NBCUniversal Announces Direct to Consumer Streaming Service (Press Release)


Jan 14, 2019
CORPORATE
NBCUniversal Announces Direct to Consumer Streaming Service
NEW YORK, NY

The new ad-supported streaming service will be led by Bonnie Hammer. Mark Lazarus adds oversight of the Cable Entertainment portfolio, NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. Jeff Shell’s role expands to include NBC Entertainment, international and Telemundo. Donna Langley promoted to Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.

NBCUniversal announced today the planned launch of a new streaming service providing consumers access to world-class premium content for free, with valuable partnership opportunities for advertisers and distributors. The service, which will launch in early 2020, will be led by Bonnie Hammer, who has been promoted to Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises for NBCUniversal.

This innovative new service will draw on NBCUniversal’s large content library, as well as its broad reach of over 90 million U.S. households, plus Comcast and Sky’s leading technology platforms. It will feature some of the world’s most popular television and film franchises, including homegrown original programming as well as content from outside partners.

The ad-supported service will be available at no cost to NBCUniversal’s pay TV subscribers in the U.S. and major international markets. Comcast Cable and Sky will provide the service to their 52 million subscribers. An ad-free version will also be available for a fee. Additionally, non-pay TV customers can purchase a subscription to the service. Consistent with the company’s long-standing strategy to distribute its content broadly, NBCUniversal will continue to license content to other studios and platforms, while retaining rights to certain titles for its new service.

Hammer will build a team that will include key executives from Sky’s OTT offering, NOW TV, and throughout NBCUniversal. In addition, NBCUniversal’s Digital Enterprises group, led by Maggie Suniewick, will move into Hammer’s consolidated digital group.

“NBCUniversal has some of the world’s most valuable intellectual property and top talent, both in front of and behind the camera. Many of the most-watched shows on today’s popular streaming platforms come from NBCUniversal. Our new service will be different than those presently in the market and it will be built on the company’s strengths, with NBCUniversal’s great content and the technology expertise, broad scale and the wide distribution of Comcast Cable and Sky,” said Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal.

He added, “People are watching premium content more than ever, but they want more flexibility and value. NBCUniversal is perfectly positioned to offer a variety of choices, due to our deep relationships with advertisers and distribution partners, as well as our data-targeting capabilities. Advertising continues to be a major part of the entertainment ecosystem and we believe that a streaming service, with limited and personalized ads, will provide a great consumer experience.”

As Chairman, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment and Cable Studios, Hammer has had executive oversight of leading media brands USA Network, SYFY, Bravo, Oxygen, E! Entertainment and Universal Kids. She oversaw two Hollywood studios, UCP and Wilshire Studios. UCP is one of the industry’s fastest-growing studios, working with top Hollywood creative talent to develop and produce content for linear channels and digital streaming services including Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. In 2018, Hammer led her portfolio to its 15th consecutive year of growth in both profit and revenue. Hammer serves on the Board of Directors of eBay and IAC/InteractiveCorp.

Separately, Burke announced a reorganization of his senior leadership team, which will align its content businesses under two executives, Mark Lazarus and Jeff Shell.

Lazarus has been named Chairman, NBCUniversal Broadcast, Cable, Sports and News, and will assume responsibility for most of the company’s East Coast-based content businesses, including the cable entertainment portfolio, NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. In addition, Lazarus will continue to oversee the NBC Sports Group, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations and NBC Affiliate Relations.

Since joining the Company in 2011, Lazarus has overseen NBC Sports and added oversight of Broadcast for NBC in 2016. Under his leadership, the company has forged new deals with the Olympics, NFL, NASCAR, the Premier League and the NHL, among many other partnerships. In addition, Sunday Night Football has been primetime’s number one show for a record of eight consecutive years. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Lazarus was President of Media and Marketing at CSE and President of Turner Entertainment Group.

Shell has been named Chairman, NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment, adding NBC Entertainment to his purview. He will continue to oversee film and will also now be responsible for NBCUniversal’s international division and Telemundo.

