Daily Links 4/18/2011: Do Ebersol and Comcast disagree on Olympic strategy?

Olympic$ hurdle for Ebersol and Comcast (New York Post)

Key SaaS Software Executive Leaving SAP (PC World)

SAP denies acquisition rumours (v3.co.uk)
SAP moving closer to HP in market value, Bill McDermott notes.

MoneyTree: Venture funding up significantly in Philadelphia area (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Susquehanna Growth Equity Acquires MediMedia Information Technologies, LLC (PR Newswire)

New Invite Media Sales Chief, Bruce Falck, Discusses The Road Ahead For Google’s Demand-Side Platform Business (AdExchanger.com)

SavingStar Brings Coupon-Clipping Into Digital Age (Wall Street Journal: Venture Capital Dispatch)
First Round Capital invests again in $7 million second round for Massachusetts company.

Exclusive: Flipboard Confirms $50 Million Funding at $200 Million Valuation (All Things Digital)
Comcast Interactive Ventures a new investor.

Liberty Sets May Date for Spin-Off Vote
Spin Would Make Liberty Interactive Asset-Backed Stock (Multichannel News)

MRO Corp. Acquires Release-of-Information Services Vendor Keystone Management Solutions (Business Wire)



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SAP loses its Wookey: Will he show up at HP? (IT Knowledge Exchange: Channel Marker)

Philly Tech People News 4/17/2011

NBCUniversal diversity executive Paula Madison to step down
(LA Times: Company Town)

Comcast Names Maria G. Arias as Executive Director of Diversity and Inclusion (Business Wire)

Comcast Promotes Sarah Gitchell and David Marcus to Vice President, Deputy General Counsel (Comcast Press Release)

Heartland Payment Systems Adds to Executive Team (Business Wire)
Former ING Direct USA CFO Maria Rueda becomes Heartland CFO.

iMANY Expands Leadership Team With the Appointment of President and Chief Operating Officer (Marketwire)

update CRM Expands Life Sciences Team in North America (Business Wire)

Co-founder of Shop.org, Elaine Rubin, Joins Monetate Strategic Advisory Board (PR Newswire)

GSI Commerce Appoints John Healy as CEO of MBS Insight; Names Joe Gagnon President of e-Dialog (Business Wire)

USA Technologies and Executive Management Team Extend Employment Agreements
Leadership’s Agreements Extended Through June 2014 (Business Wire)

Aklero Risk Analytics Appoints Richard J. Downing to Lead Sales Development (National Mortgage Professional)

ISGN Hires John Axt as Title Operations Delivery Executive (Housing Matrix)

Cloud Computing Provider independenceIT Continues to Expand with New Business Development and Sales Leadership (Business Wire)

Daily Links 4/15/2011: Josh Kopelman on missing out on Twitter

Woulda Coulda Shoulda - Twitter (Redeye VC)


Bamboom Announces $4.5MM Seed Round of Financing Led by FirstMark Capital to Revolutionize Live TV (Marketwire)
First Round Capital also invests.

Bamboom takes over-the-air TV over the top (LA Times: Company Town)

Syncbak Aims to Bring Local TV Online (Gigaom: NewTeeVee)
Somewhat similar to the problem Bamboom is trying to address, but a different approach.

Meet Dell, your internet service provider (The Register)
On Boomi.

Philadelphia Looks to Condom-Locating iPhone App to Help Slow Spread of AIDS (All Things Digital)

NBCU Head of Washington, D.C. Office Exits (The Wrap)

Cablevision Brings Hulu, iTunes, Web Video To TV
Cable Operator's Optimum Link PC-to-TV Streaming Service Launched April 1 (Multichannel News)

Ballmer’s Bluster: Lots of Hype, Hot Air about Microsoft’s ERP Cloud
(ASUG News)

Lockheed-Cherry Hill wins military command-and-control systems work (Philadelphia Business Journal)



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Daily Links 4/14/2011: Invidi Banks $49 Million Round With DirecTV Investment

Finally, 100 Mbps Everywhere (If You Have Comcast) (Gigaom)

Comcast: 105 Mbps Now Reaches 40 Million
Highlighting Uselessness of FCC 100Mbps to 100 Million Goal (Broadband Reports)

Seeking to narrow the definitions of 'broadband' (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Invidi Banks $49 Million Round With DirecTV Investment
Other Investors in Addressable TV Ad Tech Company Include Google, GroupM, Motorola (and Comcast, via NBC) (Multichannel News)
Total investment now up to $111.5 million. Invidi, now based in New York, started out in Princton, and still has operations there.

