Comcast Ready to Kick Apps With 'CodeBig' (Light Reading Cable)

NBC-Comcast Merger Signals End of Versus.com (NESN)
Versus.com nows redirects to NBC Sports website.

Daily Links 4/29/2011: SAP Ordered to Post $1.3 Billion Bond in Oracle Case

SAP Ordered to Post $1.3 Billion Bond in Oracle Case (Bloomberg)


Social Media Has Little Impact on Online Retail Purchases [STUDY] (Mashable)
So says Forrester/GSI Commerce study.

GSI 1Q loss deepens before acquisition by EBay (AP via Business Week)

Summary of the Amazon EC2 and Amazon RDS Service Disruption in the US East Region (Amazon Web Services)

DirecTV Execs Talk Premium VOD, Streaming Video (Hollywood Reporter)

Should DirecTV Buy Dish? (Forbes: The Tech Trade)

Charter Said to Hire Citi, Goldman to Sell California Systems (Bloomberg)

Delaware Court of Chancery Rules in Favor of Liberty Media Corporation (Business Wire)

Motorola Mobility narrows loss as phone sales rise (AP via Business Week)


Motorola Mobility's Set-Top Shipments Jump 24% In Q1
Home Segment Revenue Up 8% to $904 Million (Multichannel News)


Verizon Devising Uber Strategy for Home Services (Light Reading)

ING Direct Lets Customers Pay Friends By Bumping iPhones (Mashable)


Telcos Still Muscling Into the Cloud (ReadWriteCloud)

SAP Project Woes Impact Ingram Micro's Profits (PC World)

NetSuite Jumps 15% on Earnings (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)



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QlikTech Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results (Business Wire)
Revenue growth of 44%; increased revenue guidance for year.

SunGard Announces First Quarter 2011 Results (Business Wire)

GSI Commerce Reports Fiscal 2011 First Quarter Operating Results (Business Wire)

Ametek sees FY11 EPS mostly above Street view (Reuters)

Supreme Court Seems to Side With Pharma in Big Advertising Case
Limits of data mining, commercial free speech at issue (Ad Week)

Annodyne celebrates a decade (Philadelphia Business Journal)


Rutgers team proposes Net alternative (EE Times)

Costly Pa. radio system for law enforcement agencies isn't working as planned (Harrisburg Patriot-News)

SAP First-Quarter Profit Misses Estimates on Sybase Costs (Bloomberg)

SAP Q1 revenue up, but profit growth slow (Computerworld)

SAP's Snabe Interview (Bloomberg)

SAP's McDermott: 'HANA pipeline 10 million euro a week' (ZDNet Blogs)

Daily Links 4/27/2011: Supreme Court hears arguments in IMS Health case over Vermont law

Comcast to offer TV programs from all major networks on its VOD service (LA Times: Company Town)

U.S. top court questions state drug data limits (Reuters)
Case involves Philly-area companies IMS Health, Verispan, and Wolters Kluwer Health. Justices appeared skeptical of Vermont law; ruling expected by end of June.

Wolters Kluwer to Buy Lexi-Comp (Health Data Management)

J&J Agrees to Buy Synthes for $21.3 Billion in Cash, Stock (Bloomberg)
Synthes has its headquarters in West Chester.

CenturyLink Agrees to Purchase Savvis for $2.5 Billion in Cash, Stock Deal (Bloomberg)

CenturyLink-Savvis: Is the rush to Cloud 1+1=more than 2 for enterprise I&O? (ZDNet Blogs)

Safeguard Scientifics Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results
Anticipates Platform Expansion with Acquisition of an Equity Interest in a Mezzanine Lending Company; Deployed $5M and $25M, respectively, in New Partner Companies ThingWorx and PixelOptics (Business Wire)

InterDigital Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results (Business Wire)

Software AG Profit Rises 43% on IDS Scheer, Beating Estimates (Bloomberg)

DirecTV Real Interested In Netflix, Contemplates Launching A Competitor (Zatz Not Funny!)

Comcast planning to hire 300 for Miramar call center (South Florida Sun Sentinel)

ProtonMedia Doubles in Size—Literally (Business Wire)

Pharma poised to up online ad spend: eMarketer (Medical Marketing & Media)



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Daily Links 4/26/2011: Dell Boomi launches Spring update

Lawson Agrees to Be Acquired by Golden Gate Capital, Infor for $2 Billion (Bloomberg)

New details on Infor's Lawson acquisition (Enterprise System Spectator)

Dell Boomi launches Spring update, certification program (ZDNet Blogs)

Unisys shares slip after company reports 1Q loss (AP via Forbes)

Oracle Goes After Workday, SuccessFactors With Fusion HCM (PC World)

Oracle CFO Epstein Out; Replaced By Safra Catz (Forbes: The Tech Trade)


Investors buy majority stake in online game maker Bigpoint for $350M (VentureBeat)
Comcast Interactive Capital sold its stake, which was originally acquired by NBC's venture arm.

