Springboard Media opens new store in Exton

An exclusive shot of the new sales floor at Springboard Media in Exton before Saturday's Grand Opening.

If you see dozens of renegade balloons floating high above the region this weekend, blame Springboard Media.

The Center City-based independent Apple retail and repair specialist is celebrating a grand opening of a sister store in Exton and President Everett Katzen has spent the last few days orchestrating final touches.

“I just bought out all the purple balloons at Party City,” Katzen exclaimed during a phone interview on Wednesday.

Thirty-five year old Katzen has operated the store since 1996 and the Exton opening marks the company’s first expansion. The retailer has graduated to a 3,600 square feet space, about a thousand more than at its digs on the 2200 block of Walnut Street.

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Links: Rittenhouse realtime search engine, PA tax credit stays alive and More

DEFINITE READS

Philly Tech News reports that five of Business Week’s 25 2009 Finalists for America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs have ties to Philly, four being based in the region, including Notehall, whom we recently profiled.

The Inquirer reports that 30,000 sustainable-building advocates are due to land in Center City come November 2010 as part of an international conference and, uhm, we’re already behind.

The Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano writes about regional native Evan Britton who has founded realtime search engine Sency and intends to move and base the company in Rittenhouse Square.

After the jump, now Boston is talking about the growth of their startup scene, Lockheed Martin invests in wave-energy and nearly 10 more tech stories you should see, including our best read piece of the week.

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Old City VoIP provider Alteva scores Microsoft deal

Redmond needs a little help from Philly in its battle with Mountain View.

Microsoft has enlisted Old City-based VoIP provider Alteva to help integrate its popular Office suite with phone and communications systems in businesses. We spoke to Alteva CEO Will Bumbernick earlier this month. The companies hope that the partnership helps businesses become further entrenched in the Microsoft brand of business products while simultaneously preempting the inevitable Google Voice/Google Docs juggernaut.

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Comcast Roundup: Deal with NBC ‘done in principle,’ major security initiative underway and More

Every Thursday morning, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our Comcast news updates.

Weeks likely still remain before any more actionable steps would be taken in Comcast’s very tenuous, highly publicized possible 51 percent purchase of NBC Universal, according to the Wrap. But, Sharon Waxman reports on the site, there is a deal in principle.

But, folks there’s plenty standing in the way:

• The L.A. Times reports that Vivendi, the French company with a 20 percent stake in NBC, has veto power over any change in majority control and, without any immediate and obvious prospects left on which to spend proceeds from their cut of the deal with Comcast, may choose to hold on to its cut. The West Coast Times also reports that the company has thus far kept quiet about its board’s decision on whether to move or stay.
• Bloomberg reports that it appears Comcast leadership would, if the purchase happened, likely keep NBC’s executive team in place, including the embattled CEO Jeff Zucker, who in his reign has seen the channel go from first to fourth in national ratings and is increasingly getting heat from within the organization.
• Tactics or not, Media Memo reports that Comcast competitor and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes compared this possible deal with the failed merger between his company and AOL in the 1990s.
• Silicon Alley Insider reports that NBC staffers had concerns about seeing their health care coverage change and even worsen in comprehension if the purchase were to happen, though Comcast employees responded quickly in praising their coverage. Such a small flurry of concern does well to exemplify how much would have to go into a deal like this.
• While many of these players have since been dismissed, Forbes last week reported the existence of other potential suitors to unload NBC from its owner General Electric. H/T Philly Tech News

Even in the still very uncertain reality that this high-profile purchase were to occur, a simple majority stake by Comcast would hardly offer even the hint that NBC’s decidedly 67th ward-branded programming would take on any Philadelphia tone.

But, it could, of course, be noted that in recent years NBC has shifted the locations of its Web divisions and some MSNBC functions from Manhattan to New Jersey. While other realities were at play, the dramatic difference in real estate cost between the two surely wasn’t ignored. Philadelphia could prove an even cheaper, yet higher-profile home than the Garden State, with all the other benefits of a major city in between the government and financial capitals of the country, for any such low-profile administrative or other departments.

After the jump, more Comcast-NBC fantasizing, a large Internet security rollout and, yeesh, at least 10 other Comcast stories of note.

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Google Building Maker released for Philadelphia, 49 other cities

So where do you begin? Google Building Maker was released yesterday for 50 cities, including Philadelphia.