Verizon FiOS TV 1.9 software update adds an HD guide, DVR enhancements (Engadget)

Is the economic rebound leading to SAP spending? (SearchSAP.com)

Oracle integrates its PeopleSoft Enterprise with Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio (Computer Business Review)
Oracle acquired Bala Cynwyd-based Primavera in 2008.

Friendly for apps
Local firm doesn't do apps, but it provides the software that makes apps easier. (Lancaster Sunday News)
On Lancaster-based appMobi.

Empathy Lab Selected to Redesign the Digital Experience at the American Red Cross (PR Web)

Startup Weekend comes to Baltimore: this weekend (Baltimore Sun: BaltTech)



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Daily Links 4/13/2011: Spielberg to attend Shoah Foundation Institute fund-raiser in Philadelphia honoring Roberts

Spielberg to attend Shoah institute fund-raiser in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Event will honor Brian Roberts.

Comcast Widens Premium Tech Support Rollout
Xfinity Signature Support Launches in Michigan, Philly, N.J., Delaware and Houston (Multichannel News)


Comcast offers tech aid 24/7
Round-the-clock service for Michigan customers will provide Internet device support for a fee (Detroit News)

IAB: Internet Advertising Reached $26 Billion In 2010, Display Grew Twice As Fast As Search (TechCrunch)

QlikTech Unveils User-Driven Business Intelligence For iPad
(Business Wire)

QlikTech CEO Galvanizes Team, Delivers 50% Growth (Forbes)

Microsoft apps: the road ahead (ZDNet Blogs)

Is Tibco’s Buyout Rejection a Cloud Setback for HP? (Gigaom)

If Schneider can't swing it, others may court Tyco (Reuters)

FCC chief hints at lack of competition in AT&T merger bid (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Pulse Electronics Files Investor Presentation (Business Wire)

Viridity Energy Developing Unique Program Using Energy Storage to Optimize Wind Energy at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals (Business Wire)

U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book: Philadelphia District (Text)
(Bloomberg)



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Exclusive: HP held talks to buy Tibco (Reuters)

Microsoft launches new assault on business apps (Reuters)
Ballmer aiming at Oracle, SAP, Salesforce.

SAP Co-CEO Says He’s Looking for Acquisition Opportunities (Bloomberg)

VMware Builds Cloud For App Developers
Developers using Microsoft's Azure cloud and Goggle's App Engine cloud are the main target of VMware's Cloud Foundry platform as a service. (Information Week)

Schneider Said to Weigh Takeover of Tyco to Add Security Systems (Bloomberg)

Don Browne, president of NBCUniversal's Telemundo network, retires (LA Times: Company Town)

Comcast-Spectacor chairman Snider enjoys double dip of success with Flyers, 76ers in playoffs (AP via Washington Post)
In DC to attend premier of "Atlas Shrugged", for which he is listed as "Executive Producer".

Team with wireless charger for electronics wins PennVention (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Agilence Purchases Assets of Video Analytics Company Vidient Systems (Business Wire)

Mistras Group, Inc. Strong 3rd Quarter Results Demonstrate Continued Growth in Revenues and Profits
Revenues Up 23%, Adjusted EBITDA* Up 61%, Net Income Triples (Globe Newswire)

Marchex to acquire First Round Capital portfolio company Jingle Networks for $62.5 million

Marchex today announced it was acquiring Jingle Networks, a Massachusetts-based company which operates the 800-Free-411 consumer service and a mobile ad network, for up to $62.5 million in cash and stock. The only problem is that close to $90 million had been invested in Jingle since 2004, according to VentureBeat. First Round Capital was one of its investors and early backers, though given its usual strategy it had probably supplied only a small fraction of Jingle's total capital.