Netflix: We’re a Friend, Not an Enemy, to Cable Networks (Gigaom: NewTeeVee)

Comcast in Talks to Offer On-Demand Movies 6 to 8 Weeks After Theaters (Bloomberg)

The Disappearing Set-Top (Light Reading Cable)

TimeSight Systems Announces Additional Growth Capital Injection to Extend Market Reach of Breakthrough Video Surveillance Systems (Marketwire)

Verizon Wireless and USA Technologies Partner to Deliver Industry-Leading Cashless Payment Services, M2M Solutions for Vending and Automated Retail Industries (Business Wire)



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First Round Capital, NewSpring and Internet Capital Group lead $6 million Series A round in Radnor's Relay Network

A couple of months back I mentioned Relay Network of Radnor, which had been reported by PricewaterhouseCoopers/MoneyTree to have raised $2.1 million from investors including NewSpring Capital. The venture was in a stealth mode, and I really couldn't find out much about what it might be planning to do.


Now, curiously, there is a deleted Wikipedia entry that says Relay has raised a $6 million Series A from NewSpring Capital, First Round Capital, Internet Capital Group and private investors (you can see a snippet of the deleted entry if you search on "NewSpring", "First Round Capital" and "Relay Network"). A look at Relay's website does confirm those firms are investors. The lead execs are CEO and eCount co-founder Matt Gillen, and President Steve Gillen from MBNA/Bank of America. Although the website's description is still vague, the venture's service apparently involves providing urgent customer service notifications via mobile phone.

The website also says: "Big news coming soon".



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Daily Links 4/25/2011: Netflix tied with Comcast for number of US video subscribers

IT, Your Fifteen Years are Up
Cutting the IT Bottom out of SAP’s Peach Basket (SAP Searchlight)

The Case for ERP Consolidation (Mint Jutras)

More companies opting for smaller ERP over marquee systems, report finds (SearchManufacturingERP.com)

Unisys Announces First-Quarter 2011 Financial Results (PR Newswire)
Revenue down 7%; increased loss on charge.

Leighton Yohannan Invests in PayCommerce and Named Chairman
(PR Newswire)

For Netflix, Higher Earnings and a Milestone (New York Times: Media Decoder)
Essentially tied with Comcast in US subscribers.

Netflix Falls as Second-Quarter Profit Outlook Misses Estimates (Bloomberg)

Liberty Media’s Greg Maffei on the future of the television industry (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Tennis, Comcast To Volley Before FCC Administrative Law Judge On Monday
Network Seeks Broader Distribution In Program Carriage-Complaint (Multichannel News)


Tru2way: Cable’s Path to IP Video?
CableLabs Demo Showcases DVRs Pumping Content to Multiple Devices (Multichannel News)

Michael Dell is Keeping His Head in the Clouds (Gigaom)



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Philly Tech People News 4/24/2011

SunGard Availability Services Positioned to Advance Services Expansion with Executive Appointments (PR Newswire)

‘InformationWeek’ SVP Joins SAP (MediaBistro: PRNewser)

HP Appoints Veteran Marketing Professional Marty Homlish as Chief Marketing Officer (Business Wire)

Barry J. Glick Joins ALK Technologies as CEO
New CEO expects to continue ALK’s growth, bringing more than 25 years experience in the location technology industry (Business Wire)

MapQuest Nabs Former Google Docs Product Manager As Its New VP Of Product (TechCrunch)

Salil Mehta Gets New Role at NBCUniversal (Hollywood Reporter)

Comcast's Engdahl Hired as CEO at ADS
Exec's Resume Has Stints at Radiance, Alopa, Avasta and Alloptics (Multichannel News)

InterDigital Honors Dr. Fatih Ozluturk, Inventor Named on 150 Issued U.S. Patents
Company Recognizes Innovators at Annual Chairman’s Awards (Business Wire)

Nutrisystem’s e-commerce chief resigns
Christopher S. Terrill notified the e-retailer this week that he’s leaving. (Internet Retailer)

ImpactRx Promotes Industry Veteran to Senior Vice President, Client Services Operations
Mark Degatano Brings Thirty Years of Pharmaceutical Industry Experience to his New Role (PR Newswire)

GrayHair Software Welcomes Paula Stoskopf as Director of Solution Strategies (Business Wire)

Comcast hopes fall schedule revives NBC's image (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Q&A With Geoff Cook: How We Solved The Chatroulette Porn Problem (TechCrunch)

Netflix likely to Become Largest Subscription Entertainment Business in U.S.
(Hollywood Reporter)

Daily Links 4/22/2011: Can Dish plus Blockbuster unseat Netflix?