Shell most recently served as Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group (UFEG), overseeing all divisions of the global film operations, as well as DreamWorks Animation, Fandango and Brand Development. He was previously Chairman of NBCUniversal International and President of Comcast Programming Group. Since Shell joined UFEG in 2013, the studio celebrated four years of record profit — and the two most profitable years in the studio’s 107-year history.

Our new service will be different than those presently in the market and it will be built on the company’s strengths, with NBCUniversal’s great content and the technology expertise, broad scale and the wide distribution of Comcast Cable and Sky.
STEVE BURKE

CEO, NBCUniversal
As part of the reorganization, Donna Langley has been promoted to become sole Chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, including the addition of Global Theatrical Distribution and Home Entertainment. As Chairman of Universal Pictures since 2013, Langley oversaw all aspects of the studio’s production and marketing operations worldwide, including Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation. Under her leadership, Universal has expanded and reinvigorated some of its biggest and most profitable homegrown franchises including Fast & Furious, Jurassic World, Pitch Perfect, Illumination’s Despicable Me as well as Fifty Shades, Ride Along and The Purge.

Hammer, Lazarus and Shell will continue to report directly to Burke. Langley continues to report to Shell.

Burke’s direct reports will continue to include Vice Chairman Ron Meyer, Tom Williams (Parks), Anand Kini (CFO), Linda Yaccarino (Ad Sales), Matt Bond (Content Distribution), Kimberley Harris (General Counsel), Adam Miller (Communications and HR), Craig Robinson (Diversity) and Kathy Kelly-Brown (Symphony).

“We are very fortunate to have great executives who are ready to do more. Bonnie, Mark, Jeff and Donna have proven track records that speak for themselves. As importantly, they embody the team-oriented culture that has become a hallmark of NBCUniversal,” said Burke.


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at 2:38 PM 0 comments

Comcast quarterly earnings call: Its all about the Stream

Tom Paine




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Comcast reported 4th quarter and full year 2018 earnings this morning .



The numbers were fine; I'll let you know if there comes a time when they're not. Revenue is at a $100 billion per year run rate, with an assist to the Sky acquisition, with its 4th quarter results largely included in the financials. Debt is higher, but will be partially offset by suspending Comcast's share buyback program.

Management provided some more details about its recently announced new streaming service , planned for an early 2020 rollout. Comcast appears to be walking a fine line in terms of stepping out of its footprint while not invading other cable systems' turf. At the start, mostly NBC-controlled content is planned to be included, so Comcast won't be going full bore into the others' territories. Furthermore, the service will be free to other multichannel subscribers in these territories, though its not clear if the other cable providers will be sending dollars back to Comcast in return.

NBCU's Bonnie Hammer will lead the Direct - to - Consumer initiative, and Comcast will use it to test out its new advertising systems for targeting consumers down to the household level. Non-cable subs can purchase it for $12 per month. It will also be available to Sky subscribers in the UK and elsewhere.


The streaming service as announced will not be a competitor to Netflix at first. In fact, new OTT offerings are becoming increasingly redundant, and most cable subs probably get much of that NBCU content anyway.

A Bloomberg opinion piece suggests that the rise of Netflix has been a gift to Comcast, because it has driven demand for more, faster broadband which has spurred Comcast's broadband growth.



at 11:38 PM 0 comments

Philly EnterpriseTech Highlights 1/23: BuzzCuts, Cerner cuts, SAP beats GlassDoor at its own game #BuzzFeed #Cerner



BuzzFeed is laying off around 250 people, its second round of cuts in 14 months
“Unfortunately, revenue growth by itself isn’t enough to be successful in the long run,” wrote BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti.

Cerner offers buyouts to some employees (anecdotal reports that higher paid ex-Siemens employees were targeted - Philly more expensive than KC)

Qlik Acquires CrunchBot and Crunch Data to Augment Conversational Analytics Capabilities

Comcast stock rises after an earnings beat

Philly Storage startup Termaxia stares at clouds

SAP one of several who game GlassDoor




































































































at 8:07 PM 0 comments

Any Philly Tech IPO candidates this year? Maybe

Tom Paine




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I was just starting this post on potential Philly IPOs and wanted to make a point that at times IPOs come out of the blue, when I read @PhillyJoeD's article on Clarivate Analytics' plans to get listed . and for a minute I couldn't think of what Clarivate was.

