Sqoot gets in trouble for sexist reference on Evenbrite post

Tom Paine

Sqoot , a 2010 (Philly) DreamIt Ventures daily deals aggregating startup now based in Chicago and New York, raised a furor on the web today because of a sexist joke attributed to the company that appeared on an Eventbrite listing for an upcoming Boston hackathon it had organized.




The comment, which has since been removed and for which Sqoot has profusely apologized for, created a firestorm on the web and led many hackathon sponsors to withdraw, including Philly-based CloudMine (see twitter post) .

Shows the need to have a policy for checking social media postings, or at least make sure you are comfortable with who is authorized to post for you.

More on this from BostInno .



permalink

Daily Links 3/20/2012: Philly's Venmo in public launch

After 2 Years of Testing, Venmo Opens Payment Service to Public (New York Times: Bits)
Venmo is based in Philly; investors include Accel Partners (though Times reporter apparently couldn't find that out).

Oracle Reports Q3 GAAP EPS Up 20% to 49 Cents; Q3 Non-GAAP EPS Up 15% to 62 Cents (Marketwire)
Meets revenue guidance, exceeds soft EPS guidance. Hardware revenue continues sharp decline.

Oracle Exceeds Estimates on Corporate Demand
(Bloomberg)

QVC Announces China Joint Venture (PR Newswire)

Google Says Motorola Buyout Boosts Choice as China Extends Probe (Bloomberg)

Motorola Hops Into CDN Market With EdgeCast
Vendor Targets Cable Operators Worldwide With Content Delivery Network Offering (Multichannel News)

Comcast Presents Consumer Benefits of Spectrum Assignment to Senate (Comcast Voices/Official Comcast Blog)


Amazon Acquires Kiva Systems in Second-Biggest Takeover (Bloomberg)
The key purpose of Amazon's acquisition of Quidsi in 2010 was probably to learn from what Quidsi was doing to automate the warehouse. Getting the warehouse inventory picking process under control is critical to Amazon's mass distribution strategy. Quidsi was deploying Kiva's products.
Meanwhile, Amazon and New Jersey are reported to be close to a deal that would give Amazon a sales tax exemption in the state in return for building warehouses that would provide up to 1500 jobs.

Edmund Optics “Goes Live” With SAP® Business All-in-One and Other Solutions From SAP, Deployed by Answerthink (Business Wire)
Edmund Optics is based in Barrington, NJ.

Leading Professional Services Company Launches New ARAMARK Healthcare Technologies Brand (PR Newswire)

Thomson Reuters Healthcare Unit, We’ve Been Here Before
(Wall Street Journal: Deal Journal)



pemalink

Daily Links 3/19/2012: Analyst says Sprint has 50% chance of bankruptcy

Alterations may be needed to make SaaS fit (The Register)
Results of survey commissioned by Dell Boomi.

Oracle's fiscal 3Q to provide gauge on technology (AP via Google News)

Microsoft Inches Closer To Delivering Cloud-Based ERP (Information Week)

Venture Portfolio Values Climb And Pennsylvania’s PSERS Proves The Point: Slideshow (PE Hub)

Sprint: Bernstein Cuts Rating; 50% Chance Of Bankruptcy? (Eric Savitz/Forbes)

CMOs are Starting to Drive the Next-Gen Application Agenda (Trident Capital Blog)

Are We Ready for Accounting Information Systems in the Cloud? (Accounting Today)

3 MILLION ADDED BROADBAND FROM TOP CABLE AND TELEPHONE COMPANIES IN 2011
78.6 Million Get Broadband from Top Cable and Telephone Companies (Leichtman Research Group)

Comcast to relaunch phone product; trademarks 'Voice2Go' brand (FierceCable)

Latinos.org looking to grow and hire in Phila. area (Peter Key/Philadelphia Business Journal)



permalink

Highlights: Last week on Philly Tech News (3/12/2012 to 3/18/2012)

I profiled the launch of Quewey, a Philly-based business oriented Q&A site.

The Allentown Morning Call reported on the demise of Lehigh Valley-based International Battery, a startup with high hopes for making it big with rechargeable lithium-ion cells and batteries. It went through tens of millions of venture capital funding and leaves Pennsylvania on the hook for millions.

A UK publication reported that Exton-based iPipeline was in talks to acquire Assureweb, a financial services quotation portal backed by several large insurers there. When it received $71.4 million in venture funding in January, iPipeline had indicated international expansion could be one use of the funds.

Philadelphia Media Network reduced staff at the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com by about 40 people through a combination of buyouts and layoffs; guild management for the papers issued a letter ripping the management of Publisher Greg Osberg.