Amazon Says It’s “All Hands On Deck” As Cloud Troubles Enter Day Two (All Things Digital)

Amazon, eBay wage costly battle for shoppers (Reuters)

Cloud Strategy Shifts in SAP Shops from Cost Savings to Agility (ASUG News)

Dell Boomi: The Digital Universal Translator (IT Business Edge)

Caution urged as smartphone technology expands into medicine and health (Philadelphia Inquirer)

How 'SNL's' Lorne Michaels Became Comedy's Most Powerful Man…Ever (Hollywood Reporter)

Can Dish plus Blockbuster unseat Netflix? (Washington Post)

Formspring Absorbs What’s Left of Q&A Competitor PeerPong: The People (All Things Digital)
PeerPong's investors included First Round Capital.



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SunGard Availability to use the channel to help reach for the Cloud

Obviously, Cloud Computing is a hot space right now. Just being recognized as a player in the Cloud can instantly boost your market value, and major vendors are lining up to outline their strategies and claim a slice of the market. Forrester projects that the market for Cloud Computing services will increase from about $41 billion in 2011 to $241 billion in 2020.


Earlier this year, Wayne-based Sungard Availablity Services (a unit of Sungard Data Systems) officially unvieled its Enterprise Cloud Service, something it had been putting the pieces in place for over the past couple of years. SunGard Availability, which has about $1.5 billion in annual revenue, historically has provided consulting, managed hosting, storage and recovery services, and business continuity management software. While it had been running some private clouds in a dedicated VMWare environments, this marked the company's formal entry into the multi-tenant Enterprise Cloud services business. The Enterprise Cloud Service is hosted out of SunGard's one million-square-foot datacenter on Spring Garden St. in Philadelphia and another datacenter in Colorado, according to Tier1 Research. It is built on Vblock technology from VMware, Cisco and EMC.


Gartner analyst Tom Bittman recently discussed the role of the channel (sales through partners and resellers) in Cloud Computing, writing that "the channel will be critical in broader adoption of cloud computing (and private cloud), and the channel is not ready to do this. The channel needs to be rebooted".


That is what SunGard is trying to do. It recently announced it is expanding its channel effort, which had not formally existed within the company until about two and 1/2 years ago, to the Enterprise Cloud Service. The channel program, under the direction of Melissa McCoy, Sungard Availability's vice president, Channel Programs, provides sales and marketing resources, training and education, and co-marketing opportunities as well as dedicated channel support. It includes both a Solutions Provider program, which benefits those who incorporate SunGard services into their own solutions, and a Referral program. The channel program applies to all SunGard services, not just Cloud services.


McCoy says sales from the channel program grew 60% last year, and channel-related activities accounted for more than one third of SunGard's new customers. Sungard expects its channel program to eventually contribute more than 10% of total revenue, eChannelLine reports. McCoy emphasizes Sungard's experience in managing sophisticated production environments and its entire portfolio of services, in addition to its Cloud Services, as factors distinguishing it from competitors.



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Daily Links 4/21/2011: Monetate announces Open Source competition for Philly-area developers

Verizon Q1 EPS In Line; Affirms 2011 Outlook; But Shares Slip (Forbes: The Tech Trade)

Verizon Tallies 3.7 Million FiOS TV Subs
Revenue From Telco's Fiber-Optic Services Grows 23.7% (Multichannel News)

CFO: Verizon not pursuing Web video for now (Reuters)


Amazon Cloud Failure Takes Down Web Sites (New York Times: Bits)

NHL deal brings Versus to the big time
Commentary: Deal for hockey rights will shake up Canadian sports TV (MarketWatch)


Clearwire, Comcast And Sprint Widen 4G Reach In D.C., Baltimore
WiMax Provider Ups Coverage to 2.81 Million People in Washington, 1.75 Million in Baltimore (Multichannel News)

Monetate Announces Open Source Competition for Developers in the Philadelphia Area (PR Web)

Philly Fed manufacturing index slumps in April
(MarketWatch)
U.S. April Philadelphia Business Outlook Report (Text) (Bloomberg)

More Predictions on the Huge Growth of ‘Cloud Computing’ (Wall Street Journal: Digits)

Gartner: BI, Analytics Software Spending Jumps 13.4% (PC World)

Electronic medical records systems create need for scribes to input data (Philadelphia Inquirer)



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Daily Links 4/20/2011: Will SunGard bid on Blackboard?

Want to Know How First Round Capital was Started? (Silicon Alley Insider)


NBC Sports Chief Says Network Will Make Money on $2 Billion NHL Deal (The Hollywood Reporter)

Comcast SportsNet pilots NBC O&O plan (Variety)

TiVo soars on ruling in Dish Network case
Dish to seek Supreme Court review of decision (MarketWatch)

Blackboard: Who Are The Buyers? (Forbes: The Tech Trade)
Some analysts name SunGard (with its SunGard Higher Education unit) as a potential bidder. I tend to think that its highly leveraged capital structure might limit SunGard's ability to act, given the multiple Blackboard will command, but suppose if they really want to do it they might be able to find a way to finance it.
Internet Capital Group of Wayne was a significant investor in Blackboard, although it divested its remaining interest last year.
(Update: Missed this announcement from a couple of weeks ago on SunGard/Blackboard partnership, though its not something to read too much into.)

