HHS Defines 'Meaningful Use' for EHRs (Tech Insider)

How to Get $20 Billion for Using Electronic Medical Records (Wall Street Journal: Health Blog)

Donation by Action: The New Social Charity Model (Mashable)

AT&T Tells FCC It's Time to Cut the Cord (PC World)

City's parking kiosks are not working right (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Penn State Latest University Plagued by Data Breaches (eSecurity Planet)

Hands On with Comcast’s Xfinity: TV Everywhere That’s Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be (NewTeeVee)

Adelphia To Pay $133 Million To Claimants As It Closes Motorola Suit (Dow Jones via CNN Money)

CMS will publish 'Meaningful Use' regulation on Dec. 31 (FierceHealthIT)



ICG Commerce: The Evolution of a Successful Procurement BPO (Part 1) (Spend Matters)

FINNISH FIRM OPENING ELECTRONICS SCRAP RECYCLING FACILITY IN PENNSYLVANIA (Recycling Today)

The Top 10 SAP Watch blog posts of 2009 (SearchSAP.com: SAP Watch)




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Broadcasters' Woes Could Spell Trouble for Free TV
Assailed by cable and the Web, broadcast TV looks to build a new business model (Associated Press via ABC News)

NBC, Comcast, and the future of television (Audio: Minnesota Public Radio)

Canoe Pushes Back Interactive Ad Launch Until Spring 2010
MSO Venture Says It Conducted An RFI Trial In Q4 (Multichannel News)

InterDigital Mourns Loss of Harry Campagna, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Long-time Board Member Served as Chairman Since 1996 (Business Wire)



Google Phone Event Scheduled For Jan. 5 (Silicon Alley Insider)

Smoke Halts Trading at Nasdaq’s Philadelphia Exchange (Bloomberg via Business Week)
Trading resumes at Philadelphia Stock Exchange (MarketWatch)


Hacker in card theft to admit guilt today (Boston Globe)

Herley Industries, Inc. Subsidiary, Micro Systems, Inc. Receives $16M Contract to Supply Avionics (PR Newswire)

MyYearbook Speeds Web Responses (Information Week)

SS&C takes another crack at an IPO, looks for $300M (Mass High
Tech)




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AT&T Stops iPhone Sales in NYC (Wired: Gadget Lab)

AT&T Reverses Course: iPhone Available Again in New York City (Mashable)


The Set-Top Files (Part II) (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

2009 Top Ten: Most Popular Cable Stories (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

Intelligroup to focus on shared apps outsourcing (Business Standard of India)
Intelligroup is based in Princeton.

Top 10 predictions for cloud financials and accounting for 2010 (SaaS 2.0)

Philadelphia Daily News loses Davies to WHYY radio (Poynter Online: Romenesko)




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People News 12/27/09

Lockheed Martin ATL names new lab director (Philadelphia Business Journal)

SunGard Announces Chief Financial Officer Transition (Business Wire)

BioNanomatrix Board Chairman Erickson Named President, CEO, as Genomic Analysis Technology Company Prepares for Market Entry
Battelle Ventures General Partner Tracy Warren succeeds Erickson as board chair (Business Wire)

Acsis Appoints Gene Eubanks to the Position of Chief Executive Officer
Former SAP and Oracle senior executive with 20+ years experience building profitable, high-growth organizations (Business Wire)

Acsis CEO Eubanks Solidifies Executive Team with Key Appointments (Business Wire)


SCTE Hires Motorola's Vernon As VP Marketing, Membership
Bernadette Vernon Takes Over For Deb Swann, Louis Games (Multichannel News)

NJTC CEO Maxine Ballen Honored for Commitment to Region's Technology Community (PR Newswire)

Drexel University LeBow College Student Named College Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine
(PR Newswire)

Temple University Provost Lisa Staiano-Coico Joins Science Center Board (Business Wire)

Timothy J. Carney is now vice president of health care for SunGard Availability Services L.P. in Wayne. He was formerly enterprise vice president for McKesson Corp in Alpharreta Ga.



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NPR Hires Key Staff For Local News Effort; Finalizes Station List (paidContent)
Philadelphia one of 10 markets to receive NPR's new local service.

Fine Print: Fee fight in Philly newspapers (TheDeal.com: Dealscape)

2009 Bickel Business Year in Review (Bickel Blog)

Company gives $400K for Washington's NJ river trek (Associated Press via Business Week)

NBC-Comcast will be big power in sports - but it will take time to gain rights (Canadian Press via Google News)

The Life of Brian
Roberts Helped Shape The Industry He Grew Up In (Multichannel News)




Interview with SunGard CEO Cristóbal Conde (Wall Street Journal)


Sequoia-backed testing firm AppLabs considering strategic sale (Reuters India)

Liquent, Inc. Acquired by Marlin Equity Partners (Company Release)

DecisionOne Acquires Anacomp MVS (PR Newswire)




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SCVNGR Raises $4 Million From Google Ventures (TechCrunch)
Though now based in Boston, SCVNGR started out at Princeton and was a graduate of the first DreamIt Ventures class.

