GE, Vivendi reach tentative deal on NBCU

GE, Vivendi agree to value NBCU stake at $5.8 billion (Reuters)

At $5.8 billion for 20%, that's less than the $30 billion that GE and Comcast agreed to value the entire company at. I assumed
Vivendi would get some kind of premium. My guess is that there are some other considerations involved.

Daily Links 11/30/09: QVC reports 60% jump in Black Friday Sales

Tech company SAP is living the green life (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Open Source as a Model for Business Is Elusive (New York Times)

Kroes Stepping Down as EU Antitrust Chief
New chair will take over Jan. 26. Will he change the course of the Oracle-Sun merger? (InternetNews.com)

IBM vs. SAS: The Battle over Data Analysis Software (Business Week)

QVC reports 60% jump in sales (on Black
Friday) (Phoenix Business Journal)

Core Solutions Awarded Contract to Replace Pennsylvania Department of Health Information System
Behavioral healthcare technology company’s Care Enterprise ™ product to become technology platform for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (PR Web)

Infragistics Expands Operations in Sofia, Bulgaria (PR Newswire)

Digitas Health’s prognosis: New hires
Big French-owned ad agency sees lots of growth in its specialized field (Philadelphia Business Journal)

SimpleGeo Locates $1.5 Million And Many Big Name Investors (TechCrunch)
Including First Round Capital.

Sarnoff to Demonstrate First Augmented Reality Training System for US Warfighters (Business Wire)

Microsoft updates its enterprise ABC (Active Directory, BizTalk and Communications Server) roadmaps (ZDNet Blogs)

Governor's Office of Health Care Reform Releases Draft Strategic Plan for Health Information Exchange (PR Newswire)




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Philly Tech Events Calendar

SAP Enterprise Support KPI Project Leader and Sponsor Resign (PC World)

Software AG carves new BPM space
(ZDNet Asia)

A Takeover Movie for Hollywood to Watch (New York Times)

Fishing the online stream
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Black Friday Shopping with Sony and Apple (Zatz Not Funny!)

Let's just add in a little virality (Redeye VC)



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People News 11/29/09

TrueAction Boosts Digital Marketing Profile, Appoints Bogaty VP, Interactive Marketing (MediaPost: Online Media Daily)
Formerly GSI Interactive.

CDI Announces New Vice President of Business Development for Talent Management Division (PR Newswire)

Jim Way, Former Vice President at Siemens Health Services, Joins InfoLogix, Inc. as Vice President of Strategic Healthcare Services (PR Newswire)

Changes to the Executive Board at IDS Scheer AG (Press Release Point)

Gannett Digital Hires New National Sales Head (ClickZ)

Allied Pixel hires Aaron Houston as new staff editor
(Philly Ad Club News)

MISI Welcomes Brendan Greer
(MISI Company)




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Keeping up with First Round Capital: 11/27/09

I'm not sure if First Round actually originated the "office hours" thing, but it sounds like its becoming a big deal, judging from this Boston Globe column. Are any other Philly area VC's doing anything like this?

A lot of continuing buzz about recent First Round investment Hot Potato, the realtime event-oriented social networking service. At last word, its iPhone app is ready to go but still waiting approval from the App Store (what else is new?). Peter Kafka of All Things Digital interviews founder Justin Shaffer about the Brooklyn-based firm. (video).

First Round Partner Rob Hayes wrote an article in November's Fast Company, When Is the Right Time to Start a Business? Now.

The New York Time"Bits" blog writes on the unveiling of First Round portfolio company BigDeal's online auction site.

Another First Round company, On Deck Capital, has teamed with the National Urban League to bring On Deck's proprietary small business lending solutions to NUL's local affiliates through their Entrepreneurship Centers around the nation, starting with Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Also, TechCrunch reports on Xobni's new Salesforce extension and UI enhancements.



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Vivendi Should Seize Moment to Sell NBC Stake, Union Says (Bloomberg)

A new kind of company, a new challenge for feds
If Comcast, NBC merge, would one firm control too much of the media? (Washington Post)

Goodbye Chris: Thanks For Making A Difference (The Bulletin)
Marc Kramer on Constantine “Chris” Pavlides.

Another letter in USA Technologies proxy battle (Philadelphia Business Journal: Technology Blog)

Business Services discussed on Comcast Local Edition (Comcast Voices)

3G wireless still holds promise (CNN Tech)



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Comcast bid for NBC Universal could be sealed next week: source (AFP via Google News)
AFP (Agence France-Presse) presumably has the best sources in France to know what Vivendi is thinking.

MobileMD's New Growth Funding Supports Continued Market Expansion, Technology Innovation for its Health Information Exchange Solution (Company Press Release)
I previously reported on this a couple of weeks ago.

Daily Links 11/25/09: GE-Vivendi discussions make progress

Comcast's holiday show is a breakout in 3-D (Philadelphia Inquirer)
The photo in the article reminds me of a scene from the later Star Trek episodes.

GE-Vivendi Talks on NBC Said to Progress as Immelt, Levy Meet (Bloomberg)

Worse Than The NBC-Comcast Deal? No Deal (Forbes)

TiVo: Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty? (Business Week: The Tech Beat)

Lost In The Android Bazaar (MediaPost: Mobile Insider)
At King of Prussia Mall.