Pearson and SunGard Higher Education Integrate Pearson LearningStudio SaaS-based LMS with the Banner Student and Luminis Platform Solutions (SunGard Press Release)
Interesting, though certainly coincidental, timing.

Hewlett-Packard Hires Homlish of SAP as Chief Marketing Officer (Bloomberg)

All change in SAP's on-demand leadership (ZDNet Blogs)

Gartner Says Worldwide Business Intelligence, Analytics and Performance Management Software Market Surpassed the $10 Billion Mark in 2010 (Gartner Press Release)

Philly Controller's Office devises an app for reporting waste and fraud (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Gov. Christie says he has 'grave concerns' about bill to deregulate basic phone service (NJ.com)



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Daily Links 4/19/2011: Comcast, NHL reach 10-year deal reported to be worth $2 billion

NBC Sports, NHL Reach New TV Deal (Hollywood Reporter)
Press conference planned for 1pm ET.

Comcast Extends U.S. NHL Rights; Deal Said to Reach $2 Billion (Bloomberg)

With $4 Million From Comcast, Fwix Launches Its Own Open Places Databases (TechCrunch)

Sprint to pay Clearwire $1 billion for wireless services in new pricing deal (AP via Washington Post)

Sprint & Clearwire Kiss & Make Up. But Where’s WiMAX? (Gigaom)

Sprint/LightSquared Deal Expected Soon (Light Reading Mobile)

Symphony Technology Buys Drug Info Co. ImpactRx From VCs (Dow Jones LBO Wire)
Mt Laurel-based ImpactRX had previously raised about $37.5 million from VCs.

SAP’s Wookey Departure: Much Ado About Nothing (ASUG News)

Wolfram|Alpha & DuckDuckGo Conspire to Eat Google's Lunch (Search Engine Watch)

Gruber ruminates on Apple's cloud (The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

Phillies Science Day at the Ballpark: Robot to Throw First Pitch Tomorrow?! (Geekadelphia)



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Daily Links 4/18/2011: Do Ebersol and Comcast disagree on Olympic strategy?

Olympic$ hurdle for Ebersol and Comcast (New York Post)

Key SaaS Software Executive Leaving SAP (PC World)

SAP denies acquisition rumours (v3.co.uk)
SAP moving closer to HP in market value, Bill McDermott notes.

MoneyTree: Venture funding up significantly in Philadelphia area (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Susquehanna Growth Equity Acquires MediMedia Information Technologies, LLC (PR Newswire)

New Invite Media Sales Chief, Bruce Falck, Discusses The Road Ahead For Google’s Demand-Side Platform Business (AdExchanger.com)

SavingStar Brings Coupon-Clipping Into Digital Age (Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital Dispatch)
First Round Capital invests again in $7 million second round for Massachusetts company.

Exclusive: Flipboard Confirms $50 Million Funding at $200 Million Valuation (All Things Digital)
Comcast Interactive Ventures a new investor.

Liberty Sets May Date for Spin-Off Vote
Spin Would Make Liberty Interactive Asset-Backed Stock (Multichannel News)

MRO Corp. Acquires Release-of-Information Services Vendor Keystone Management Solutions (Business Wire)



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SAP loses its Wookey: Will he show up at HP? (IT Knowledge Exchange: Channel Marker)

Philly Tech People News 4/17/2011

NBCUniversal diversity executive Paula Madison to step down
(LA Times: Company Town)

Comcast Names Maria G. Arias as Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion (Business Wire)

Comcast Promotes Sarah Gitchell and David Marcus to Vice President, Deputy General Counsel (Comcast Press Release)

Heartland Payment Systems Adds to Executive Team (Business Wire)
Former ING Direct USA CFO Maria Rueda becomes Heartland CFO.

iMANY Expands Leadership Team With the Appointment of President and Chief Operating Officer (Marketwire)

update CRM Expands Life Sciences Team in North America (Business Wire)

Co-founder of Shop.org, Elaine Rubin, Joins Monetate Strategic Advisory Board (PR Newswire)

GSI Commerce Appoints John Healy as CEO of MBS Insight; Names Joe Gagnon President of e-Dialog (Business Wire)

USA Technologies and Executive Management Team Extend Employment Agreements
Leadership’s Agreements Extended Through June 2014 (Business Wire)

Aklero Risk Analytics Appoints Richard J. Downing to Lead Sales Development (National Mortgage Professional)

ISGN Hires John Axt as Title Operations Delivery Executive (Housing Matrix)

Cloud Computing Provider independenceIT Continues to Expand with New Business Development and Sales Leadership (Business Wire)

Daily Links 4/15/2011: Josh Kopelman on missing out on Twitter

Woulda Coulda Shoulda - Twitter (Redeye VC)


Bamboom Announces $4.5MM Seed Round of Financing Led by FirstMark Capital to Revolutionize Live TV (Marketwire)
First Round Capital also invests.