It turns out that's the new name for what was known as Thomson Reuters Scientific before it was spun off, which grew out of data and online pioneer Eugene Garfield's Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in Philly. Back in ancient times, online was a very expensive and limited tool for high-value business and scientific information.

So Clarivate is merging with this investment company, Churchill Investment Corp (NYSE: CCC) and the combined entity plans on being listed on the NYSE. I'm no securities lawyer, but that sounds more like a direct listing than an IPO, or just a symbol change. Anyway, based on the merger agreement the new Clarivate is valued at $4.2 billion.

FMC's spinoff of Livent late last year was also a surprise to many. Its trading at $12.85, down from an IPO price of $17. But its still worth almost $2 billion.


Acknowledging how uncertain it is, I'll proceed to speculate about possible 2019 IPO"s from the Philadelphia area.


  • Fanatics: The most speculation centers on Michael Rubin's Fanatics, which is Jacksonville-based, though it has some operations in Conshohocken, under the roof of Rubin's Kynetic LLC. Fanatics was last valued at $4.5 billion in 2017 when Softbank invested $1 billion. A Fanatics IPO could bring a valuation north of $10 billion.



Other possibities


  • iPipeline: The Exton-based life insurance SaaS firm thought about an IPO before its 2015 buyout by Thoma Brsvo. The most recent revenue figures I've seen are slightly less than $200 million, and its a leader in its segment with an international base.



  • Lutron: Doubt it, but it would be interesting to see what an IPO from Lutron would look like.


    This 2015 article in the Morning Call , shortly after founder Joel Spira's death, indicates how tightly Lutron is controlled by his family. But Lutron broke the mold a bit in 2018 by making a significant acquisition. And in this high-growth market it may need more currency for other deals. But my guess is the company would look to a quiet private equity partner first if it needs capital.


  • InstaMed: This Philly-based medical payments firm has done an outstanding job in developing its niche, and has an army of venture capitalists behind it. Its last public statement on revenue was $31 million in 2015, and it has grown considerably since then. The company told me a couple of years ago that its investors were not pressuring it to go in any particular direction. Though the VCs must be feed sooner or later.

    But InstaMed must balance a complicated web of industry relationships which may define its options. Epic Systems, which bought some iconic artwork from a closing Madison, Wisconsin deli last year, rarely buys anything. But it does have a "unique" relationship with InstaMed . Perhaps one of these years.



  • Billtrust: This Lawrenceville, NJ processor of B2B payments appears to be close to having the scale for an IPO. But maybe next year would be more likely.



  • Bentley Systems: Bentley has considered an IPO at least twice, the latest being in 2015-16. But the minority investment by Siemens, and subsequent opening of trading on NASDAQ's Private Market, provided the liquidity Bentley needed to allow senior employees to cash out some. The Siemens partnership sounds like a possible path to a future buyout.




  • Qlik: It hasn't even been three years since the Thoma Bravo buyout 1n 2016, but Qlik could be close to returning to the public markets. Its long-term market map seems clearer and more compelling, and Qlik will need the growth capital to keep pace with others. An acquisition is also a possibility.



A brief mention for three other possibilities: EvolveIP, BioClinica and Bracket. Guru is one of the best long-term candidates.

Got any other ideas: Email me at phillytechnws@gmail.com or DM on twitter.


at 9:56 PM 0 comments

Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block on Apple relationship, rise of 'the modern company'. (CNBC)

Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block on Apple relationship, rise of 'the modern company' from CNBC.



at 4:35 PM 0 comments

Churchill Capital Corp and Clarivate Analytics Announce Merger Agreement
Clarivate Analytics to Become a Publicly Listed Company


Churchill Capital Corp and Clarivate Analytics Announce Merger Agreement English
- Clarivate Analytics to Become a Publicly Listed Company- Churchill Founders Agree to Double Investment in Company- Management and Current Equity Owners to Remain 100% Invested

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Clarivate
Jan 14, 2019, 09:10 ET
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NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Churchill Capital Corp ("Churchill") (NYSE: CCC), a public investment vehicle, and Clarivate Analytics ("Clarivate"), a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation, announced they have entered into a definitive agreement to merge. The combined company will operate as Clarivate and will become publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction implies an initial enterprise value of approximately $4.2 billion1 with a multiple of approximately 12.5x Clarivate's estimated 2019 Standalone Adjusted EBITDA before synergies at the time of close.