U.S. Senators Press EU to End Oracle-Sun Probe
Bipartisan group cites DoJ clearance as reason enough, but there might be one particular reason why it won't be. (InternetNews.com)

SAP says emerging markets stabilizing (Reuters)

SAP needs to do more with centers of excellence, analyst says (SearchSAP.com)

Clearwire Raises $920 Million More To Fund WiMax Buildout
Cable-Backed Wireless Broadband Player Secures $2.8 Billion Total in New Debt and Equity (Multichannel
News)

Dataram Reports Fiscal 2010 Second Quarter Financial Results (Business Wire)
Dataram Rally Reverses Following FY Q2 Results
(Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Viridity Energy Congratulates Con Edison on Smart Grid Stimulus Funding
Viridity Energy will work with Con Edison and the New York City Economic Development Corp. to optimize advanced building technologies for City-owned properties (Business Wire)





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Daily Links 11/24/09: Center City Direct opens "Digital Newsstands"

Vivendi may sell NBC Universal share via IPO (Fierce Online Video)
I doubt that will ever happen. This is all bargaining.

First Digital Newsstands Launched
Center City CBS Stations Launch First Digital Newwstands (CBS3)

CBS Philadelphia Launches Digital Newsstands (MediaWeek)

Former StarCite exec appointed CEO of Movitas Mobile (Movitas
Mobile Website)
Some interesting names behind this one: Terry Williams (Next Stage and TWC Group), Pat Croce, and Michael McNulty (co-founder of Verticalnet)

Independent Shareholder Group SAVE Issues Stop, Look and Listen Letter To USA Technologies Shareholders (Business Wire)
USA Technologies Sends Letter to Shareholders
Highlights Company’s Strategic and Financial Plan, Recent Positive Results, Timetable for Profitability and Inaccurate Assertions Made by Dissidents (Business Wire)

Wedbush Downgrades SAP, Upgrades CRM
(Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)


Fawning over Chatter and how SAP missed its chance (ZDNet Blogs)

SAP Joins PowerPoint and Twitter - Does This Work? (Read Write Web)

New Jersey’s Investment Freeze is Frozen (For Now) (PE Hub)

Unirisx and IDP Form Strategic Alliance to Create Unirisx Integrated Solution -- Combined Technology Featuring Policy Administration with Billing, Claims and Bureau-Reporting Components (PR Newswire)

Virtua Health Expects Improved Bed Management From RFID
(RFID Journal)

CADD Edge Expands SolidWorks® CAD Support with New Philadelphia Office (Business Wire)

Comcast Livens up the Holiday Season with “The Comcast Holiday Spectacular in 3-D” (Business Wire)




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Daily Links 11/23/09: FiOS "officially" launches in Philly

Analyst: Comcast-NBC merger review could extend through 2010 (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Camden firm taps tech to thwart cyber threats
Rising demand for virtual safety fuels startup’s growth (NJBIZ.com)

Technology companies honored at awards gala (NJBIZ.com)

Was analyst forced out for being right on CardioNet 'sell'? (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Just in Time for Thanksgiving, Verizon Launches a New Era of Television Entertainment in Philadelphia (PR Newswire)

Verizon launches FiOS in Philly
(CED Magazine)

Verizon Targets 50,000 Philly Homes For FiOS TV By End Of 2009
Telco Begins Competing With Comcast In City Of Brotherly Love (Multichannel News)



Deutsche Telekom open to all options for U.S. unit: sources (Reuters)

T-Mobile 7.2 Mbps HSPA Testing in my Backyard (jkOnTheRun)

Media Alert: Center City Direct, CBS Stations Launch Next Generation of Newsstands (Marketwire)
Not totally sure what this is about yet. Here is Center City Direct's web site.
Update: It sounds as if Center City Direct will start off with video displays/ticker feeds located at newsstands downtown. The content will come from the seven CBS broadcast outlets in the city-two TV stations and five radio stations. It is not clear at this time whether all the displays will be located at actual, old fashioned newsstands or at other locations. Center City Direct is a division of Alternative Media Holdings LLC.

Tonight: Radar/Ignite/Laughing Squid Meetup in Philadelphia (O'Reilly Radar)



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Philly Tech Events Calendar

People News 11/22/09

Lockheed Martin Announces Leadership Appointments and Organizational Realignment (PR Newswire)

InsPro Technologies Names Louis Donofrio as COO
(PR Web)

Klaus Besier Named Chairman of RES Software
(Business Wire)
The Inquirer reports that RES Software's North American headquarters will be in the Philly area, and that the company plans to add 15 to 20 sales & marketing employees over the next few months.

Peter Gartenberg named COO of SAP India
Gartenberg will report to Steve Watts, COO, SAP Asia Pacific Japan and interim president, SAP India (CIOL News Reports)

Aklero Process Solutions Taps Industry Veteran Fitzpatrick as New Chief (DSNews.com)

Journal Register Company Hires Chief Digital Officer (Marketwire)


WorldGate Announces New Vice President of Sales for Digital Voice and Video Phone Services (Business Wire)

Veeva Systems Hires Respected Industry Veteran as New Vice President of Sales, North America (Business Wire)

The Star Group promotes Brian Ablaza to managing partner (Philly Ad Club News)



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At a Software Powerhouse, the Good Life Is Under Siege (New York Times)

Summit analysis: To what extent was technology responsible for the financial crash? (v3.co.uk)

InfoLogix Announces Closing of Restructuring of its Outstanding Debt with Hercules; Believes Compliant with NASDAQ's Minimum Stockholders' Equity Threshold (PR Newswire)

Recession attracts major US employer (The Sunday Business Post/Ireland)
Bentley Systems' new Dublin office.

