Daily Links 3/29/2011: Comcast, NBCU Preparing Consolidated Media Review

EBay’s $2.4B GSI Buy May Be Another Win For Rue La La Investors (Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital Dispatch)

GSI: Needham Says Higher Bid Still Possible (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Comcast, NBCU Preparing Consolidated Media Review
Winner Could Emerge With Accounts Worth $1.2 Billion in Spending (Ad Age)

Journal Register Taps Jim Brady For ‘Digital Transformation’ (paidContent)

Philadelphia Media Network Joins Three Media Companies in Introducing Savings Spree! Extended Reach Program (PR Newswire)

Qlik Technologies: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Motley Fool)

Microsoft forges ahead in healthcare, while Google said to pull back (ZDNet Blogs)

Will Oracle Make A Bid For Lawson? (Forbes: The Tech Trade)

NBCU International Loses Top Exec in Comcast Reshuffling (The Wrap)

I Want My iPad TV: The Slogan For A New Generation (Gigaom)

iMANY Expands West Coast Presence to Meet Growing Customer Demand
New Facility Reflects Commitment to Research & Development and Customer Satisfaction (Marketwire)

Razorfish Health moves to new headquarters in Wanamaker Building (Philly Ad Club News)



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eBay to acquire King of Prussia's GSI Commerce for $2.4 billion

eBay just announced it was acquiring King of Prussia ecommerce vendor GSI Commerce for $2.4 billion. The per share price, at $29.25, reflects a 51% premium over Friday's closing price.

Founded by a young Michael Rubin in 1995 as Global Sports Incorporated, GSI Commerce provides ecommerce and fulfillment services for many leading brands, particularly in sporting goods and
apparel. Although it had achieved strong growth, some have questioned the profitability of its business model.

In the press release, eBay says that as part of the transaction, it will divest 100 percent of GSI’s licensed sports merchandise business and 70 percent of ShopRunner and Rue La La, and that "these assets will be sold to a newly formed holding company, which will be led by GSI founder and CEO Michael Rubin".

This company history timeline is from GSI Commerce's website.

Why eBay Wants to Buy GSI Commerce (Gigaom)

eBay’s New Deal: What Is GSI Commerce? (Wall Street Journal: Deal Journal)

Ebay-GSIC Deal: How the Analysts Fared (Wall Street Journal: MarketBeat)

New Company Will Emerge in Wake of eBay’s Acquisition of GSI Commerce (All Things Digital: eMoney)

TV Everywhere Starts Getting Somewhere (Light Reading Cable)

A Geographic Gap Analysis Uncovers New Markets for Nonprofits (Directions Magazine)
Analysis done for the Wilma Theater with the help of Philly's Azavea.

SunGard Acquires ValueLink Information Services (SunGard Press Release)

SunGard Higher Education Releases Talent Management Suite (SunGard Press Release)

SAP Sales OnDemand – Addressing the Lingering Questions (Feeding the SAP Ecosystem)

Make Tracks for Liberty Interactive (Barron's)
Liberty Interactive's principle entity is QVC.

API Technologies to Acquire Spectrum Control (PR Newswire)
Spectrum Control has a significant portion of its operations in the Philadelphia area.

InterDigital Announces Proposed Private Offering of $150 Million of Senior Convertible Notes (Business Wire)

Three particularly interesting events this week

Three particularly interesting events this week:

Tomorrow (Monday) night, Mobile Monday Mid-Atlantic's Mobile Health Forum will be held at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia from 5 to 8:30 pm. The event will have speakers and panels focusing on the hot field of mobile healthcare applications.

On Thursday night (the 31st), Philly Startup Leader's third annual Entrpreneur Expo, featuring some of the area's most interesting young startups, will be held at the University of the Arts' Hamilton Hall from 6 until 9 pm.

And lastly, next weekend the 36th annual Trenton Computer Festival will take place on April 2 and 3 at the The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.

For a more complete schedule of tech events in the Philly area, see the Philly Tech Events Calendar.

MSNBC aims for the gap
Matthews and gang forge on under Comcast. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

GetGlue to boost live TV with Facebook check-ins (Reuters)

Industrifonden banks 40 times return on Qliktech exit (AltAssets)

@jxpaton's Twitter lecture to newspapers (BuzzMachine)
@jxpaton is Journal Register (Yardley PA) CEO John Paxton.

Philly Tech People News 3/27/2011

QlikTech Promotes Les Bonney to Chief Operating Officer (Business Wire)

NCO Group Appoints Ron Rittenmeyer as President and CEO (PR Newswire)

Harris Named Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia)

Pulse Electronics Names John Dickson as Chief Information Officer
(Business Wire)

Rosetta Promotes Hartley to Managing Partner (PR Newswire)

Philadelphia advertising veteran Teitelman joins D4 (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Backe Digital Brand Marketing hires Christina Mullen as VP/Creative Director (Philly Ad Club News)

Ardmore Banking Advisors Appoints New Senior Client Support Consultant (PR Newswire)

Daily Links 3/25/2011: Zurich Inks Contract with Radnor-based SaaS Vendor Unirisx

Starz to delay new series on Netflix streaming, movies may follow (LA Times: Company Town)

Time Warner Cable Moves Ahead With Its Controversial iPad App (Hollywood Reporter)

Comcast's Xfinity TV app for iOS updated with more streaming and customization (Engadget)

Zurich Inks Contract with Unirisx
(Insurance & Technology)
Unirisx, based in Radnor, provides a SaaS-based policy administration platform for the Insurance industry, and the deal with Zurich is considered a major win for them. I had missed the news that former Harleysville Group CIO Akhil Tripathi, considered a top industry expert, became CEO of Unirisx late last year.

