Philly Tech People News 3/13/2011

Cable’s top lobbyist, McSlarrow, to lead Comcast Washington office (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Comcast promotes top two lobbyists (The Hill)

Janney Names Christopher White Head of Investment Banking (Business Wire)

Prominent Equity Analyst and Investment Banker Leland Westerfield Joins appMobi as CFO (Business Wire)

Chris Sklarin joins Edison Ventures (New Jersey Technology Council)

Kari Branjord, Former Executive Director for SIS at the University of Colorado, Joins SunGard Higher Education (Press Release)

MTI Names Tvenstrup Senior VP, Business Analytics (Business Wire)

Comcast SportsNet promotes several news and programming executives (Philly Ad Club News)

John (JB) Braun joins Today Media Inc. as Publisher, Main Line Today Magazine (Philly Ad Club News)

Infor Makes Unsolicited $1.84B Bid for ERP Vendor Lawson (PC World)
Will any other bidders emerge?

Rebooting their systems
Two computer giants prepare for a world no longer dominated by the PC (The Economist)
Dell and HP.

It Came From Their Lab. But How to Take It to the Bank? (New York Times)
On the new, $100 million Philly-based Osage University Partners.

Executive Shake-Up at Clearwire Prompts More Questions (Gigaom)

Hulu's owners weigh board shuffle (LA Times: Company Town)

Packing Up Old Digital Habits (MediaPost Blogs)
Philly-based Razorfish Health moving to new offices.

Dell to hire 30 more for Berwyn 'cloud' site (Philly.com: Philly Deals)


Bethlehem announces Pi: Partnership for Innovation, a new technology center, on the city's Southside (Easton Express-Times)

SAP, IBM Team up on In-memory Analytics (PC World)

Is There a Real Market for ‘Enterprise PaaS?’ (Gigaom)

Delaware loses 224K on Maverick deal (Delaware Online: Delaware Inc)

Pulse Electronics rejects Bel Fuse bid, consolidating headquarters in San Diego; Company (as Technitrol) played important role in early Philadelphia computer history

Trevose-base Pulse Electronics announced today that its board had rejected Bel Fuse's $6 per share ($246 million) takeover bid.

Another item mentioned in its most recent earnings report and reiterated in today's statement was that Pulse had announced the "consolidation of our corporate headquarters near Philadelphia into our U.S. operating headquarters in San Diego".

Not sure when this is going to happen, but it sounds as if the Philly area is losing another corporate headquarters. Which is probably not that big a deal at this point, since it seems likely that Pulse (formerly Technitrol), in its shrunken state, is going to be acquired by somebody sooner or later.

However, Technitrol played an important role in the development of the computer industry in Philadelphia. The company was founded in 1947 by four Penn Engineering graduates who had participated in the development of the ENIAC. Technitrol held the first patent for a magnetic drive (see company history) .

Pulse made an unsuccessful bid to acquire Bel Fuse in 2007, but it was the larger player then in terms of market value.



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Daily Links 3/10/2011: SCVNGR launches Groupon competitor in Boston and Philly

SCVNGR Launches LevelUp to Compete With Groupon (Gigaom)
Pilot program begins today in Philadelphia and Boston.

Is Lawson Software in the hunt for a buyer? (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
SAP mentioned among a list of possible acquirers.

SAP CFO: Big Software Deals Are Back (MarketWatch)

SAP's HANA roadmap: does it convince? (ZDNet Blogs)

Steve Ballmer Helps Open Philadelphia Microsoft Technology Center (Official Microsoft Blog)

StumbleUpon Double-Dippers Reap Major Rewards (Mashable)
Early backer First Round Capital, which saw it exit to eBay, reinvests in once-again independent company.

DreamIt Adds VCs (as advisors) to its NY Accelerator (New York Observer)

Clearwire CEO Steps Down For Personal Reasons; CIO Out (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Xfinity TV app enticing but limited (Boston Globe)

House panel votes to invalidate net neutrality rules (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Daily Links 3/9/2011: ING preparing to sell Wilmington-based ING Direct USA

SAP ups its in-memory computing ante (Computerworld)

Apotheker Seeks to Save HP's `Lost Soul' With Expansion in Cloud Software (Bloomberg)


ING preparing to sell Wilmington-based ING Direct USA (Reuters)
Price could be as high as $10 billion, according to some reports.

Fresh off budget, Corbett tours Microsoft Technology Center (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Along with Steve Ballmer.

IBM Names Smarter Cities Winners (Information Week)
Philadelphia one of the initial 24.


