2/27: Comcast to Stream YouTube on X1; Apple and SAP Enterprise Partnership Launching First App in Marc




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Comcast to Stream YouTube on X1 Boxes (Multichannel News)

No AT&T-Time Warner merger review expected: U.S. regulator's chairman (Reuters)

AT&T Entertainment CEO Touts Rising Importance of Content (Hollywood Reporter)




MWC 2017: Apple and SAP Enterprise Partnership Launching First App in March (MacRumors)

Foxconn Rides Wave of 'iPhone 8' Expectations (Bloomberg)












Report: Amazon may launch new AWS productivity suite to take on Microsoft and Google
(Geekwire)


Salesforce.com Earnings Preview: Billings, M&A Outlook Eyed
(IBD)


PMV Pharma gets $74M boost for personalized chemistry (Med City News)
PMV Pharma is based in Cranbury, NJ.



Sequential Technology plans to grow workforce at Bethlehem data center it acquired from Synchronoss (Allentown Morning Call)


Is it the end of Verizon's printed phone books? Google and mobile phones threaten yellow pages (Philly.com)



Sunday Highlights: Philly-area real estate guru Nakahara joins Comcast board; Exyn unveils AI to help drones fly autonomously




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MobiTV raises another 21 million dollars (InformITV)

Post Cable Networks (Jon Steinberg CEO/Founder @ Cheddar.com /Medium)

Philly-area real estate guru Nakahara joins Comcast board (Philly.com)

Exyn unveils AI to help drones fly autonomously, even indoors or off the grid (TechCrunch)

SoftBank set to invest more than $3 billion in WeWork (CNBC)

Cloud companies are eyeing cell services, Nokia CEO says (PCWorld)




Moore Presents “Women in Animation Film Festival”
March 23-26 for Women’s History Month

MOORE PRESENTS “WOMEN IN ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL”
March 23-26 for Women’s History Month

Philadelphia, PA – Moore College of Art & Design presents a four-day festival of animated feature and short films created by women, along with Meet-the-Artists discussions, an Adobe Creative Jam, and the annual panel featuring women game designers.

In conjunction with Women’s History Month, the “2017 MooreWomenArtists: Women in Animation Film Festival” begins Thursday, March 23, and continues through Sunday, March 26, in Stewart Auditorium on the College’s campus at 20th Street and The Parkway.

The Film Festival comes at a time when Moore is looking forward to graduating its first group of students majoring in Animation & Game Arts in May. All events are open to the public and admission is free. The schedule for the Festival, sponsored by Adobe and Animation Magazine, is as follows. For more information: moore.edu/womeninanimation2017

Thursday, March 23: 6:30 pm
Game Changers: Women Making Games
Kat Webster from Bioware, Lauren Brown from EA Games along with other women working in games and animation will discuss their creative process, careers and how they are affecting change in the industry. The panel will be followed by Q&A with the audience and a reception with the panelists. Admission is free.

Friday, March 24: 7:00 pm
Shorts Program #1 & Window Horses
A program of juried animated shorts by women will be followed by Asian-Canadian filmmaker, writer and visual artist Ann Marie Fleming’s Window Horses (2016) featuring the voices of Sandra Oh and Ellen Page. Window Horses (The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming) follows Rosie Ming (Sandra Oh), a young Canadian poet of mixed descent who grew up believing her father abandoned her. She's been invited to perform her poetry at a festival in Iran, where she finds that what she'd been told as a child may not necessarily be the entire truth. The film will be followed by a Meet-the-Artist Q&A. Admission is free.

Saturday, March 25: 1:00 pm
Shorts Program #2 & Emily Hubley screens works by Faith Hubley
This afternoon of animation will include a different juried program of shorts by women and then American filmmaker and animator Emily Hubley will screen a program of films by her mother and animation pioneer Faith Hubley, who died in 2001. Faith, who often collaborated with her husband, John, combined elements of myth, jazz, and a deeply felt humanism in her films, which included the Academy Award-winning shorts Moonbird (1959), The Hole (1962), and A Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature (1966), as well as the Oscar-nominated Windy Day, Of Men and Demons, Voyage to Next and A Doonesbury Special. The film will be followed by a Meet-the-Artist Q&A. Admission is free.