Bamboom takes over-the-air TV over the top (LA Times: Company Town)

Syncbak Aims to Bring Local TV Online (Gigaom: NewTeeVee)
Somewhat similar to the problem Bamboom is trying to address, but a different approach.

Meet Dell, your internet service provider (The Register)
On Boomi.

Philadelphia Looks to Condom-Locating iPhone App to Help Slow Spread of AIDS (All Things Digital)

NBCU Head of Washington, D.C. Office Exits (The Wrap)

Cablevision Brings Hulu, iTunes, Web Video To TV
Cable Operator's Optimum Link PC-to-TV Streaming Service Launched April 1 (Multichannel News)

Ballmer’s Bluster: Lots of Hype, Hot Air about Microsoft’s ERP Cloud
(ASUG News)

Lockheed-Cherry Hill wins military command-and-control systems work (Philadelphia Business Journal)



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Daily Links 4/14/2011: Invidi Banks $49 Million Round With DirecTV Investment

Finally, 100 Mbps Everywhere (If You Have Comcast) (Gigaom)

Comcast: 105 Mbps Now Reaches 40 Million
Highlighting Uselessness of FCC 100Mbps to 100 Million Goal (Broadband Reports)

Seeking to narrow the definitions of 'broadband' (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Invidi Banks $49 Million Round With DirecTV Investment
Other Investors in Addressable TV Ad Tech Company Include Google, GroupM, Motorola (and Comcast, via NBC) (Multichannel News)
Total investment now up to $111.5 million. Invidi, now based in New York, started out in Princton, and still has operations there.

Verizon FiOS TV 1.9 software update adds an HD guide, DVR enhancements (Engadget)

Is the economic rebound leading to SAP spending? (SearchSAP.com)

Oracle integrates its PeopleSoft Enterprise with Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio (Computer Business Review)
Oracle acquired Bala Cynwyd-based Primavera in 2008.

Friendly for apps
Local firm doesn't do apps, but it provides the software that makes apps easier. (Lancaster Sunday News)
On Lancaster-based appMobi.

Empathy Lab Selected to Redesign the Digital Experience at the American Red Cross (PR Web)

Startup Weekend comes to Baltimore: this weekend (Baltimore Sun: BaltTech)



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Daily Links 4/13/2011: Spielberg to attend Shoah Foundation Institute fund-raiser in Philadelphia honoring Roberts

Spielberg to attend Shoah institute fund-raiser in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Event will honor Brian Roberts.

Comcast Widens Premium Tech Support Rollout
Xfinity Signature Support Launches in Michigan, Philly, N.J., Delaware and Houston (Multichannel News)


Comcast offers tech aid 24/7
Round-the-clock service for Michigan customers will provide Internet device support for a fee (Detroit News)

IAB: Internet Advertising Reached $26 Billion In 2010, Display Grew Twice As Fast As Search (TechCrunch)

QlikTech Unveils User-Driven Business Intelligence For iPad
(Business Wire)

QlikTech CEO Galvanizes Team, Delivers 50% Growth (Forbes)

Microsoft apps: the road ahead (ZDNet Blogs)

Is Tibco’s Buyout Rejection a Cloud Setback for HP? (Gigaom)

If Schneider can't swing it, others may court Tyco (Reuters)

FCC chief hints at lack of competition in AT&T merger bid (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Pulse Electronics Files Investor Presentation (Business Wire)

Viridity Energy Developing Unique Program Using Energy Storage to Optimize Wind Energy at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals (Business Wire)

U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book: Philadelphia District (Text)
(Bloomberg)



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Exclusive: HP held talks to buy Tibco (Reuters)

Microsoft launches new assault on business apps (Reuters)
Ballmer aiming at Oracle, SAP, Salesforce.

SAP Co-CEO Says He’s Looking for Acquisition Opportunities (Bloomberg)

VMware Builds Cloud For App Developers
Developers using Microsoft's Azure cloud and Goggle's App Engine cloud are the main target of VMware's Cloud Foundry platform as a service. (Information Week)

Schneider Said to Weigh Takeover of Tyco to Add Security Systems (Bloomberg)

Don Browne, president of NBCUniversal's Telemundo network, retires (LA Times: Company Town)

Comcast-Spectacor chairman Snider enjoys double dip of success with Flyers, 76ers in playoffs (AP via Washington Post)
In DC to attend premier of "Atlas Shrugged", for which he is listed as "Executive Producer".