Bessemer's Top 10 Laws for Cloud Computing (Sandhill.com)

Mapping company closing (LancasterOnline.com)

Liberty Interactive: Citi Upgrades On Rebound At QVC
(Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Oracle Purchase of Sun’s MySQL May Remove Competitor, EU Says (Bloomberg)

Microsoft's Dynamics ERP to Gain New Services
What new services will the company add as it moves ERP into the Azure cloud? (Internetnews.com)

Pennsylvania budget cuts mean less money for start-ups (Pittsburgh Business Times)

GE, Vivendi differ on NBCU valuation - report (Reuters)

Philly's Startup Phinest Rock at Founder Factory (The Green Skeptic)
Going fishing for startups at the Founder Factory (Philly.com: Philly Inc)
Startup Leaders hosts second annual Founder Factory to mixed reaction (Technically Philly)

Oracle Blinks (All Things Digital: Digital Daily)

Panel: do cloud computing economic advantages break down in enterprises? (ZDNet Blogs)

Verizon To Announce Philly FiOS TV Launch Plans Nov. 23
Telco To Take On Comcast In Top MSO's Hometown (Multichannel News)

USA Technologies, Inc. Issues Open Letter to Shareholders (Business Wire)

Viridity Energy Poised to Make Next Generation of Smart Grid a Reality
Viridity’s flagship VPower™ System Named a Smart Grid Innovator in VentureBeat’s
Innovation Competition at GreenBeat 2009 (Business Wire)

The Next Twitter: Pay Attention To Hot Potato, A New 'Real-Time' Startup (Silicon Alley Insider)
Another First Round Capital portfolio company.

National Venture Capital Association says venture-backed companies hiring
(Philadelphia Business Journal: Technology Blog)

Open Text Beefs Up SAP Solutions Including Compliance, Retention Management
(CMS Wire)




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Daily Links 11/19/09: John Malone on Comcast/NBC-U, and on the future of Direct TV

Vivendi Wants to Exit NBC, Deal Is ‘Complex,’ CFO Capron Says (Bloomberg)
Complex as in "We want more money".

John Malone: Comcast-NBC would have too much power (Associated Press via Yahoo Finance)

Malone: DirecTV would be "compatible" with a telco (Reuters)
"If (Comcast) can't rape and pillage, it's probably not a great investment," Malone said.


Again: Metered Billing Is Neither Necessary Nor Inevitable
Growth is manageable, companies are profitable, what's the problem? (Broadband Reports)


3 charged with hacking Comcast site (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Benioff: Denial of the cloud has destroyed SAP (IT Pro)

The Future of ERP, Part II (CIO.com)

Temple prof's legacy will be networking group (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Business Outlook Survey: November 2009 (pdf) (Federal Reserve Bank of Phildelphia)
Philly Fed hits highest level in two years
Fourth increase in a row puts index at 16.7 (MarketWatch)

Kulicke & Soffa Reports Results for its Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2009 (Business Wire)

AOL Also Likely to Eye Sale of MapQuest–Is Microsoft a Possible Buyer? (All Things Digial: BoomTowm)

Q&A: Doug Alexander, Internet Capital Group (Keystone Edge)

GSI Launches Four Specialty Web Stores—Barbie, Hot Wheels, Disney and Games—For Mattel
Mattel Signs Multiyear Agreement with GSI for Technology, Fulfillment, Customer Care and Marketing Services (Business Wire)

Interphase Systems Launches Managed IT Solution for BioPharma Companies
Ready-IT is a cost-effective Platform-as-a-Service solution for managing IT (Business Wire)




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News from Dreamforce

Salesforce.com Launches Social Enterprise Application at Dreamforce (Read Write Web)

Salesforce CRM Users Add QlikView Analytics for Speed and Simplicity of Information Access (Company Press Release)

Aria Systems Delivers World’s Most Secure and Flexible On-Demand Billing Solution for Salesforce
(Company Press Release)

CRM manager Doubles Customer Base in 2009 (PR Newswire)

Proscape Announces Integration with Salesforce.com (PharmaLive)

A Tale of Two Software Worlds: Old ERP vs. SaaS (ZDNet Blogs)




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SAP and Microsoft Team Up to Help Customers of All Sizes Improve Business Planning and Consolidations
Software Leaders Underline Commitment to Customers Around the Globe Using the Microsoft Platform to Tap the Business Value of SAP(R) BusinessObjects(TM) Planning and Consolidation Applications (PR Newswire)

SAP, Microsoft align against Oracle in business software market (SearchOracle.com)


Cloud Won't Do for Critical Applications, SAP Says
Mission-critical applications will not move to the cloud said SAP's CTO Vishal Sikka. (PC World)

SAP Customers and Partners Create New Business Solutions at SAP Co-Innovation Lab in Bangalore (PR Newswire)




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US software maker Bentley opening Dublin office (Associated Press
via CNBC)

Verizon introduces FiOS service in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer)

thePlatform Plugs In 'TV Everywhere' (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

GE, Vivendi Still Mulling Over NBC Universal (Fox Business)

Comcast Spotlight Brings Leading Retailers’ Weekly Circulars to TV
Viewers Can Browse Stores’ Featured Sale Items with a Click of Their Remotes (Business Wire)

Charter Reorganization Plan Approved
Operator Says New Stock Could Come Early Next Year (Multichannel News)

Ben Franklin to Invest $519,537 In Regional Economic Development (Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern
Pennsylvania)

RAM Technologies Teams With IBM to Serve SMB Marketplace (PR Newswire)

Stimulus funding Phila. grants to creative businesses (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Bucks County, Pa., Now Live on Lawson Enterprise Solutions (Business Wire)





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Intel invests again in Safend

Intel has made a follow-on investment in Philadelphia and Israel-based Safend, VentureBeat reports. Safend provides endpoint security protection systems. Intel first invested in Safend in 2005; the amount of its investments have not been disclosed. Safend is also backed by Israeli companies Walden Israel and Elron. It recently ranked 7th on the Deloitte Israel Fast 50.




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Daily Links 11/17/09: SAP and Microsoft to announce new partnership tomorrow

Microsoft and SAP Again Team Up Against Oracle (Wall Street Journal: Digits)

Comcast's NBC talks cap its decades-long rise (Associated Press via Google News)

Key dates in the history of Comcast Corp. (Associated Press via Google News)

Comcast Said to Work With Ticketmaster, Live Nation on Merger (Bloomberg)

SAP makes business model more flexible to meet customer needs (Reuters)

Down ERP market could mean licensing deals for SAP buyers (SearchSAP.com)

Startups Trying to Change the SAP Consulting Game
A pair of new startups see potential in remote help desk support for SAP (PC World)
One of them is CumulusIQ of Bethlehem.

