Daily Links 4/21/09: Could IBM/SAP Be Next?

Think Big! Could Sun/ORCL Trigger IBM/SAP Combo? (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Element ID, Inc. Introduces Revolutionary New RFID Readers
Readers for Automated Applications Will Change the RFID Paradigm (Business Wire)

Kryptiq sells division to Portico Systems (Portland Business Journal)

NFL Network chief: No resolution in Comcast feud for 'months' (USA Today)

Canoe Prepares Interactive TV Ad Campaign (Contentinople)

Comcast Cable TV is Coming to Laptops This Year
Comcast's Fancast.com will host paid cable content free of charge for existing Comcast subscribers, beginning later this year, Comcast Exec says. (PC World)

Ametek cuts '09 earnings view, shares fall (Reuters)

Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners Raises $1.14 Billion for Private Markets Fund IV (Business Wire)

Invite Media’s Turner Discusses New Self-Service ‘Bid Manager’ for Display (AdExchanger.com)

Integrating GIS With SAP - The Imperative (Public Works.com)

Elemica Facilitates Connectivity With Road Carriers For BASF, Driving Inefficiencies Out of the Value Chain (PR Newswire)

Newark among best cities for business start-up
(UDaily)
That's Delaware, not New Jersey.

Verizon Offers TV Deals and Competition (GigaOM)

RCN Raises Rates, Adds 'Downgrade Fee'
Recession? Too bad. Here's a price hike and new fees (Broadband Reports)



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SevOne Gets Another Round

SevOne, the Newark, Delaware provider of network monitoring systems, has received an additional $2 million in venture financing, according to Dow Jones Venture Wire. The funding comes entirely from existing investors, including Osage Ventures and SunGard Data Systems founder John Ryan. It will be used to bring the Marketing function, which had been outsourced, in-house. SevOne previously raised a $1.5 million Series A round in September 2007.
SevOne's system is designed to capture absolute peaks in network traffic, rather than just data averaged over some time period. It appeals to customers managing very time-critical applications such as hospitals and financial services institutions. The comapny has over 100 customers, including Comcast Corp., Kohler Co., Alere Medical Inc., and three of the world's largest banks, and has been the recipient of several industry recognition awards.



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Oracle to Buy Sun for $7.4 Billion After IBM Withdraws Bid (Bloomberg)

Who wins, who loses in an Oracle-Sun deal? (Computerworld)
Shuttleworth: Oracle now largest open source player (ZDNet
Blogs)
For one thing, SAP is not going to be happy with Oracle controlling Java, I would guess.

Adobe's new Flash can stream Internet content to TVs
New development platform for TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray players is advancement for digital market (Network World)

As Costs Fall, Companies Push to Raise Internet Price (New York Times)

Verizon Expands Advanced, Remote DVR Management Service to More FiOS TV Customers
(PR Newswire)

Glaxo buys Stiefel Laboratories for $2.9 billion (Associated Press via Google News)

Health Market Science Raises $5.6 Million (PE Hub)

Motorika Announces New Financing Allowing An Expansion Into New Markets and New Product Development (Globe Newswire)

An interview with Ralph Roberts, Part 1 (Comcast Voices)

LiveTV Signs Agreement with EMS Formation for Rugged Data Storage
ToughDisk 3500 SATA to Provide Rugged Data Storage for LiveTV’s Video and Connectivity Servers (Business Wire)

AT&T to Manage SAP Applications for Wawa (PR Newswire)

PDS Celebrates 35th Anniversary (PR Newswire)

Allied Pixel Shoots Promotional Video for SunGard (Broadcast Newsroom)

Talking with Rob Schmults, CMO, Smart Destinations (Shop.org Blog)



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Adobe Extends Flash Platform to Digital Home
Silicon, OEM, Cable and Content Partners Embrace Adobe Flash Platform for Televisions, Set-Top Boxes and Blu-Ray Players
(Business Wire)

Philly Tech Events

ALJ Denied Comcast Motion To 'Disavow' NFL Network's Program Carriage Dispute
Operator Argued That FCC Trial, Case In New York Court Are Contradictory (Multichannel News)

Cable contest heats up in N.J (Cherry Hill Courier-Post)

Archer Group Helps Wawa Reach Facebook Fans with Fun and Function (Philly Ad Club)

Moto: KDDI Box Not an Android (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

GlaxoSmithKline nears $3 bln deal for Stiefel-WSJ (Reuters)

Center City online advertising startup Invite Media has unveiled its new website, which I take to mean that they are officially out of "stealth" mode.