Churchill CEO Jerre Stead, who had a long and very successful tenure serving as Chairman and CEO at IHS Markit Ltd. and previously as Executive Chairman and CEO at IHS Inc., will serve as Executive Chairman of the combined company. Clarivate's existing management team, led by CEO Jay Nadler and CFO Richard Hanks, will continue to lead the business.

Clarivate provides comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, decision support tools and services that enable academia, corporations, governments, and the legal community, to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas, mission-critical content, and brands. Clarivate's many well‐known brands include Web of Science™, Cortellis™, Derwent Innovation™, Derwent World Patents Index™, CompuMark™, MarkMonitor®, and Techstreet™, among others. Funds affiliated with Onex Corporation ("Onex") (TSX: ONEX) and Baring Private Equity Asia ("BPEA") acquired Clarivate in a carve-out transaction from Thomson Reuters in 2016. Since the acquisition, Clarivate has continued to capitalize on its unique legacy and assets while separating from its former parent and positioning the business for success as a standalone entity, which included recruiting a new management team and re-energizing its products and commercial capabilities. As the business completes its multi-year separation from Thomson Reuters this year, it is well positioned for accelerated growth.

"We have respected Clarivate for a long time and are very pleased to now merge our companies. Clarivate has a superior set of data assets, valuable customer relationships and extraordinary people. I look forward to working with Clarivate's management team to accelerate growth in organic revenue, EBITDA and free cash flow over time," said Jerre Stead, CEO of Churchill.

Jay Nadler, CEO of Clarivate, explained: "Clarivate accelerates the pace of innovation by supporting the world's innovators - the people and organizations behind a new idea, invention or brand. This is an exciting milestone in Clarivate's evolution that will open a wide range of future growth opportunities for the business and allow us to further invest in the brightest minds, game changing data science, and robust technologies. Jerre is a veteran of the industry and his insights will be invaluable as we enter our next phase of growth."

Summary of Transaction
Onex, BPEA and Clarivate management are retaining 100% of their equity, which converts to 73.8% ownership of the outstanding shares of the combined company at closing, assuming no redemptions by Churchill's public stockholders. The remaining outstanding shares of the combined company will be held by the current stockholders and founders of Churchill. Onex will continue to be the majority owner.

The transaction is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2019, subject to approval by Churchill stockholders and other customary closing conditions. Clarivate will also enter into a tax receivable agreement with its current equity holders, which will provide for the sharing of tax benefits relating to certain pre-business combination tax attributes as those tax benefits are realized by Clarivate. Churchill and Clarivate intend to hold a joint conference call providing further details on the transaction on January 15, 2019 at 9:00 AM ET; please see Exhibit 1 for dial-in details. The boards of directors of both Churchill and Clarivate have unanimously approved the proposed transaction. The combined company will apply to list its ordinary shares and warrants on the New York Stock Exchange.

In connection with the transaction, Churchill founders have agreed to invest an additional $15 million, doubling their investment in Churchill. Founders have also have entered into agreements to amend the terms of its founder shares and founder warrants to align with the long-term valuation creation and performance of Clarivate. Churchill founders have delayed the majority of their equity to vest only if the share price of the company exceeds $15.25 per share by 2022 and $17.50 per share by 2024. The majority of net cash proceeds from this transaction are expected to be used to pay down existing Clarivate debt and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Important Information for Churchill Investors and Stockholders:
Churchill and Clarivate intend to file a proxy statement, prospectus and other relevant documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to be used at Churchill's annual meeting of stockholders to approve the proposed transaction with Clarivate. The proxy statement will be mailed to stockholders as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. Investors and security holders of Churchill are urged to carefully and fully read the proxy statement, prospectus and other relevant documents that will be filed with the SEC as they will contain important information about the proposed transaction and related parties. Free copies of these documents will be available through SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. Documents filed by Churchill and/or Clarivate can be obtained free of charge from Churchill's website at www.churchillcapitalcorp.com, by written request to Churchill Capital Corp, 640 Fifth Avenue, Floor 12, New York, NY 10019, or by emailing info@churchillcapitalcorp.com.