Comcast Sees Bucks In Premium Tech Support
MSO's Xfinity Signature Support Service Priced From $4.95 to $19.95 per Month (Multichannel News)

Comcast, Zoom Settle Dispute Over Modem Certification
Manufacturer Had Complained MSO's Testing Requirements Were Unreasonable (Multichannel News)

Comcast Corp. hires cable industry lobbyist to oversee D.C. efforts (LA Times: Company Town)

SAP sees BI on tablets gaining ground with mobile workers
Software maker has 3,500 iPads in the field connected to business intelligence software (Computerworld)

Sprint CEO Hesse: 4G strategy shortly, Clearwire is included (ZDNet Blogs)

Baltimore becoming a "Startup City" (Baltimore Sun: BaltTech)
Starting a DreamIt Ventures-like incubator program this summer.

Philly Pro Launches Smaller Shop To Avoid Registration (PE Hub)



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Daily Links 3/8/2011: Deutsche Telekom, Sprint said to be discussing T-Mobile USA Deal

Deutsche Telekom, Sprint Said to Discuss T-Mobile USA Deal
(Bloomberg)

YouTube, Netflix, Hulu: Meet Facebook (All Things Digital: MediaMemo)

Facebook Could ‘Become a Credible Threat to Netflix,’ Says Goldman Sachs (Hollywood Reporter)

Netflix spooks Hollywood more than ever (CNET News)

Britt: Video Losses Unacceptable
TWC chairman says MSO looking at video subscribers with "renewed intensity" (Broadcasting & Cable)

Comcast Courts the Cloud (Light Reading Cable)

Republicans pan FCC reasons for net neutrality rules (Washington Post: Post Tech)


Smarter Agent acquires Toor.me (Smarter Agent Blog)
Camden-based mobile real estate network acquires Seattle company that uses QR codes on properties.

Urban Outfitters’ Weak Quarter: A Hiccup or A “Yikes” (Barron's Blogs)
First disappointing news from Urban Outfitters in a long time. But the fashion business is like that.

Anexinet Named to Inaugural CRN Tech Elite 250 (Business Wire)

SAS Pushes BI to Apple's IPad, IPhones (PC World)

To BI or Not to BI – That is The Question for SAS (Information Management)

Seven Questions About CRM Software with Microsoft’s Mike Ehrenberg (All Things Digital: NewEnterprise)

The cable-TV installation will be easy. Want to buy some property under the Brooklyn Bridge? (Washington Post)
One writer's experience with Comcast.



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Daily Links 3/7/2011: Comcast launches Spanish version of Xfinity TV

Comcast seeks edge in Hispanic market with website (Reuters)

EXCLUSIVE: NBC and Versus Join To Make History for NHL
Ad campaign to promote Stanley Cup playoffs to air on both networks (Broadcasting & Cable)

Comcast Explores Network DVRs (Light Reading Cable)

Canoe Docks With Donovan
Donovan Data Systems to Integrate Canoe's Interactive TV Response Data (Multichannel News)

NetSuite embarks on richer reseller program (ZDNet Blogs)

Salesforce.com, The Next Oracle?: Careful What You Wish For. (Wall Street Journal: MarketBeat)

A Beginner’s Guide to SAPanese (ASUG News)


Time for a results-oriented city budget (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Op Ed column by Philly City Councilman Bill Green.

Instem Acquires Cambridge-Based BioWisdom; Leader in Delivering Healthcare Intelligence Solutions (Business Wire)
Price of $1.5 to $2.4 million, according to British press reports. Instem's US headquarters is in Conshohocken.

This time, human beats computer (Philadelphia Inquirer)



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As telecom industry evolves, success of Netflix is its biggest threat (Washington Post)

Philly Tech People News 3/6/2011

Comcast Hires Lehman as NBCUniversal’s New Digital Boss (All Things Digital: MediaMemo)

iVillage Launches App Network; Adds BN.com’s Gottlieb (paidContent)

Dr. Gil Amelio Joins InterDigital’s Board of Directors (Business Wire)

RES Software Appoints Gene Bonacci VP of Channels and Strategic Alliances (Business Wire)

Mangos Deepens Its Digital Bench Strength (PR Newswire)

VIIAD Systems names Scott Hethcox as Vice President of Sales (Business Wire)

The Cloud: Battle of the Tech Titans (Bloomberg Business Week)

Comcast shifting some Denver-area operations to East Coast (Denver Post)

Frontier pulls out of cable TV franchises, hikes installation charges dramatically (The Oregonian)

FERC Rejects PJM Challenge, Upholds EnerNOC’s View (Gigaom)
PJM Interconnection is based in Norristown.