SunGard Opens Cloud Services To Channel (CRN)


Oracle Delivers on Earnings and on Its Promise to Profitably Acquire Sun (All Things Digital: NewEnterprise)

SAP: Time To Buy? (Forbes: The Tech Trade)


Was Google’s Fiber Plan Just Saber Rattling? (Gigaom)

Motorola Mobility Revival Means Weighing Google Alternatives (Bloomberg Business Week)


Astea zooms to four-year high on Q4 results (Reuters)



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Daily Links 3/24/2011: Comcast Urged Employees To Vote For Charter In 'Worst Company' Poll

Comcast Urged Employees To Vote For Charter In 'Worst Company' Poll
Biggest U.S. Cable Operator Said It Was Responding to Consumerist's Invitation to Participate
(Multichannel News)
I held off on this story until I knew it was a Corporate-sponsored effort rather than some prank by a local office.
However, I don't really hold the Consumerist in high regard as an unbiased observer of Comcast, and don't see anything wrong with what Comcast did although it will likely cause a negative PR backlash that will play to the Consumerist's advantage.

Time Warner Cable Is Said in Talks to Use Falcone's LightSquared Network (Bloomberg)

Clearwire Chairman wary of raising more debt (Reuters)

Oracle to give early view of software demand (Reuters)

Oracle FYQ3 Beats; Ups Dividend 20% (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)
Oracle tops profit views, sales rise 37% (MarketWatch)

Announcing the 2011 OnDemand 100 Top Private Companies (AlwaysOn)
Includes Philly-area companies Aria Systems, Fiberlink, iPipeline, and Portico Systems.

Business Incubator Series: Interview With Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner, DreamIT Ventures — Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (Part 1) (Sramana Mitra)

Energy efficiency is SAP’s strongest 2010 sustainability success story (SmartPlanet)

Business Intelligence Goes Mainstream At info360
(Information Week)

Fishing with the press of a button (phillyBurbs.com)



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Daily Links 3/23/2011: SAP Takes on IBM, Oracle With New GRC Suite

Showtime To Show Less On Netflix [UPDATED] (All Things Digital: MediaMemo)

Motorola’s Roadmap: Enterprise, Converged Media, Modular Phones (Forbes: Mobilized)
Motorola's latest acquisition: Swedish Internet protocol TV (IPTV) software provider Dreampark (Motorola press release).

CTIA-LightSquared CEO announces Best Buy deal (Reuters)

Waz Retires As Comcast SVP, External Affairs, Public Policy Counsel
Plans To Become Consultant, Starting With MSO As Client (Multichannel News)

Advanced TV advertising stall points and solutions (Fierce Cable)

SAP Takes on IBM, Oracle With New GRC Suite (PC World)

Interview:
QlikTech CEO Lars Bjork (Video: Fox Business)

Jean Bartik, last of the original ENIAC programmers, 86 (Computerworld Blogs)

i/o Data Centers Readies Massive NJ Modular Site (Data Center Knowledge)



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Daily Links 3/22/2011: Verizon Wireless CEO says no interest in Sprint

Cable Could Lose Wireless Bargaining Chip (Light Reading Cable)

Verizon Wireless CEO says no interest in Sprint deal (Reuters via Yahoo News)

Sprint 'Concerned' About AT&T-T-Mobile Deal, Verizon Will 'Be Watching' (PC Magazine)

Sprint Plans Appeal to Congress to Halt AT&T-T-Mobile Deal (Bloomberg)

Mother and Child Reunion … Or Not (Knowledge@Wharton)

appMobi Releases Mobile Web Services Creating Most Comprehensive Mobile App Ecosystem Available (PR Newswire)

NJ Senate puts telecommunications bill on hold (Asbury Park Press)

thePlatform Squelches Buyout Rumor (Light Reading Cable)

NBCU Refines Integrated Media Division With Promotions (paidContent)

Open Angel Forum Philadelphia's First Six Startups (Tedesco's Two Cents)

Cadient Group Expands and Diversifies Client Portfolio (Business Wire)

Half of SAP users 'dissatisfied' with system performance
Is it the software or the infrastructure to blame? (Computerworld UK)

5 Ways Retailers Are Winning Big With Facebook Commerce (Mashable)
One of the examples given is Philly startup Kembrel.



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AT&T + T-Mobile: What the Web Is Saying (Gigaom)

Who's Going To Buy Sprint Now? Verizon? Comcast? Google? (Silicon Alley Insider)
The Wall Street Journal cites a source as saying Comcast is not interested (subscription required).

AT&T Cash, Breakup Fee Were Said to Clinch T-Mobile USA Over Sprint Nextel (Bloomberg)

AT&T’s President on Why T-Mobile Deal Should Pass Muster and Won’t be a Customer Nightmare (All Things Digital: Mobilized)

Oracle seen posting profit, sales gains (MarketWatch)

Liberty Global to Buy German Cable Operator for $4.5 Billion (New York Times: DealBook)

Bel Fuse Sends Letter to Pulse Electronics Regarding Business Combination Proposal and Election Contest to Replace Pulse Electronics' Directors (Business Wire)

Deregulation likely to cause issues down the line (Newark Star-Ledger Editorial Page)