Daily Links 10/14/2010: Verizon stores to begin selling iPad later this month

Clearwire’s Spectrum Is The Best Thing It Has Going For It—So Why Sell? (mocoNews.net)

Verizon Stores, Not To Be Outdone, Will Sell The iPad On October 28 (TechCrunch)

Business Journal’s Philadelphia 100 honored (Philadelphia Business Journal)

FCC Votes to Change CableCARD Rules
Move meant to spur competition in cable digital set-tops
(Broadcasting & Cable)

Moody's Revises Cable Sector Outlook
Sluggish Economy, Increased Competition Weigh on Sector
(Multichannel News)

Comcast targets Lone Star State, causing big money to flow (Washington Examiner)


Microsoft Aims at Salesforce.com With CRM Offer (PC World)
Also to reveal new plans for linking its Dynamics ERP offering with SAP ERP.

SAP's Strategy For The CRM Battle (Forbes)
Interview with Jujhar Singh, SAP senior vice president of CRM Solution Management.

Mozilla Taps SAP Executive as New Chief (New York Times: Bits)

Oracle: Citi Sees BMC, CERN, MLNX As Potential Deal Targets (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

The next evolution of investor 'office hours' (Fortune: The Term Sheet)

Viridity Energy and the University of California San Diego Awarded $1.6 Million to Optimize Solar Deployment on UCSD Campus Microgrid (Business Wire)




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Daily Links 10/13/2010: Lockheed sells Valley Forge consulting unit EIG for $815 million

Lockheed Sells EIG Consulting Unit to Veritas Capital (Bloomberg)
EIG is based in Valley Forge.

Sony’s Google TV-Powered Devices Have Arrived (Mashable)

Clearwire Said to Seek Up to $5 Billion in Spectrum Auction (Bloomberg)

Philly's their game
City places and faces enliven a first-of-its kind app coming from a flourishing indie game community.
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Joe Nocera Pleads Ignorance in Fiancée-Based Conflict of Interest (Gawker: Valleywag)


SAP Workflow use spreading beyond financials to compliance, utilities, HR (SearchSAP.com)

QlikTech : There is a Huge Untapped Opportunity in BI (Channel World)

Almac Successfully Moves its Clinical Technologies Business Unit Into New North American Headquarters (PR Newswire)

Salesforce.com and Veeva Systems Announce Expanded Alliance to Serve the Global Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry (Business Wire)
Though based in California, Veeva has much of its sales and client services functions in Malvern.

NextGate and NextGen Healthcare Form Partnership to Deliver Health Information Exchange Solutions (Business Wire)

Drexel Engineers May Soon Replace E-Z Pass Box with Transparent Antenna (PR Newswire)


Context Capital Partners invests in hedge fund Betzwood Partners, LP

Context Capital Partners is a Bala Cynwyd-based private equity firm that invests in and provides operational and management support to other actively managed investment funds. It manages about $300 million, raised from both individuals and institutions. Founded in 2005, Context had previously invested in three sectors: distressed real estate, small banks, and RV parks. Despite the economic problems that have ocurred since then, the first two sectors have worked out rather well for them, according to Ron Biscardi, Context's managing partner, though the investments in RV parks haven't performed too well because of the effects of the credit crunch on that market.

Now Context is entering a new area; it announced last month it was investing in a hedge fund for the telecommunications, media and technology sectors. The fund, Bala Cynwyd-based Betzwood Partners, LP, was formed in 2009 by David Sung, who had previously run a similarly focused fund at Susquehanna International Group. The size of Context's investment was not disclosed. As a hedge fund, Betzwood is managed to be "market neutral" and to minimize risk by taking both long and short interests. One hypothetical example of what Betzwood might do would be to base an investment decision on a detailed comparative analysis of two stocks like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. It requires strong skills in fundamental financial analysis and a firm grasp in the underlying technologies and market forces that drives these companies.

Sung, who grew up in North Jersey, attended Villanova as an undergrad and also recieved an MBA from NYU's Stern School and is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst). Bascardi said Sung had excellent results at Susquehanna, and that Betzwood had also performed well since its founding.