Companies urge FCC to scrap broadband study that favors net neutrality (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Salesforce.com Announces Fiscal Third Quarter Results (PR Newswire)
Salesforce.com FY Q3 Revs Beat, EPS In Line; Stock Sags (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Salesforce.com Community Chooses WebEx Integration as Next Boomi Widget (Marketwire)

Aria Systems and NetSuite Partner to Deliver Usage-Based Billing on SuiteCloud Platform
Leading Usage-Based Billing Complements NetSuite’s Native Billing Engine (Business Wire)

D&E cuts: headquarters, 239 jobs
Windstream details plan after purchase last week (LancasterOnline.com)

GIS technology to be focus of Burlco forum (Cherry Hill Courier-Post)


CableLabs Advanced-Ad Interop Draws 24 Companies
Vendors Demo Interoperability Using Specs Developed by CableLabs, Canoe (Multichannel News)

InterDigital Announces Financial Guidance for Fourth Quarter 2009 (Business Wire)




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First Round Capital's Recent Deals

FRC has led a $1 million round (875k raised so far) for Swipely, a Providence RI startup that won't disclose what it is doing yet, acording to Xconomy.

TechCrunch reports that FRC is a return investor in a $5 million round for Outright led by Sequoia Capital. Outright provides online bookeeping services for small businesses. Could it be another Mint? Outright is based in Campbell CA.

FRC also came back for a third round in AppNexus, for $5 million lead by Kodiak Venture Partners , paidContent reports. AppNexus provides online advertising services via a cloud computing platform. It is
based in New York City.




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Daily Links 11/16/09: Cohen says Comcast Ownership of Content ‘Totally Appropriate’

Another chapter starts to unfold in the SAP maintenance story (ZDNet Blogs)


Comcast Expands Online Local Sports Teams To Compete With ESPN (paidContent)

Comcast Ownership of Content ‘Totally Appropriate,’ Cohen Says (Bloomberg)

MGM exploring potential sale of company (Reuters)
Comcast owns a minority stake in MGM.

Listening in on calls to Comcast shows it's not so easy (Chicago Tribune)

Motorola to Enhance On Demand Portfolio with Strategic Acquisition
BitBand contributes IP video delivery expertise and leading share in IPTV Video On Demand (PR Newswire)
Motorola to buy BitBand, restates IPTV intentions amid sale rumors (FierceIPTV)


Investment group approves nearly $1M in funding (Phildelphia Inquirer)
Ben Franklin Technology Partners SE invests in five area companies.

Hay Group CIO Survey
IT Poised for a Recovery in 2010 (Business Wire)

Blumenthal: Stimulus provides strong foundation for HIE (FierceHealthIT)

Harris Corporation Acquires Patriot Technologies; Expands Presence in Integrated Healthcare Information Solutions for the Federal Market
(PR Newswire)
Patriot Technologies is based in King of Prussia.

Little Benefit Seen, So Far, in Electronic Patient Records (New York Times)

TL Ventures Dispute Heads To Arbitration (And Then Back to Court) (PE Hub)
TL Ventures is headquartered in Radnor.

BarCamp indicates that Philly is ready for next step. But will it happen? (Technically Philly)

Voxware Reports First Quarter Results for Fiscal 2010
Worldwide Economic Conditions Contributed to Challenging Quarter (Business Wire)




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Philly Tech Events Calendar

People News 11/15/09

MEDecision Appoints Scott A. Storrer CEO (Business
Wire)

Comcast Names Steven A. White West Division President (PR Newswire)

Kenexa Appoints Eric Lochner as Chief Marketing Officer
Former EMEA Director to Head Global Marketing Initiatives (Marketwire)

TimeSight Systems(TM) Appoints Mike Gluck as Vice President of Sales (PR Newswire)

Lance Richard Named Entercom VP/Digital Sales (Radio Online)

Austin Paris, Former Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet Sales Executive, Joins RDC as Senior Vice President, Sales (Business Wire)

Emtec, Inc. Expands Executive Management Team with Appointment of Sunil Misra to Chief Strategy & Delivery Officer (Business Wire)

Tech Awards Circle Winners Represent Best of Tech 2009 (PR Newswire)
Chief Technologists of SevOne of Newark (DE) and Dataram of Princeton both honored.

DMW Worldwide brings on Daniela Gelety as senior AE (Philly Ad Club News)

Vijay Prasad Named to PMI Board of Directors
PMI Volunteer is First from India to Serve Worldwide Membership (Business Wire)




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Vivendi May Decide to Sell NBC Stake as Sale Window Opens Today (Bloomberg)

Comcast aspires to be a major global communications player (LA Times: Company Town)

From Books to Business: Student Entrepreneurs (ABC News)

Why must software be so hard on the user? (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Review of Electronic Ink CEO Harold Hambrose's new book, Wrench in the System.



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Comcast’s Amy Banse Explains TV Everywhere (eHomeUpgrade)

Another Web Video Face-Off: Roku vs. Boxee (New York Times: Bits)

SAP plans to raise licensing fees - report (Reuters)




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Daily Links 11/13/09: Comcast & GE agree on Board structure

For Comcast Chief, Content Led the Way (New York Times: DealBook)

GE, Comcast agree on NBC Universal JV board: source (Reuters)

Vivendi Gains Control of GVT With Purchase of 58% (Bloomberg)
This would probably indicate that Vivendi is ready to sell its NBC-U stake.

