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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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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