Team with wireless charger for electronics wins PennVention (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Agilence Purchases Assets of Video Analytics Company Vidient Systems (Business Wire)

Mistras Group, Inc. Strong 3rd Quarter Results Demonstrate Continued Growth in Revenues and Profits
Revenues Up 23%, Adjusted EBITDA* Up 61%, Net Income Triples (Globe Newswire)

Marchex to acquire First Round Capital portfolio company Jingle Networks for $62.5 million

Marchex today announced it was acquiring Jingle Networks, a Massachusetts-based company which operates the 800-Free-411 consumer service and a mobile ad network, for up to $62.5 million in cash and stock. The only problem is that close to $90 million had been invested in Jingle since 2004, according to VentureBeat. First Round Capital was one of its investors and early backers, though given its usual strategy it had probably supplied only a small fraction of Jingle's total capital.


With the rise of smart phones, people generally have less need to make 411 calls for directory information. Seattle-based Marchex is buying Jingle Networks for its voice-search technology and mobile ad network. This moves Marchex into the mobile advertising space, and complements a growing part of their business, one in fact it was helped in getting started in by acquiring then Philly-based and First Round Capital-backed VoiceStar in 2007. VoiceStar was a pioneer in the pay-per call business, which focused on generating calls directly to merchants in response to online advertising rather than clicks.


With the acquisition of Jingle, Marchex expects call-driven business to account for 75% of its revenue in 2011. Marchex anticipates Jingle Networks will generate more than $26 million in revenue in 2011, up at least 40 percent from 2010.

VoiceStar was co-founded by Ari Jacoby, who has since gone on to co-found and be CEO of Solve Media, the New York and Philly-based company that uses advertising to monetize "CAPTCHAS" on websites. First Round is also a backer of Solve Media. Marchex acquired VoiceStar for up to $28 million in cash and stock.



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Daily Links 4/11/2011: Flowers to acquire Tasty Baking

Neat Co. moving to Center City (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

AT&T, Comcast Go Live With 100G (Light Reading Cable)
But where?

Regulators say new customers should steer clear of Frontier cable TV (The Oregonian)

ADB Makes More US Cable Cuts (Light Reading Cable)
Shutting down Philly office.

QlikTech Revamps Partner Program, Offers New Margin Bonuses (CRN)

Microsoft to move its CRM and ERP wares to the Windows Azure cloud
(ZDNet Blogs)
CRM? Eventually.

Accel hires Paul Wahl for corporate IT investments (Reuters)

Bel Fuse Inc. Files Definitive Proxy Statement and Issues Letter to Pulse Electronics Shareholders
Urges Shareholders to Vote the GOLD Proxy Card FOR the Election of its Two Highly-Qualified, Independent Director Nominees (Business Wire)
Nothing I love more than a good Proxy fight.

Flowers Buys Tastykake; All The Good Things Wrapped Up In One
(Forbes: The Tech Trade)
Tastybake is one struggling company that didn't blame its problems on its SAP implementation.



The Pay-TV Rebellion (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Devon IT's RICO suit against IBM execs lives on

Devon IT's David v. Goliath RICO suit against four IBM executives lives on. The King of Prussia-based vendor of thin client computing devices and systems filed suit last year against IBM and the current and former IBM executives, accusing them of a $12 million Ponzi scheme designed to bilk Devon IT.

U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky ruled on Thursday in Philadelphia that the suit against the individuals would continue to have RICO status. The judge did disconnect IBM from the RICO allegations, although the corporation will still face fraud, breach of contract and negligent supervision claims.

Devon IT, founded by Devon Health Preferred Provider Organization founder Dr. John Bennett of Villanova, alleges that the IBM execs defrauded it of $12 million by diverting funds Devon IT had invested in two products with IBM for other purposes within the corporation without telling Devon IT that one of the projects had been cancelled.

The defendants argued that 8 of the 9 claims against them were invalid because of releases signed by Devon IT, but the judge found that Devon IT may have been fraudulently induced into signing them. Although Slomsky did dismiss three of Devon's claims, he upheld the others and the RICO status applying to them, saying that "plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged predicate acts of wire fraud or 'racketeering activity.'".

Devon also claims that the defendants had been under the supervision of Robert Moffatt, a former top IBM exec who was convicted last year on insider trading charges, although he is not named in this suit.

The defendants have until April 21 to file a response.

Devon IT seeks damages in excess of $100 million. Mitts Milavec, LLC of Philadelphia is representing Devon IT.

Here is a Devon IT 2009 presentation to IBM (pdf), still hosted on IBM's website.



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Daily Links 4/8/2011: Comcast Picks Microsoft To Stream 'TV Everywhere'

Comcast Picks Microsoft To Stream 'TV Everywhere'
MSO's ThePlatform Integrates Microsoft PlayReady, IIS Smooth Streaming Into Video Management System (Multichannel News)

Viacom: Cablevision Has 'Seized' Rights It Does Not Have With iPad App
Notice to MSO Comes After Time Warner Cable and Viacom Trade Lawsuits Over Similar Tablet Service (Multichannel News)

Moto Medios Goes Social (Light Reading Cable)

Competition creator? FCC forces "data roaming" on reluctant carriers (Ars Technica)

House passes measure to repeal net neutrality (The Hill)

Farzad Mostashari named new head of ONC (Modern Healthcare)

Dell to spend $1B on cloud services this year
And IBM will support SAP in the cloud (Computerworld)

Oracle to Acquire Datanomic
Data quality provider adds risk and compliance features to Oracle's data management system
(Information Management)

Innovator: Jennifer Pahlka
The founder of Code for America is bringing programmers and cash-strapped cities together to give government services a boost (Business Week)



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Daily Links 4/7/2011: Dell, IBM announce Cloud Computing plans

Dell Plans to Spend A Billion Dollars to Build 10 New Data Centers (All Things Digital: NewEnterprise)
Implications for Boomi?