Google is offering up Web-based tools to citizens that would help move forward the company’s ambitious plans to have 3D representations of every building in the world.

Philadelphia is one of 50 cities worldwide and just 21 in the United States that are part of the first wave of Google Building Maker, as the program was described in a company release from yesterday. Building Maker is a way to create geo-located 3D models of buildings that would be visible in Google Earth, with the intention of creating an impressively detailed Web atlas, though criticism already surrounds, as always, the heavy reliance on free citizen labor.

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Ignite Philly 4 hosts Free Library and Mayoral cabinet officials as VGI impresses

‘Let’s continue these great conversations,’ he said in so many words.

Before an intermission of Ignite Philly 4 that could have been easily overlooked, Make:Philly‘s Harris Romanoff made a modest call to presenters that the Ignite series has sorely lacked: an opportunity to keep the conversations and inspiration flowing and perhaps create truly definable, actionable steps.

“Make is extending an invitation to speakers past and present to speak and to answer more questions,” Romanoff said to a crowd of more than 250 gathered in the upstairs of Johnny Brenda’s bar in Fishtown.

Though it was apparent that no one was yet booked for Make’s monthly DIY tech/hack meetings, it was a notable recommendation for Ignite, having now surpassed four sold out events since 2007.

Seats have gone so fast in the past that this time around, organizers put a premium on guaranteed access – a $5 donation to the Food Trust. An oversized check made out to the local nutrition nonprofit for $750 was presented during the festivities.

After a half dozen presenters gave five minute presentations on topics ranging from quantum physics to design, food canning to mentorship, members of Philly’s chiptunes scene played songs using vintage gaming equipment during an intermission.

But the momentum – along with the attendance – dipped noticeably in the second half of the show. Whether that was the result of the easy flow of Brenda’s beer taps or the fault of a bloated nearly-two-hour event bill is for attendees to decide.

Still, the event wasn’t without its shining moments. Our favorites are below.

Best of Show
Mike Worth of Videogame Growth Initiative wants to create the “Liberty Bell of Death” a visible and economy-boosting gaming industry in Philadelphia, as we covered in August. “Hollywood comes to the city, rapes, pillages and leaves after three months,” the energetic and passionate game designer said. Worth was adamant about staying in Philadelphia over moving to cities where game design is perhaps more established.

“We’re a bunch of stubborn 35-year-old men who have three-year-old daughters who do not want to pack up and move to San Francisco,” he said to shouts of support and a round of applause.

Worth was quick and effective, citing global gaming statistics, like the fact that World of Warcraft’s quarterly revenue of $1 billion is only a fraction of the $41 billion industry, comparing them with Philly numbers; Like how 80 game developers graduate from Penn and Drexel each year, taking with them more than $5.6 million in taxable revenue, he said.

Watch Worth’s invigorating lecture below.

Best Idea
Twitter frequenter and gay rights activist Chris Bartlet shared his new Gay History Wiki, what he calls the “social network for the dead.” On it he shares stories of those 4,600 who have passed away from HIV/AIDS in Philadelphia. He envisions a time when Facebook could include a “Dead people you may know” feature and everyone’s story lives on.

Funniest Presentation
Shmitten Kitten‘s sarcastic Anna Goldfarb got laughs with her sketches of suitors, her 0-47 track record with the “human male” and the site’s Mix Tape Speed Dating events with a photoshopped image of two unlikely reptiles smittenly face-to-face inside a heart. “If a T-Rex and a Shark can find love in this city, anyone can,” she ended.

Fast Talker
Free Library President Siobhan Reardon hit the stage to loud applause before firing off more than a dozen bullet points illustrating a “different library,” one that embraces Twitter, offers the power and reach of the Internet and is hopeful for a new facility. It was a refreshing change of pace from the oft-cited library activism that arose from Philly’s summer budget crisis, what she called an “awkward visibility,” but it left us wondering about the stories behind the scenes of the library system, some of which have been stalled for years.

Tough Crowd
We’re trying not to fault City of Philadelphia Chief Cultural Officer Gary Steuer for mentioning that he was a Mets fan, before he moved to Philly, of course. But the crowd didn’t hide their emotion, booing the mayoral cabinet member — and his early mention of the 67th ward — as Ignite Philly crew members fumbled to load his slideshow. But Steuer backs a public art policy that he hopes could rival Chicago’s Millennium Park, or something like it, he says. One might suspect the idea that a member of the mayor’s cabinet presented at Ignite was lost on most of the audience altogether.

