Where's My Free Wi-Fi? Why municipal wireless networks have been such a flop. (Slate Magazine)


Newspapers To See Profit Boost From Partnership With Yahoo: Analyst
(paidContent.org)
Good news for Philadelphia Media Holdings if correct. (Though they are still committed to Monster instead of HotJobs, and Monster is having problems.)


ING Bank assumes $1.4B in deposits from closed NetBank
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


Marlton company near catching up in its SEC filings
(Philadelphia Inquirer)
On MedQuist.


Radio Tunes in Electronic Ratings
(Associated Press via Google News)
How new ratings system may change radio.

Got IT? Optimized Code + Crawlability ≠ SEO (SearchEngineWatch)
Column by Philadelphia's William Flaiz, VP at Avenue A/Razorfish.


Tips From a Comcast Support Rep
Screaming at us does absolutely nothing...
(BroadbandReports.com)


Provantis Pre-Clinical Solution Chosen by Vet Path Services; Using Software-as-a-Service Delivery Model
(BusinessWire)
About Instem of Conshohocken.

New Set-top Boxes Driving CableCard Growth, Says NTCA (TVTechnology.com)

Council bans building digital billboards (phillyBurbs.com)



Companies striving to sequence genome in a jiffy
(Philadelphia Business Journal)
Joint venture including Philadelphia-based BioNanomatrix Inc. receives $8.8 million grant from Federal agency.


The GenSight Group Secures $3 Million in First Round of Funding
Transatlantic project portfolio management company to increase sales and support activities to meet growing demand
(Business Wire)
More details on company funded by Susquehanna International Group's venture arm, as reported on Tuesday.

Liberty CEO says DirecTV-EchoStar merger unlikely (bizjournals.com via MSNMoney)
Other comments on possible strategic and structural changes within Liberty Media.

Steve Abramson Is OLEDing the Way (Motley Fool)
Interview with President & COO of Universal Display Corp.


Advanta Weaves Web 2.0
(Motley Fool)
Positive review of Advanta's new website for ideas, unveiled at DEMOfall 07.


German software maker SAP sticks to 2007 forecasts (Dow Jones MarketWatch)


The latest Oracle-SAP lawsuit news
(SAP Watch: SearchSAP.com)

Tyco Electronics announces $750M buyback program (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Just a week ago, Tyco Electronics purchased $2 billion in debt.The old axiom "debt is cheaper than equity" applies.

Lockheed Martin raises quarterly dividend by 20% (Dow Jones MarketWatch)

USA Technologies Issues Letter to Shareholders (BusinessWire)

Market for physician office financial systems to reach $6B by 2013 (HealthcareIT News)

Payer-based summaries paying off (HealthcareIT News)
Discusses MEDecision and three of its customers.

ORIX Venture Finance Provides $18M Debt Financing to mindSHIFT (BusinessWire)


Propulsion Media Labs Launches New Website Development Service
Web Development Will Complement Firm’s Market-Leading Audio and Video Production Services
(BusinessWire)


Clips: Josh Kopelman's bad break
(Video: Technology News Blog)
Josh had a little accident in Las Vegas.

Handwritten Lawsuit Accuses Google Having A Name Similar To Accuser's Social Security Number (Techdirt)
Pennsylvanian sues Google for $5 billion. (Check this one out!)

Summit sees boom times ahead for Wilmington
City points to recent boom in private sector development

(Wilmington News Journal)



EchoStar, With Slingbox, May See Set-Top Box Opportunity
(Dow Jones via CNNMoney.com)
Could pose a longterm competitive threat to Motorola's set-top box business, based in Horsham.


At Age 2, Verizon FiOS Evolves (Light Reading: TELCOTV NEWS ANALYSIS)
FIOS TV to move to an all-IPTV platform.


Court affirms Vonage infringed 2 Verizon patents
(Reuters)
The article refers to Vonage having the highest market share in VoIP, though I think by most measurements Comcast is now considered the leader.


TCS Teams with SAP on the Launch of the 'Perfect Plant' Center of Excellence
(PR Newswire via CNNMoney.com)
Center to be located in Newtown Square.


India to help build second Silicon Valley in US
(The Economic Times India)
A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps. First incubation center planned for somewhere in New Jersey.


Outsourcing Works, So India Is Exporting Jobs
(New York Times)


Latest Issue of BE Magazine Looks at Intelligent Transportation Systems (BusinessWire via Yahoo Finance)
On Bentley Systems' magazine.


Out of the Gate: Tyco Electronics
Tyco Electronics Shares Rise As Credit Suisse Analyst Begins Coverage at "Outperform"
(Associated Press via CNNMoney.com)


SGE Announces David Tamburri as Entrepreneur in Residence (PR Newswire)
SGE is a private equity branch of Susquehanna International Group.


Safend Joins SanDisk Enterprise Solutions Technology Alliance (MarketWire)
Safend, an Israeli software security firm, has its US headquarters in Philadelphia.