Advisors
Citigroup Global Markets is acting as capital markets advisor to Churchill. Citi and M. Klein and Company served as financial advisors to Churchill. Blank Rome LLP and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison served as legal counsel to Churchill.

Credit Suisse served as exclusive financial advisor to Clarivate, Onex and BPEA. Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal counsel to Clarivate and Onex . BPEA was advised by Ropes & Gray LLP.

About Clarivate Analytics
Clarivate is the global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. The company offers subscription-based services focused on scientific and academic research, life sciences, patent research and intelligence, industry codes and standards and intellectual property management. Building on a heritage going back more than a century and a half, Clarivate has built some of the most trusted brands across the innovation lifecycle, including Web of Science, Cortellis, Derwent, CompuMark, MarkMonitor and Techstreet. Formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, today Clarivate is on a bold entrepreneurial mission to help their customers radically reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing innovations. For more information, please visit Clarivate.com.

About Churchill Capital Corp
Churchill Capital Corp is a public investment vehicle formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, acquisition or similar business combination in the information services segment of the broader technology services and software industry. Churchill is led by Chairman Michael Klein and Chief Executive Officer Jerre Stead. Churchill's securities are quoted on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols CCC, CCCW and CCCU. The company raised $690 million of cash proceeds in an initial public offering in September 2018. www.churchillcapitalcorp.com

Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes," "seeks," "may," "will," "should," "future," "propose" and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Churchill's or Clarivate's management's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include: the inability to complete the transactions contemplated by the proposed business combination; the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, the amount of cash available following any redemptions by Churchill stockholders; the ability to meet NYSE's listing standards following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the proposed business combination; costs related to the proposed business combination; Clarivate's ability to execute on its plans to develop and market new products and the timing of these development programs; Clarivate's estimates of the size of the markets for its solutions; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Clarivate's solutions; the success of other competing technologies that may become available; Clarivate's ability to identify and integrate acquisitions; the performance and security of Clarivate's services; potential litigation involving Churchill or Clarivate; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Clarivate's services. Other factors include the possibility that the proposed transaction does not close, including due to the failure to receive required security holder approvals, or the failure of other closing conditions. Neither Churchill nor Clarivate undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA represents net income from continuing operations before provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization and interest income and expense ("EBITDA") adjusted to exclude acquisition or disposal-related transaction costs, losses on extinguishment of debt, stock-based compensation, unrealized foreign currency gains / (losses), transition services agreement costs, carveout and integration costs, transformational and restructuring expenses, acquisition-related adjustments to deferred revenue, non-cash income / (loss) on equity and cost method investments, non-operating income or expense, the impact of certain non-cash and other items that are included in net income for the period that Clarivate does not consider indicative of its ongoing operating performance, and certain unusual items impacting results in a particular period to more accurately reflect management's view of the recurring profitability of the business. Standalone Adjusted EBITDA is calculated using Adjusted EBITDA adjusted further to include the difference between annualized run-rate savings and savings realized during that same twelve-month period as well as the difference in Clarivate's actual standalone costs incurred relative to the steady state standalone cost estimate that Clarivate expects to achieve after completing the carveout and optimizing standalone functions by the end of 2020.

Additional Information
Churchill and Clarivate and their respective directors and executive officers, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies of Churchill's stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names and interests in the proposed transaction of Churchill's directors and officers in Churchill's filings with the SEC, including Churchill's Form S-1 registration statement, which was declared effective by the SEC on September 6, 2018. Information regarding the persons who may, under SEC rules, be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies to Churchill's stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination will be set forth in the registration statement for the proposed business combination when available. Additional information regarding the interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed business combination will be included in the proxy statement, prospectus and related documents that the parties intend to file with the SEC.

This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the proposed transaction and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.