The State of Global WiMAX: The 2009 Report
(GigaOM)

FCC Commissioner slams Verizon on $350 ETFs (ars technica)

Ian Berg of ETF Venture Funds dead at 68 (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Optellios to Develop Cutting Edge Technology for Civil Infrastructure Monitoring (Marketwire)



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Comcast Reaches Settlement on P2P-Blocking Case (PC Magazine)

Comcast executive Steve Burke joins board of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (LA Times)


USA Technologies Files Counterclaims Against Dissident Shareholder Group (Business Wire)

Technitrol Agrees to Divest North American Electrical Contacts Operations (Business Wire)

Dynasil Announces Fiscal Year 2009 Results with a Doubling of Revenues and Income from Operations (Business Wire)

Back Online

After a long, weather-related outage. Not fun.

Google May Buy Yelp: A Quick Analysis
(GigaOM)


Oracle Rises After Beating Estimates, Cites U.S. Recovery
Orders for new software remain slow but come in at the high end of company forecast (Bloomberg via Business Week)

Oracle Database Biz Poised to Bounce Back (Business Week)


STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-SAP gains on Oracle figs, speculation (Reuters)

Philadelphia hasn't given up on citywide wi-fi (WHYY)

Movitas moves into hospitality (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Mobile Monday announces 3rd annual Philadelphia DEMO Night
(Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic)

Bentley Publishes The Year in Infrastructure 2009 (PR Newswire)

Public interest groups urge new FCC rules for TV set-top boxes (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Heartland Payment, AmEx reach breach settlement (Associated Press
via Google News)




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Daily Links 12/17/09: Philadelphia to buy Muni WiFi System

Phila. to buy municipal WiFi network for city business (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Philly Muni Wi-Fi Fiasco Continues; Taxpayers to Pick Up Tab (Technology
Liberation Front)

December 2009 Business Outlook Survey (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)
Philly Fed factory activity at 4-1/2 year high (Reuters)

Shareholder Advocates for Value Enhancement (SAVE) Seeks Injunction Against USA Technologies
USA Technologies Annual Meeting was Convened As Originally Scheduled on December 15, 2009 and Votes Were Received by Inspector of Elections (PR Newswire)

Appify: A City-By-City App Store (Read Write Web via New
York Times)

Oracle's $1.5B profit beats estimates (San Jose Business Journal)

FCC: Retail Set-Top Is Possible, at Least (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

Comcast Targets ESPN By Streaming Pro Sports Games
As Philadelphia fans watch 76ers basketball games online, Comcast intends to leverage its deal with GE's NBC Universal to offer other teams and sports (Business Week)

Zucker Outlines Comcast/NBCU Transition Team
Salil Mehta to lead transition effort; Victor and Eck to head administrative team
(Broadcasting & Cable)

Comcast CFO Says Investors Supportive of Transaction (Bloomberg)

HCL AXON signs 5-yr global IT deal with GlaxoSmithKline (Economic Times of India)
To implement SAP.

Technitrol shares fall as company plans note sale (Associated Press via Google News)

Aria: Providing Cheaper PCI Compliance for Payment Processors (TechCrunch IT)

Local Advertising Startup Yodle Sues Former Employees Over Alleged Data Theft (TechCrunch)
Yodle was originally a Philly startup before moving its HQ to New York.

InterDigital and Attila Collaborate on Innovative Bandwidth Aggregation Technologies
InterDigital Acquires Stake in Attila and Invests in Joint Development Effort (Business Wire)




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Area Leaders on Computerworld's 100 Premier IT Leaders for 2010

The following Philly area (broadly defined) IT executives were named to Computerworld's 100 Premier IT Leaders for 2010:

Emily A. Ashworth, Vice president and CIO, American Water

Ivy Chin, formerly vice president, strategic and multimedia operations at QVC

LaVerne H. Council, Corporate vice president, CIO, Johnson & Johnson

Ingo Elfering, Vice president, IT strategy, GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

Deborah K. Lindell, CIO, Delaware Department of Correction

Daily Links 12/16/09: QVC Hires Zimmerman for Social Media, Digital Work

FCC seeking to close programming access loophole (Associated Press via Google News)

Comcast Keeps 'Beta' Tag On Online TV Service
Top Cable Operator Hedging Against Kinks, Ad Models, Windowing (Multichannel News)


The Comcast/ NBC Universal Merger: Addressing The Addressable (MediaPost: TV Board)

F.T.C. Accuses Intel of Trying to Stifle Competition (New York Times)

AT&T Offers New Position on Net Neutrality (IDG via New York Times)

Academics, Activists Talk Network Neutrality At FCC Workshop (Broadcasting & Cable)

IMS Health sets Feb. 28 date for buyout vote (Associated Press via Google News)

Drug data mining ban unlikely in Senate health bill (Reuters)

QVC Hires Zimmerman for Social Media, Digital Work (Ad Age)

