Philly Tech News

Wrapping up on BE Conference 2008:

Speculation: Autodesk to Buy Bentley Systems? (WorldCad Access)

Busy week at Bentley (Extranet Evolution)

Bentley Staking Position as an Advocate for Sustainable Infrastructure (Directions Magazine: All Points Blog)

Bentley Releases Bentley Water V8 XM Edition (Bentley Systems Press Release)

Bentley Announces Winners of 2008 BE Awards of Excellence (Bentley Systems Press Release)

Comcast targets the small-business market (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Comcast Tries to Break Some Windows (New York Times Blogs)

Comcast Hijackers Say They Warned the Company First (Wired Blogs)

Rumors of the Death of the Set-Top… (Media Experiences 2 GO-a Motorola blog)

Survey: Phila. businesses have high hopes for Nutter administration (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Challenges Adding Up For SAP (Investor's Business Daily)

SAP denies Gartner report that its GRC solutions are incomplete (SearchSAP.com)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. to Centralize Product Leadership
Global Product Lines will now be Managed from Madrid, Spain
Corporate Headquarters to Remain in Thorofare, NJ
Position of Chief Information Officer Created (BusinessWire)

Start-ups get a leg up
Two local businesses receive $150,000 each in low-interest loans from tech agency. (Allentown Morning Call)

Reading firm gets $68M flight simulation contract PHiladelphia Inquirer)

Comcast Interactive Media: Profitability On Track In ‘08; More Purchases Ahead (paidContent)

Comcast's Roberts on Plaxo and future deals (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Comcast’s Nostalgic Hack (Wall Street
Journal Blogs)

Safeguard Scientifics Appoints Stephen Zarrilli Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (BusinessWire)

Redlasso Responds to National Broadcast Content Providers’ Cease and Desist Demand
Veteran Broadcast Executive Michael Jordan Joins Redlasso as Senior Advisor (BusinessWire)
I'm not sure if even Michael Jordan can pull this one out.

Quality Systems director concerned with governance (Associated Press via Forbes)
Quality Systems is the parent of NextGen Healthcare Information Systems of Horsham. This battle has been going on for years
now. I don't know how much of it is based on substance. On the face of it, the company seems to perform fairly well. See Google Finance for more about Quality.

Towards the Social Web: Ringside Seats for the Social Big Bang (CMSWire)

HxTechnologies offers integrated service on Google Health platform (Hx Technologies Press Release)

Boomi brings another piece of Salesforce to Europe (Salesforce Times)

Decoding SAP’s strategy rhetoric (SearchSAP.com: SAP Watch)

Fiberlink Grows Global Wi-Fi Footprint by 19% by Signing Up with Deutsche Telekom North America; Includes T-Mobile in Europe (Fiberlink Communications Press Release)

After hacking incident, Downingtown hosts cyber session (Philadelphia Inquirer)

DCED Seeking PA IT/Electronics Companies for Largest Trade Show in Asia This Fall
(PRNewswire)

More news from BE Conference 2008 (Bentley Systems) in Baltimore:

Why In The World Was Carl Bass Scheduled to Tele-Appear at the Bentley Conference? (AECnews.com)

Bentley Announces ISO 15926-Based Bentley OpenPlant PDx Manager (Bentley Systems Press Release)

Bentley Introduces Comprehensive New Geospatial Product Portfolio With Powerful GIS Capabilities (Bentley Systems Press Release)

Bentley’s Communications Products Help Hellas Online Speed Delivery of 450-Kilometer Fiber Network in Athens (BusinessWire)

Local dignitaries expected for grand opening of $2.5 million expansion designed to attract new movie projects to Philadelphia area(Shoot Publicity Wire)

Hendricks to leave Unisys for EDS (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Agreement may mean end of cable set-top boxes
Agreement between cable industry, Sony, may be beginning of the end for set-top boxes (Associated Press via CNN Money)

Visible World, a targeted cable advertiser, raises $25M (VentureBeat)
Comcast Interactive Capital participated in the round. Sounds like another piece of Project Canoe.

Bentley Acquires Common Point to Mainstream Construction Simulation (Bentley Systems Press Release)

Bentley Announces Release of May 2008 Annual Report (Bentley Systems Press Release)
Revenue reaches $450 Million.