Microsoft Takes Aim at Google’s Ad Supremacy
(New York Times)


Penn’s Autonomous Car “Little Ben” Advances to the Semi-Finals (University of Pennsylvania Almanac)


Aria Systems Takes In-Game Billing to New Level With IBM
(Marketwire)

Technology PR Sessions at 2007 PRSA Conference (Copywriting That Sells High Tech Blog)
To be held next month in Philadelphia.



LiquidHub raises $38M
(Philadelphia Inquirer)
King of Prussia systems consultant backed by NewSpring, others.


Dykstra: Tune In to Comcast Calls
(TheStreet.com)
In case you didn't know, now that he is no longer running into fences and (hopefully) driving into trees, Lenny Dykstra is giving investment advice. Caveat emptor.

Zimbra plays matchmaker for Comcast and Yahoo! (ZDNet Blogs)

Comcast Wireless Rumors Dragging Company Stock
Will Comcast bid on upcoming 700Mhz spectrum?
(BroadbandReports.com)


Judge steps up pace in Oracle-SAP spying case
(Reuters UK)

Larry Ellison Says 'Just Say No to SaaS' (Intelligent Enterprise)

SAP's rocky road to on-demand
Can SAP make the transition to a services business model?
(InfoWorld)

DHS to Reopen Technology Contracts; Thompson Calls for Independent Probe (CQ Today)
More about the Unisys situation.


New CEO at Radnor software firm QlikTech
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Steve Case's Gratis Card Relaunches As Revolution Card (alarm:clock)
A threat to the very foundation of Delaware's economy?

Facebook Slice Could Boost Microsoft's aQuantive Unit (Information Week)


Strategic investment made in software company
(Philadelphia Business Journal)
Project Management software upstart receives $3 million in funding from venture arm of Susquehanna International Group.

N.J. invests $1M in Camden company (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Marchex Announces Closing of VoiceStar Acquisition, Bringing Call-Based Services to Marchex Local Advertising Platform (eMediaWire)


Corpus Christi Muni—The Exception That Proves the Rule?
(Out of Control: Reason.org)

Supply Chain Consultants Announces Release of Report 'Forecast Less and Get Better Results' (PR Newswire)

Seven Primavera(R) Customers Win Constructech Vision Awards (PR Newswire)

WorldGate Announces Investment of Additional $1 Million from Current Investor (Business Wire)

Software Freedom Day, PLUG West and MythTV Seminar (pleia2’s blog)
On recent Linux activities in the Philly area.



The Comcast Conundrum
(Barron's)

Arris Group to Acquire C-COR for $730M (Associated Press via CNNMoney)
C-COR is based in State College. Both C-COR and Arris do significant amounts of business with Comcast.


Disappointing Deal for Arris Group?
One analyst wonders if Arris will get enough long-term growth from C-COR's equipment for cable providers
(Business Week)


Out of the Gate: Optium (Associated Press via Forbes)
Another good day for Optium.


SAP Appoints Director Of Its Palo Alto Labs
Rami Branitzky, a longtime ally of former SAP President Shai Agassi, will be charged with beating the NetWeaver drum.
(Information Week)

Smaller and Even Less Flexible (EvolvingExcellence)
Interesting perspective on the wisdom of imposing a SAP-like structure on a smaller business.

FBI probes Unisys after U.S. government hack
The systems integrator allegedly failed to detect a hack of DHS computers
(Computerworld)
As if Unisys didn't have enough problems.

Are Web Giants Looking to Edge Out Ad Agencies? (Adweek)
Raises questions again about Microsoft's long-term commitment to Avenue A/Razorfish.


Genome research grant goes to Phila. firm and Princeton U.
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

BioNanomatrix Announces Issuance of Key Nanofluidics Patent Enabling Single Molecule Whole Genome Analysis (PR Newswire)

Advanta Proudly Announces the Birth of ideablob.com, Where Ideas Grow (PR Newswire)


InfoLogix Announces Approval for NASDAQ Listing
(PR Newswire via CNNMoney)

eMoney Advisor is a Leading Financial Planning Software According to Independent Research Firm (PR Newswire)

Georgia Tech Pioneers Intelligent Decision Making in Simulated Environments with Ternion FLAMES(R) and PHX ModelCenter(R) (PR Newswire)
Discusses Philadelphia-base Phoenix Integration.

Business of health care school launched in Phila. (Philadelphia Business Journal)
University of the Sciences starts new school.


Healthcare Veteran Richard Findlay Joins Diamond Management & Technology Consultants as Partner
(PR Newswire via CNNMoney)

Productivity Gains enabled by ICT and KM Support Systems (Barry Hardy: The Ferryman)
Discusses Knowledge Management conference at Bryn Mawr next month.


Two interesting tech events will be held in Philadelphia next week. InfoCommerce 2007 will be held at the Park Hyatt from September 24 through the 26th. The same group will also stage a conference called HealthContent 2007 on the 24th, also at the Park Hyatt. Not sure about seating available for the conference, although I believe there is also an exhibit hall.