ANALYSIS: Comcast/NBCU May Create More M&A Activity
Wall Street eyes new conglom as potential buyer and seller (Broadcasting & Cable)

3 Reasons TV’s About to Get a Facelift (VentureBeat via New York Times)

@comcastcares Dishes on His Top Twitter Apps (GigaOM)

Zayo Bandwidth Expands Fiber-to-Tower Service Offerings in Philadelphia
Services Will Support Increasing Bandwidth Requirements of 3g and 4g Technologies (PR Newswire)
Zayo Expands Fiber to the Tower Effort (Telecom Ramblings)

Judge delays auction for Philly newspapers 1 week (Associated Press via Google News)
McClatchy, Philly Newspapers Battle Over Workers Comp Claims (Wall Street Journal: Bankruptcy Beat)

Global CIO: SAP's Spread Out Payment Plan Is Good But Not Enough
The ERP business has become a buyers' market and is likely to stay this way. SAP could be on the verge of capitalizing on that. (Information Week: Global CIO)

NetSuite, InsideView Pull Social-Networking Data into Enterprise (eWeek)

Google pays $30M for Gizmo5; Did the search giant just blow up the phone biz? (Daily Finance)


Aria Systems Customers Drive White-hot Subscription Revenue Growth During Economic Downturn (Business Wire)

Environmental Tectonics Corporation, Rep. Patrick Murphy Announce $40 Million Contract to Create Hundreds of Pennsylvania Jobs (PR Newswire)




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MobileMD Raises $4.75 million

PE Hub reports that MobileMD of Warminster has raised $4.75 million in a VC funding round led by Health Enterprise Partners of New York.

MobileMD provides Health Information Exchange solutions for medical organizations such as South Jersey Healthcare and Main Line Health.



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Daily Links 11/12/09: iPipeline raises another $15 million

Comcast testing WiMAX femtocells (FierceWireless)

FCC conditions on Comcast-NBC could hurt synergy (Reuters)

Comcast to Bring TV Everywhere in December (Media Experiences 2 Go: Motorola Blog)

Vivendi: No comment on NBC Universal stake (MarketWatch)

The Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Exton's iPipeline will announce tommorrow that it has raised $15 million from NewSpring Capital and Fidelity Ventures, primarily to fund further acquisitions. iPipeline is also hiring, Joe Distefano reports.
Press Release

The Insanely Rich Young Mobile Ad Broker You've Never Heard Of (Gawker)
Omar Hamoui founded Google acquisition AdMob while at Wharton.

Urban Outfitters Reports Record Earnings in Q3 (Globe Newswire via CNN Money)
Same store sales up 2%.

SAP Tells Oracle To Free Java But Keeps Own Software Closed (Information Week: Global CIO)

SAP shows off enterprise ‘augmented reality’ (IT Pro)

QVC expects 50 percent of sales coming from online by 2014 (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Synygy Announces Positive Q3 Results with Profit Increasing 54 Percent over Prior Year (Business Wire)

EMS Formation Boosts Capacity and Performance of ToughDisk® 3500 SATA Rugged Hard Disk to Meet Growing Mass Storage Demands (Business Wire)

Unilever Awards Unisys an Outsourcing Contract to Provide End-User Services to a Multi-Regional Workforce (Business Wire)

SunGard Prospects To Try Apps on Dell Gear in New Test Center (Campus Technology)




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Vivendi may have something to say about NBC-U stake tommorrow

Vivendi may announce NBCU intentions (Philadelphia Inquirer)

WSJ: Motorola seeking buyer for Horsham set-top box business

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Motorola is seriously seeking buyers for its set-top box business, based in Horsham. This
is not a surprise, since such a move was generally thought to be part of Motorola's strategic plan; it just indicates that they
may be getting close to evaluating actual bids. Private Equity buyers including TPG, which last week announced an agreement
to purchase IMS Health, and equipment manufacturers such as Samsung are considered possible acquirers. The business has
an estimated value of $4.5 billion. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are advising Motorola.


Goodbye Moto? (Multichannel News)

Motorola: Here’s an Idea: Let’s Sell Off Our Most Profitable Division (All Things Digital: Digital Daily)



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Daily Links 11/11/09: SAP fires back at WSJ, Oracle

Zucker to head new NBCU-Comcast venture -- sources (Reuters)
Jeff Zucker Inexplicably To Lead Comcast/NBC Venture (Silicon Alley Insider)

SAP Statement on The Wall Street Journal Opinion Piece About Oracle-Sun Deal (PR
Newswire)

Spotlight turns to SAP in Oracle, Sun debacle
German software maker 'disappointed' letter to Oracle CEO leaked to press (Marketwatch

Ma Bell's wake-up call: Deals among Net calling firms may sap big telcos' revenue (Daily Finance)

Supremes wrestle with business method, software patents (ars technica)


InfoLogix Announces Receipt of NASDAQ Waiver for Stockholder Approval of Restructuring and Extension to Stockholder's Equity Requirement (PR Newswire)


Judge denies Heartland restraining order request (Associated Press via Google News)

Dearth of dollars adds to challenges for technology startup companies (Technology Times)

Reed Elsevier’s Surprise CEO Departure (Wall Strret Journal: MarketBeat)

Astea Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results (PR Newswire)

C64 emulator back on the App Store (The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

What is BarCamp Philly? (Philly2Philly.com)

Tech Collaborative plans to award $1.5M in commercialization funding (Pittsburgh Business Times)

Fighting the five-finger discount
No time to wade through security-camera footage? Help is at hand. (Fortune Small Business)
On Agilence of Camden.

TimeSight Systems(TM) Receives $1M in New Jersey Economic Development Funding to Continue Innovation in Security and Surveillance
(PR Newswire)






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Daily Links 11/10/09: Tailwind Capital Invests in SDI Health LLC

Tailwind Capital Invests in SDI Health LLC (Business Wire)

KPMG survey finds optimism in Philadelphia's venture community (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Clearwire to Raise Over $1.5 Billion to Continue National Expansion of 4G Mobile Internet Services (Business Wire)
Comcast to kick in another $200 million in equity.