Ad agency Neiman Group makes some noise on its arrival (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Web Shopping 2.0: GSI Commerce Implements New Social Navigation Feature to Amplify the Voice of the Customer (PRNewswire)

The Last Supper (Reuters Blog)
Celebrating the end of the independent Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

TAGSYS Announces New High Performance RFID Systems for Textile Services (BusinessWire)

Lincoln unveils online illustration solution (FT Advisor)

Cordys to beef up North American ops with new industry-centric president (BPM in Action)

Objective Systems' ASN.1 Tools Selected by Symbian (PRNewswire)

Sony, cable firms act to eliminate set-top boxes
Pact with operators sets new standard for plug-and-play TVs, devices (MarketWatch)

Deal round-up: Ben bucks; Viet Rohm; Virtua builds (Philly.com: Philly Deals)
On latest disbursement of Ben Franklin funding.

Wal-Mart’s confused SAP strategy (SearchSAP.com: SAP Watch)

Review: SAPPHIRE 2008 - A new star is born in the BPM Galaxy…
(ARRIS BPM Blog)

Jon Reed Interviews David Foote on SAP Skills Trends (JonERP.com)

Guys on fast-track to business success (Metro Philadelphia)

Looking for great leadership teams
Ben Franklin speaker talks about business talent. Four awards given. (Allentown Morning Call)

ING looks to help customers secure online transactions
It's now offering a security software tool from Trusteer (Computerworld)
ING Direct USA is based in Wilmington.

A Wall Street quest falters
Initiative to be a backup data center for financial companies shows little progress. (Allentown Morning Call)

Chasing the Interactive Ad(vantage)
Is cable on the cusp of turning targeted TV spots into a real business? (Multichannel News)

Young Joins Diversified Search Ray & Berndtson To Head Technology Group (BusinessWire)

Shunra Software Announces New Chief Technology Officer as Company Expands Application Performance and Analysis Portfolio (BusinessWire)

Deacom Launches ERP Software Training Program
Deacom University Offers In-Depth Knowledge of Specific Functions of ERP System (BusinessWire)

Boomi and StrikeIron Partner to Accelerate SaaS Adoption by Enabling Seamless Integration of Web Services (BusinessWire)

Torex Picks Astea Lifecycle Management App, Alliance (TMCnet)

SAP CFO sees no out-of-court settlement with Oracle (Reuters)

Colleges see the future: Video games
Academics envision uses beyond Grand Theft Auto. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Comcast Puts Small Systems On The Block
For Sale: 400,000 Subs In Non-Strategic Markets (Multichannel News)

Tracking unhappy customers blog by blog (Orlando Sentinel)

Demo: ESPN Social Payment
(BRob's Technology Blog)

Ad agency Neiman Group threatens Philadelphia Advertising Agencies - raids Avenue A | Razorfish for employees (Tribble Ad Agency)

City Students Square Off in NFTE Philadelphia’s First Annual Citywide Youth Business Plan Competition (BusinessWire)

NBC Universal a top Weather Channel bidder: source (Reuters)
Comcast apparently is not in the hunt at this time. It is unclear whether they seriously considered making or actually made a bid.

Passport Health Buys Nebo Systems (Private Equity Hub)
Passport has co-headquarters in Frankin, Tennessee and King of Prussia

SAP's Kagermann says Business Objects acquisition weighing on share price (Thomson Financial via Forbes)

Pet tracking gets mainstream in the United States (GPS Business News)
Zoombak, a Liberty Media company, has its operational base in Berwyn.

Biotech Reigns At Wharton's Business Plan Contest (Knowledge@Wharton via
Forbes)

U are what U seek: new play sparked by AOL search query leak (ars technica)
Opening in Philadelphia on June 6.

Producers Want to Download Nerds Musical Into a Broadway Theatre (Playbill)

Comcast to 'Manage People, Not Protocols'
Watch CTO speak vaguely about new plan... (Broadband Reports)

Virtual RFID Walls Allow for Closer Equipment Tracking (medGadget)

Redlasso CEO says syndicating service is solution, not problem (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Redlasso To TV Networks: We've Got Bloggers On Our Side (Silicon Alley Insider)

Philips to sell MedQuist stake to CBay for $285 mln (Reuters UK)

Salesforce.com Reports 50% Revenue Growth (Information Week)
CEO takes usual potshots at SAP.

Is SAP’s weakness its real strength? (ZDNet Blogs)

Workday’s HCM deals: Some thoughts (SearchSAP.com: SAP Watch)

Google Health, a Quick Review (medGadget)

PolicyMap (API): Demographic Data on Your Neighborhood (ReadWriteWeb)
Developed by PushPin with The Reinvestment Fund, which is based in Philadelphia. Very neat application.

