Digital delivery: Comcast’s ADN and the tale of the (disappearing) tape (Zonewire)

Wharton Launches New Innovation Fund (Business Week Blogs)

Comcast VoD Coming to TiVo (Light Reading Cable)


Sprint: No more Clearwire devices after 2012 (AP via Google News)

Sprint Details LTE Plans As Clearwire’s Decline Accelerates (paidContent)
Raises the old question of what will Comcast's wireless strategy be.

Comcast’s MyTV Choice: Is this the future of pay TV bundling? (Gigaom)


Verizon wins first battle in network neutrality fight (Gigaom)

From Swedish Startup to Software Success Story – QlikTech Leads the Way in Philadelphia (Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce USA Currents)

ETC Announces 2012 Second Quarter Results (PR Newswire)

Daily Links 10/6/2011: Ellison unveils new cloud, trashes Salesforce.com

Ellison unveils new cloud, trashes Salesforce.com
The new service's open design is far superior to Salesforce.com's "roach motel," according to Ellison (Computerworld)


Oracle Finally Gets Serious About Cloud, But It's IaaS, Not PaaS (ZDNet Blogs)

Oracle Blew Social Media, but SAP Probably No Better Says Jim Lundy
(Silicon Angle)

Oracle to Pay U.S. $199.5 Million to Settle Price Claims (Bloomberg)
They will probably be able to net this out against what they ultimately receive from SAP and come out about even. Not much money for them, but a big deal for whistle blowing ex-Oracle employee who gets $40 million of this settlement, which to me is absurd.

SAP Co-CEOs: World Has Lost A Visionary In Steve Jobs (Dow Jones Newswires)

From The Ashes Of Oracle's Hostile Takeover Of PeopleSoft, Workday Rose To Fight Back (Business Insider)


$60 home movie? Sure, but it's still in theaters (AP via Boston.com)

CTAM in NY: Comcast Eyes PlayStation, Wii, Roku And Connected TVs
MSO Plans to Roll Out 'Xcalibur' Next-Generation Guide and Service Broadly in 2012
(Multichannel News)

Comcast's Hess: EBIF has limited shelf life (Fierce Cable)

SCTE Creates IPv6 Working Group
Initial Members Include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, BHN, Arris, D-Link and Rogers (Multichannel News)
The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers is based in Exton.

NitroSecurity Snapped Up by Intel’s McAfee Amid Escalating Cyber Threats (Xconomy Boston)
Massachusetts-based NitroSecurity's financial backers included NewSpring Ventures of Radnor.

Data security firm Wave Systems raises $11.1M (Mass High Tech)
Financing related to its recent acquisition of Safend.


Enterproid grabs $11M to separate business and personal on Android (VentureBeat)
Comcast Ventures one of the investors. Lots of demand for this, though like any good idea I'm sure there are others working on it.

PSL Fishbowl Recap – Here is what the community said (Philly Startup Leaders)



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Daily Links 10/5/2011: Comcast, FiOS access for subscribers through Xbox 360 announced

Benioff Enjoys the Spotlight, Even When It Is Turned Off (New York Times: Bits)

Oracle Fusion Applications Are Finally Generally Available (PC World)

HP and SAP Accelerate Cloud Deployments for Clients (Business Wire)

Microsoft expected to team up with Comcast and Verizon on pay TV via Xbox Live (VentureBeat)

Verizon And Microsoft Partner Up For Live TV On The Xbox 360 (TechCrunch)
Nothing on Comcast yet.
Update: Here is the announcement which includes Comcast.
Welcome to the Xbox 360, Comcast! (Comcast Voices|Official Comcast Blog)
Microsoft TV is About Cable Testing IP (Zatz Not Funny!)

Controller calls Philadelphia's 311 call center "a glorified answering service" (Philadelphia Inquirer)

How not to launch a custom tablet (ZDNet Blogs)
Columnist describes his experience with Philadelphia Media Network's new Android tablet.

CEO's Corner: QVC's Mike George on the Shopping Channel's Big Plans (Daily Finance)

Web Host SunGard Expands Philadelphia Data Center (Web Host Industry Review)

ConEdison Solutions and Viridity Energy Join Forces to Expand Beyond Demand Response
'Energy Optimization' Empowers End-Users to Leverage Technology to Transform Themselves Into Energy Suppliers (Marketwire)

Harleysville's IT Successes Will Benefit Nationwide - Harleysville CIO (Insurance & Technology)

Top-Level Companies Recruit Philadelphia Agency 20nine to Fuel Growth (PR Newswire)



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Daily Links 10/4/2011: Viridity Energy moves from Conshy to Philly

SAP and Oracle: the knives are out (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet Blogs)

ASUG News Radio Interviews: Bruce Richardson (ASUG News)
Close to 20 minutes long, but a definite listen for anybody who follows SAP or enterprise software.

Oracle does about-face on NoSQL
Oracle's Big Data appliance validates NoSQL market, vendors say (Computerworld)

Comcast named as 'fastest Internet provider' nationwide (ZDNet Blogs)
Believe it or not.