Proxy fight over USA Technologies heads to court (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Global Ignite Week: 40+ Ignites Coming Next March
(O'Reilly Radar)

Tibco/SAP Rumors Resurface (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

IMVU and myYearbook set up virtual currency exchange (VentureBeat)


SEI Declares $.09 Per Share Dividend and Increase in Stock Repurchase Program (PR Newswire)

Technitrol to Issue $50 Million of 7.00% Convertible Senior Notes (Business Wire)

WPCS Reports FY2010 Second Quarter Financial Results (PR Newswire)




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CardioNet cuts costs, hires Lazard to explore strategic alternatives

Shares of CardioNet (BEAT), which provides remote wireless cardiac monitoring services, were up 16% today after a conference call this morning for investors. The Conshohocken company is still reeling from a decision to cut reimbursement rates for its service last summer by Highmark, and the failure of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to establish a national rate, and does not foresee a return to full-year profitability until 2011. Management does forecast that its volume - total usage of the service- will increase by 40% next year, and it remains very positive about the need for and the competitive postioning of its offerings.

In the meantime, while still seeking more favorable reimbursement rates longer-term, it is taking the following steps, Chairman & CEO Randy Thurman said :

• Reducing its annual (expense) run rate by $23 million, $8 million of which has already been achieved, and taking other measures to preserve cash such as better recievables management.
• Continuing to expand marketing for its sleep disorder monitoring service and preparing for the introduction of the next generation of its main product - Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT)
• Hiring investment bank Lazard Ltd to help it explore strategic options, which is at least an indication the company will consider a sale or other forms of financing. (Lazard isn't cheap.)

Analysts quoted by the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) expressed some reservations about CardioNet's volume growth forecasts and 2011 financial expectations.
CardioNet was one of the few successful IPOs of 2008 and traded as high as $29.50 before starting a downward slide this past summer. It closed today at $6.00.
They probably should have stayed private so reimbursing agencies couldn't tell how high their margins were.

(Edited to show today's closing price)

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Daily Links 12/15/09: Comcast Launches Xfinity

Not Your Omi’s SAP
(Enterprise Matters)

Oracle's Decade of Acquisition: Innovative or Just Well-Financed? (CIO.com)

Comcast-NBC deal sparks fears (Politico)
Report on how Comcast fosters political influence definitely worth a read.

Comcast Launches Its “TV Everywhere” Plan Nationwide, with An Awful Name: Say Hello to “Xfinity” (All Things Digital: MediaMemo)

Fancast XFINITY TV National Beta Launch: A Guide to Get Started
(Comcast Voices)


Comcast Opens Fancast Xfinity TV (Wall Street Journal: Digits)

Philadelphia Newspapers asks court for cash sale
Philadelphia Newspapers heads to Appeals Court (Reuters)

ISGN buys loan-service unit in major expansion
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Boomi Extends Cloud Integration Market Lead With Record Growth, Key Wins, New Products (Marketwire)

Halfpenny Technologies Introduces Mobile Connectivity Solution to Provide Physicians with 24/7 Smartphone Access to Lab Results
(Business Wire)

More Metro Maps: PA and Upstate NY (Telecom Ramblings)

Avencia Releases Walkshed New York for NYC BigApps Contest (V1 Magazine)




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Daily Links 12/14/09: Oracle may be close to gaining European approval

Comcast NBC Deal Opens Door for TV Networks to Seek $1 Billion (Bloomberg)

Comcast/NBC merger may mean office growth (Philadelphia
Business Journal)
Is a twin Comcast tower a possibility?

SAP Gets Into the Supplier Information Management (SIM) Game
(SpendMatters)

Oracle Soothes EU with Offer in Sun Deal
The software giant's $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems could clear European antitrust cops after Oracle agreed to invest in Sun's MySQL database (Bloomberg via Business Week)

IT Structures ReBranded, ReFunded
(StartUpMania)
Tel Aviv and Menlo Park CA-based Cloud startup founded by Safend veteran.

Netformx Raises $12 Million (PE Hub)
Susquehanna Growth Equity leads round for California venture.

Leading Mortgage Services Provider ISGN Closes Deal to Acquire the Loan Fulfillment Solutions Business From Fiserv (Business
Wire)

Altosoft Acquires Rights to Supply Opalis Dashboard
Altosoft to Provide Opalis Dashboard to Existing and New Customers and Announces BSM Analytics for Microsoft System Center (Marketwire)

General Dynamics Awarded $19 Million to Support the Naval Surface Warfare Center (PR Newswire)

Scientists, Journalists Join Forces: Offer New Web Site Timed to COP15
Climate Central Provides Media Resources to Advance Understanding of Climate Change (Business Wire)

ABC Regional to Rep Comcast-Spectacor
(MediaWeek)

WHYY TV12 cuts in Del. coverage rile First Staters (Philadelphia Inquirer)




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People News 12/13/09

Vanguard CEO McNabb to Assume Chairman Role in January (Business Wire)