Five Questions About Avencia's Sajara
(Directions Magazine)

CoPilot Live GPS Navigation Sales Increase as Result of Rise in Fuel Prices (LBSzone.com)

Ben Franklin Technology Partners funds CoreDial (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Drexel University to announce Sacramento debut (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Buying Into Cooperation
Entrepreneur honored locally for efforts in Israel-U.S. commerce (Jewish Exponent)
Pete Musser.

Innovation Philadelphia Announces Inaugural Recipients of Creative Economy Investment Fund Awards (PRNewswire)
More funds for DreamIT Ventures.

Electronic health records save lives and money (Op-Ed: WayneSuburban.com)

New Features and Site Updates (The Viddler Spotlight)

Verispan Joins with Solara to Offer Managed Care Sales and Marketing Resource Allocation Tools (BusinessWire)

ORBIT/FR Reports Q1 Results (PRNewswire)

Time Warner, Cable Unit Agree on Separation, Dividend (Bloomberg)

Report: Verklin Will Indeed Paddle Canoe (MediaPost: Media Daily News)

Unisys expands board by 2, retains Goldman, Sachs (Associated Press via Philadelphia Inquirer)

InterDigital® Announces Financial Guidance for Second Quarter 2008 (BusinessWire)

HP Edges Up To Virtual Desktops With Mobile Thin Client
HP's 2533t is a mobile thin client with Windows XP Embedded and a gigabyte of flash memory inside. (Information
Week)

Devon IT Introduces New SafeBook LVO Mobile Thin Client Built on Lenovo R61 ThinkPad Platform (BusinessWire)

LG and Universal Display show flexible OLED display (Electronista)

Universal Display's Growing Surge (Motley Fool)

Bloggers Rejoice! Customized TV Clips With RedLasso (TechCrunch)

Party's Over, Bloggers: CBS, NBC, Fox Threaten Free Clip Service Redlasso (Silicon Alley Insider)

SunGard Unveils Asset Arena Compliance
(SunGard Press Release)

SunGard to Boost DR Business with Acquisition of Strohl (IT Jungle)

Boomi and CRM manager Partner to Simplify and Accelerate Integration in Salesforce.com Implementation Projects (Marketwire)

Should Philadelphia's wireless network be saved?
(Network World Community)

Philly legislator: Don’t let Wi-Fi network die (RCR Wireless News)

New paid search product from Channel Intelligence and Commerce360 improves PPC performance for retailers (e-consultancy)

ISGN Re-brands Subsidiary Companies (DSNews.com)

Manufacturers Gather for Functionality Updates, Development Plans at ERP User Conference (TransWorldNews)
Deacom user conference held in Philadelphia last week.

State Senate GOP Wants Tax Cuts As Part Of Budget (The Bulletin)

More news from The Cable Show:

U-M survey: Comcast customer service ratings at all-time low
(Associated Press via MLive.com)

Netflix Launches 'Instant-Access' Set-Top (Cable360.net)

A win for digital distribution as Netflix set-top box debuts (ars technica)

@ NCTA: All In The Same Canoe But Can They Row Together? (paidContent.org)

Cable Show ’08: Cable Must Rev Up Addressable Advertising
Chrysler Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl Meyer Urges Cable Industry to Put Pedal to Metal on New Technology (Broadcasting & Cable)

Motorola Launches Set-Top Diagnostics Platform with Key Performance Metrics (finchannel.com)

DTAs on Parade (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

2008 CABLE SHOW: Business Phone Service Signals Big Opportunity For Cable (Multichannel News)

Tru2way: The Future Way Of Cable Television? (CNBC.com: Media Matters)

QVC Taps SES Americom for HD Transport (Broadcasting & Cable)

Google Offers Personal Health Records on the Web (New York Times)

SAP 'not reducing' SaaS investment
(ZDNet Asia)

SAP's Push Into the SMB Market Is Creating a Skills Gap for IT Departments
(CIO.com)

Workday Introduces ERP as a Service (eWEEK)

Putting Workday on SAP’s radar (ZDNet Blogs)

AppLabs high on performance testing market in India (Business Standard of India)

EPAM Systems Announces $50 Million Capital Raise
(EFYtimes.com)
EPAM is headquarterd in Lawrenceville.

eResearch Double Whammy: Market Selloff and CFO Resignation (Ant & Sons)

Self-confidence is common thread (San Jose Mercury News)
Includes profile of MyYearbook's Catherine Cook.