Honorable Mention
Architect Greg La Vardera slammed the suburban McMansion and offered hope to potential builders with accessible and modern new home designs.

Others:
Audra Wolfe, Carrie Collins of Fabric Hors, Sarah Feidt of TerraMar, Nathan Solomon & Branimir Vasilic with their DIY money presentation, Amanda Dillon stepped in for Drew Olanoff of Blame Drew’s Cancer, Jason Marziani, Brian D. McTear of Weathervane Music, Jonny Goldstein, Shannon Pelcher of Music & Mentorship, and Justin Witman & Fraser Marshall, Masters of Industrial Design Students, UArts. More information is available at the Ignite Philly site.

Our slideshow from the evening is below.
[flickrslideshow acct_name="technicallyPHL" id="72157622581563532" width="420" height="279"]

Avencia releases Walkshed Philadelphia, also named in Philadelphia 100

Avencia, the neighborhood-specific, data-crazed Callowhill-based geographic analysis and software development firm, released its Walkshed Philadelphia last week.

The online application that gives block-by-block “walkability” calculations for Philadelphia has company in the space, including Walk Score, the Seattle-based national big dog that inspired the locally-focused one. But Avencia’s latest pet project aims to do what it does best, cater to the nuance of Philadelphia.

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TNT: Philly Electric Wheels to host opening reception, change transport in city

It was a yellow bicycle. That much Afshin Kaighobady remembers clearly.

On cool mornings in 1969, the 10-year-old would ride to the bakery near his home in Tehran to buy his mother fresh bread. Riding on the flat roads of Iran’s sprawling capital city at the foot of the Tochal mountains, Kaighobady can still remember his pride for riding his bike with just one hand, the other clutching a warm piece of naan fresh out of the bakery’s diesel-powered flames.

“The steam would pour off it, and so one bite and then another and soon I’d half finish the bread that was nearly as tall as I was, all the while steering this long, yellow treasure,” he says.

It is there, in Tehran in 1969, that Kaighobady first fell in love with bicycles. It is here, in the far hillier expanses of Mt. Airy in 2009, that Kaighobady, now 50, is hoping to create love for that transport’s next generation.

This Thursday, from 2 to 7 p.m., he’s hosting an opening reception for Philly Electric Wheels, his shop in this northwest Philadelphia neighborhood that he boasts is the first store in Pennsylvania, perhaps even the tri-state area, to exclusively sell and service electric-assist bicycles.

And he’s trying to convince the region that these bikes could be a large part of a greener, more comfortable, more practical way to commute.

THE BICYCLES

Philly Electric Wheels or, yes, PHEW, if pressed, came to mind after Kaighobady watched his wife Meenal Raval use an electric bike to commute to work and found a buzz around her method of transport. Since opening his store Oct. 1, he’s spending his days offering free test rides — also available at this Thursday’s reception — to show people just how practical his bikes are.

“They have everything that is good about regular bicycles,” he says. “But with the option to have someone gently push you in the back when you’re going up a hill or speeding in bad weather.”

He currently stocks 16 models from four bicycle lines — Currie Technologies, EcoBike, eZee, Ultra Motor — all of which cost roughly a penny a mile to operate, range up to 40 miles per charge, can cruise as fast as 20 miles per hour and require no license.

The cheapest model he currently stocks is $500 — the starting cost of a new traditional bicycle at many bike shops — and the most expensive is $2,700. A removable battery powers the bikes and are plugged into the wall, to be charged as easily as a cell phone battery, though it’ll take five to six hours for most bikes.

All bicycles come with warranties, many including a one-year maintenance guarantee from Kaighobady himself.

And Kaighobady, with an engineering degree from the University of Bridgeport and a background in tinkering, is probably someone from whom you want a warranty.

HIS BACKGROUND

After leaving Iran in 1979 — unrelated to that country’s Islamist Revolution, he says, though that year “something big happened there” — Kaighobady followed family to Oklahoma City. He built a computer consultancy firm on the East Coast, and then moved to Mount Airy in 2000 with wife Meenal, a native of India.

“This neighborhood has been very good to us,” he says.

He’s been involved in a half-dozen eco-ventures, though PHEW is his first swing at retail. Since 2006, the couple has tried to create a low-carbon household, which fits well into living down the block from his store. Also, the store is located in Green on Greene, a mixed-use building with a mission of sustainability. An environmentally friendly household-products manufacturer is also based there.