Saturday, March 25: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Adobe Creative Jam Tournament & Presentations
Adobe will present a Creative Jam event where local thought leaders share a behind-the-scene peek into their processes and projects; meanwhile, teams compete in a tournament that puts their creative skills to the test using Adobe Creative Cloud. The tournament begins at 5:00 pm in Moore’s studios and will be followed with presentations by thought leaders and the winning teams in Stewart Auditorium and a reception in Widener Memorial Gallery. Participation and admission are free. For more on this event: nvite.com/CreativeJam/moore

Saturday, March 25: 8:30 pm
Jessica Ciocci’s Animation Mix Tape
Jessica Ciocci is a founding member of the Pittsburgh, PA/Providence, RI art collective Paper Rad. The collective creates comics, zines, video art, net art, MIDI files, paintings, installations and music, and has work exhibited in major museums and galleries, including The New Museum of Contemporary Art and Deitch Projects. Ciocci’s work includes drawing, painting, craft, home-recording, photography, performance and animation. Her animated program will be loosely-based on her audio collage mix tapes and include a fully integrated video collage of inspiring women animators whom she admires. The screening will be followed by a Meet-the-Artist Q&A. Admission is free.

Sunday, March 26: 3:00 pm
A Family Friendly Animated Feature Film
Several animated works created by women are being considered. The selection will be announced soon.

Sunday, March 26: 7:00 pm
Shorts Program #3 & Rocks in My Pockets
The evening begins with the third juried program of animated shorts by women and continues with Rocks in My Pockets directed by Latvian-native Signe Baumane. Now living in New York City, the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Film worked for independent animator Bill Plympton and later went on to create her own animated films, including Birth and Rocks in My Pockets. A story of mystery and redemption, this moving work is based on true events involving Baumane and four other women in her family, exploring their battles with depression. It raises questions of how much family genetics determine who we are and if it is possible to outsmart ones’ own DNA. The film will be followed by a Meet-the-Artist Q&A. Admission is free.

Moore launched the MooreWomenArtists Film Festival in spring 2016, which was inspired by the College’s MooreWomenArtists website, an online destination for all women visual artists to share ideas, issues, successes and histories.

Moore College of Art & Design educates students for careers in art and design. Founded in 1848, Moore is the nation's first and only women's visual arts college for undergraduates. The College's career-focused environment and professionally active faculty form a dynamic community in the heart of Philadelphia's cultural district, surrounded by world-class museums. The College offers ten bachelor of fine arts degrees for women and four coeducational graduate programs. In addition, Moore provides many valuable opportunities in the arts through The Galleries at Moore, Continuing Education Certificate programs for professional adults, the acclaimed Young Artists Workshop, The Art Shop and Sculpture Park. For more information about Moore, visit www.moore.edu



Saturday Highlights: Veeva defied detractors when it launched a cloud life sciences biz a decade ago; Softbank and Foxconn to deepen ties with joint venture




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Veeva defied detractors when it launched a cloud life sciences biz a decade ago (TechCrunch)

Tech groups Softbank and Foxconn to deepen ties with joint venture (Reuters)

A self-driving Uber ran a red light last December, contrary to company claims
(The Verge)

Buffett Says $100 Billion Wasted Trying to Beat the Market (Bloomberg)
Calls Jack Bogle a hero.

German software firm to enter Richmond area
(Richmond Times-Dispatch)
-Considered Philly.

Internet of Things in the enterprise: The state of play (ZDNet)

Why the FCC delayed new privacy regulations for AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast
(Christian Science Monitor)





Philadelphia-based LLR Partners files for fifth fund

Tom Paine



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Philadelphia-based LLR Partners has filed with the SEC for it fifth fund (LLR Equity Partners Parallel V, L.P.), as reported by ProRata. The amount it is targeting for the new fund was not disclosed in the filing.

LLR EQUITY PARTNERS IV, L.P., which closed in 2014, raised $950 million.


2/24: Honeywell sues Icontrol & Alarm.com to block competitors from merging; Roku raising new funding round




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Honeywell Sues Icontrol & Alarm.com to Block Competitors From Merging (Security Sales & Integration)

Tableau, Microsoft, Qlik Lead Gartner's BI & Analytic Platforms Magic Quadrant
(CMS Wire)
Qlik still in leader's quadrant, but slipped a bit from last year.


Biggest Mistakes To Avoid When Reading the Magic Quadrant (Cindi Howson / Gartner Group)






Candy.com’s sweet solution for EDI-to-ERP e-commerce integration (Diginomica)
Using Dell Boomi.

Jornaya Introduces Tool Ensuring TCPA Compliance on Leads from Facebook Ads
(Mobile Advertising Watch)

Comcast gets portion of Viamedia’s $225M local ad monopoly suit tossed (FierceCable)


Roku Raising New Round of Funding (Fortune)
At a reported $1.5 billion valuation.

Does radio have a future? Philly's Entercom makes $4B leap with CBS Radio deal (Phiily.com)


Surge of New Capacity Expected in Top US Data Center Markets This Year
(Data Center Knowledge)
Northern Virginia continues to lead the way.

UPDATE: $100M deal has start-up founder eager for Trump bank reforms (Philly Deals)




2/23: Uber troubles; Any review of AT&T–Time Warner merger?