CEO Greg Bentley Champions Globalization at President's White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth (PR Newswire)

Vertex CEO Jeff Westphal Earns Coveted Eastern Technology Council Enterprise Award (Business Wire)

Comcast Taps Nagravision's Grauch
To Join Operator As VP Of Video Premises Technology In January (Multichannel News)

PECO Appoints Comcast Vice President Charisse R. Lillie to Board of Directors (Business Wire)

PMI Announces New Board of Directors Chair
Industry Veteran Eugene Bounds Will Lead Board for 2010 (Business Wire)

New DIA Vision And Mission Coincides With Start of Paul Pomerantz Tenure As Worldwide Executive Director (PR Web)

American Water’s Chief Information Officer Named Premier IT Leader by Computerworld (Business Wire)


Judge Executive Search Strengthens Leadership (Business Wire)

Dynasil Announces the Nominations of Dr. Michael Joyner of the Mayo Clinic and Mr. David Kronfeld of JK & B Capital as New Directors (Business Wire)




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It's big and bold - a fierce competitor.
Comcast: Not your traditional Phila. firm (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Comcast Says: We Support Broadcast (Multichannel News)

Sens. move to block drugmakers from mining Rx data (Associated Press via Google News)

Content Farms: Why Media, Blogs & Google Should Be Worried (Read Write Web)

Comcast’s TV Everywhere, Nowhere to Be Found (GigaOM via New York Times)


Event Report: 2009 SAP Influencer Summit - SAP Must Put Strategy To Execution In Order To Prove Clarity Of Vision (A Software Insider's Point of View>

First Round Capital RoundUp

You've got to hand it to Josh Kopelman, the guy who convinced an Oregon town to change its name to Half.com, for having a talent for coming up with big ideas that promote the brand (in this case, First Round's investment philosophy and portfolio companies). The second annual First Round Holiday Greeting Video has achieved an almost cult-like popularity on the web. It was particularly smart to emphasize its 2009 investments; there are so many new ones now its hard to keep track of them all.

First Round portfolio company Foodzie has brought some big talent on-board, according to TechCrunch. Adam Sah, who helped create Google Gadgets, has joined the Boulder-based online artisan food marketplace as VP Engineering.

More on another Boulder startup (Boulder is where its all happening now) and recent First Round investment SimpleGeo. Meanwhile, venture money continues to flow into the location-aware space, as another company called Gowalla just raised $8.4 million (First Round not involved). However, SimpleGeo is approaching the market more from an API angle than an end user app like Gowalla is.

First Round also participated in a round announced this week led by Kleiner Perkins in One Kings Lane, a private sale website for home furnishings.

Wired's Epicenter Blog writes about how Knewton is trying to change the business model for college test prep courses by driving out excess costs while hopefully producing a higher quality product.

Meanwhile, First Round's Christine Herron talks to Daily Finance about how the cost of getting a startup off the ground is shrinking.




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Boost Mobile Ad

I had to check and see whether this Boost Mobile ad was for real or someone's idea of a parody. Boost Mobile is the Sprint prepaid brand in Philadelphia and other markets.

Will Comcast Deal Move Summer Scene From Hamptons to, Gasp, Jersey? (New York Observer)

FCC chairman's dinner RT LOL! (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Microsoft, SAP to outline doubts on Oracle/Sun deal (Reuters)

SAP Business byDesign: Taming the multi-tenant beast (Enterprise Irregulars)

Heartland Executives Told the Truth, Judge Says (IDG via New York Times)

Versus Sub Count Takes 9 Million Hit As Previews End
Dish, Time Warner Cable, Cox Free Previews End, As DirecTV Dispute Lingers (Multichannel News)

TV’s QVC expands its mobile channel with a robust iPhone app (InternetRetailer.com)

IMS Drops as Senate Data Measure Casts Doubt on Sale (Bloomberg)

Technology Leaders (TL Ventures) in fight over fees
(Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Instem Announces New Full Service Office in Shanghai
Instem’s New Shanghai Office Providing Local Support for Chinese Clients (Business Wire)




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Comcast-NBC Universal: Will the Marriage of Cable and Content Work? (Knowledge@Wharton)


Sprint: Today, An Upgrade, As Citi Turns Bullish; Will It Merge With T-Mobile? (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Sprint's Hesse commits to Clearwire, hints at new 4G pricing scenarios (Fierce Wireless)


Kulicke & Soffa's CEO to retire in June 2011 (EE Times)

GSI’s Fun Weekend (Wall Street Journal: Digits)

SAP Sets Pace on 'Flexible' Software Pricing
The German software maker is blazing new trails by letting customers pay for licenses over longer stretches. Microsoft, Oracle, and Adobe aren't far behind (Business Week)

SAP: We're serious about SAP on-demand (SearchSAP.com)

SAP: Out with the Old, Shrugging Off The Tag (Enterprise Irregulars)