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People News 4/19/09

National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship Appoints Philadelphia Advisory Board Members (Business Wire)

NetPlus Marketing's CEO Robin Neifield Honored with "Best 50 Women" (Philly Ad Club)

Profile:Fred Graffam, Senior vice president of Comcast's Beltway region. (Washington Post)

Comcast veteran Ed Dunbar named SeaChange COO (Mass High Tech)

WorldGate Positioned for Growth with Announcement of Industry Luminaries to New Board of Directors and Senior Management Changes (Business Wire)

QVC appoints Kelly vp, home merchandising
(Home Textiles Today)

MTI Invests in Long-Term Financial Health
William Rymer Joins Company as Chief Financial Officer (Marketwire)

MedQuist Names Dominick J. Golio as Chief Financial Officer (PR Newswire)

World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia names Conlin president (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Ben Franklin Technology Partners announces Northeastern Pennsylvania Innovation Awards (Easton Express-Times)

MISI Company Names Bill Musman Vice President of Philadelphia Office (Company Press Release)



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Venture Capital Investment Sinks (New York Times)

Comcast's Roberts Testifies in NFL Network Carriage Trial
Updated: Comcast chairman says network's carriage on sports tier about money, not retaliation (Broadcasting & Cable)

Unisys Reviewing Debt Payoff Options as Credit Expiration Looms (Bloomberg)

Stock Jocks Proved Clueless On FiOS
$24 billion investment didn't 'doom' Verizon after all... (Broadband Reports)

Verizon CEO Slams Sprint, Cable (Broadband Reports)

Google’s Android Makes Set-top Box Debut (GigaOM)

Motorola: Revival Of The Mobile Device Spin Off Plan? (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Comcast Claims NFL Network Was Overpriced, Legitimately Place on Sports Tier
NFL's program carriage complaint case to wrap up Friday (Broadcasting & Cable)

Update On LINTA: Maffei Expects To Refinance QVC Debt (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Weiss Tech House Announces 2009 PennVention Competition Winners (PR Web)

City Council Approves Cell Phone Driving Ban (Weekly Press)


SAP takes familiar yet effective approach to SAP virtualization (SearchSAP.com)

Universal Display Presents at Inaugural LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo in Tokyo (Business Wire)

ICW and Surescripts to Develop E-Prescribing Prototype Project for SHIN-NY (PR Newswire)

C&D Technologies Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results (PR Newswire)

Millersville University looking for a few good software developers (Keystone Edge)



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iCueTV

At the recent Cable Show in DC, one of the big buzz words was
"T- Commerce", meaning Television-enabled Commerce. This is nothing like the traditional QVC model, where people watch the television and then get more product information or order over the phone or on a PC. This commerce will be enabled through fully functioning interactive features appearing directly on your TV. Although talked about and experimented with for years, Interactive TV-in many ways the Holy Grail of the Cable industry-now appears to be ready for mass deployment through advanced platforms such as EBIF (Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format) and tru2way. Some FiOS TV customers may already be seeing some of these features, and applications will begin to roll out on digital cable later this year.
A Cherry Hill startup, iCueTV, appears to have a good running start in this market. Founded about two years ago, iCueTV calls itself "The Standard Platform for I-TV Commerce", though it will take a while for that to prove itself out. President and Founder Michael Huegel says his company’s services will expand the meaning of the term “t-commerce” beyond simply making purchases from a TV. The service also supports interactive applications for functions such as voting, polling, reporting, Web services, and request-for-information fulfillment. iCueTV provides the backend platform for these applications that leverages industry standard e-wallet applications developed by PayPal, Google, and Amazon.com.
iCueTV currently has about 75 employees. Former Century Communications CEO Bernard Gallagher joined the company as Chairman & CEO; he invested in the company himself and bought in a couple of other investors with him. My guess is that a VC funding announcement might not be that far off. iCueTV is working closely with Comcast, and was among four companies presenting at a session hosted by Comcast Interactive Capital at the Cable Show, two of which have been funded by CIC, according to Network World. Walter M. Buckley III of Internet Capital Group is also on iCueTV's board, though ICG has made no investment in the company at this time according to their website.


Wireless HD Highlights Cable 'Innovations' (Light Reading: Cable Digital News)

Cable Show 2009: MSO Vet Gallagher Takes Cue From ITV Startup
Former Century CEO Pitching TV Commerce Provider At NCTA Event Multichannel News)

–Round-Up of Recent Interactive TV-Related News from CMC (Interactive TV Today)