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Daily Links 10/11/2010: Comcast officially unveils WiFi Hotspots for Xfinity users

Comcast Launches Xfinity WiFi in Areas of Greater Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware
Thousands of Hotspots in Parks, Train Stations and Shopping Districts Accessible to Xfinity Internet Customers for No Additional Cost
(Business Wire)
Comcast Cuts The Cable, Rolls Out 2,000 Xfinity Wi-Fi Hotspots (Gigaom)

Google TV Guns for Cable Deals (Light Reading Cable)

Microsoft, Comcast, Yahoo: no zombie cookies here, Congress! (Ars Technica)

Inside The M&A East Conference (The Bulletin)

HP Chairman Lane Smacks Back at NYT’s Nocera: The Poison Pen Letter! (All Things Digital: BoomTown)

SAP TechEd to Go Deep on Mobility, On-demand (PC World)

Travel advertisers use CAPTCHA for branded type-ins (Tnooz)

About.com Founder Scott Kurnit Launches Huge New Startup Called "AdKeeper" (Silicon Alley Insider)
First Round Capital's latest ad tech investment.


Epic, Cerner Dominated CIS In 2009 (Information Week)

Pepperjam Launches More Than 160 Affiliate Programs, Including BJ’s Wholesale Club
GSI Commerce performance marketing network continues to expand client portfolio
(Business Wire)

XTel Communications serves up wholesale Ethernet service suite
(FierceTelecom)




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A Double Standard at H.P. (New York Times)

Setting the Record Straight: Oracle, SAP, TomorrowNow, and the NYT
(Enterprise Matters)


Report: Mass Layoffs coming at Malvern's Siemens Healthcare

The blog HIStalk reports (apparently has copies of actual internal email announcements) that Malvern-based Siemens Healthcare will be laying off up to 475 people starting in a couple of months. Many of these jobs will be transitioned to India and Romania, including support for Siemens' mainstay Soarian Healthcare IT product. No word on how many Pennsylvania jobs will be affected.


BMC Jumps to Highest Since 2000 on Report of Potential Sale (Bloomberg)
SAP, Oracle reported to be possible suitors.

SunGard's Conde Sees `Tough Year', Will Continue Hiring: Video (Bloomberg via Washington Post)


Daily Links 10/8/2010: Comcast-NBC Deal May Face Possible U.S. Arbitration Demand

Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Out as New Owners Take Control (New York Times: Media Decoder)

Marimow out as Inquirer editor; deputy named interim boss (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Management told him he did not have the necessary background in digital media, the Inquirer reports.


Meet the New Boss: Philly Newspapers Sale Finally Completed (Editor & Publisher)

Diapers.com Takes on Amazon in Huggies Delivery-Time Smackdown (Bloomberg)
A company with several Wharton connections.

EarthLink: force Comcast into line-sharing as part of NBCU deal (Ars Technica)

Comcast's NBC Deal Said to Face Possible U.S. Arbitration Demand (Bloomberg)

Hulu Preparing for $2 Billion IPO Next Year [REPORT] (Mashable)

MGM seeks lenders' OK for pre-packaged bankruptcy (Reuters)
Comcast owns about a 20% equity stake in MGM which would be wiped out in the proposed reorganization.

'30 Rock' Season 5, Episode 3 Recap (VIDEO) (TV Squad)

Integromics Hires New CEO, Eyes Next-Generation Sequence Analysis Market (GenomeWeb)

DESIGN PHILADELPHIA: Party like it’s 2010 (Philadelphia City Paper)




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Daily Links 10/7/2010: Halfpenny Technologies Secures $2.6 Million in Capital Investment

Halfpenny Technologies Secures $2.6 Million in Capital Investment (Business Wire)

Comcast Says Interactive Ads Available in 10M Homes
More than 160 advertisers have used request for IT
(Broadcasting & Cable)

From Running A Deli To Head Of SAP
A conversation with Bill McDermott, co-chief executive of the software giant.
(Forbes)

SAP and Sybase create mobile business unit (ComputerWeekly.com)

Verizon's McAdam talks 4G (Q&A) (CNET News)

Clearwire Off; S&P Threatens Downgrade; Sees Liquidity Risks (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Cisco’s Quest For A Piece Of The Future-Of-TV Pie (paidContent)
Reports last week had suggested that Comcast might be an early go-to-market partner along with Verizon's FiOS, but I don't see any mention of Comcast right now.

Web Site to Offer Health Advice, Some of It From Marketers (New York Times)
Interesting test of Direct-to-Consumer Pharma marketing via the Web.

Kulicke & Soffa: Dec. Qtr Revs To Be Well Short Of Sept. Qtr (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

BioClinica Signs Enterprise Agreement for Electronic Data Capture (Applied Clinical Trials)
BioClinica is based in Newtown PA.

SunGard Acquires Mindwell (PR Newswire)




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