Viridity Energy and 40 jobs moving from Conshohocken to Philadelphia (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Viridity says no government financial incentives were involved in its decision.
Viridity's press release.

$50M in US taxpayer funds didn't save Traffic.com (Philly.com: Philly Deals)

Quality Systems falls as analyst cuts rating (AP via CBS MoneyWatch)
Quality Systems' principal operating unit is Horsham-based NextGen Healthcare.


Philly.com Launches Hyperlocal Site for Main Line (Street Fight)

Revamped NBC Owned Station Sites Show Growth
HTML5, video hub and more news driving local web strategy (Broadcasting & Cable)



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Daily Links 10/3/2011: ADP enters HCM Cloud market, Oracle introduces in-memory analytics processor

Why ADP Is the Biggest Cloud Company You’ve Never Heard Of (All Things Digital)
New Jersey-based payroll processing giant enters Cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) market, taking on SAP, among others. (Press Release).


Oracle’s Ellison Introduces Faster System to Challenge SAP, IBM (Bloomberg)

Oracle In-Memory Analytics Appliance Debuts At Open World (Information Week)

Top 5 questions out of Oracle OpenWorld 2011 (Gigaom)

Savvis Brings License-Free Oracle, SQL Server to the Cloud (Gigaom via New York Times)

How does analytics look like on BW powered by HANA (SAP Community
Netwok Blogs)

Pension fund that backs NJ companies makes 4 % a year (NorthJersey.com)
Its not clear what these numbers represent; it can be difficult to assess the return on a fund such as this after only four years.

Food for Thought (Knowledge@Wharton)
Will Peapod work in Philadelphia?

C&D Technologies, Inc. to Be Acquired by an Affiliate of Angelo, Gordon & Co. (Philadelphia Business Journal)
Angelo, Gordon already controlled about 2/3 of the Blue Bell-based battery manufacturer.

Comcast Creates Cell Tower Business (Light Reading Cable)



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Philly Tech People News 10/2/2011

Acsis, Inc. Names Neil Thall as Chief Executive Officer (Business Wire)

SAP Appoints Lori Mitchell-Keller Head of Global Retail Industry Business Unit (PR Newswire)

20nine Adds More Talent to Growing Team (PR Newswire)

MTI Adds Two New Business Analytics Specialists to Broaden Client Support (Business Wire)

Donna Langley to remain co-chairman of Universal through 2014 (LA Times: Company Town)

Universal Names Peter Kujawski Executive VP of Worldwide Acquisitions (Hollywood Reporter)

Allebach adds Bill Horbelt to its Interactive team (Philly Ad Club News)



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The battle to control your TV: Views

The Internet Isn’t Just Another TV Pipe (TechCrunch)

Pay TV’s future and the battle for Input 1
Gigaom)

Why Is Verizon Sweating Netflix? (Zatz Not Funny!)

Facing Low Bids For A Site That's Working, Hulu's Parents May Not Sell At All (Silicon Alley Insider)

Nokia restructuring means Navteq will close Malvern office, affecting about 300 employees; Trafffic.com's legacy

Tom Paine

Struggling Finnish handset maker Nokia yesterday announced further streamlining of its workforce and operations, which may result in a global headcount reduction of 3500 people. In addition to the handset business, these changes will impact Nokia's Location & Commerce sector, which includes Navteq and its operations in Malvern. Nokia says it will close the Malvern office and concentrate Navteq's US operations in Chicago and Boston. A company spokesperson said in an email to Philly Tech News that about 300 people will be affected in Malvern, although there will be some relocation opportunities to Chicago or Boston.

This appears to close an interesting chapter in Philly Tech history that grew out of Traffic.com, earlier called Mobility Technologies and other names. Founded in 1998 with backing from VC firms including Radnor's TL Ventures, Traffic.com set out to revolutionize traffic monitoring and reporting through the use of technology. It installed roadside traffic sensors and used various other sources to collect real-time traffic information and distribute it to consumers and business users via multiple types of media. My sense is that its broadcast and information delivery operations (sort of an AccuWeather for traffic) are probably more important than its data collection activities now. And it is a competitive business.

Traffic.com did an IPO in 2006. It was promptly acquired later that year by Navteq for about $180 million; Nokia in turn announced it would acquire Navteq in late 2007. At the time of its acquisition by Navteq, Traffic.com had approximately 650 employees.

Moco News reports that Navteq lost $67.6 million on revenue of $331 million, according to Nokia's latest quarterly results reported in July. There was no specific breakout on Navteq Traffic's contribution to those numbers.

Traffic.com served as a training ground for many Philly entrepreneurs who have gone on to make significant contributions to the tech ecosystem in this area and elsewhere. Among those I've found named as co-founders are Brian Malewicz, President of Wayne-based GreenLink Networks, Mike Burns, Managing Partner of King of Prussia VC firm Alara Capital, Al McGowan, CEO of Wisconsin-based TrafficCast, and Chris Rothey, former Traffic.com COO and a now a top Navteq exec in Malvern. And there are many others Traffic.com veterans doing big things.