SAP: All-in-One Carbon, Energy, Sustainability Software
SAP promises new software to integrate carbon counting, energy efficiency, environmental monitoring and social responsibility reporting. (Greentech Media)

PSERS Reports Q3 Results (PE Hub)


Motorola Expands 4G Broadband During 2009 as It Builds Momentum for WiMAX and LTE in 2010 (PR Newswire)

Microsoft Buys Health-Care Software Company (IDG via New York Times)

Herley Reports Earnings for First Quarter of Fiscal 2010 (PR Newswire)




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USA Technologies to postpone key Annual Meeting (for a long time)

USA Technologies Announces New Date for Annual Meeting Due to Misleading, Inaccurate and Selective Disclosure by Dissident Group
Rescheduled Meeting to Be Held on June 15, 2010 (Business Wire)

You have read this headline carefully to fully understand what management has done. They've pushed back the Annual Meeting
from December 15, 2009 to June 15 2010. Cool way to avoid a proxy vote, if you can do it.




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First Round Capital 2009 Holiday Card

First Round Capital 2009 Holiday Card from First Round Capital on Vimeo.

Daily Links 12/9/09: Mister Roberts goes to Washington

Comcast CEO Roberts Said to Meet With U.S. Regulators on NBC (Bloomberg)

Should Consumers Fear the Comcast Deal? (New York Times: Room For Debate Blog)

Disney's Iger: NBC/Comcast No Threat (MediaPost: Media Daily News)


SAP Outlines Five-Year Enterprise Software Plan
SAP's unfolding strategy emphasizes on-demand computing, cloud architectures, flexible pricing, mobile and in-memory computing. (Information Week)

SAP Planning to Open up On-demand Development Platform (PCWorld)

SAP Influencer Summit, Dispatch 2: First-Day Ramblings (Spend Matters)

SAP Lifts Some Restrictions On Partner Sales To Large Companies (Channel Web)

Analyst eyes Motorola break-up scenario; shares up (Associated Press via Forbes)

Leading Independent Proxy Advisory Firm RiskMetrics Group Recommends USAT Shareholders Vote BLUE Proxy Card 'FOR' Each of Independent Shareholder Group SAVE's Board of Director Nominees
(PR Newswire)
USA Technologies Comments on RiskMetrics Report
Urges Shareholders to Vote FOR the Company’s Nominees on the WHITE Proxy Card Today (Business Wire)

Heartland Payment Systems Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed in US District Court (Business Wire)

Cloaked in the Cloud
(The Boomi Blog)

Nobel Prize Winning Founder of Retirement Manager Financial Engines Plots IPO (alarm:clock)

Verizon To Pay New Jersey $795,000 To Settle FiOS Marketing Suit
State Announces Settlement With Verizon Over Its Advertisement And Sale Of FiOS Service (Multichannel News)

Innovative Solutions & Support, Inc. Announces Financial Results for the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2009
Completes year of profitability, revenue growth and positive operating cash flow (Business Wire)


C&D Technologies Reports Fiscal 2010 Third Quarter Results
Third Quarter Revenues, Unit Volume, Margins and Earnings All Sequentially Improve Relative to Second Quarter (PR Newswire)




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Daily Links 12/8/09: Mobile Solutions Provider Movitas Acquires PhindMe

SAP to launch Salesforce.com rival in mid-2010
Plans new web-based programs for sales management (Reuters)
Article doesn't suggest where the existing "Business ByDesign" architecture fits in here.

SAP Influencer event: First impressions (Enterprise Irregulars)


SAP and Siemens Sign Global Reseller Agreement for i.s.h.med and i.c.m.health
Companies Address Growing Market of IT Solutions for Healthcare (PR Newswire)


Putting a Bar Code on Places, Not Just Products (New York Times: Bits)

Top 10 Internet of Things Products of 2009 (Read Write Web)

Eastern Technology Council honors Enterprise Award winners (Philadelphia Business Journal: Technology Blog)

Agilence Secures $2 Million in Venture Capital Funding
Investment Will Enable Provider of Innovative Loss Prevention Solutions to Expand Product Development, Sales, and Marketing (Business Wire)

Mobile Solutions Provider Movitas Acquires PhindMe
Advances Strategies for Bringing Mobile Solutions to Location-Centric Businesses (Business Wire)
As first reported here last Thursday.