Contacts:

Churchill Capital Corp info@churchillcapitalcorp.com

Clarivate Analytics media.enquiries@clarivate.com

Exhibit 1

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Churchill and Clarivate executives will conduct a conference call and webcast to discuss this news release on January 15, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Webcast link: https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1226721

Dial-in:
US Toll-free:
(800) 289-0438

UK Toll-free:
0800 358-6377

Conference ID: 8637311

An archived webcast will be available for one week following the live call at https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1226721

Participant Access - Dial in 5-10 minutes prior to the start time

1 Based on Q3 2018 pro forma net debt of approximately $1.3B, which includes net proceeds from the sale of Clarivate's Intellectual Property Management business and its acquisition of TrademarkVision, both completed in Q4 2018.

SOURCE Clarivate



at 9:33 AM 0 comments

Philly EnterpriseTech Highlights 1/19; New pre-seed fund powered by First Round Capital will target recent graduates; Drexel University Leveraging NLP to Improve Clinical and Research Processes; Will regional approach work for Philly?


























































at 10:25 PM 0 comments

CES '19 from a Philly perspective (Wrap)

Tom Paine




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CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) is not designed for most early stage startups without wads of VC money, because the total cost of exhibiting there is too expensive.

Startups that want to make an impression at the show can work on getting placed on panel discussions, partner under the umbrella of a larger exhibitor, or exhibit at a parallel show at a a nearby venue. Or just roam the hall to collect market intelligence and develop contacts.

In the past, shows like the Trenton Computer Festival (to be held on March 23 this year) were invaluable to startups seeking to reach the cognesecti or just geeks face-to-face. TCF is still a great event, but not as important as it was in the pre-internet days. Millenials who have grown up with the Internet probably don't realize how hard it was in the psst to get product information, or to understand a vendor's roadmap.

CES '19 was similar for the Philly startup community; a number of companies represented but few exhibitors.

One that tried a novel approach was Promobot, a Russian state-backed venture that claims Warminster as its home office on its website. One of its robots, which are marketed as promotional tools (thus the name ), got in the way of a Tesla on a Vegas road . Promobot claimed that the Tesla "killed" its robot, but in truth it looked like a staged publicity event.




Two areas of major interest at CES '19 were the speed wars (between future 5G offerings from the wireless companies and Cable's DOCSIS standard), and smart home tech.

It will be at least two years until meaningful 5G (Fifth Generation) is available in the US. Meanwhile, Cable is touting 10G (Gigabits) as an achievable future goal in full duplex within its DOCSIS architecture. How the two modes will compete with or interact with each other in the future is a major topic of discussion, given the tens of billions Telecom and Cable invests in infrastructure.

Comcast announced a partnership with Intel to utilize a special chip that will enable faster download speeds and WiFi service. Comcast expects its first 10 Gig and WiFi 6 services will come in 2020.


Lutron was on hand to introduce its new ceiling fan control system and remote for its Caseta smarthome platform. Lutron also launched late last year an expanded 4500 squad foot 'Experience Center' in Manhattan. It has another similar center located at its headquarters in Coopersburg, PA. near Allentown.

Lutron made a significant acquisition of Ketra in 2018.

"Lutron’s deal was notable because it accelerated the lighting giant’s position in the consumer “Circadian” lighting market, where Ketra plays. It was also notable because Lutron doesn’t, as a matter of course, purchase other companies. The last big deal was the 2000 acquisition of Vimco, which propelled Lutron into the motorized shading business … in a big way. The same could happen in the wellness-lighting market with Ketra," CEPro wrote.

And Ring launched a whole new range of smart lighting at CES, which integrate with a Ring security system.

Comcast introduced its Xfinity xFi Advanced Security product at CES. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, based on a platform developed by A.I. Security company Cujo AI, to monitor and analyze Wi-Fi traffic in a smart home and automatically block suspicious activity in real time.

Other Philly companies active at CES include ROAR for Good, Amino, Medical Guardian, STRATIS , USA Technologies, and 3D TV maker Stream TV.

The latest in 8K and OLED TVs were on display. Ewing-based Universal Display is a major force behind OLED TVs, which usually employ its technology and materials.


at 7:19 PM 0 comments

Mueller's office refutes BuzzFeed story on Trump telling Cohen to lie to Congress

Tom Paine




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Special Consul Mueller's office issued a statement tonight totally denying the existence of evidence mentioned in a BuzzFeed article that concluded Trump had instructed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress.