The 6th RFID, Barcoding & Emerging Technologies for Hospitals and Health Systems (that's a mouthful) will be held at the Hub Cira Centre in Philadelphia from September 24-26. It's obviously a major topic of interest to many in the Philadelphia area.



A Shopping Network Wants to Own the 17th Letter of the Alphabet
(New York Times)


Liberty Interactive sees boosting debt leverage (Reuters)


QVC, HSN combination hinges on valuation: Malone (Reuters)


Premarket Movers: Optium Soars (Associated Press via CNNMoney)
Up 28% in one day is very impressive.


Heartland Payment Shares Rise (Associated Press via Forbes)



U.S. satellite projects appear in jeopardy-WSJ
(Reuters)



Five Questions For SAP's Leo Apotheker
(Information Week)


SAP-rival Oracle's 1Q Profit Up 25 Percent (Associated Press via Philly.com)


Oracle gives business users a bigger say in SOA (SearchOracle.com)
Discusses Oracle's deal with IDS Scheer. Basically, IDS Scheer has the intellectual property that many vendors build their Business Process Management offerings around. With BPM being a very hot market right now, that puts IDS Scheer in a strong position.


Exec exits papers to become head of N.Y. Lottery (Philadelphia Daily News)
Gordon Medenica leaves Philadelphia Media Holdings.


Lobbying kicks off against patent bill
FOES SAY 'TROLL' MEASURE WOULD STIFLE INNOVATION
(San Jose Mercury-News)
Discusses InterDigital's concerns.


Troops share tips on Web (Washington Times)
Gestalt LLC of King of Prussia puts up website.



New Appointments to Help Drive USA Technologies Expansion
Company Signs Industry Experts to Lead Sales, Services & Business Development
(BusinessWire)


Accu-Sort(R) Bar Code Systems Help Snack Food Maker Keep Production Crisp (Marketwire)


StarCite CEO Speaks to Company’s Growth Strategy at Think Equity Growth Conference (BusinessWire)


MEN Micro Inc. Named Winner in the 2007 Intel(R) Communication Alliance Technology Showcase Contest (PR Newswire)


Web 2.Uh-Oh?(Business Week)


Why I Left Comcast for Verizon (TVPredictions.com)


Comcast Must Die: Chapter 4
My Phones Don't Work, and Theirs Don't Either
(Bob Garfield: Advertising Age)
Not a happy customer


Burke Sizes Up Telcos, Content Opportunities
(Light Reading: Cable Digital News)
More on Comcast COO's presentation at Goldman conference.


What's Eating Citywide WiFi, Part 1
(TechNewsWorld)
Perhaps the best analysis I've seen on the Muni WiFi situation.


Small carriers urge U.S. not to lift Verizon rules
(Reuters)


Optium Corporation Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2007 Results
Fourth Quarter Sequential Revenue Decline Expected to Rebound in First Quarter
(PrimeNewswire via CNNMoney)


ICT GROUP Announces Co-Marketing Agreement with VoiceVerified
Voice Authentication Service to Provide Greater Accuracy and Customer Security
(BusinessWire)
VoiceVerified is based in New Hope, ICT in Langhorne.


These Notebook PCs Aren't A Security Risk
(Investor's Business Daily via CNNMoney)
On Neoware.


New Way to Count Listeners Shakes Up Radio
Arbitron's Electronic Meters Beat Diaries for Accuracy; Philly Stations Cut Ad Rates
(Wall Street Journal)

Mint.com wins Techcrunch40 Conference! (Josh Kopelman: Redeye VC)
Mint.com is one of First Round's portfolio companies (based in California)

Presentation on Using the Embedded JBoss Container
Gave a presentation tonight to the Philly JBoss Users Group about using Embedded JBoss.
(Rob Di Marco: Innovation On The Run)

A hundred million miracles
(ZDNet Blogs)
Mentions significance of OpSource/Boomi partnership.


Danka Deploys Astea's Mobile Workforce Solution
(TMCnet)


Newest 64-Bit Single Board Computer From MEN Micro Inc. Incorporates Latest Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor Providing Exceptional Graphics Performance (PR Newswire)


Tyco Electronics sells $2.05 bln of debt - source (Reuters)


CDI Corp. sells staffing subsidiary to Spherion (Philadelphia Business Journal)


Halfway.com's final bid for fame (Baker City Herald)
An amusing reminder of Philadelphia's Internet past. I guess it worked out OK for Josh Kopelman, though.


Comcast says feeling telco, satellite competition
(Reuters UK)
COO Stephen Burke speaks at Goldman Sachs investor conference.