TNT: Historical Society’s interactive PhilaPlace Web site needs your stories (Technically Philly)


Liberty CEO discusses Comcast, MGM
Maffei: Comcast gets hedge, but pays high price (The Hollywood Reporter)

Comcast-NBC U merger could hurt consumers
(Philadelphia Inquirer: Op Ed)

Tyco Electronics Q1 profit may top Street view (Reuters)

Sarnoff Releases Acadia® II SoC Development Platform
(Business Wire)




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Daily Links 12/7/09: Enterprise Award Winners Announced

Enterprise Award Winners Announced (Eastern Technology Council)

NBC-Comcast Deal Puts Broadcast TV in Doubt (New York Times)

Brave New Targeted World?
Comcast-NBCU deal could speed up addressability (ADWeek)

One or Two Funny Things About the Comcast-NBC Universal Deal (Portfolio.com)

What exactly does Comcast already own? Here's a list (ars technica)

Comcast CEO defends NBC Universal deal (USAToday.com)

Tibco Takes After Twitter (Wall Street
Journal: Digits)

SAP Making EPM Push Against Oracle (PC World)

The SAP Influencer Summit, East Coast Travels, and an Endeca Webinar (SpendMatters)

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Rutgers University Partner with BioImagene to Develop Companion Algorithms™ for Digital Pathology (Business Wire)

Agenda: HITECH Rules on Schedule (Health Data Management)

ActiveStrategy, Inc. Partners with Business & Decision to Market Performance Management Software (Business Wire)




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USA Technologies' Suit Against Dissidents over Messsage Board Comments

USA Technologies (USAT), the Malvern cashless and contactless payment system provider that is currently in the middle of a proxy fight, is going after two dissidents on the Yahoo! Finance message board for USAT who have been saying some bad things about their management of the company. (There is no indication at this time that they are connected to the leadership of the group that launched the proxy battle.) USA Technologies filed suit in the Federal Eastern District of Pennsylvania in late August against the unknown holders of the two Yahoo! screen names, "MICHAEL_MOORE_IS_FAT" and "STOKKLERK". In the complaint, the company claims that the defendants' comments were defamatory towards management and were part of a "scheme" on behalf of the anonymous posters to "enrich themselves through undisclosed manipulative trading tactics". USA Technologies also issued a subpoena to Yahoo! seeking the identity of its critics.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing the defendants, claiming First Amendment rights. Also, the EFF says, a California statue awards attorney fees to anonymous speakers if an out-of-state subpoena is quashed and ""if the underlying action arises from the moving party's exercise of free speech rights on the Internet and the respondent has failed to make a prima facie showing of a cause of action." California is involved since Yahoo! is headquartered there.
USA Technologies' argument against the motion to quash was to be heard this past Friday.

A post on the EFF's website provides a link to court documents.



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Successful turnaround at Unisys (Philly.com:Philly Deals)

Could NBC Sale to Comcast Spell Trouble for Hulu? (ClickZ)

Cadient Interactive Announces the Launch of HATCH Consulting Services
HATCH Experts to Guide Healthcare and Life Sciences Companies and Brands Through Interactive Strategies (PR Newswire)

Pharma: Socializing in a Straightjacket
Players tiptoe into social media (ADWeek)
I believe the author meant to refer to Chris Kuenne as the CEO of Rosetta, the Princeton-based interactive marketing agency, rather than Rosetta Stone.



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People News 12/6/09

Quality Systems, Inc. Promotes Two Senior Management Members (Business Wire)
Quality Systems' NextGen Healthcare Information Systems is based in Horsham.

American Water’s Chief Information Officer Honored with Philadelphia SIM Leadership Award (Business Wire)

Janney Investment Banking Continues Expansion
Peter Blackwood Joins Janney to lead Internet & Digital Media Effort (Business Wire)

Former Flyer Propp scores executive position at Judge Group (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Mario Turco Named President of Verizon Wireless' Philly Tri-State Region (Cherry Hill Courier-Post)

Comcast Promotes Joy To SVP
Executive Responsible For Leading Strategy, Tech Planning (Multichannel News)


Invite Media Hire Paul Turner As They Enter The European Market (FarneyMedia.com)

Brownstein Group expands its Interactive team, adds four (Philly Ad Club)

Pointroll Enhances Leadership Team, Promotes Rob Gatto To Senior Vice President Of Sales
Executive Move Strengthens Alignment of ShopLocal and PointRoll (PointRoll Press Release)

20nine Adds to Growing Team (Company Press Release)

Quintiq Inc. Expands to Meet Growing Demand
(Business Wire)

iPipeline Appoints Steve Meade to VP, Illustration Solutions (Business Wire)

LCR Electronics Hires Eric Kessler as Director of Commercial Sales (PR Newswire)




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Comcast/NBCU Key Documents

I will add to this as I see other things and keep it posted on the righthand sidebar.

Comcast NBCU Main Information Site

Comcast Presentation (pdf-free registration))

Comcast Conference Call Transcript (pdf-free registration)

Comcast Conference Call Webcast (free registration)

Comcast/GE Press Release Announcing Transaction

SEC Filing (Form 8-K)

David Cohen memo on
Comcast's public responsibilities (pdf)

Fitch Affirms Comcast's IDR at 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable (Business Wire)


CNBC interviews Brian Roberts and Jeff Immelt (CNBC)


Conyers calls for Comcast-NBC hearings (Politico)

STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER COPPS ON THE COMCAST/GENERAL ELECTRIC ANNOUNCEMENT (FCC) (pdf)

Philly.com Coverage

Should Consumers Fear the Comcast Deal? (New York Times Blog: Room For Debate)