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Lyft launches in 54 more cities across the U.S. (TechCrunch)

Early Uber investors say they’re ‘disappointed’ in the company’s response to sexual harassment claims (TechCrunch)
No comment, as far as I can see, from First Round Capital.

Waymo, Google’s self-driving car division, sues Uber over alleged patent infringement (Ars Technica)


Is anyone gonna review this AT&T–Time Warner merger or what? (The Verge)
Think AT&T's position is that a review is not needed. See below:

Time Warner sells Atlanta TV station for $70M to Meredith as AT&T merger looms (FierceCable)
What the Superstation-now TBS-grew out of. Originally just a UHF channel in Atlanta, and Turner got a satellite uplink. Legend.

Arris Plummets 14% on M&A, ‘Shocking’ Outlook; Raymond James Defend (Barron's Tech Trader)


Attention, Yankees fans: Comcast nearing YES Network return date (NJ.com)


OLED Tech Leader Universal Display Beats Q4 Goals, Will Pay Dividend (IBD)



USA Technologies: Poised To Finally Start Creating Shareholder Value (Nathaniel Grob/ Seeking Alpha)


Infor – ‘Manufacturing is in crisis, digital is about survival’ (Diginomica)

Amazon cites First Amendment protection for Alexa in Arkansas murder case (TechCrunch)




Arrris to buy Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business from Broadcom after Brocade deal closes

Tom Paine



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As was rumored and reported upon in January, ARRIS International and Broadcom Limited today jointly announced that they have entered into an agreement for ARRIS to acquire Brocade Communication Systems Inc.'s Ruckus Wireless and ICX Switch business for $800 million in cash, plus the additional cost of unvested employee stock awards, following the closing of Broadcom's acquisition of Brocade.

Some were skeptical that this deal would occur, but the reports in January were right on target. In addition, Arris' CFO signaled a possible move into wireless at a Wall Street conference in January.

"This portfolio will expand ARRIS's leadership in converged wired and wireless networking technologies beyond the home into the education, public venue, enterprise, hospitality, and MDU segments. ARRIS plans to establish a dedicated business unit within the company focused on innovative wireless networking and wired switching technology to address evolving and emerging needs across a number of vertical markets." Arris said in a statement announcing the deal.

Converged wired and wireless networking technologies, or 'hybrid networks', are the key. As I wrote last month, expect to see Ruckus technology deployed as Arris' two largest customers, Comcast and Charter, introduce wireless offerings this year. Making wireless cell networks and Wifi work smoothly together will be critical to the Cable companies' plans.

From January:

Why Arris might bid on Ruckus Wireless assets? For its own customers, of course


Startup Roundup: GovPilot and eureQa

GIVON ZIRKIND AND ESTHER SURDEN




                                     Michael Bonner of GovPilot and Badri Nittoor of eureQa. 
                                                  | Esther Surden / Marc Weinstein



GovPilot: GovPilot (Hoboken), a municipal software provider, released its newest software product, a mobile app called “GovAlert,” in both Android and iPhone versions. The app allows constituents to voice their concerns and send photos to their elected officials and to their municipalities immediately, in real time. Texts are automatically routed by zip code to the proper official/department for remedial action. And the app is free to constituents.

GovAlert is an outgrowth of GovPilot's software's “report a concern” feature, which was used quite successfully by Camden County in the summer of 2016 for mosquito control and Zika virus prevention, Camden Coutny freeholder Carmen Rodriguez, said in an article.

The app supports common non-emergency citizen complaints regarding such areas as mosquito control, animal control, buildings, businesses, construction, garbage, health and sanitation, traffic signals, parking and more. Once the complaint is classified, the user is prompted to describe the problem and provide a related image.

GIS software aids the government in analyzing the complaints, visualizing the problems, and responding more appropriately; also, the responses are given the necessary prioritization. GovAlert is integrated into GovPilot's municipality software, so it’s aware if a municipality is using GovPilot or not. If a municipality is using GovPilot, complaints via GovAlert are automatically streamed into the government's workflow, and GovPilot will advise the constituent of the steps being taken in the resolution process. For municipalities that are not using GovPilot, the complaints are texted to the mayor's office.







eureQua: eureQa (Cherry Hill), an SaaS automation platform for e-commerce testing, has raised $400K in follow-on funding from leading investors active in the Philadelphia area.

Participants in the current round included SRI Capital (Hyderabad, India), a seed-stage venture fund focused on the "as a service" economy and “deep tech,” along with Robert J. Ciaruffoli, former chairman and CEO of ParenteBeard (Philadelphia, Pa.); Walter Buckley, cofounder, chairman and CEO of Radnor, Pa.-based Actua (formerly ICG and Internet Capital Group); and Thomas J. Gravina, cofounder, CEO and chairman of GPX Enterprises (Philadelphia, Pa.), a private investment firm, the startup said in a release.