TV for the people: Public-access cable finally coming to Phila.
(Philadelphia Daily News)


Microsoft Ships PerformancePoint Server 2007
There’s a good chance PerformancePoint Server could take performance management mainstream
(Enterprise Systems)


Business Objects Launches BI OnDemand
The new software-as-a-service offering provides subscribers with advanced BI features, such as formatted reporting, dashboards and ad-hoc query and analysis.
(Intelligent Enterprise)


HSN on rebound, Diller assures
New "breakthrough" product lines are showing promise.
(St Petersburg Times)
Barry Diller also suggests that Liberty Media's stake in his IAC/InterActiveCorp will increase at some point. Could this mean a closer strategic relationship between Liberty Media's QVC and HSN?

Heartland: Public Stock Offering Priced (Associated Press via Houston Chronicle)

mindSHIFT Technologies Merges with Invision
Invision Expands mindSHIFT's Managed Hosting and e-Business Applications Capabilities
(PR Newswire)
mindShift acquired Philadelphia-based Network Alternatives, Inc. in June.


Aegis to Showcase Upcoming Version 7 Software Release at Productronica
(Press Release via pcb007.com)


Drexel University Subscribes to AcademyOne Transfer Automation Services (PR Newswire)



Proscape Technologies Selected to Pilot AstraZeneca's Closed Loop Marketing Program
(PharmaLive)

Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic (MoMo-Ma) to Host Inaugural Event in Philadelphia on September 24th (LBSzone.com)


Joel Spolsky in Philadelphia
(Ramble)
FogBugz World Tour

John Baer | Guv, the blonde & lobbying law (Philadelphia Daily News)


SAP Introduces Business ByDesign


SAP today unveiled its new mid-market, on-demand software suite at the Nokia Theater in New York. (I half-expected a full musical production, given the hype.) The offering was christened Business ByDesign, perhaps a less regimented name than the more strict sounding R/3. It is targeted toward a more narrow segment than some expected, aimed at firms with 100 to 500 users. Some 95% of the code is said to be completely new. The rollout will be gradual at first, starting in the US and Germany.

Here is SAP's press release, and a replay of the webcast should be found here.
I'm sure there will be more meaningful analysis in the coming days and weeks, but here are some early reviews:


SAP Launches 'New Era' With On-Demand Software
SAP Business ByDesign automates a wide range of business processes and will cost companies $149 per user per month.
(Information Week)

SAP's Down-Market Gamble
The German giant's new, Web-based software targets smaller outfits than its usual corporate clients. But is it too tricky for small business?
(Business Week)


SAP A1S Morphs into Business ByDesign
Business ByDesign is the new on-demand application suite from SAP, geared towards mid-market companies
(eWeek)

German software giant hopes offering resource management online delivers new customers (Associated Press via San Jose Mercury-News)


Comcast confirms: We ban downloaders after 90 GB (Computerworld)


Roberts Likes Comcast's Chances (Multichannel News via Broadcast Newsroom)


Computer Memory Designed In Nanoscale Can Retrieve Data 1,000 Times Faster (ScienceDaily)
A long way from commercialization, but they are doing something exciting things at Penn in this area.


SAP to Unveil Web Software (Reuters via Red Herring)


Salesforce Unveils New Name with Force (eWeek)


Boomi On Demand Rolls Out on Salesforce.com's AppExchange (ebizQ)


Styky Launches Mobile Social Networking App at TechCrunch
(MMDNewswire.com)
Styky is from Philadelphia-based Fone2Fone Inc.


MySpace Gets Facebook Travel App
(WebProNews)
About "Where I've Been", created by Philadelphian Craig Ulliot.

Facebook Funders Launch Facebook Fund for App Developers (GigaOM)
First Round Capital's Josh Kopelman will be on advisory panel.


Siemens plans to focus on organic growth - CFO
(Thomson Financial via CNNMoney)
Specifically refers to Siemens Medical.



T-Mobile buys local SunCom Wireless
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


Intertek Group acquires two companies for 13 mln stg in US, Australia
(Thomson Financial via Hemscott.com)
UK firm buys Philadelphia-based National Software Testing Labs(NSTL), which specializes in testing mobile applications, for $12 million.


Beyond.com, Inc. Unveils an On-Demand, Comprehensive Career Portal Solution for Online Businesses
(BusinessWire)

Modevity Launches Imperium(TM) New Digital Media (DRM) Digital Rights Management Technology with Integrated Content Management an Industry First (PR Newswire)

Board takes a close look at cell towers (phillyBurbs.com)
I wonder if any of these people are willing to give up their cells, or use them less.


Vanguard Ranks Third in Information Week 500

The Information Week 500 for 2007 is out. This list focuses not on IT vendors(though some are on it), but on how well companies utilize IT to function internally and serve customers. Vanguard ranked third (see article on Vanguard here). Also, there is a profile of Vanguard's CIO, Paul Heller. Wyeth was mentioned as one of seven companies that have ranked consistently high over the last five years. There are several more Philly area companies ranked in the top 250; I plan to have a breakout of them within the next two days.