Comcast-NBC Universal: Will the Marriage of Cable and Content Work? (Knowledge@Wharton)

Comcast-GE-NBCU Public Interest Statement FCC Filing – January 28, 2010

Comcast/NBCU Hearings on
Capitol Hill (CSPAN)




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Comcast/NBCU Updates

Comcast to weigh revising Universal Pictures script (LA Times: Company Town)

Tears shed at NBC Uni town hall
Insiders call emotional finale 'inspiring' (The Hollywoood Reporter)

Editorial: Comcast's big deal (Philadelphia Inquirer)

SEC Watch: Comcast Units Not Part of The Deal, and Its Stakes, Including Current TV (paidContent)

Comcast seeks support on Hill, Street (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Comcast Hasn’t Made ‘Last, Best Offer’ to U.S. on Deal for NBC (Bloomberg)

Comcast: NBCU Deals Spurs Upgrades (Barron's:
Tech Trader Daily)




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Daily Links 12/4/09: Portico Systems named 2009 Emerging Technology Company of the Year

No Quick Resolution Likely for SAP KPI Saga (PCWorld)

SAP managed hosting no longer all or nothing (SearchSAP.com)

Oracle: Ellison Reportedly Offers Compromise On MySQL To Address EU Concerns On Sun Deal (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)
Update: Oracle says now that there is no truth to that report.

Portico Systems Named 2009 Emerging Technology Company of the Year
Eastern Technology Council Enterprise Awards Acknowledges Innovation and Growth (Business Wire)


U.S. hospitals turn to GE for surgical cuts (Reuters)
Features South Jersey's Virtua Health.

Pennsylvania seeks pact with Delaware for HIE
(Goverrnment Health IT)

DailyCandy Cutting Back Local Editions (paidContent)
No more daily Philadelphia edition, six layoff.

Fastech Strengthens Product and Service Portfolio - Acquires Regional Leaders Transcend and Aserdiv
Company is now one of the 500 largest IT VARs in the US (PR Newswire)




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More on Center City Direct

                                         (Source: Center City Direct website)


Center City Direct, which operates the new "digital newsstands" launched last week (see Press Release for background) at old fashioned Philadelphia newsstands in conjunction with CBS, understands the power of newsstands as both distribution and information centers.

But while its relationship with the Newsstand Association of Philadelphia is very important to it, Center City Direct (CCD), a unit of Philadelphia"s Alternative Media Holdings, is looking to expand its digital reach into a broader market longer-term. It already provides digital broadcasting in some Asian stores in Philadelphia, and while it considers Philadelphia a key market, it also has eyes on other opportunities in the US. Their goal, it seems, is to reach "people on the move" with multiple types of media channels. For example, each digitally equipped newsstand will be a Wifi hotspot. A website where businesses can provide information about themselves, and opt-in text messages and/or email newsletters are among other services to be provided. CCD also plans a free print publication to be distributed through the Center City newsstands.


Though digital signage technology was dominated by highly proprietary, closed turnkey systems a few years ago, the software has move to open web standards and the hardware is often sold separately. CCD developed its own proprietary software to manage its digital feeds, and buys its display units from Acer. It maintains its own technical staff, but has nothing to do with editing content other than putting ads onto the system. The news and entertainment feeds are completely controlled by the CBS properties. Although I don't know whether Comcast will like having all those CBS feeds around town.

Center City Direct's President & CEO is Phong Phan. He and Chief Marketing Officer Andy Burstein are the principal financial backers of the venture, according to Burstein.

The map below shows the newsstands that are currently participating in the program (Source: Center City Direct)


View Center City Direct in a larger map



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PhindMe Acquired by Movitas Mobile?

Found this partial post (ed: in a Google Alert) from a PhindMe blog that since seems to have been wiped out:

PhindMe completes a strategic deal and has been acquired by ...
6 hours ago by Chuck Sacco
Dear PhindMe and Everywhereigo.com Customer,. We am very happy to announce that PhindMe has completed a strategic deal and has been acquired by Movitas LLC. Movitas (www.movitas.com) is a leading provider of mobile marketing solutions ...

Still waiting for more confirmation.

Movitas Mobile is a recently launched operation targeted at the hospitality industry and based in Collegeville.




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Towerstream new ISP on Philadelphia blocks (Philadelphia Business Journal: Technology Blog)

HP Upgrades Thin Clients In Wake Of Windows 7
HP is consolidating VMware and Citrix Systems desktop virtualization approaches with its own management software, and offering refreshed thin client devices. (Information Week)

Emtec, Inc. Announces Fiscal 2009 Results
Services and consulting revenue increased by 171.5%; Earnings per share increased by 33.3% (PR Newswire)

I-many Opens New Worldwide Corporate Headquarters and Center of Excellence (Marketwire)
See my previous article on I-many moving to Philadelphia.




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Comcast Deal Announced

Comcast to buy controlling stake in NBC Universal (Associated Press via Washington Post)

Comcast and GE to Create Leading Entertainment Company (Joint GE & Comcast Press Release)

David Cohen Memo on Merger and Public Committments (pdf)


Following Comcast press conference. The main message, repeated over and over again by all, is "Cable Channels".