In a presentation at a forum held by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) in Phialdelphia, Comcast SVP of strategic planning Mark Coblitz emphasized the need for cable operators and their suppliers to take energy efficiency into account in the early stages of designing processes and equipment.

The witness list is set for the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee hearings on Verizon Wireless' spectrum/joint marketing agreement with a coalition of cable companies, including Comcast. The hearings are scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon.

SAP AG continued to rollout its HANA product on many fronts, including an announcement scheduled for April 10 on its database software plans. Meanwhile, some industry analysts are becoming increasingly concerned about Oracle's weaknesses. Oracle announces its quarterly earnings tomorrow (the 20th).

Philadelphia-based software firm Ascentive agreed to pay a $9.6 million settlement of a class action lawsuit for its alleged "scareware" tactics, although the company did not admit to wrongdoing.


Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to Philly Tech News Weekly Highlights by Email



permalink

Introducing new Philly Tech News Events Calendar twitter feed

I like to keep the main Philly Tech News twitter feed (@phillytechnews ) fairly compact, so I don't post info about most events on it. Since the Philly Tech News Events Calendar is rather extensive, I want to have a way to share that content with users as well.

So I've established a new, separate twitter feed, @phillytechnewsevents, which is fed automatically from Google Calendar. Events show up on the feed soon after they are added to the calendar. I'll look at finding a way to add reminders perhaps one day before an event.

Of course, you can always access the Philly Tech News Events Calendar here.

Philly Tech People News 3/18/2012

First woman executive vice president at Comcast(Philadelphia Inquirer)
Profile of Cathy Avgiris.

Senior vice president of Comcast Corporation pledges $1.055 million for Cooper Medical School of Rowan University scholarships (NJ.com)
Lawrence J. Salva, chief accounting officer and controller.

SAP cloud boss takes time off as questions are asked over BYD (Cloud Pro)
Peter Lorenz takes leave, as SuccessFactors CEO takes over SAP Cloud business.

My Next Step on the Path: Ernst & Young's Global Cleantech Center (Scott Edward Anderson/The Green Skeptic)

Stream Cos. opens Philadelphia office (Philadelphia Business Journal)

JackBe Expands Executive Team with New Vice President of Sales and Chief Marketing Officer (Business Wire)
New VP-Sales was former QlikTech executive.

Cablevision Confirms Hiring Of Kanouff
Former SeaChange President Named Executive VP of Engineering, Software Design (Multichannel News)

Cablevision's Blackley, Mayo Are Resigning
MSO Confirms Departure of Two More Senior-Level Executives (Multichannel News)

CNBC Names Krim Digital GM (MediaPost News)

Comcast Spotlight Announces Executive Promotions (Press Release)



Subscribe to Philly Tech People News by Email



permalink

Marketing is the next big money sector in technology
(Gigaom)

Daily Links 3/16/2012: Philly-based Ascentive Agrees To $9.6M 'Scareware' Settlement

SAP aims to become major database software maker (Reuters)
Announcement planned for April 10.

SAP Steps Up Commitment To Predictive Analytics
SAP BusinessObjects Predictive Analysis will integrate with Hana, take on SAS and IBM SPSS modeling and analysis tools. (Information Week)

Analysis: Analysts worry that something's amiss at Oracle (Reuters)

An Update on the Infor – Salesforce Partnership (Michael Fauscette/Enterprise Irregulars)

NJ VENTURE FUND INVESTMENTS OFFER EARLY STAGE TECH COMPANIES (NJTC TechWire)
Invests in Osage and NextStage funds; both PA firms will open New Jersey offices.

Apple Enthusiasts Camp Out For The New iPad (CBS Philly)

RIAA chief: ISPs to start policing copyright by July 1 (CNET News)

Philly-based Ascentive Agrees To $9.6M 'Scareware' Settlement
(MediaPost News)

Verizon offering EBIF-based NCAA bracket app (CED Magazine)

Data, Analysis, Research Power Comcast SportsNet Sales (Broadcasting & Cable)



permalink

Microsoft Technology Centers, Smart Technologies kick off partnership, US rollout of interactive whiteboards in Malvern

Tom Paine

Calgary-based SMART Technologies, Inc., a leader in the interactive whiteboard market, used the Microsoft Technology Center in Malvern to announce yesterday it had become a Global Technology Partner in the Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) Alliances Program, and would be installing its products in all 11 U.S. centers by the end of 2012, beginning with Malvern. It already has installations at several MTC locations internationally.

Each center will have a variety of SMART products, including interactive whiteboards, interactive displays, interactive pen displays, SMART Meeting Pro™ software and Bridgit® conferencing software. Chuck McCann, Director, Worldwide MTC Alliance Program, in a statement cited reduced travel expenses and increased collaboration as being among the benefits gained from using SMART Technologies products.