The company uses automation to bring speed, scale and efficiency to e-commerce software testing. Clients like Bare Necessities and Weight Watchers have reduced testing times by 85% and testing costs by 75% with the eureQa platform, eureQa claimed.

“Using eureQa, we are finding, validating and fixing a greater number of critical issues than we were before, and we are able to address these critical issues earlier in the project cycle. eureQa is key to our ability to hit our dates and launch with confidence, knowing we are stable,” said William Saccone, senior director, quality assurance at Bare Necessities (Edison).




Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of NJTechWeekly, and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared in NJTechWeekly, and is republished here with her permission.



The end of OTT




Simon Frost
Guest Contributor





There shouldn’t be a single person reading this short article that isn’t familiar with the term OTT. Since the meteoric rise of video delivered over IP-based networks of another party and famous, internet-based companies that built value-based businesses on the top of those providing internet connectivity, we have become familiar with the term.

Delivering video over IP isn’t new of course. It has been with us for over 15 years and the spectrum of quality, performance and content brands associated with IP video has been broad. What we have referred to as ‘IPTV’ was the service of television that the telecoms industry introduced (with an emulation of cable TV being their starting point). We have also called this managed IP video.

Our vibrant, wonderful media industry is getting increasingly complex to maintain the labels/categorisation and segmentation of focus that we have been using for many years. content owners, broadcasters, pay TV service providers (MVPDs) and internet disruptors are all emulating one another, merging to drive scale and connect powerful content rights with span of video distribution and subscription. None of this is very surprising, because what we see is a fundamental shift of how the most premium, professional video is distributed (non premium video exploded specifically because of the low-cost, simple ability to distribute via the internet).

I would like to make a call for action in 2017 - The OTT term is now outdated

All video in the future will be IP delivered; most of this video will be delivered via the internet rather than by private managed IP networks (we could have a deep discussion on what these terms could really mean, technology and business model and even if the internet is unmanaged or not for video). We will see the erosion of dedicated broadcast technology delivery networks for premium video, as linear TV services migrate into vast pools of on-demand choice and new linear ‘channels’ spring-up delivered solely online. This will take many years of course, but the direction is clear.

INTERNET VIDEO

So, I suggest that for 2017 and beyond we refer to ‘internet video’ as our new term to describe all forms of video over IP. We will in our discussions need to focus on the business models of internet video to understand the types, formats, and how premium it is (in the industry some have talked about YouTube as if it were always fix-it guides and cats on treadmills, spoken of Netflix as always premium entertainment, and Facebook video as social chat. These assumptions are already outdated with a huge merging of types of content across a global race to create the new mass-scale video distribution platforms adopted by consumers. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram all have launched live video options).

Internet video will still need some sub-segmentation to understand it, but there isn’t a player across the current television business or the new internet giants that isn’t focussing their resources on winning in internet video. RIP OTT – you served us well.

Comment below if you agree, disagree or want to discuss the nuances of video delivery or the evolving business of television.


Thank you for reading. Simon Frost



Simon Frost is an executive industry leader operating in the converging landscapes of Broadcast Television, Internet and Telecoms. He left Ericsson, where he last served as Global Head, Media Marketing & Communications, at the end of 2016 to"find or create something disruptive, new and truly agile as the converging TMT industry really begins its transformation adopting new cloud-centric technologies and consumers migrate to pure IP delivered, cloud hosted experiences." In addition, he is engaged in Media industry consultancy and commentary


This article was originally published on LinkedIn, and is republished here with the author's permission.









2/22: Verizon, AT&T will both be running 5G tests in Jersey




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Verizon Testing Super Fast 5G Internet With Customers in 11 Cities (Fortune)

Nokia, AT&T Test 5G Streaming of DirecTV Now (Multichannel News)

Google Fiber-owned Webpass is bringing its wireless gigabit internet to Denver
(The Verge)


Arris nears deal to acquire Brocade's networking business -sources (Reuters)
In a deal that likely has much to do with the wireless plans of Arris' major cable customers. See my post from last month:
Why Arris might bid on Ruckus Wireless assets? For its own customers, of course

Entercom CEO Field says CBS deal could lead advertisers to 'rediscover' radio (Philly.com)

Gannett to consolidate printing and production facilities in Rockaway Twp. (Asbury Park Press)

Amazon exec joins MLB's video-streaming service as new CEO (CNET)

Why Spark's CEO says 2017 may be a 'historic year' for his gene therapy company (Philadelphia Business Journal)


Urban Outfitters Is Charging $45 for an AOL T-Shirt (Fortune)
Pay for the Yahoo(!) deal?

The 90s called: They want you to reengineer again with Deloitte and SAP (Vinnie Mirchandani / Enterprise Irregulars)