Unless there's some halfway point that BuzzFeed can find to say there is something to these allegations, the web publication should be completely discredited in the eyes of reasonable people.

The problem is that Buzzfeed, which has been valued at $1.5 billion, largely on the legs of two $200 million investments by Comcast, has no place to go. Before its financial problems became more evident, it had been widely assumed BuzzFeed would end up becoming a part of the Comcast / NBCU family. See the article from today's Guardian on BuzzFeed's current business problems.


NBC has had its own newsroom credibility problems, so its not as if it could straighten out BuzzFeed's direction.

Comcast would do well by either bringing down whatever power it can upon BuzzFeed, or else promptly seek to unwind its investment as soon as possible.

Its bad for the Comcast and NBC brands, and bad for the business.


at 9:04 PM 0 comments

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Elemica and crossinx Deliver Blockchain Pilot for Leading Global Chemical Manufacturers
. Goal to Automate Multi-Tier Processes (Press Release)

Elemica and crossinx Deliver Blockchain Pilot for Leading Global Chemical Manufacturers

Goal to Automate Multi-Tier Processes

Wayne, PA – January 15, 2019 – Elemica, the leading Digital Supply Network for process manufacturing industries, announces the completion of a successful blockchain pilot project between leading global chemical manufacturers as part of an innovation initiative testing new technologies that will redefine B2B processes and support digital transformation.

In the pilot program, Elemica and crossinx, a network for financial business collaboration solution, exist as nodes on a public blockchain, connecting structured data with unstructured data, such as documents, to enable multi-tier payment. In the pilot, two large global chemical companies facilitate document and data transfer of invoices, purchase orders, delivery tenders and proof-of-delivery posts. With the ability to connect to a digital network, blockchain functionality can be made accessible to support a many-to-many connection of companies, facilitating payment processing.

“Similar to any new technology, there is a period of learning and evolution before adoption,” said Arun Samuga, CTO of Elemica. “We like what we see so far and are identifying areas of clear applicability of the technology.”

Elemica’s blockchain pilot project tested the ability to use blockchain to support a many-to-many architecture. Blockchain technology can be used to break supply chain data out of silos and reveal this information to all trading partners regardless of the network they are connected to.

“Our goal is to use the blockchain to automate document exchange along the supply chain and make it more transparent. This is the basis for our Supply Chain Finance solutions," explains crossinx CEO and founder Marcus Laube.

The benefits of this capability with blockchain could lead to:
· Feasibility of employing a trustless, intermediary-free, decentralized standard to exchange information between different stakeholders
· Simplify existing business processes and make them smarter
o Auto-ordering based on IoT information
o Automated PO confirmations
o Auto-invoice creation based on Pickup or PoD
o Auto-matching of invoices
o Auto-payments
· Extend to other complementary decentralized networks and from IoT devices

The success of the blockchain pilot project shows that the new technologies brings value to supply chains and businesses through the sharing of information, workflows and economies.

About crossinx
crossinx brings the accounting of private and public sectors to the next level with a business network unique to the German speaking market. A team of 100 multinational employees help companies digitize their document-based finance and business processes. With over 150,000 connected companies, an invoice volume of 25 billion Euro and an expansion rate of 100%, the company is a leading provider for financial business collaboration. For more information, visit www.crossinx.com.

About Elemica
Elemica is the leading Digital Supply Network for the process manufacturing industries. Elemica accelerates digital transformation by connecting, automating, anticipating and then transforming inter-business supply chain processes for the products they buy, sell, and move. Launched in 2000, customers process over $500B in commerce annually on the network. For more information, visit www.elemica.com.

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Becky Boyd
VP, MediaFirst
415 State Street, Roswell, GA 30075 USA
O: (770) 642-2080 x 214
C: (404) 421-8497
becky@mediafirst.net


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Apple should buy private digital health records operation Epic Systems, says Jim Cramer

Apple should buy private digital health records operation Epic Systems, says Jim Cramer from CNBC.



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