Clearwire Sees ‘09 Net Cash Spend At $1.9 Billion (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Vivendi in No Rush to Sell NBC Stake, May Bargain Hard on Price (Bloomberg)

Inquirer Owner Wins Appeal, Blocks Creditors From Bid (Bloomberg)

Heartland forced to update Q3 results as data breach costs rack up (Finextra)

Oracle Will Plead Sun Case to EC Nov. 25 in Brussels (eWeek)


SAP wants an open Java process (pot, meet kettle)
(CNET News)

Infor Attacks SAP and Oracle in 'Down With Big ERP' Campaign (IT Jungle)

Justice Dept. Asked For News Site's Visitor Lists (CBS News Blogs)

Penn: First US University to Deploy DNS Security Throughout the Institution (Penn Almanac)

WebLinc launches the new Thomas Scientific B2B eCommerce site (WebLinc Blog)




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Report: Google Buys VoIP Startup

Google Buys VOIP Startup Gizmo5 -- Report (Silicon Alley Insider)

Google is now full VoIP provider with purchase of Gizmo5 (Computerworld Blogs)

Philly Area Companies battle for Business Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Market

You can credit companies such as Vonage and Comcast for popularizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) for residential services. On the business services side, a number of companies are positioning themselves for growth in this market. Although VoIP has been present in many larger enterprises for some time, its adoption in SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) has been occurring more recently. Smaller local firms such as Alteva, Evolve IP, and CoreDial are making major inroads, but they will be facing growing competition from larger players such as Comcast, Verizon and Paetec.

Infonetics Research says the worldwide VoIP market reached about $21 billion in the first half of 2009. While the majority of that comes from residential services, Infonetics says that the hottest spot in the market is for hosted VoIP services for smaller businesses. VoIP can provide better voice quality at lower costs, with greater customization and a gateway towards "unified communications". Hosted VoIP services are analogous to Software as a Service (SaaS) or perhaps Cloud Computing, as it eliminates much of the upfront capital outlay and on-premise maintenance on the customer's part and results in greater use of shared resources

Hosted VoIP services provider Alteva, based in Philadelphia, was founded in 2003 by Bill Bumbernick (who also had time to get elected to the East Greenwich NJ town committee last week) and has been profitable since 2006 with minimal outside investment. Alteva's primary service area is the Mid-Atlantic region (they have plans for offices in Baltimore and Wilmington), but it also provides nationwide service to some customers. Alteva targets the SME market (primarily 50 to 500 employees, but some up to 5,000) and currently has more than 40 employees, Bumbernick says. Although Alteva won't release revenue figures, VP of Sales Louis Hayner told Network World in July that sales were 45% higher than 2008 over the first half of the year, after averaging 66% growth over the past three years. Alteva considers its proprietary software and API (application programming interface) to be one of its key competitive assets.

Other significant hosted VoIP providers in the Philadelphia area include Evolve IP of Wayne, which raised $15.6 million in VC funding in early 2008, and CoreDial of Plymouth Meeting, which has received funding from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania and was just ranked as the tenth fastest growing company on the Philly 100.

Generally speaking, the larger competitors own and provide more of the actual networks, while the smaller companies own less of their own networks but specialize in providing installation, services, and software that helps customers configure and manage their telecom services. Some larger telecoms may continue to focus primarily on wholesaling their network services, while others may move closer to providing full solutions to smaller customers.

Comcast, already the largest provider of residential VoIP services, has established a Business Services division with an $850 million annual run rate. In its most significant recent move in the business services market, it acquired Chicago-area CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) Cimco, which will considerably strengthen Comcast's ability to provide solutions to larger mid-sized businesses with up to 250 employee, according to Cable Digital News. Originally, Comcast served businesses mostly in the 1-20 employee range. M & A activity in the CLEC space is high now, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Comcast make moves in other metro markets it currently serves.

Another factor impacting the industry's future is "Unified Communications", which was once a rather vague concept but is becoming more defined as offerings from Microsoft, Cisco and Google (Google Voice and Google Wave) come to market. Unified Communications attempts to provide users with a common platform and user interface for integrating multiple modes of communications. Alteva is working with Microsoft's new offerings; while these companies may be viewed as collaborators now, at some point they may become powerful competitors.

The state of the VoIP business services industry today is similar to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) business in the mid 1990's. The current emphasis on firms that are locally or regionally focused will shift towards providing a more national footprint to achieve both network economies of scale and standardization of software systems. That shift is going to start happening quickly through M & A, expansion and alliances. However, as this business evolves, the quality of the services and software may be more important than the size of one's network.




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Daily Links 11/09/09: Advanta files for Bankruptcy

Liberty Media Reports Third Quarter Financial Results (PR Newswire)
QVC revenue up 2%.

GE, Comcast reportedly value NBCU at $30 billion
(CNET News)

Lots of smoke but likely to be few flames in D.C. for Comcast-NBC (LA Times: Company Town)

Advanta bankrupt; FDIC "may" seize its bank (Philly.com: Philly Deals)
Sad story for many people. The end of "Blob Live", I would guess.

Citi cuts price target on CardioNet (Reuters via Forbes)

USA Technologies, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2010 Financial Results (Business Wire)

IndyHall Labs a place for software ideas to come together (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Oracle Receives European Union Objections Over Sun Purchase (Bloomberg)

Motorola and Microsoft Mediaroom for IPTV (Media Experiences 2 Go: Motorola Blog)

Universal Display Corporation Announces
Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results (Business Wire)

SaaS market defies economic gloom
Gartner says SaaS revenue is likely to reach £4.5bn by end of 2009 (v3.co.uk)

Will RFID Remain a Niche Technology? (RFID Journal)




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Philly Tech Events Calendar

Clearwire to get $1.5 billion investment

The Wall Street Journal reports that Clearwire, the WiMax network venture that just launched in Philly, will receive another $1.5
billion in capital, two thirds coming from Sprint, the other third coming from its other partners including Comcast. Google will
not participate in this round, the Journal says. Clearwire has not had an easy time finding new investors to help it raise the capital it needs to complete its natonwide buildout, reports have suggested.