Dell Cloud Computing Spending Spree Nears $2 Billion (CRN)

IBM Seeks to Make Cloud Computing More Palatable to Businesses (Bloomberg)

Safeguard Scientifics Leads $45 Million Financing for PixelOptics
Disruptive Technology Revolutionizes Standard of Care for Eyeglass Wearers (Business Wire)

Federal Judge OKs Rico Suit Against IBM Execs (The Legal Intelligencer)
Suit filed last year by King of Prusia-based thin client vendor Devon IT.


Bentley Launches New Lineup of Bentley Map 3D Desktop GIS Software for Infrastructure (Business Wire)

SunGard Acquires Toronto based Stratix Consulting (TechFinance.ca)

Cisco: What Should They Sell? (Forbes: The Tech Trade)
Many analysts recommending that Cisco sell its set top box business. Who would the potential buyers be?

ESPN Pipes Live TV to Apple Devices (Light Reading Cable)

Time Warner Cable Seeks Court Ruling To Approve iPad App For Viacom Nets
Viacom Responds With Countersuit Charging MSO Is Violating Terms of Distribution Agreement
(Multichannel News)
We Filed A Request For Declaratory Judgment With Viacom This Afternoon (Time Warner Cable Untangled)

Motorola Mobility Blends Community and Entertainment With Launch of SocialTV Companion Service for Tablets and Mobile Devices (PR Newswire)

In Surprise Appeal, TJX and Heartland Hacker Claims U.S. Authorized His Crimes (Wired)



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Daily Links 4/6/2011: ShopRunner Wants to Give Amazon’s Free Shipping Program a Run for Its Money

ShopRunner Wants to Give Amazon’s Free Shipping Program a Run for Its Money (All Things Digital: eMoney)

ShopRunner Launches Enhanced Marketplace Where Millions of Products Are Eligible for Free, Two-Day Shipping (Business Wire)

Dish Network Wins Auction for Blockbuster With $320 Million Bid (Hollywood Reporter)

Dish's Latest Buy Is a Blockbuster (Light Reading Cable)

Comcast to FCC: Keep Hulu info secret (Politico)

Cisco: De-Emphasis, Not Divestiture, Of Consumer, Says Barclays (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)
Competes with Motorola Mobility in providing technology to the Cable industry.


Analyst: Motorola Xoom and Atrix are duds (VentureBeat)

Dell Boomi Exec Says Architects, SIs Exploring New Cloud Integration Options (Integration Developer News)

Do SAP customers really need in-memory Strategic Workforce Planning? (SearchSAP.com)

Others Drawn Into Oracle, Rimini Street Legal Fray (PC World)

Alteva Receives Unified Communications® Magazine's 2010 Product of the Year Award (Marketwire)

Commodore Announces New Commodore64, VIC Computers (PC Magazine)
A rebirth of sorts for Commodore, the PC pioneer that was based in West Chester, although the current entity has no relationship to the old one or local connection.

Pennridge district readying government-education channel for Comcast (Philadelphia Inquirer)



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Daily Links 4/5/2011: Software AG seeks acquisitions, improved ties with SAP

PhillyDeals: Michael G. Rubin is dealing again, this time with eBay (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Alteryx Secures $6M Series A Funding From SAP Ventures (PR Newswire)

Software seeks acquisitions, improved ties with SAP (Reuters)

Lawson Talks Product As ERP Consolidation Looms (Information Week)

Epicor, Activant ... last one out, please turn off the lights (The ERP Graveyard Blog)
As I posted yesterday, Activant has a major Delaware Valley presence.

Can a humble Chart object get some love? (… and points beyond)
Questions QlikTech's position in graphical display. Maybe there is a little acquisition they can make that would help with that.

Scvngr pilot LevelUp targets entrepreneurs with special local deal (VentureBeat)
Starting in Boston and Philly.

As Hulu Revenue Doubles, It Sparks a Set Top Box Boom (Gigaom: NewTeeVee)

NBCU Targets Hispanics With Marketing Initiative
Custom Ad Packages Include Broadcast, Cable, Online (Multichannel News)

Comcast Keeps Eye on the iPad Prize (Light Reading Cable)

Cephalon Rejects Valeant’s $5.7 Billion Takeover Bid (New York Times: DealBook)

Practice Fusion raises $23M in 2nd round (San Jose Business Journal)

Transplace Acquires SCO Logistics, Leading Provider of Logistics Services to Chemical, Process Manufacturing Industry (Business Wire)
SCO Logistics is based in Kennett Square.



