Daily Links 8/12/2011: Pharma restrictions on Facebook go into effect on Monday

Can the cable industry succeed at wireless? (FierceWireless)

Clearwire Jumps 12% On Speculation Of Sprint Funding (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Verizon: FiOS Won't Be as Profitable as Copper
In Part Because They Can't Charge $8 For Call Waiting
(Broadband Reports)

AT&T Seeks to Bolster T-Mobile Case as Doubts Rise in Poll (Bloomberg)

Phila. hires N.J. official to fix information tech (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Adel Ebeid, currently chief information and technology officer for the State of New Jersey, will start work for Philadelphia on Aug. 22.

SAP Business ByDesign and BusinessOne on a collision course? (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet Blogs)

Meet SAP Line of Business OnDemand’s New Leader: Kevin Nix (ASUG News)

SAP ByDesign unveiled in Australia after delays (The Austalian)

ORCL, CRM, VMW: Goldman Cuts Numbers Across Software (Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

10 Key Things I Learned From Working at a Search Startup (Search Engine
Watch)
By Alex Cohen, former Director of Marketing for ClickEquations (now part of Channel Intelligence).

Facebook prescribes comments for pharma pages (NewsWorks)

EHS Technologies wins Navy contracts (Philadelphia Business Journal)



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Checkpoint Systems to MMI Investments: We plan to remain independent

Tom Paine


Checkpoint Systems in a letter to MMI Investments, L.P., dated yesterday (included in an SEC filing): Checkpoint did "conduct a thorough internal review of the company’s strategic alternatives over the course of June and July of this year", and concluded "that it is currently in the best interests of Checkpoint’s shareholders for the company to remain independent and to continue to pursue its strategic plan". While Checkpoint indicates it is still willing to talk to MMI, this is a more specific rebuff than its public press release of August 10.

MMI, which holds a 4.9% stake in Philly-based Checkpoint, sent a letter to management dated August 10, in part saying: "We have recommended that Checkpoint hire an investment banker to explore strategic alternatives, which the board summarily dismissed. We have attempted to connect Checkpoint with those who are highly qualified and potentially interested in buying the company, to no avail". Now Checkpoint is saying it has already gone through an exploration of strategic alternatives.

Checkpoint makes systems that help retailers reduce the amount of inventory shrink (usually caused by theft) that they experience.



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Daily Links 8/11/2011: Verizon strike in 5th day; LCB panel opposed wine kiosks in 2008

Silicon Valley’s Undertaker: ‘We’re Anticipating a Major Fallout’ (PE Hub)

Accelerators & Incubators: Dreamit Ventures Dreams Big (Portfolio.com)

A Simple PC For Seniors Is Complicated By Its Flaws (All Things Digital)
Walt Mossberg reviews the Telikin, a PC designed with seniors in mind from Chalfont-based Venture 3 Systems LLC.

Cisco's Chambers: 'We Are Very Much Committed' To Set-Tops
CEO Says Scientific Atlanta Group Revenue Up 11% for Fiscal Year 2011
(Multichannel News)


Would-Be Hulu Buyers Will Have Their Checkbooks Ready Next Week (All Things Digital)

Comcast Seeks Safeguards From Failed Blockbuster Disc Rental Venture (Home Media Magazine)


Disney to put its shows behind a pay wall online, too (Gigaom)

Verizon Cites 90-Plus Acts Of Sabotage On Fifth Day Of Strike
Telco Claims 91% of Customer-Service Calls Were Answered Wednesday
(Multichannel News)

Verizon sees FiOS less profitable than copper (Reuters)

Pa. Liquor Control Board was warned on wine kiosks
Employees were told to discard copies of committee's concerns
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)


Eisai Inc. Selects Cloud-Based Veeva CRM to Replace Multiple On-Premise Sales Support Systems (Business Wire)
Based in California, Veeva has much of its US customer-oriented operations located in the Philadelphia area.

