Autodesk grows socially

Autodesk grows socially

Jul 20, 2012 | Hot Topics

Earlier this week, Autodesk announced that it had acquired Socialcam for $60 million. At first, I thought it was a CAM vendor I had never heard of. But I’ve heard of most of them and would certainly be aware of any that could command a $60 million price tag. A...
Autodesk grows socially

Invention Machine acquired, enters big leagues

Jul 16, 2012 | Hot Topics

I’ve long been fascinated by the technologies that have emerged to facilitate the innovation process and help creators find, assess and act on/reject information quickly. One of the early entrants was Invention Machine, whose semantic search technology let users...
Autodesk grows socially

Exa’s IPO muddies the waters in engineering software

Jul 9, 2012 | Hot Topics

A quick Monday morning check on the stock markets for those of you following Exa’s IPO: Exa’s market makers originally priced the share at between $11 and $13 but ultimately settled at $10 for the public debut on June 28th. That day, over 2 million shares...
Trimble snaps up WinEstimator

Trimble snaps up WinEstimator

Jul 2, 2012 | Hot Topics

Trimble announced earlier today that it intends to acquire WinEstimator, a provider of construction cost estimating (WinEst) and cost modeling (Modelogix) software. The acquisition squarely targets the contractor and owner market, giving them ways to better understand...

Construction is hot, ADSK + Vela

Jun 8, 2012 | Hot Topics

For many, the connection of construction with design is the next frontier in AEC. We may design in 3D and use elaborate construction planning software back in the office but on the jobsite, all is 2D. Paper that gets wet, lists that get lost. All of this paper causes...

Hexagon goes Blom-y

Jun 6, 2012 | Hot Topics

Last week Hexagon AB, the parent company of Intergraph, Leica Geosystems and other brands you likely know if you follow engineering software, announced its intention to acquire 25% of the shares of Blom ASA for approximately €9 million. I held off writing about it...

ANSYS snaps up Esterel for mechatronics

May 31, 2012 | Hot Topics

Mechatronics, the combination of mechanisms and electronic control systems, is everywhere. In the old days, windows were cranked open. Now you push a button that activates a motor that lowers the window. That motor is an electrical system that likely has a chip in it...

AVEVA & Hexagon expand offerings

May 23, 2012 | Hot Topics

We interrupt the regularly scheduled blog to note two acquisitions this week (so far – it’s only Wednesday!). One is decidedly old-school, as AVEVA adds bocad’s structural detailing of steel, glass, wood and more to its portfolio. The other, by Hexagon, is...

DS models nature with Gemcom

May 1, 2012 | Hot Topics

By now you undoubtedly know that Dassault Systèmes had a very good first quarter 2012, with many aspects of its performance ahead of the objectives it set back in February. That’s all well and good, but what I found most interesting about its announcements last...

Quickies: DDD, Cybernet, ESI, Trimble, oh my

Apr 26, 2012 | Hot Topics

What a day for news! I’ve already blogged about PTC’s March quarter, tweeted a bit about Dassault Systèmes’ interesting announcements (and hope to blog about that tomorrow), but here are a couple of other important things you need to know about: 3D Systems announced...