With the rise of smart phones, people generally have less need to make 411 calls for directory information. Seattle-based Marchex is buying Jingle Networks for its voice-search technology and mobile ad network. This moves Marchex into the mobile advertising space, and complements a growing part of their business, one in fact it was helped in getting started in by acquiring then Philly-based and First Round Capital-backed VoiceStar in 2007. VoiceStar was a pioneer in the pay-per call business, which focused on generating calls directly to merchants in response to online advertising rather than clicks.


With the acquisition of Jingle, Marchex expects call-driven business to account for 75% of its revenue in 2011. Marchex anticipates Jingle Networks will generate more than $26 million in revenue in 2011, up at least 40 percent from 2010.

VoiceStar was co-founded by Ari Jacoby, who has since gone on to co-found and be CEO of Solve Media, the New York and Philly-based company that uses advertising to monetize "CAPTCHAS" on websites. First Round is also a backer of Solve Media. Marchex acquired VoiceStar for up to $28 million in cash and stock.



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Daily Links 4/11/2011: Flowers to acquire Tasty Baking

Neat Co. moving to Center City (Philly.com: Philly Inc)

AT&T, Comcast Go Live With 100G (Light Reading Cable)
But where?

Regulators say new customers should steer clear of Frontier cable TV (The Oregonian)

ADB Makes More US Cable Cuts (Light Reading Cable)
Shutting down Philly office.

QlikTech Revamps Partner Program, Offers New Margin Bonuses (CRN)

Microsoft to move its CRM and ERP wares to the Windows Azure cloud
(ZDNet Blogs)
CRM? Eventually.

Accel hires Paul Wahl for corporate IT investments (Reuters)

Bel Fuse Inc. Files Definitive Proxy Statement and Issues Letter to Pulse Electronics Shareholders
Urges Shareholders to Vote the GOLD Proxy Card FOR the Election of its Two Highly-Qualified, Independent Director Nominees (Business Wire)
Nothing I love more than a good Proxy fight.

Flowers Buys Tastykake; All The Good Things Wrapped Up In One
(Forbes: The Tech Trade)
Tastybake is one struggling company that didn't blame its problems on its SAP implementation.

The Pay-TV Rebellion (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Devon IT's RICO suit against IBM execs lives on

Devon IT's David v. Goliath RICO suit against four IBM executives lives on. The King of Prussia-based vendor of thin client computing devices and systems filed suit last year against IBM and the current and former IBM executives, accusing them of a $12 million Ponzi scheme designed to bilk Devon IT.

U.S. District Judge Joel Slomsky ruled on Thursday in Philadelphia that the suit against the individuals would continue to have RICO status. The judge did disconnect IBM from the RICO allegations, although the corporation will still face fraud, breach of contract and negligent supervision claims.

Devon IT, founded by Devon Health Preferred Provider Organization founder Dr. John Bennett of Villanova, alleges that the IBM execs defrauded it of $12 million by diverting funds Devon IT had invested in two products with IBM for other purposes within the corporation without telling Devon IT that one of the projects had been cancelled.

The defendants argued that 8 of the 9 claims against them were invalid because of releases signed by Devon IT, but the judge found that Devon IT may have been fraudulently induced into signing them. Although Slomsky did dismiss three of Devon's claims, he upheld the others and the RICO status applying to them, saying that "plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged predicate acts of wire fraud or 'racketeering activity.'".

Devon also claims that the defendants had been under the supervision of Robert Moffatt, a former top IBM exec who was convicted last year on insider trading charges, although he is not named in this suit.

The defendants have until April 21 to file a response.

Devon IT seeks damages in excess of $100 million. Mitts Milavec, LLC of Philadelphia is representing Devon IT.

Here is a Devon IT 2009 presentation to IBM (pdf), still hosted on IBM's website.



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