The event featured a presentation by Bill Emmert, Technical Director/Technology Architect, Microsoft
Technology Center, and John Friscia of SMART Technologies, and a tour of the facilities. During the tour, a SMART spokesperson tells me, Emmert commented that people within the Center fight for the rooms with SMART Boards because they enjoy using the product, it wows customers, and is much more efficient than the regular white erase board because they can save files on a USB and send customers off with it.

SMART says it has the leading share in the interactive whiteboard market in the US. It becomes one of 11 Global Technology Partners in the MTC Alliances Program.

MTC describes its purpose as providing environments and state of the art technology tools to enable world class learning and development experiences. The Malvern, Pennsylvania center opened in March of last year.

SMART Technologies' press release.

Daily Links 3/15/2012: Layoffs expected at Philadelphia Media Network this week, in midst of criticism

Report: Cisco Looking To Buy Interactive TV And Security Specialist NDS In $5B Deal (TechCrunch)

Cisco Bets $5B More on Video With NDS (Light Reading Cable)

Cloud player Appirio looks towards global expansion after $60 million VC round (ZDNet Blogs)

Salesforce Is Up And Running With Rypple Only Six Weeks After Buying It (Silicon Alley Insider: Enterprise)

Salesforce Unveils Human Resources Software Amid Oracle Contest (Bloomberg)


Kohl reveals witness list for Verizon-cable hearing (The Hill)

Comcast's Strategy Chief Calls a Power Play (Light Reading Cable)

March 2012 Business Outlook Survey (Philadelphia Fed)
Continued growth, optimism reported.

Philadelphia-Area Factory Index Increases to an 11-Month High (Bloomberg)

Phorum 2012 National Cloud Conference Announces Full Line-Up (PR Web)

Layoffs at Philadelphia papers to come this week (Poynter)
Updated: Guild letter rips into Osberg.
"Perhaps instead of killing stories he didn’t like about the sale of the company and trying to be seen as some sort of digital visionary by holding press conferences at the Academy of Natural Sciences, giving free rent to start-up companies who play ping pong on the 5th floor at 400 N. Broad, creating a poorly-launched tablet and worrying about apps that make a few dollars, Osberg should be focused on properly staffing the newspapers in a manner that will allow more copies to be sold. The duplication of stories in both papers and the ongoing push to dump more and more content onto Philly.com will not solve any revenue problems."

Verizon Wireless Continues to Aggressively Expand 4G LTE Network In Philadelphia Region (PR Newswire)
The timing of this release is obviously intended to coincide with the iPad 3 release; Verizon Wireless says 4G LTE now available to more than 60% of region's population.

ValueVision (ShopNBC) reports bigger loss, lower revenue in 4Q (St Paul Pioneer Press)
Comcast owns a stake in ValueVision.



permalink

Philly-based business Q&A site Quewey launches in private beta

Tom Paine


Philadelphia-based Quewey, a business-oriented Q&A site, has launched in private beta. Invitations are available to the first 1,000 qualified users who sign up at www.quewey.com

Quewey 's starting point, and a key difference from other Q&A sites, is that it uses the LinkedIn API to ensure the professional standing of its contributors. Queway also recently acquired Zebek, a startup that describes its core competency as "advanced virtual-graph based search and matching". Zebek's technology will be the engine behind Quewey's back-end development, matching the people asking questions to the most relevant experts and providing algorithms ranking trending topics and thought leaders among users. Zebek's co-founder and CTO, Anshu Aggarwal, has joined Quewey as CTO.



Quewey's founder is Matthew Safaii (right), a Wharton MBA who serves as Managing Director at ICG, working mostly on the acquisitions side. Safaii will remain at ICG so he will not be running the company on a day-to-day basis, but will be a "very actively involved non-executive founder", he said in a phone interview with Philly Tech News. Someone else will be brought on as CEO. To be clear, ICG is not an investor in Quewey. The company has raised $300,00 in funding to date, mostly from angel investors, and has an open filing to raise more if it needs to.


Queway's closest competitors who come to mind are Quora and Joel Spolsky's Stack Exchange , which started out being programming-specific but has since expanded to covering numerous subjects. Quewey is different, though, in significant ways. One will be the ability of community members to monetize their expertise by offering one-on-one advice as followups when answer-seekers want more details, through a per minute charge. Safaii envisions Quewey's service as being much more acessable and affordable than a site like Gearson Lehman. Quewey says its Personal Consulting Platform will manage the entire consulting work flow, from lead generation and scheduling, to call logistics, payment processing and client review.

Quora was reported last month to be looking for a valuation in excess of $300 million in its next round. Fortune had a good recent article profiling major players in the Q & A market. And other new entrants are emerging.

Quewey has offices in the Rittenhouse Square area.







permalink