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Reuters: GE, Comcast agree on Valuation, but Vivendi not on board yet

GE, Comcast agree on NBC Universal valuation: source (Reuters)




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People News 11/8/09

Dr. Felix Zandman Receives Lifetime Achievement Award From the National Electronic Distributors Association (Marketwire)

I-many Further Expands Executive Team With New VP of Global Channel Business
Brian Sterrett Appointed VP of Global Channels and Partners to Expand Partner Ecosystem in Support of Company Growth
(Company Press Release)

I-many Continues to Grow Executive Team With New VP of Global Marketing
Jerry Inman Appointed VP of Global Marketing to Help Grow Brand and Market Share (Marketwire)

I-many Promotes Lawrence Lindsey to Chief Development Officer (Marketwire)

As reported earlier this week, I-many is now headquartered in Center City.

Aria Systems Appoints Lance Walter to Lead Marketing
Billing and Subscription Management Leader Expands Silicon Valley Presence with Software Industry Veteran (Business
Wire)

OKI Data Americas Names Doug Whetzel Vice President, U.S. Commercial and Public Sector Sales (Business Wire)

Clearwire Appoints New Executives for Corporate Strategy and Marketing to Support Market Expansion
David D. Maquera Named Chief Strategy Officer (Business Wire)

New CEO Joins Y-Carbon, Inc. (PR Web)

Electronic Ink Formally Introduces User-Centered, Intelligent Technology Design to Mortgage Finance Industry (Business Wire)

New Chief at Maverick
Valvardi to lead debit-payment company (CSP Daily News)

Rosetta Genomics Names Kenneth A. Berlin President and Chief Executive Officer (Business Wire)




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Versus-DirecTV Remain At Distribution Impasse
Possible Expanded Dish Carriage Contract, Comcast-NBCU Union Could Jolt Negotiations Forward (Multichannel News)

A Math Geek's Ride to the High Court in Landmark Patent Fight (National Law Journal via Law.com)

No new throttling by Comcast (Correction)

Comcast Slammed For Non-Existent Throttling Changes
A few people apparently haven't been paying attention... (Broadband Reports)

I screwed up by picking this post up yesterday without having examined the original source info more closely. My apologies.

Daily Links 11/06/09: SAP CEO Asked Ellison for Meeting on Sun-EU Impasse (and perhaps other issues?)

SunGard Announces Third Quarter 2009 Results
(Business Wire)
SunGard feels the pain from broker-dealer volatility (Finextra)
SunGard lays off ‘less than 200’ (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Could Comcast/NBC rival ESPN? (USA Today)

Voice is Cable’s Secret Weapon for Growth (GigaOM)

EC Might Lodge 'Formal Objection' to Oracle Acquisition of Sun (eWeek)
Report: SAP CEO Asked Ellison for Meeting on Sun-EU Impasse (PC World)


Philly Gets the WiMAX Love (Zatz Not Funny!)

MAC Alliance: Promise of Clean Tech in Region (The Green Skeptic)

CardioNet, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results (Business Wire)

Court Sides Against Cable Modem Patent Troll (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)
Alleged "patent troll" Rembrandt IP is based in Bala Cynwyd.

Pa. regulators OK Windstream's purchase of D&E (Associated Press via Google News)




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Daily Links 11/05/09: IMS Health sold for $5.2 billion

The Wall Street Journal reports that IMS Health is close to a deal to sell itself to private equity firm TPG and the Canada Pension
Plan for about $4 billion.
Update: Now its Official.

Why Run Fiber When You Can Run Ads That Pretend You Do?
And why not run those ads when nobody stops you from lying? (Broadband Reports)

Comcast announces new bandwidth throttling scheme (Engadget)
See Correction.

Software AG Raises 2009 Forecasts, Sees Economy Improving (Bloomberg)

JDA Acquiring i2...Again (Supply Demand Chain Executive)

Internet Capital Group Announces Third Quarter Financial Results (Business Wire)

Clearwire Expands Sales Distribution for CLEAR™ 4G Mobile Internet Service in Philadelphia (Business Wire)

Motorola DROID goes on sale a little early at Best Buy Mobile (Engadget)

Stimulus money unlikely for city Internet plan (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Q&A: Steven Tang, University City Science Center
(Keystone Edge)

Snipi Raises Second Round of Funding: Lets Users Drag and Drop Content From Anywhere on the Web (PR Web)

E-Commerce Sales Are Down For The Second Straight Quarter (Silicon Alley Insider)



inTEST Reports Third Quarter 2009 Results (PR Newswire)





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I-many moves HQ to Philly

I-many, the contract management software firm recently acquired by Philly's LLR Partners, has apparently moved its headquarters to Center City. The company was previously headquartered in Edison, NJ.
A message on I-many's website says:


"I-many is pleased to announce the opening of its new world-wide corporate headquarters and Center of Excellence (COE).
1735 Market Street | 37th Floor | Philadelphia, PA 19103 | Phone 215.344.1900 | Fax 215.344.1919"

More info from the CoStar Group.

LLR completed the acquisition of I-many, formerly a publicly traded company, in June for $55 million.



