Daily Links 2/23/2011: SAP introduces updated Business Intelligence product line

DreamIT Ventures Taps Startup Founders as It Expands Into New York (Gigaom)

No secret that QVC might buy Home Shopping (Denver Post)

SAP Enters Complex-event Processing Market (PC World)

SAP BusinessObjects 4.0 hits the streets (SearchBusinessAnalytics.com)

Unisys builds cash as it trims debt (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

DirecTV Profit Beats Analysts' Estimates on Video, High-Definition Demand (Bloomberg)

Golf Channel, NBC Tee Off As Playing Partners At WGC Tourney
Promotion, Production, Programming, Graphics Reflect 'Golf Channel On NBC' Branding (Multichannel News)

Obama names Facebook, Intel and Comcast execs to new jobs council (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Comcast Shaking Up Speed Tiers (Again)
Seven Delicious Flavors In DOCSIS 3 Upgraded Markets (Broadband Reports)

Bluewolf Opens New Office Headquarters in New York (PR Newswire)
Also opens new Philadelphia office.

Google’s Decision to Get Into “Real Time” Ads Was Really Smart, Says Google (All Things Digital: MediaMemo)

Checkpoint Systems Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (Motley Fool)

Kairos Society Helps Student Entrepreneurs Test Best Ideas for Startups (Bloomberg)



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Daily Links 2/22/2011: Checkpoint, CDI down after financial results

WGAW Reps: Comcast Wants to Destroy Unions (Hollywood Reporter)

CBS Picks Netflix Over Hulu to Stream Classic Shows (Gigaom: NewTeeVee)

Amazon Prime Instant Streaming Launches, But Not (Yet) A Netflix-Killer (Silicon Alley Insider)

Xoom Android tablet set for sale Thursday at Verizon (Computerworld)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Results (Business Wire)
Checkpoint Systems Q4 misses Street (Reuters)

CDI Corp. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Results (PR Newswire)
CDI shares are really getting hammered today, off almost 15%, after missing forecast.

Veeva Systems Announces Increased Investment in China
Life sciences business solutions leader expands operations in industry’s largest emerging market to support customer growth (Business Wire)
Veeva Systems has a significant presence in the Philadelphia area.

SAP Eyes Wider Market With Real-Time Business Analytics Software (Bloomberg)

Recyclebank Raises Additional $14 Million in Series C Financing (PR Web)
Recyclebank started out in Philly and still has some of its operations based here.

SAS acquires Assetlink to help marketers deliver smarter, more efficient campaigns (SAS Press Release)



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News from HIMSS11

Live@HIMSS: Early adopters urged to help (Modern Healthcare)

'We believe in health IT': Sebelius (Modern Healthcare)

Health IT Execs To Boost Spending In 2011 (Information Week)

HIMSS11 – What’s After EMR? (Computerworld)

NextGen Healthcare Drives Patient-Centered Care with New Innovations Unveiled at HIMSS11 (Business Wire)

Siemens Advances Transformational Health IT at HIMSS 2011 (PR Newswire)

SAP Helps Healthcare Organizations Improve Workforce Productivity and Patient Care Delivery (PR Newswire)


Combined Strengths and Capabilities of Stanley Black & Decker and InfoLogix Drive Delivery of Quality Patient Care and Innovative Healthcare Solutions (PR Newswire)

Precyse Solutions Demonstrates Breakthrough Automated Clinical Documentation and Natural Language Processing-enabled (NLP) Solution at HIMSS 2011 Conference (PR Newswire)

Oracle Upgrades Health Information Exchange Suite (Information Week)

TruePosition subsidiary Zoombak acquired by Securus

Zoombak, a provider of personal GPS devices and a subsidiary of TruePosition Inc., has been acquired by Securus, Inc, according to a press release. Zoombak has had its operational headqaurters in Berwyn. Securus, which has been a competitor to Zoombak, is based in Cary, NC.
TruePosition, also based in Berwyn, is a subsidiary of Liberty Media.

