GE, Vivendi reach tentative deal on NBCU

GE, Vivendi agree to value NBCU stake at $5.8 billion (Reuters)

At $5.8 billion for 20%, that's less than the $30 billion that GE and Comcast agreed to value the entire company at. I assumed
Vivendi would get some kind of premium. My guess is that there are some other considerations involved.

Daily Links 11/30/09: QVC reports 60% jump in Black Friday Sales

Tech company SAP is living the green life (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Open Source as a Model for Business Is Elusive (New York Times)

Kroes Stepping Down as EU Antitrust Chief
New chair will take over Jan. 26. Will he change the course of the Oracle-Sun merger? (InternetNews.com)

IBM vs. SAS: The Battle over Data Analysis Software (Business Week)

QVC reports 60% jump in sales (on Black
Friday) (Phoenix Business Journal)

Core Solutions Awarded Contract to Replace Pennsylvania Department of Health Information System
Behavioral healthcare technology company’s Care Enterprise ™ product to become technology platform for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (PR Web)

Infragistics Expands Operations in Sofia, Bulgaria (PR Newswire)

Digitas Health’s prognosis: New hires
Big French-owned ad agency sees lots of growth in its specialized field (Philadelphia Business Journal)

SimpleGeo Locates $1.5 Million And Many Big Name Investors (TechCrunch)
Including First Round Capital.

Sarnoff to Demonstrate First Augmented Reality Training System for US Warfighters (Business Wire)

Microsoft updates its enterprise ABC (Active Directory, BizTalk and Communications Server) roadmaps (ZDNet Blogs)

Governor's Office of Health Care Reform Releases Draft Strategic Plan for Health Information Exchange (PR Newswire)




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Philly Tech Events Calendar

SAP Enterprise Support KPI Project Leader and Sponsor Resign (PC World)

Software AG carves new BPM space
(ZDNet Asia)

A Takeover Movie for Hollywood to Watch (New York Times)

Fishing the online stream
(Philadelphia Inquirer)

Black Friday Shopping with Sony and Apple (Zatz Not Funny!)

Let's just add in a little virality (Redeye VC)



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People News 11/29/09

TrueAction Boosts Digital Marketing Profile, Appoints Bogaty VP, Interactive Marketing (MediaPost: Online Media Daily)
Formerly GSI Interactive.

CDI Announces New Vice President of Business Development for Talent Management Division (PR Newswire)

Jim Way, Former Vice President at Siemens Health Services, Joins InfoLogix, Inc. as Vice President of Strategic Healthcare Services (PR Newswire)

Changes to the Executive Board at IDS Scheer AG (Press Release Point)

Gannett Digital Hires New National Sales Head (ClickZ)

Allied Pixel hires Aaron Houston as new staff editor
(Philly Ad Club News)

MISI Welcomes Brendan Greer
(MISI Company)




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Keeping up with First Round Capital: 11/27/09

I'm not sure if First Round actually originated the "office hours" thing, but it sounds like its becoming a big deal, judging from this Boston Globe column. Are any other Philly area VC's doing anything like this?

A lot of continuing buzz about recent First Round investment Hot Potato, the realtime event-oriented social networking service. At last word, its iPhone app is ready to go but still waiting approval from the App Store (what else is new?). Peter Kafka of All Things Digital interviews founder Justin Shaffer about the Brooklyn-based firm. (video).

First Round Partner Rob Hayes wrote an article in November's Fast Company, When Is the Right Time to Start a Business? Now.

The New York Time"Bits" blog writes on the unveiling of First Round portfolio company BigDeal's online auction site.

Another First Round company, On Deck Capital, has teamed with the National Urban League to bring On Deck's proprietary small business lending solutions to NUL's local affiliates through their Entrepreneurship Centers around the nation, starting with Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Also, TechCrunch reports on Xobni's new Salesforce extension and UI enhancements.



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Vivendi Should Seize Moment to Sell NBC Stake, Union Says (Bloomberg)

A new kind of company, a new challenge for feds
If Comcast, NBC merge, would one firm control too much of the media? (Washington Post)

Goodbye Chris: Thanks For Making A Difference (The Bulletin)
Marc Kramer on Constantine “Chris” Pavlides.

Another letter in USA Technologies proxy battle (Philadelphia Business Journal: Technology Blog)

Business Services discussed on Comcast Local Edition (Comcast Voices)

3G wireless still holds promise (CNN Tech)



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Comcast bid for NBC Universal could be sealed next week: source (AFP via Google News)
AFP (Agence France-Presse) presumably has the best sources in France to know what Vivendi is thinking.

MobileMD's New Growth Funding Supports Continued Market Expansion, Technology Innovation for its Health Information Exchange Solution (Company Press Release)
I previously reported on this a couple of weeks ago.