NAVTEQ Launches Enhanced Traffic Patterns(TM) (GISuser)

NAVTEQ and MapQuest Expand Business Arrangement
Agreement Now Includes Access to Entire NAVTEQ(R) Map Database (PRNewswire)

New Online Mapping Tool Opens Doors to Data
PolicyMap empowers decision makers with better access to quality data (PRNewswire)

Sovereign raises $1.9B in stock, debt (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Trevose man arrested in vandalism at Boeing plant (Philadephia Business Journal)

Unisys to supply Maine with Medicaid management system (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Delaware fends off states, feds
(The Deal.com: Dealscape)

Sharon man keeps Boston law office on the fast track for growth (Quincy Patriot Ledger)
Pepper Hamilton expanding presence in Boston.

The Cable Show, a major industry trade show, is underway in New Orleans, so expect a lot of Comcastic news over the next couple of days. I'll try to sort through it for you the best I can.

New York Times and Journal Register? Seriously? (Reuters Blogs)

Quality Systems Executes Agreement to Acquire Healthcare Strategic Initiatives
HSI to join NextGen Healthcare, strengthening the company’s presence in the RCM space (BusinessWire)

InfoLogix Acquires Aware Interweave, Inc.(PRNewswire)
Provides mobility solutions for SAP users.

Comcast Invests In P2P Video Delivery Startup
Operator Contributed To GridNetworks’ $9.5 Million First-Round Funding (Multichannel News)

Verizon in No Rush for IPTV (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

TiVo, cable companies to offer digital adapters (Associated Press via Detroit News)

Canoe Chief To Be Named June 1
Comcast COO Burke Says Exec Has Been Selected (Multichannel News)

Cable set for interactive ad future
(Reuters)

@ NCTA: Comcast's Roberts: Pivot Was A 'Me-Too' Service Cable Ops Weren't Vested In, Didn't Need (mocoNews.net via
Washington Post)

Comcast Buying Arris Docsis 3.0 Gear (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

Mike Cookish on DOCSIS 3.0 (Media Experiences 2 GO)
On Motorola's DOCSIS 3.0 offering.

EchoStar to showcase first product for cable (Associated Press via Fox Business)

NCTA: Comcast Teams with Best Buy for Residential Services Installation (xchange)

NCTA: Top Cable Tru2way Questions Answered (xchange)

Four Questions For The Cable Guys (Silicon Alley Insider)

Pa. company opens $10m India center
Employee-retention firm to shift Indian employees (IndUS Business Journal)
Kenexa

Industry Leader PointRoll to Serve Ads on the Google Content Network (PRNewswire)

Co-Founder and Former CEO of Portal Software Invests in Aria Systems and Joins Board (Marketwire)

SAP Chief Says U.S. Market `Tough, But Not Worsening' (Bloomberg)

Portland’s busted SAP implementation (SearchSAP.com: SAP Watch)

Oracle's Planned AdminServer Buy Seen as Significant (PC World)

New rule hamstringing bank lending (Philadelphia Inquirer)
More notes on AdmiinServer, Strohl.

Ametek lowers second-quarter, full-year outlooks (Associated Press via MSN Money)

Voxware Reports Record Fiscal Third Quarter Revenue
Continued Growth in Revenue and Profit Underline Strong Performance (BusinessWire via Philly.com)

Consulting Company Launches Health IT Practice (Healthcare Informatics)

A couple of notes:

In the Inquirer on Friday, Joe DiStefano referred to the Strohl Sytems acquisition by SunGard as its first deal since 2006, citing Bloomberg data. Actually, I quickly came up with at least three from last year, DSPA Software, Finetix, and VeriCenter. No knock intended at Joe, who is an excellent business journalist. Though he should know better than to rely on Bloomberg, since he worked for them for a while.

Also, Red Herring announced its Red Herring 100 (best young North American tech companies) at the end of the week. Commerce360, the Plymouth Meeting SEO specialist, made the cut for the final 200 but not the top 100. BlueCat Networks, a Canadian firm which recently opened an office in Allentown which I believe is their US headquarters, made the top 100. BlueCat provides intelligent IP address management solutions. No other companies with Philly connections as far as I know right now.