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Daily Links 9/30/2011: PennSERS reported to be trying to sell up to half of PE assets

PennSERS Is Trying to Sell up to Half ($3B) of Its PE Assets (PE Hub)

S&P upgrades Liberty Interactive after split (AP via Bloomberg)

SAP co-CEO sees big future in lots of data (USA Today)

FAQ: Oracle OpenWorld's Burning Questions (PC World)

Apotheker's HP payout dwarfs new CEO's salary (Reuters)

Wi-Fi Hotspot App Connectify Gets New Funding From ITQ – The Firm That Finds New Tech For CIA (TechCrunch)

Vishay Intertechnology Announces Acquisition of Specialty Resistor Company (Business Wire)

Verizon Expands Home Monitoring Service Plans (Light Reading Cable)

Philadelphia’s Choice Cable Provider RCN Exclusively brings TiVo Premiere to Philly (PR Web)
RCN's cable services are not actually available within the city of Philadelphia itself, a company spokesperson confirmed, but in areas of bordering Delaware County, as well as parts of the Lehigh Valley.



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NJ’s First Tech Accelerator to Focus on Enterprise

Esther Surden

Two weeks ago N.J.-based investor and software engineer Ken Kay, who is well-known in the angel community as a founder of Jumpstart NJ Angel Network, announced he is launching N.J.’s first tech startup accelerator, Ecelerator. It will be located somewhere in the Newark or Hoboken area. The twist: Ecelerator will focus on business-to-business (B2B) startup opportunities.

Tech accelerators take very early-stage companies, provide them an office space and connect them with seasoned mentors, corporate executives, angel investors and venture capitalists, helping them grow while learning through a network of built-in contacts. Kay says Ecelerator will be modeled after the programs Y Combinator and TechStars. Through a three-month residency program, early-stage companies can hone their business skills and gain guidance from experts in the field.

“Our concept is to bring the corporate people into the same room as the tech entrepreneurs and get them solving problems that are enterprise-oriented. I think a B2B accelerator plays to the strengths we have here in N.J. I’ve reached out to the corporate community: Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station), Dow Jones & Co. (New York), Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick) and other key leaders. They are all very enthusiastic about this concept,” he reports.

Kay says it’s really not in the culture of large corporations to innovate in the way that tech startups do, but they really want to tap into that creative energy. “They are too busy keeping up with their basic infrastructure to innovate inside or through their vendor network. I really believe they need a third party to help them do that and move their technology along.”

Right now funding for the B2B accelerator will be provided by angel investors and VCs who are interested in early-stage companies. Kay has also applied to be a part of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) Edison Innovative Tech Accelerator Initiative. If that money comes through, it will also help fund the fledgling companies. He believes his concept is unique. “I’ve talked to a lot of people about this, including universities, venture capitalists and angel groups, and no one is moving in this direction except me,” he says.

Ecelerator will provide funding to startup teams of up to three founders, one of whom must be a software developer. Each team will receive $6,000 per founder and $7,000 per company. Ecelerator will receive an initial six percent equity interest in each company. The company isn’t limiting entrepreneurs to homegrown N.J. residents, welcoming anyone to apply. Kay is currently looking for both founders and mentors for the first “class” that will be launching in the spring.

Besides Kay, the Ecelerator team includes senior advisor Safa Sadeghpour, senior engagement manager at McKinsey & Co. (New York); Joan Smith, of Artspan.com (Lambertville, N.J.) as marketing director; Aaron Price, founder of NJ Tech Meetup; and Yiannis Kourakis, executive board member at the MIT Enterprise Forum of New York City. Among the advisors to the organization are David Sorin, co-managing partner of SorinRoyerCooper LLC (East Brunswick); Mel Biada, who started Bluestone Software and is now with BaseCamp Ventures ; Scott Case, a founding CTO of Priceline.com; Steve Sashihara, CEO of Princeton Consultants; and Maxine Ballen, founder and CEO of the New Jersey Technology Council.

Kay says he got the idea for Ecelerator after visiting an entrepreneur at DreamIt Ventures (Philadelphia). He began speaking to colleagues about the idea of launching an accelerator like DreamIt in N.J. to energize startup activity in the state.

To help publicize Ecelerator and make B2B entrepreneurs aware of its existence, Kay, along with others, put together an evening panel discussion in New York on Sept. 27. The event featured speakers from three verticals, healthcare IT, financial services and enterprise software, discussing how they think about buying startups.

Kay is also planning to get some N.J. hackers and budding entrepreneurs together for a trip on the StartupBus, a unique concept through which strangers collaborate to create a company during the grueling migration to the annual South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.


Esther Surden is Publisher and Editor of   New Jersey Tech Weekly , and a contributor to Philly Tech News. This article originally appeared (with the exception of two updates) in New Jersey Tech Weekly.



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