Twitter Reinstates API Access For Twidroyd and UberSocial for Blackberry (Read Write Web)

It’s Not a Bubble, People; It’s a Pyramid Scheme (PE Hub)
Mark Cuban's comments.

Netflix: Comcast Hates Us, Sort Of, Maybe (Gigaom: NewTeeVee)

Changing Skyline: What does GlaxoSmithKline's move to Navy Yard mean for downtown? (Philadelphia Inquirer)

HIMSS11 opens in Orlando

HIMSS11 (the annual conference of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) opens today in Orlando. This is probably the most important annual event in the Healthcare IT industry, and many Philly area companies will have a presence there and news to share. I'll try to keep track of key developments, although I'm not actually there (wish I was).

Comcast SportsNet Talent Supplements 'Hockey Day In America' Coverage
NBC, Versus To Present Nine Hours Of Puck Sport Action On Feb. 20 (Multichannel News)

The Aftermath of Hulu CEO's Bad Boy Memo (Hollywood Reporter)

Comcast launching 24-hour 3D channel Sunday (CNET News)

Will FCC Act On Level3 Comcast Dispute?
Level3 Tells Us They Still Hope So, But Signs Point To No (Broadband Reports)

Here's The $7 Million Home For HP's New CEO Leo Apotheker (Silicon Alley Insider)
Life after SAP isn't so bad.

UberMedia CEO Bill Gross: Twitter Turn-Off “Took Us By Surprise,” But “We Will Change” (TechCrunch)
UberMedia has been backed by First Round Capital among others.

Safeguard leads $5 million investment in Downingtown-based ThingWorx

I tried to find out a little more about ThingWorx, the Downingtown "Internet of Things" platform startup that yesterday announced it had received a $5 million investment led by Safeguard Scientifics.


My first thought was to see if there was a SAP connection here, since SAP has been a leader in developing the Internet of Things concept, and there is indeed. CEO Russell Fadel was co-founder and CEO of Lighthammer Software Development, which was later acquired by SAP (after which he apparently stayed on with SAP for a couple of years). CTO Rick Bullotta also came to SAP from Lighthammer; at SAP he served as VP at SAP Labs, which was followed by a tour at WonderWare as CTO. There is no indication that SAP has been involved in financing ThingWorx, however.


ThingWorx had one previous round of financing from Angels and founders.


The Internet of Things (explored somewhat skeptically in this recent Economist article) describes the concept of interconnecting the virtual world, people and the physical world through the Internet. Though most likely to be seen today in manufacturing and military applications, other areas such as energy and healthcare are considered to have great potential. ThingWorx describes itself as "the first platform designed specifically for applications connecting people, systems and devices", although I haven't seen much detail yet on how it goes about accomplishing that. The company blog has this post about the founders and their vision.


ThingWorx held an official company launch on February 8 in Downingtown.



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Daily Links 2/17/2011: Philly Fed’s factory index hits seven-year high

Venmo Refreshes iPhone & Android Apps With Social & Location Features (Mashable)

Internet service map data show no broadband access for up to 10% in U.S. (Washington Post: Post Tech)

SAP Hopes to Boost StreamWork Sales With OpenSocial (PC World)

SunGard Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2010 Results (Business Wire)

Philly Fed’s factory index hits seven-year high
Gauge of current activity at 35.9 for February, eclipsing 20.8 forecast (MarketWatch)
Philly Fed Firms Report Increased Business Activity (Business Wire)

NBC weighs value of broadcasting future Olympics (LA Times)

FCC defends net neutrality to lawmakers, says Level 3-Comcast not covered by rules (Washington Post: Post Tech)

CLWR Up 5%: Sees Profit In 2012; Spectrum Decision In Q2 (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

CardioNet, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Financial Results (Business Wire)

O'Malley's venture fund draws tough questions
Lawmakers concerned Maryland would lose money (Baltimore Sun)



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