On TruePosition


About three weeks ago I commented on a reported siginificant decline in results at TruePosition, the Berwyn wireless location-based services vendor which is 89% owned by John Malone's Liberty Media(and attributed to its Liberty Capital Group tracking stock). BTW, at the time I referred to its technology as "GPS based" but it really is not. Rather, it finds locations by calculating the distances between different cell towers.
So I looked into it and this is what I found in Liberty's 10-Q filing:

REVENUE. Our consolidated revenue increased $168 million or 8.3% and $390 million or 9.9% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007, respectively, as compared to the corresponding prior year period. The three month increase is due primarily to a $63 million or 3.9% increase for QVC, $66 million generated by Starz Media, which we acquired in August 2006 and $50 million generated by the Atlanta Braves, which we acquired in May 2007. The six month increase is due to a $192 million or 6.0% increase for QVC, $127 million generated by Starz Media and $50 million generated by the Atlanta Braves. In addition, we recognized a full six months of revenue for Provide and FUN in 2007. These increases were partially offset by $27 million and $51 million decreases for TruePosition for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007, respectively. In November 2006, TruePosition signed an amendment to its existing services contract with Cingular Wireless that requires TruePosition to develop and deliver additional software features. Because vendor specific objective evidence related to the value of these additional features does not exist, TruePosition is required to defer revenue recognition until all of the features have been delivered. TruePosition estimates that these features will be delivered in the first quarter of 2008. Accordingly, absent any further contractual changes, TruePosition will not recognize any revenue under this contract until 2008. TruePosition's services contract with its other major customer, T-Mobile, Inc., has a similar provision which prevents TruePosition from recognizing revenue. It should be noted, however, that both Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile are paying currently for services they receive and that the aforementioned deferrals have normal gross profit margins included. See Operating Results by Business below for a more complete discussion of QVC's and Starz Entertainment's results of operations.

I'm not sure what this means. Is this simply a short-term blip caused by specific requirements for deliverables that is (virtually) guaranteed to be made up in 2008, or does this reflect some degree of client dissatisfaction with the performance of the product that could materially effect the long-term financial prospects of the business? I don't know. There may not be a big problem here, and I know there are legal limitations on what you can say and can't say, but if I was an investor in the company I would want a clearer explanation than that.

TruePosition's core application right now is to provide systems that enable wireless carriers meet FCC standards for E-911 coverage. This past week, The FCC considerably toughened those standards in ways that could help TruePosition. Accuracy requirements must be meet at local service area levels rather than on statewide average levels. The implications of this are obvious in a state such as Pennsylvania, with the large concentration of population in a few areas and the rest of the state being mostly rural. Benchmarks have been established toward ensuring full compliance by September 11, 2011. Many in the industry are very critical of the standards and timelines, believing that new technologies are being tested and developed that could provide better performance in the future. But if wireless carriers are forced to ramp up quickly, using existing technologies, TruePosition should be in a position to benefit, both in terms of business from their existing US customers(AT&T and T-Mobile), and also in the potential to pick up business from other carriers who might at the very least need TruePosition in order to achieve some kind of "hybrid" solution.

Lastly, on Friday TruePostion won a patent-infringement case against Andrew Corp in the amount of $45.3 million, after a two week trial in Delaware. The amount of the award could be potentially tripled, though in any case such as this at the Federal District Court level, it will probably be a long time before they see any money out of it.



Deutsche Telekom Plans to Buy SunCom for $1.6 Billion
(Bloomberg)


Leap Rebuffs MetroPCS (Red Herring)


Business Objects Won't Comment On Takeover Report
(Dow Jones via CNNMoney)
SAP said to be main candidate to acquire Business Objects, though some strongly disagree with that assessment.


Exact Software of Holland pays US$51.5M for Toronto-based Longview Solutions

(The Canadian Press via Google News).
Continuing the consolidation in the Business Intelligence space. Longview's US headquarters are in Conshohocken.


A Big Sales Job For Salesforce.com
Can the pioneer of Net-delivered software prove it's more than a one-hit wonder?
(Business Week)



Comcast Buying Entertainment Community Site BuddyTV
(paidContent)
No official confirmation yet. BuddyTV, based in Seattle, was launched by a couple of Wharton grads who had previously sold a startup to aQuantive.


Comcast: cable working on interactive ad platform (Reuters UK)


Comcast Touts HD Offerings via New Web Site (TVWeek)


Clued in to who's prescribing what (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Investor seeks voice on Ikon board (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Journal Register Company Announces Executive Promotions of Scott A. Wright and Julie A. Beck (Marketwire via CNNMoney)


DiStefano returns to Philadelphia Inquirer (Poynteronline)
Memo to staff released on Friday says business journalist is returning from Bloomberg.


Soda company pops to the top (phillyBurbs.com)
Story on Bucks County companies on Inc. 5000.



William Stuek Named Non-Executive Chairman of the Board for TAGSYS RFID
(BusinessWire)


RFID Medical Cabinets Evaluated in New Benchmark ((RFID Update)
More about Tagsys. On Thursday I reported on their latest round of financing. Tagsys has significant operations in Doylestown.