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Daily Links 11/04/09: Comcast Earnings up but may cut jobs

Comcast 3Q net income up 22 pct, but growth slows (Associated Press via Google News)
Live-Blogging Comcast Earnings
(Wall Street Journal: Digits)
Comcast’s Roberts: Company Promises ‘Very Disciplined Approach’ To Any Acquisitions (paidContent)
Comcast Is Simply Getting Huge
Quarter additions down slightly but still impressive (Broadband Reports)
Comcast Plans Job Cuts & Upgrades (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

Meanwhile, more job cuts reported at Comcast's E! network.

Comcast Fires Up WiMax In Philly
Third Market for Operator's 'High-Speed 2go' Service (Multichannel News)


Safeguard Scientifics Announces Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results
Reiterates 2009 Aggregate Revenue Guidance of $200 Million to $220 Million; Improves Debt-to-Equity Ratio to 1:3
(Business Wire)

Law firm connects Israeli tech firms, U.S. investors (Philadephia Inquirer)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2009 Results (Business Wire)

VeriFone and Heartland legal spat escalates (Finextra)

Tyco Electronics quarterly profit sinks
(Reuters)

BioClinica Announces Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results (Business Wire)

AppLabs Joins SAP® PartnerEdge™ Program as an SAP Services Partner (Business Wire)

Beasley, Entercom Dial Down Revs (MediaPost: Media Daily News)

NARM Launches Digital Think Tank (Business Wire)





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Daily Links 11/03/09: For once, it sounds like Apple retail store is actually coming to Philly

Potential Comcast bid for NBC raises regulatory questions (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Earnings preview: Comcast to report 3Q results (Associated Press via Google News)

Comcast plans localized 'E! News'
Weekly, half-hour show will mix Hollywood, Asia news (Hollywood Reporter)

Apple (finally) coming to Philly (Metro Philadelphia)

Heartland Payment Q3 profit lags Street
(Reuters)
Heartland Issues Statement: VeriFone Attempts to Tamper with Heartland Payment Systems Customers
News Release Issued This Morning Includes False Claims About Heartland Service – as Well as VeriFone’s Own Support
(Business Wire)
See earlier VeriFone release

Kenexa Announces Financial Results for Third Quarter 2009 (Business Wire)


gsi interactive Rebrands as TrueAction on the Philosophy of Reflex Marketing
New Approach to Marketing Based on Actions Around Transactions (Business Wire)

A decade of service for Lockheed satellite built in Newtown (Philadelphia Business Journal: Technology Blog)

SAP Needs To Make Some Significant Moves (Sramana Mitra on Strategy)

How Far Will Google Wave Go?
SAP's Gravity shows the online collaboration tool's future as a business platform. (Forbes)

What the Cisco/EMC/VMware Trinity Means For Cloud Computing (GigaOM)

iPipeline Acquires AgencyWorks and Adds Agency Management Services (Business Wire)

Safend Named to the 2009 Israel Technology Fast 50 (Marketwire)

More schools opening door to technology (Philadelphia Inquirer)




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RecycleBank Raises $28.25 million

RecycleBank, the recycling program company that was founded in Philly but later moved to New York, has raised $28.25 million,
according to PE Hub. The company had previously raised $32 million.
Its hard to root for a company that left Philly for New York, but they stiil have operations and people here.

Update: RecycleBank representatives tell me they have 32 employees in Philadelphia.

Daily Links 11/02/09: Read Write Web Praises Proton Media

Comcast Said to Be Close to Gaining NBC Universal (New York Times)
Comcast finalizing deal for NBC Uni stake (Hollywood Reporter)
Meanwhile, Broadcasting & Cable suggests that the first thing Comcast will look to do after buying NBC Universal is to sell off the NBC network, holding on to the cable channels and presumably the Universal Studios. Not sure how this makes sense.

Comcast Should Buy Netflix Instead Of NBC (Silicon Alley Insider)

Innovation education at Weiss Tech House is spawning new companies (Philly.com: Philly Inc)


Proton Media: The Most Advanced Collaboration Technology in the Market? (Read Write Web)
Proton Media is based in Lansdale.

Boston Wonders Where Its FiOS Is
Verizon bumps Boston down priority list in revenge move... (Broadband Reports)

Family awarded $16.5 million for wrongful death in 'Hold Your Wee for a Wii' contest (Engadget)

Entercom Communications Corp. Reports Third Quarter Results (Business Wire)

Philadelphia Inquirer, Macy's, Congratulate Phillies For Winning Second Straight World Series (Silicon Alley Insider)

Technitrol Reports Q309 Results, Board Declares Dividend
(Business Wire)

Intelligroup Q3 EPS Rise to $0.09 versus $0.06 on 330 Basis Point Gross Margin Improvement (Business Wire)

First Round Capital Entertainment Summit (Nothing to Say)

INRIX Traffic Powers ALK's CoPilot(R) Live(TM) Smartphone Navigation in North America (LBSzone.com)



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Philly Tech Events Calendar

People News 11/1/09

imc2 health and wellness adds Lisa Flaiz as vp, strategic growth (Philly Ad Club News)

Integration Shuffle: Razorfish’s Kinsella Tapped As Digitas’ North American President (paidContent)

SAP APPOINTS NEW HEAD OF GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM AND PARTNER GROUP (SAP Press Release)

Cable-Tec Expo 2009: SCTE Board Elects Foote Chairman
Arris's Bob Foote Named Chairman of Professional Association (Multichannel News)

OWN Names Exec VP of Distribution
Oprah Winfrey Network taps Allan Singer for post (Broadcasting & Cable)


Dynasil Announces Mr. Ken Morse as Commercialization Advisor (Business Wire)




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Microgrids: A $2.1B Market in the Making? (VentureBeat via New York Times)

Delay In Naming Bid Winners
NTIA Will Wait A 'Few More Weeks’ Before Saying Who Gets Broadband Stimulus Funds (Multichannel News)

FlyCast Opens Mobile Content and Monetization Platform to Third Parties (Business Wire)



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