RentTheCloud.com Debuts to Help CIOs Quickly and Safely Adopt Cloud Computing (PR Newswire)

MondoNet: Rutgers Academics Try to Built a New, Censorship-Proof Internet (Read Write Web)



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Dow off 4.6% today; a look at Philly Tech Stocks

A look at Philly Tech stocks today, after the Dow fell 519.83 points, or 4.6 percent, to 10,719.94. (Another day, a few less dollars.)


Daily Links 8/10/2011: Bensalem-based mortgage tech company ISGN raises $30 million

Bensalem-based ISGN Raises $30 Million from Investors (PR Newswire)

Checkpoint Systems under pressure to seek sale
* MMI Investments sends letter seeking strategic review
* Earlier recommendations rebuffed by board
(Reuters)
Checkpoint's response: Its all just a misunderstanding.

DirecTV Defeats Comcast Bid for Court Order Blocking Ads for NFL Programs (Bloomberg)

NBC Sports Group Agrees to Multi-Year Partnership With Major League Soccer
NBC, NBC Sports Net to air 49 games per season
(Broadcasting & Cable)

U.S. subscribers hang up on cable, satellite; economy, streaming to blame (Globe and Mail via CTV News)

Cablevision and Viacom make peace in iPad dispute (LA Times: Company Town)

Clearwire names CEO and asks him to raise $900M (Gigaom)

Here Are The 13 Startups Presenting At NYC Dreamit Demo Day Today (Silicon Alley Insider)


Verizon goes to court over workers' strike in East
(AP via CNBC)


SAP Will Launch New Smart Grid Software
SAP Smart Meter Analytics is going to handle a whole lot more than meter data and do it faster.
(Greentech Media)

Mistras Group, Inc. Delivers Strong Revenue and Earnings Growth as FY 2011 Revenue Increases 24%, Adjusted EBITDA Up 33%
(GlobeNewswire)
Mistras Group is based in Princeton.

FCC announces plan to update 911 to receive texts, video
(The Hill)
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski made announcement at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International Conference in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Orbitz and StarCite Launch Orbitz for Business Meetings (PR Newswire)



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Daily Links 8/9/2011: QVC revenue up 8%; Strong international growth

Liberty Media Reports Second Quarter 2011 Financial Results (Business Wire)
QVC revenue up 8% (stronger internationally) and operating income up 4%; Liberty hopes to complete split-off of Liberty Capital and Liberty Starz in 3rd quarter after Bank of New York's appeal is heard in the Delaware Supreme Court in mid-September.

WVT Communications Finalizes $17 Million Acquisition of Alteva
New Organizational Structure Established
(Marketwire)

Tax issue spurs PhillyCarShare to sell to Enterprise (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Clearwire: Merrill Now Sees Going Concern Risk; Target 50 Cents (Forbes: The Tech Trade)

Dish Network Lost 135,000 Subscribers in Second Quarter

 (Hollywood Reporter)

HSBC in Talks to Sell Credit Card Portfolio (New York Times: DealBook)
Prospective buyer said to be Capital One, which agreed to acquire Wilmington-based ING Direct USA in June. HSBC has already phased out its credit card operations in Delaware.

A Career Venture Capitalist Responds To Criticism From BI Commenters (Business Insider)
By First Round's Charlie O'Donnell.

Great Hill Partners Acquires Plimus for $115M USD (Business Wire)
Exit for Bala Cynwyd-based Susquehanna Growth Equity.

This App Could Save Your Life (Wired: Epicenter)

Deacom to Begin Testing Its Newly Developed SaaS Based CRM System (SBWIRE)

NetSuite stops selling to smaller businesses. Congratulations (ZDNet Blogs)

Dell, NextGen Team On Cloud-Based Services
Dell will sell NextGen's suite of healthcare applications and provide hosting as it targets the EMR marketplace.
(Information Week)

HITECH Act Blocking Smaller IT Firms
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act prevents some small and midsize IT services firms from pursuing new healthcare business opportunities, says a CompTIA report.
(Information Week)



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Many Philly Tech Stocks taking bath today

Biggest losers include CardioNet, USA Technologies, Unisys, Vishay Intertechnology.