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Apax Partners to acquire Epicor and Activant Solutions; includes Activant's Yardley-based Prophet 21 business

Private equity firm Apax Partners has agreed to acquire Epicor and Activant Solutions for a total value of about $2 billion, and plans to merge the two companies. The move will create a larger player in the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) market.


Although no specific price was given for the Activant purchase, the price for Epicor is $12.50 per share, or about $1 billion, so presumably the Activant price was also in the $1 billion range. California-based Activant acquired Yardley-based Prophet 21 in 2005 for $215 million, and Prophet 21 is still a major component of its business. Prophet 21 provides ERP software for distributors, and was founded by John and Dorothy Meggitt in 1967.

Epicor’s revenue for FY 2010 were $440 million, while Activant reported revenue of $378 million in 2009

Google's Invite Media Founders: Why We Decided Not to Start the Next Facebook
Nat Turner and Zach Weinberg on Exchanges, Display Ads and Mobile, and Video-Buying Trends (Ad Age)

Angel investors growing in Phila. (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

Comcast Begins Search For Minority Networks
Hispanic-, African-American Owned-Or-Operated Channels To Launch First (Multichannel News)

Media Giants: The Difference Between Digital Survival And Smarts (Silicon Alley Insider)


Court dismisses Verizon lawsuit against FCC net neutrality rules (Washington Post: Post Tech)

SAP’s OnDemand Design Strategy (JD-OD.com)
Video: Interview with John Wookey, who heads SAP’s on-demand strategy.

CIGNA Announces New Chief Information Officer (Hartford Courant)

The Wharton School of Entrepreneurship (Wharton Journal)

Cablevision Launches iPad App With 280+ Channels (Light Reading Cable)

Email Breach At Email Marketer Epsilon Affects TiVo, Citi, Marriott And More (TechCrunch)

Philly Tech People News 4/3/2011

Harold Finders Named Chief Executive Officer of SunGard Financial Systems (PR Newswire)

Rosetta Promotes Three to Partner (PR Newswire)

Gannett Names New Chief to Front Digital Push (ClickZ)

Neumann Joins MTI as Senior VP, Client Management (Business Wire)

Energy Plus Appoints Top Industry Veteran as Chief Information Officer (PR Newswire)

ID Media Taps Diana Bald As New SVP, Marketing Director (PR Newswire)

MEI Appoints Stephen Arbour as Vice President of Technical Services
(PRLog)

SunGard Higher Education sues hosting provider Cajana

In a case that, at least on the surface, has some vague similarities to Oracle's lawsuit against SAP over its now shuttered TomorrowNow unit, Malvern-based SunGard Higher Education filed suit in February against Cajana, an Atlanta-based provider of application management and hosting services.

The complaint, filed in the US District Court's Southern Division of Ohio, charges Cajana with copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets. It refers specifically to application management and hosting services provided by Cajana to Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio beginning late last year. By providing these services, SunGard contends, Cajana has access to SunGard's intellectual property and trade secrets without SunGard's explicit permission as required by contract. SunGard also says that Cajana has been soliciting several other Ohio schools to provide similar services. Sungard seeks an injunction and potentially compensation for damages.


In a response filed with the court in March, Cajana says SunGard HE has "unclean hands" because it "brought this action solely for the improper purpose of gaining an unfair and unlawful competitive advantage in the marketplace and with the goal of interfering with Cajana’s business relations and prospective business relations with its customers".

Cajana's existing Higher Education business appears to be more closely aligned towards supporting Oracle's PeopleSoft product line geared towards that segment.

SunGard Higher Education is a unit of Wayne-based SunGard Data Systems.

The case is No. 2:11-CV-00148-JLG-TPK. Documents can be viewed through PACER (registration required and fees may apply).

Comcast Chief's Compensation Increases 14% as NBC Takeover Is Completed (Bloomberg)
But Steve Burke earns more.

Intuit, Salesforce.com Team Up to Target Small Businesses (Wall Street Journal: Digits)


SAP's on-demand strategy signposts new directions (ZDNet Blogs)

Device-to-Device Media Sharing that Works
One proximity-based app has nailed the triangulation problem. (MIT Technology Review)
On NearVerse's LoKast.

Dot Obits: The Man Who [Really] Invented the Internet (Read Write Web)
Born in Poland, Paul Baran was raised in Philly, got an engineering degree from Drexel, and worked on the UNIVAC.

Q&A: Former Comcast CTO David Fellows
(Light Reading Cable)

Fight over Time Warner Cable's iPad service comes down to philosophical differences (LA Times: Company Town)

UniTek Global Services Expands Specialty Wireless Capabilities With Acquisition of Pinnacle Wireless, Inc. (Globe Newswire)