ETC explores media projects in educational partnership (The Tartan: Carnegie Mellon)


Liquid concrete
As software shifts to an “on demand” model, can SAP move with the times?
(The Economist)


A1S: How it will affect SAP jobs
(SearchSAP.com)


SAP’s vox populi (ZDNet Blogs)


Comcast Shows How Not to Win Friends (The Motley Fool)



Comcast Business Services in Play
(Adweek)



Gemalto Reports Fall In First-Half Profits
(Card Technology)
But some positive trends boost the the stock price of the company formed last year by the merger of Gemplus and Axalto.


Companies That Management Can't Fix: Journal Register (24/7 Wall Street)
Dead in the water? I think someone else could probably do a better job with the properties, which include many Philly-area papers, but nobody is going to assume all that debt($650 million). There would have to be some type of restructuring of it.


Publisher Seeks to Put Bee on Building (Associated Press via Forbes)
Anything for a buck, I guess. The New York Times would never do anything like this. Would they? Of course, I don't know what's going to happen with the Journal once Rupert gets his hands on it. I'm not so concerned about the supposed visual blight, but what it would do to the paper's (and the city's) image.


Glasgow Web hosting firm growing strong
HostMySite.com says customer service is its top priority
(Wilmington News-Journal)



Tagsys Receives $16 Million More in Third Round of VC
(Northeast Venture Capital Funding and M&A Activity Blog)
Tagsys, an RFID systems firm based in Cambridge, MA, has raised $80 million to date. That's a lot of money. Tagsys has a major portion of its operations in Doylestown.


Interest Grows In Workforce Performance Management Software
Forecasted boost in the market drives vendor SuccessFactors to pursue a stock IPO.
(Information Week)
More competition coming Kenexa's way.


AmerisourceBergen Technology Group Opens New Facility in Buffalo Grove,Illinois
(PR Newswire)


Wi-fi Philly: Too many questions (OP-ED by Frank Rizzo: Philadelphia Daily News)


Does Philly's Wi-Fi Program Really Work? (NBC10.com)


Haydenfilms 3.0 Online Film Festival Picks 50 Best Entries; People's Choice Voting Will Determine Final Four Winners
(PR Newswire)



For Networks, Thin Is In
(New York Times)


Devon IT Announces Full Line of Virtualization-Ready Thin Client Terminals
(BusinessWire)


Is Comcast Customer Service Improved Yet?
Apparently not for one Ad Age writer...
(Broadband Reports)


On Sports Media | Standoff keeping Penn State fans in dark
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


SAP snags big win over Oracle, thanks to Duet, TCO
(SearchSAP.com)


Enterprise Resource Planning Market for Tier 3 SMBs to Grow 11% Annually (ARC Advisory Group)


BizTalk Server R2 Ships With SOA Flavor (internetnews.com)
May be a big step forward for Microsoft in Business Process Management (BPM)

InterDigital (IDCC): Shaping the future of wireless telecommunications (BloggingStocks)


Mindbridge Delivers Open Source Information Monitoring Service to Unisys (PR Newswire)
Mindbridge is based in Eagleville.


Open source suppliers offer SaaS challenge
Talend joins SugarCRM, OpSource joins Boomi
(Reg Developer|UK)


Octagon Expands West Coast Presence
Company Opens Mountain View Office to Support EDC Operations
(PharmaLive)


Thomson Scientific to Host Pharmaceutical Vision - A User's Conference for Information, Regulatory Affairs, Competitive Intelligence and Biotechnology Professionals (PR Newswire)



Thermo Fisher Scientific Works With Microsoft to Web-Enable its LIMS Solutions, Giving Customers Maximum Flexibility
(PharmaLive)



Pegasus Expands Distribution Channels Through New Agreement with StarCite
(BusinessWire)



WPCS Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Empire Electric
(PR Newswire via CNNMoney)


Formation, Inc. Announces 100% Storage Capacity Increase and SATA Interface for ToughDisk(R) 3500 Rugged Hard Disk (PR Newswire)


New expensewatch.com Release Features Substantial Credit Card Management and Controls (PR Newswire)
Employees are going to love that.

Innovation Philadelphia leader to resign (Philadelphia Business Journal)


A few more wrapups on Podcamp Philly:

Philly Podcamp 2007 - Saturday Wrapup
(Li Evans: Search Marketing Gurus)

Thoughts on Podcamp Philly 2007
(Ken Newquist: The Atomic Age)

Winning at PodCamp Philly (Oliver Picher: Fun With Networking)
Oliver won the iPhone, and now he doesn't quite know what to do with it.



Motorola IPTV make a couple of announcements
(gadgetell)
Motorola's Home & Network Mobility unit, based in Horsham, announces that it has shipped its 2 millionth Internet Protocol TV set top box.