SAP AG, Kenexa, Universal Display and Safeguard Scientifics all off 7% or more.

You can view real time details on this spreadsheet.

(Things actually got worse for several of these stocks towards the end of the day.)


Sneak Peek: An early look at some new ventures popping up around Philly

Tom Paine

I had reported that Ecount (sold to Citi in 2007, now Citi Prepaid Services) co-founders Matt Gillin and Paul Raden have started Radnor-based Relay Network with backing from First Round Capital, ICG and NewSpring Capital. Now two other Ecount vets, Drew Kese and Kevin O'Nell, are getting back into the startup game with a venture called Orocast. Still very much in a stealth mode, Orocast won't say much about what its doing, though it did have a public coming out of sorts by cosponsoring Philly Scalathon in July. O'Nell said in a phone conversation to expect more news in the 4th quarter; just my guess that some clues about the venture's general direction might be found in its name and the founders' backgrounds.

Terry Williams' new venture, Cross X Platform, announced recently that it had launched and on Friday said that it had launched its website. Cross X (CXP) provides a shared platform of technology and support services for IT consulting and services firms. It may take equity stakes in some of these firms, and conversely the IT firms may participate in CXP's equity. CXP is located in Audubon. Terry founded and later sold the TWC Group, and is co-founder and managing partner of Next Stage Capital.

Zooyan is a Philly-based local shopping/deals site which annnounced its launch in March. Zooyan is operating in Philly only now, though it has plans to expand elsewhere. Its offers goods and services from local merchants broken down by neighborhood.

DoughMain (yes, thats its name) announced it has raised $5 million in Angel funding and launched its site August 1. The Princeton-based venture says that it will "offer a suite of features designed to help families coordinate their lives while empowering them to become better educated about money".

Phiiladelphia-based VITA Products has launched its new product, the VITAband, originally designed with runners in mind. It offers customers a small bracelet on which they can store personal health information, and it can also be used for contactless payment transactions.

CloudMine, a venture with local roots that provides tools for mobile app developers, was one of the first to be accepted into this year's Philly DreamIt Ventures class, according to Technically Philly.

MDconnectMe, a Philadelphia-based company, provides
a mobile app that connects patients with physicians and other healthcare providers in what it says is a HIPAA-compliant way. (The issue of direct electronics communications between physicians and patients has always been contentious.) It reported raising $50,000 in an SEC filing in May.



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Philly Tech People News 8/7/2011

KNBC GM Robinson Named NBCUniversal Chief Diversity Officer
NBC-owned station looking for replacement GM
(Broadcasting & Cable)
Some were questioning the pace at which Comcast was moving on filling this vacancy.

ShopRunner ups the ante with its hiring of former GSI executive Fiona Dias (Internet Retailer)

MyNines Runs Out Of Cash; CEO Becomes VP At Rue La La (TechCrunch)
Rue La La and ShopRunner are both majority-owned by (ex-GSI founder) Michael Rubin's new holding company.

Smarter Agent Names Philip Charles-Pierre Senior Vice President, Marketing & Distribution (PR Web)

Former SAP Channel Chief Hume Takes Convio Sales Post (CRN)

Internet Society Announces New Board of Trustees
Leaders from industry, academia, and the Internet community to provide strategic direction on Internet related standards, education, and policy
(ISOC Monthly Newsletter)
Jason Livingood, Executive Director of Internet Systems Engineering at Comcast, appointed to Board seat.

HP Appoints Gregg Melinson Vice President of Global Government Affairs and Deputy General Counsel (Business Wire)
Drinker Biddle partner and former Ridge assistant.

Dudnyk adds Digital Leadership, names Director of Digital Strategy (Philly Ad Club News)

Cadient Group Expands Staffing as Growth Continues (Philly Ad Club News)

Julia Hernandez Named SVP of Professional Services for Aklero (National Mortgage Professional)



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Citing Stalemate, Verizon Workers Strike (New York Times)