Daily Links 11/25/09: GE-Vivendi discussions make progress

Comcast's holiday show is a breakout in 3-D (Philadelphia Inquirer)
The photo in the article reminds me of a scene from the later Star Trek episodes.

GE-Vivendi Talks on NBC Said to Progress as Immelt, Levy Meet (Bloomberg)

Worse Than The NBC-Comcast Deal? No Deal (Forbes)

TiVo: Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty? (Business Week: The Tech Beat)

Lost In The Android Bazaar (MediaPost: Mobile Insider)
At King of Prussia Mall.

U.S. Senators Press EU to End Oracle-Sun Probe
Bipartisan group cites DoJ clearance as reason enough, but there might be one particular reason why it won't be. (InternetNews.com)

SAP says emerging markets stabilizing (Reuters)

SAP needs to do more with centers of excellence, analyst says (SearchSAP.com)

Clearwire Raises $920 Million More To Fund WiMax Buildout
Cable-Backed Wireless Broadband Player Secures $2.8 Billion Total in New Debt and Equity (Multichannel
News)

Dataram Reports Fiscal 2010 Second Quarter Financial Results (Business Wire)
Dataram Rally Reverses Following FY Q2 Results
(Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)

Viridity Energy Congratulates Con Edison on Smart Grid Stimulus Funding
Viridity Energy will work with Con Edison and the New York City Economic Development Corp. to optimize advanced building technologies for City-owned properties (Business Wire)





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Daily Links 11/24/09: Center City Direct opens "Digital Newsstands"

Vivendi may sell NBC Universal share via IPO (Fierce Online Video)
I doubt that will ever happen. This is all bargaining.

First Digital Newsstands Launched
Center City CBS Stations Launch First Digital Newwstands (CBS3)

CBS Philadelphia Launches Digital Newsstands (MediaWeek)

Former StarCite exec appointed CEO of Movitas Mobile (Movitas
Mobile Website)
Some interesting names behind this one: Terry Williams (Next Stage and TWC Group), Pat Croce, and Michael McNulty (co-founder of Verticalnet)

Independent Shareholder Group SAVE Issues Stop, Look and Listen Letter To USA Technologies Shareholders (Business Wire)
USA Technologies Sends Letter to Shareholders
Highlights Company’s Strategic and Financial Plan, Recent Positive Results, Timetable for Profitability and Inaccurate Assertions Made by Dissidents (Business Wire)

Wedbush Downgrades SAP, Upgrades CRM
(Barron's: Tech Trader Daily)


Fawning over Chatter and how SAP missed its chance (ZDNet Blogs)

SAP Joins PowerPoint and Twitter - Does This Work? (Read Write Web)

New Jersey’s Investment Freeze is Frozen (For Now) (PE Hub)

Unirisx and IDP Form Strategic Alliance to Create Unirisx Integrated Solution -- Combined Technology Featuring Policy Administration with Billing, Claims and Bureau-Reporting Components (PR Newswire)

Virtua Health Expects Improved Bed Management From RFID
(RFID Journal)

CADD Edge Expands SolidWorks® CAD Support with New Philadelphia Office (Business Wire)

Comcast Livens up the Holiday Season with “The Comcast Holiday Spectacular in 3-D” (Business Wire)




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Daily Links 11/23/09: FiOS "officially" launches in Philly

Analyst: Comcast-NBC merger review could extend through 2010 (Washington Post: Post Tech)

Camden firm taps tech to thwart cyber threats
Rising demand for virtual safety fuels startup’s growth (NJBIZ.com)

Technology companies honored at awards gala (NJBIZ.com)

Was analyst forced out for being right on CardioNet 'sell'? (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Just in Time for Thanksgiving, Verizon Launches a New Era of Television Entertainment in Philadelphia (PR Newswire)

Verizon launches FiOS in Philly
(CED Magazine)

Verizon Targets 50,000 Philly Homes For FiOS TV By End Of 2009
Telco Begins Competing With Comcast In City Of Brotherly Love (Multichannel News)



Deutsche Telekom open to all options for U.S. unit: sources (Reuters)

T-Mobile 7.2 Mbps HSPA Testing in my Backyard (jkOnTheRun)

Media Alert: Center City Direct, CBS Stations Launch Next Generation of Newsstands (Marketwire)
Not totally sure what this is about yet. Here is Center City Direct's web site.
Update: It sounds as if Center City Direct will start off with video displays/ticker feeds located at newsstands downtown. The content will come from the seven CBS broadcast outlets in the city-two TV stations and five radio stations. It is not clear at this time whether all the displays will be located at actual, old fashioned newsstands or at other locations. Center City Direct is a division of Alternative Media Holdings LLC.

Tonight: Radar/Ignite/Laughing Squid Meetup in Philadelphia (O'Reilly Radar)



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