Apple's deal with InterDigital all but guarantees 3G iPhone
(ars technica)


Oracle, SAP Case Delayed Again (eWeek)


Infor: The $2B Company No One Has Ever Heard Of (eWeek)
Infor is the third largest enterprise application vendor, behind SAP and Oracle.


Pipeline Software Completes Successful SAP-Primavera Integration at The High Companies (Marketwire)


Software testing: shadow of consolidation looms (expresscomputeronline India)
Considerable discussion of AppLab's strategy.


Broadband is a Finite Resource, Comcast Suggests (MarketingVox)

Some thin client news items:
HP Buy of Neoware Gets FTC Clearance (Associated Press via Forbes)

Thin-client Laptops Offer Glimpse of a Diskless Future (PC World)

Devon IT Launches Industry’s First Desktop Virtualization Lab
(BusinessWire)




Fidelity and SunGard Enhance Integrated Trading and Custody Platform for Trust and Retirement Providers
(BusinessWire)

Executives expect to add IT and finance jobs in 4Q (Philadelphia Business Journal)



Apple Licenses 3G Technology
(Information Week Blog)
Big win for InterDigital


HOT SPOTS FOR HQ JOBS
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


Sensors and insensibility
State is asked to pay for traffic info taxpayers already funded
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial)
Traffic.com takes some heat in Atlanta

Microsoft signs deal with spinoff (seattlepi.com)
Microsoft licenses back technology from Inrix(a company it created and spun off), which competes with Traffic.com. This raises questions about the future of Microsoft's existing relationship with Traffic.com.


Main Line’s Musser Backing Seizure-Inducing Sports Site
(The Daily Examiner: Philadelphia Magazine)
New college sports site (do we really need another one?) from founder of ESPN.

Cisco Flashes Cross-Platform Play (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)
Comcast Interactive Media seems impressed with Cisco's new Flash-based content delivery system.

Cognos splashes out (Andy On Enterprise Software)
More on Cognos-Applix deal and Qliktech.


Honors Program: QlikTech International
Project Name: Business Software that Saves Lives
(Computerworld)

Computer data firm nets venture capital funds
More Del. companies are getting noticed by investors
(Wilmington News-Journal)

Arbitron Admits Errors, Promises Bill Reduction (Market Research Industry Online)
Problems with samples for new radio rating system being tested in Philadelphia and Houston. (When in doubt, try it out on Philadelphia first.)

Heartland, Shareholders to Sell Stock (Associated Press via Forbes)
LLR Partners among those partially cashing out.


Bazaarvoice Closes $8.8 Million Series B
(TechCrunch)

Time Warner Drops Money On ScanScout
(adotas)
Two more significant follow-on rounds for First Round Capital portfolio companies.


Early-stage stars
(The Deal)
Includes profile of First Round Capital's Josh Kopelman.


PodCamp Highlights The Tech Hub of Philly
(NewTeeVee)

Touchstone Wireless
New headquarters opens
(phillyBurbs.com)


Apple signs iPhone patent deal with Interdigital (CNET News)



Shutting Down Big Downloaders
Comcast Cuts Internet Service to Bandwidth Hogs
(Washington Post)
Is the gig up for Comcast?


Dish Adds BTN, Comcast "Willing to Talk"; DirecTV Revs Up HD (Cable360)
Big Ten Network still hopeful of Comcast deal.


Less wireless?
(The Next Mayor: Philadelphia Daily News Blog)
More on Wireless Philly

BI Dominoes Continue To Fall... (Forrester Research Blog)
Analysis of Cognos/Applix deal and its potential competitive impact on Qliktech.


Private equity strengthens American companies with capabilities, clarity, culture and capital
(Private Equity Council press release)
PR piece highlights SunGard as a successful example of private equity buyout.


September 24. Inaugural Event. Mobile Monday.
(MoMoMidAtlantic)
New area chapter of wireless mobility group formed.


Shiny Media launches US blog network (journalism.co.uk)
UK blog network's US venture will be partially based in Philly.


Pension funds to boost N.J. companies
(NorthJersey.com)


P4Ps on the rise; some question use of plans
(Modern Healthcare Online)
Executive of Conshohocken's Portico Systems discusses the IT systems needed to track rapidly growing "pay-for-performance" medical programs.


City to let Internet do its bidding
Turns to online auction houses to find buyers for surplus property.
(The Morning Call)


C&D Technologies Announces Second Quarter Results (PR Newswire)


New Engineering Lecture Series at Penn State Great Valley
(BusinessWire)


Muni WiFi Collapse a Boon for WiMAX (Red Herring)


Smart Leaders
Nooruddin ‘Rudy’ Karsan
Chairman and CEO, Kenexa Corp.
(Smart Business Philadelphia)



Bentley Acquires STAAD/CHINA and SSDD Software to Deliver Complete Structural Steel Solutions to China
(Bentley Press Release)


Review: After Smoke Clears, FiOS a Hit (Associated Press via Google News)
Everybody in the press loves to praise FiOS and lambast Comcast. Accurate? Maybe.


