

The program is meant to introduce students to the basics of how coding works without bogging them down with complex terms and language.

New website gathers information for hunters in the West

Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014

Lorenzo Sartini’s gohunt.com provides maps, reviews and more, and hopes soon to be able to streamline the tag-buying process ...

Innovation everywhere: UNLV engineering students show off futuristic prototypes

Friday, Dec. 5, 2014

More than 30 engineering teams presented their inventions, boasting everything from a sensor system built to keep track of toilet paper and soap to a wheelchair controlled by the electricity under a person’s scalp to a device that simply cools down hot coffee ...

Startup ‘Shield Your Body’ wants to save you from your cellphone

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014

Products like Shield Your Body's are part of a growing trend as more and more people are becoming wary of cellphones’ effects on health.

Las Vegas startup lets you buy someone a drink from anywhere with Internet connection

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014

Now you can send gifts with a few swipes across the face of a smartphone. And in Las Vegas there’s a company hoping to make the practice easier for gifters while driving more business to the local economy ...

Need a swimsuit? Bikini.com delivers in 60 minutes or less

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014

You might call it a "bikini on demand" — and it's already happening at some of Las Vegas’ most popular day clubs. Las Vegas-based lifestyle blog and bikini dealer Bikini.com spent last summer doing business at pop-up stands at XS, Encore and the Pool at the Palms. Company heads say that list might grow ...

UNR professor thinks GPS may be the key to finding dark matter

Monday, Nov. 17, 2014

Their idea is built on the premise that dark matter might be organized as a large, gas-like collection of “energy cracks,” or kinks in the fabric of space. The scientists think they can ...

How should Nevada avoid a major STEM-skills shortage? 5 expert takeaways

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014

“What we have is a growing crisis that I really don’t think the state has really accepted as a serious problem, and until that happens, it’s gonna be pretty hard to solve ...

Local tech leaders say problems outlined in Brookings STEM report come as no surprise

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014

The study’s findings were simple: While Southern Nevada has a wealth of jobs in STEM fields, locals just don’t have the education or skills to get hired. The report notes that there are three Nevada business sectors bound to offer an influx of STEM jobs in the near future: health and medical services, business and IT and high-tech manufacturing ...

Las Vegas startup Banjo can identify major world events long before they’re reported

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2014

Founded in 2011, its engineers use a complex, self-learning algorithm to collect photographs shared publicly on social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The mission of Banjo’s engineers is to create something of a worldwide heatmap, detecting areas buzzing with an abnormal increase in social network activity ...

Specialty pharmacy to create 350 permanent jobs in Las Vegas

Friday, Nov. 7, 2014

Officials broke ground today on a $23 million pharmaceutical facility at UNLV’s Harry Reid Research and Technology Park. The planned two-story, 110,000-square-foot facility represents a bright spot in ...

Las Vegas startup JusCollege wants to plan your spring break

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014

On any given day, you’ll hear electronic dance music emanating from stereo speakers, forcing the buttoned-up officials at the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance to close their doors upstairs. From the balcony of the LVGEA offices ...

Downtown Project shows off Oasis boutique hotel

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014

The Downtown Project has entered the hotel business. The $350 million campaign to transform the once-blighted area around East Fremont Street now includes a 44-room boutique hotel ...

Phone provider CenturyLink to plug into Switch’s data fortress

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014

The region’s dominant telephone provider is setting up shop at Switch’s 1.7 million-square-foot SUPERNAP data center. As part of a business agreement announced Monday, customers of CenturyLink will now have access to ...

Experts, enthusiasts weigh in on evolving drone landscape

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014

For the average citizen, the world of unmanned aerial systems — or drones — is a scary one. A whirlwind of questions about safety and privacy has defined the public debate about drones ...

High-tech company Switch considering expanding in Nevada

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014

High-tech company Switch is searching for a new location to expand its rapidly growing collection of data centers with a new 2 million-square-foot technology campus. And it might land in Nevada. The data solutions and technology company ...

Whether in magic or business, relevancy, communication count, David Copperfield says

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014

What do a young entrepreneur and an illusionist have in common? Ask David Copperfield, the world-renowned master of illusion, and he’ll tell you the jobs are very much the same: from a demand to push limits to ...

Hsieh clarifies role at Downtown Project in wake of ‘crazy headlines’

Monday, Oct. 6, 2014

Following a presentation on his downtown empire at a Las Vegas startup convention Monday, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh took a few minutes to “clear the air” about ...

What happens in downtown Las Vegas now, after layoffs?

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014

Although Tony Hsieh says his role with Downtown Project will not change, the community’s reaction to the possibility of his exit raised an important question: Just how reliant is downtown Las Vegas on Hsieh? Turmoil in the organization has left some business owners wondering about ...

IBM city expert talks Las Vegas tech

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014

Michael Dixon wants Las Vegas to be a smarter city — and he hopes to give local leaders some insight to make it happen.

Community ponders the ripple effect of Downtown Project shake-up

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014

Following the layoff of 30 Downtown Project employees Tuesday, entrepreneurs downtown are left with mixed feelings about the future of the fledgling tech corridor. The restructuring of the $350-million transformation campaign to revitalize and expand downtown Las Vegas comes more than three years after the program's inception. Its mission aimed to zap new life into the city's struggling urban core and create ...

Entrepreneurs, pursuing a prize, bring big ideas to Las Vegas competition

Friday, Sept. 26, 2014

A handful of Las Vegas-based startup companies got a rare chance on Thursday to pitch polished business plans to a judge’s panel for a bid to win a prize package worth ...

Online gaming hasn’t lived up to its hype

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Initial projections were optimistic, but the reality has been that the revenue produced by Internet poker sites has been basically negligible, though some remain bullish on the prospects ...

Ruvo Center: We are not meeting the challenge of curing Alzheimer’s disease

Thursday, July 3, 2014

The center set out this year to analyze all clinical trials of drugs tested on Alzheimer’s patients in the United States. The researchers' findings: only 244 drugs have been ...

Ride the High Roller wheel for under $20; prices dropped for summer

Monday, June 23, 2014

Tickets to ride the world’s tallest observation wheel now carry a cheaper, summertime price tag. When the High Roller at the Linq opened in late March, tickets ranged from $24.99 to $59.99. Here’s a look at the new summertime rates, which run through Sept. 1 ...

Humble hot dog still has some magic left on the Strip

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Cheap eats are increasingly difficult to find in Las Vegas, but there are still inexpensive frankfurters to be found, especially for sports fans.

Is gambling being spread too far?

Sunday, June 22, 2014

New opportunities to gamble create new gamblers — and, in turn, new problem gamblers. So is it wise to unleash gambling on every state in the nation rather than contain it to just a few places where it can be controlled?

Food fight: Why we have so many markets

Sunday, June 1, 2014

There are more than 150 grocery stores in Southern Nevada vying for shoppers’ dollars. It’s a competitive market, but it may not have reached its saturation point. As with any transient city, new residents bring with them preferences from home. There’s something for everyone, so most markets serve a particular slice of ...