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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