Verizon Shoots FiOS Infomercials
Telco Targets Comcast Markets With ‘My Home 2.0’
(Multichannel News)


Franklin Elects New Officers
(PR Newswire)


Franklin Electronics looking for acquisitions
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


Envisioning the Next Chapter for Electronic Books (New York Times)
The entry of two big players into the ebook market could have a major impact on Franklin Electronic, either positively or negatively.


Newtown-built satellite crashes after launch
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


A towering debate (phillyBurbs.com)
Almost everybody wants to use cell phones. but nobody wants the towers anywhere near them.



Phase Forward's J&J Deal Helps It Retain Leadership
(Investor's Business Daily via CNNMoney)
Also discusses Phase Forward competitor eResearch Technology of Philadelphia.


NEC Claims First Multi-Frequency, Multi-Protocol RFID Device (eWeek)



Drexel University to Host the “Unconference” PodCamp Philly for Industry Veterans and Novices
(BusinessWire)


Philly's IncPlace Launching Global Biz Dev Network (alarm:clock)
Said to be "well funded". We'll see what this one looks like when its launched.


GSI Commerce and MLB.com Extend E-Commerce Agreement Through 2016
(PR Newswire via CNNMoney)
Home Run?


SAP CEO Henning Kagermann warms up for A1S launch (ZDNet Blogs)


Cognos to Acquire Applix for $339 Million (eWeek)
Trying to fight off growing competition from SAP and Oracle in the BI market; also may be a stronger competitor to Radnor's Qliktech.


FCC Denies Comcast Again
(Light Reading:Cable Digital News)


Comcast Uses Mobile Workforce Management Solution from Amdocs and Ventyx(TM)
(PR Newswire)


Five area tech firms to get Pa. funding
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners will invest a total of more than $1.4 million.
(Philadelphia Inquirer)


Microsoft's healthcare chief promotes the unified touch (Healthcare IT News)


SMB & Galephar Select Liquent Technology to Streamline Submission Publishing
(PR Newswire)
Liquent is a unit of Philadelphia's Thomson Scientific.


OpSource Partners with Boomi to Revolutionize Delivery of Integration On Demand
(BusinessWire)


Videoegg, a video ad network, raises $15 million (VentureBeat)
Philadelphia's First Round Capital was an early investor in Videoegg, which also does a lot of business on myYearbook.com (another FRC portfolio company).



NetBooks hopes to become the SAP for small businesses
(San Jose Mercury-News)


RFID Readers Get Boost With Bluetooth (Information Week)



Comcast Tests Do-It-Yourself Install Kits for Phones
(Bloomberg)


MetroPCS plans to take a Leap
(CNET News)
MetroPCS' proposed merger with Leap could create a strong competitor to the big four wireless companies, and pose a challenge to the industry's traditional pricing structure. Both MetroPCS and Leap have licencses and plans to enter the Philadelphia market within the next year or two.

Healthy growth in marketing of drugs (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Devon IT Adds Key Industry Executives to Spearhead Business Development, Strategic Alliance Plans
(BusinessWire via TMCnet)
Adding some heavyweights. Perhaps they are gearing up for an IPO.


Software Disruptors March On
(Clayton Christensen on Forbes)
Clayton Christensen, author of "The Innovator's Dilemma", discusses the potential disruptive threat that SAP may be facing from the likes of Salesforce.com, and SAP's response to it so far.


Project Management Software is Hot (Red Herring)
Along the same lines, Primavera may be facing a similar disruptive threat from saas (software as a service) vendors who start at the lower end of the market and move up. Several are mentioned here.

Microsoft preps PerformancePoint Server 2007 (Computer Business Review/UK)
Microsoft's new BI platform may have appeal to many, but Qliktech doesn't see it as as threat to them right now.

Alliance Consulting Partners with SAP and Selects SAP(R) Business Suite (PR Newswire)


Global Design Firm Selects Microsoft Dynamics as Its Blueprint for Business Success
(PR Newswire)
EwingCole to use Microsoft Dynamics for project management.


Phila.-area venture fund stakes software maker (Philadelphia Business Journal)


Solstice Software Chairman of the Board Appointed CEO
(BusinessWire)
This is not a business for the faint of heart.


Inrix Looks for Express Lane (Red Herring)
Microsoft spinoff competes with Traffic.com


Lockheed Martin Team Shifts Into Production Effort to Add GPS Demonstration Signal to Modernized Satellite (PR Newswire)


Kulicke & Soffa Raises Guidance For Fourth Quarter to $226 Million (BusinessWire)


Ametek sells $450M in senior notes (Philadelphia Business Journal)


C&D Technologies Completes Sale of Power Electronics Division to Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
(PR Newswire)


Philly Prepares to Open Faucet on New System -- After Opening Its Wallet (Computerworld)


City cabbies say technology is too taxing (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Reps. aim to create council to oversee high-tech systems (EveningSun.com)
Proposes State council to oversee uses of GIS technology.