Comcast Increases Dividend 40%; Intends to Complete Current $3.6 Billion Stock Repurchase Plan Within 36 Months (Business Wire)

Philadelphia Inquirer:

"Roberts said a Comcast-NBC Universal merger would make the Philadelphia company 'strategically complete' and that investors should view Comcast as two distinct companies: cable-TV and broadband distribution, and entertainment."

I think that comment reflects an inherent conflict in logic.

NBC: Hulu Subscriptions Being Considered (PC
Magazine)

Comcast Could Drop the NBC Name (New York Times: Media Decoder)

Comcast Deal For NBCU Is All About Cable
No big changes for Hulu (Broadcasting & Cable)


Immelt, Roberts Discuss NBCU Deal (CNBC)






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For Steve Burke, Comcast job is the role of his life
The Comcast chief operating officer's resume and bloodlines prepare him for the task of making a union with NBC Universal work. (LA Times)

Many possibilities for Comcast and NBC (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Comcast Said to Plan No Asset Sales to Smooth NBC Venture (Bloomberg)





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Daily Links 12/2/09: Comcast launches interactive cable applications with HSN

Comcast and HSN Announce National Rollout of “Shop by Remote”
At the Start of the Holiday Shopping Season, Shop by Remote Joins Comcast’s Growing Lineup of Interactive TV Applications Now Reaching More than 8 Million Homes (Business Wire)


Comcast Media Center Goes TV Shopping With icueTV
CMC's HITS AxIS to Let Cable Operators Engage in 'T-Commerce' (Multichannel News)

Motorola sees set-top business profit growth (Reuters)

Beigebook-Philadelphia: December 2009
(Federal Reserve Board)

Philadelphia reverses slide, adds population (Newark Star-Ledger)
They made a huge adjustment, in population-counting terms.

Nayatek Launches Cloud Storage Support for Rackspace Cloud Files for the Datosphere Content Archiving Platform (WebWire)

SevOne Announces Most Powerful Version of Its Network Performance Management Solution With Advanced NetFlow Reporting (Marketwire)

MEDecision and InSite One Cross-License Technology to Offer Nationwide, Image-Enabled Health Information Exchange
Agreement Will Support First National HIE-Capable Archive Solution (Business Wire)

Spectrum Control completes purchase of Mass. firm (Philly.com)



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Perspectives on Comcast/NBCU Deal

Fuzzy picture for Comcast-NBC deal (Philadelphia Inquirer)

With NBC, Comcast Zeros in on ESPN (New York Times)


Surviving NBC’s Upheaval (New York Times: DealBook)

Comcast nears NBC deal as GE buys stake from Vivendi (USA Today)

Comcast, NBC aim to ease feds' concerns
Expected merger would include concessions, sources near talks say (Washington Post)

Genachowski Mum On Comcast-NBCU
FCC Chairman Won't comment On Potential 'Hurdles Or Concerns' (Multichannel News)

How the FCC might stop the Comcast-NBC merger (ars technica)

My own concern is that though this deal may ultimately be approved, Washington will impose so many conditions and restrictions upon Comcast that it will not have the ability to manage its businesses in a strategically responsive manner.



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Reports: GE, Comcast have agreed to deal; Announcement expected Thursday

Vivendi, GE Agree on NBC Price, Paving Way for Deal (Bloomberg)

Comcast Buying NBC From GE Is A Done Deal (Silicon Alley Insider)

The Comcast-GE deal includes NBC local stations -- triggering regulatory scrutiny (Daily Finance)

SAP delays Enterprise Support price rises
Reprieve for hard pressed users, financial drag for ERP giant (InfoWorld)
SAP ENTERPRISE SUPPORT: INITIAL KPIS CONFIRM CUSTOMER VALUE
SAP Postpones Decision on Pricing for SAP Enterprise Support and Intensifies Engagement With Customers and User Groups (SAP Press Release)

SAP Readying Potential Google Wave Rival (IDG via New York Times)

Java EE 6 finalized, SAP regrets (JavaWorld)

Comcast Trials Broadband Meter in Portland (GigaOM)

WiMax: Comcast to add 4G wireless service in Chicago (Chicago Tribune)

Level 3 to Support Clearwire (Cable360.net)

GSI Commerce Experiences Strong E-Commerce Activity from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday (Business Wire)

Voxware Awarded AAFES Contract for Voice Software
Army & Air Force Exchange Service Deploys Voxware 3 (Business Wire)

Multichannel News, B&C, TWICE Magazines Sold
NewBay Media Buys Trio of Trade Magazines, Web Sites From RBI-US (Multichannel News)

ParkMobile Deploys Cashless Parking Solution for Mobile Callers in U.S. Powered by VoltDelta OnDemand Voice Recognition (Business Wire)

Assurant to shut down Chesco call center (Pottstown Mercury)




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