Kaighobady has used his mechanical mind for greener transport before.

In July 2007, he finished making a homemade electric-powered Volkswagen Vanagon, and says two men who claimed to be Chevron employees in March 2006 paid $3,900 for a 1979 Jetta he rigged to run on a biodiesel from used fryer oil.

“But these bikes,” Kaighobady says, in his stark corner storefront, a half dozen store models carefully arrayed on the hardwood floor, “are really going to be part of the future.”

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Every Monday, Technically Not Tech will feature people, projects, and businesses that are involved with Philly’s tech scene, but aren’t necessarily technology focused. See others here.

Event Highlights for October 12-18, 2009

I know you stayed up late to watch that Phillies game Philadelphia, but now is no time to lose focus.

October is events season, and this week is no exception. So grab a cup a coffee and join Technically Philly as we pluck the diamonds from the Philadelphia tech events rough.

Monday is a day of rest for our action packed Tuesday. On the 13th, you have your choice of rapid-fire Ignite Philly 4 presentations in Fishtown or chatting with the city’s Linux-heads in Plymouth Meeting. Or, if you have a gullible friend with a car, you can attend both.

The event calendar is sparse until Philly Startup Leaders weekend. Then, the group plans on holding an open hack at Drexel. Rumor has it, the group may break out into some improv comedy.

Check out the details after the jump.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

Tuesday, October 13th: By now you know the deal: One presentation, 20 slides, 15 seconds a slide. However, for the first time, Ignite is charging $5 a ticket for the first 150 tickets with all proceeds going to charity. Scheduled speakers include Drew of #blamedrewscancer and Shmitten Kitten‘s Anna Goldfarb. Oh, and check out the Ignite homepage. I hear there is a dashing gentleman pictured at the top of the page. Just sayin’. Oh, and if you want to rep the First State, Wilmington is having its Ignite on the same night. 7:00 p.m. Fishtown. RSVP. [view more events]

Tuesday, October 13th: If you’re one of those people who thinks 2010 will finally be the year Linux goes mainstream, then head on up to Plymouth Meeting for the Philadelphia Linux Users Group. The event will include Q and A sessions along with an hour-long presentation. If you can’t make it out, be sure to at least signup for the PLUG newsletter. 9:00 p.m. Plymouth Meeting. INFO. [view more events]

Saturday, October 17th: One of the region’s most influential groups are gathering for a weekend of refreshing Philly Startup Leaders’ web presence and creating new tools to foster collaboration. The group is inviting all types of people to gather in Drexel’s Baiada Center and help PSL take the organization to the next level. 10:00 a.m. University City. INFO. [view more events]

If you have an event that you think we should be listing, email us or fill out our submission form for best results. We promise that no submission falls in to the contact form netherworld.

Friday Q&A: Video Games Live co-creator Tommy Tallarico

Music from the video game Zelda is performed during a 'Video Games Live' show in London. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

This interview was conducted for a new geek culture column called Peer-to-Peer that will publish monthly for Philadelphia City Paper. See it in its original form.

On Sunday, video game music composer Tommy Tallarico will bring more than 20 years of gaming history with him to the Kimmel Center.

Before Madden started licensing real rock tunes, back when Disney’s Aladdin was the coolest Sega Genesis side-scroller this side of the playground, when Epic Games was just launching its Unreal series, Tallarico was there for all of it. In fact, he composed tunes for all of those titles. He even holds the Guinness Book of World Record as the person who’s worked on the most video games.

But this isn’t a gaming history lesson.

Tallarico is the co-creator of Video Games Live, a globally touring, full symphony that plays video game classics. The geeky orchestra will perform dozens of anthems backed by video accompaniment, light show, and rock ‘n’ roll appeal, Tallarico says. There’s even interactive segments, like live Skype sessions with famous game designers and composers.

Did we mention there’s a medley of 25 arcade classics, starting with 1972′s Pong to 1986′s Tetris, with Donkey Kong, Defender, Frogger, Dragon Slayer and more? Now you know.

But we admit our skepticism: Is this just too dorky�even for us? We caught up with Tallarico in a phone interview recently to try to figure out if we’d ever be down. What’d did we learn? We are down. So, so down. Questions and answers after the jump.

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