Comcast Roundup: Lobbying power, Fancast Xfinity goes wild and More

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, 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.

DEFINITE READS

• Knowledge @ Wharton investigates the ‘marriage of cable and content,’ with the Comcast-NBC merger.
• The New York Times reports that Comcast has unveiled its Fancast Xfinity TV for subscribers, its take on TV Everywhere. Wall Street Journal gives its take here.
• Politico reports on Comcast’s sophisticated lobbying arm that helped the merger happen.

After the jump, could the NBC merger mean more office space, why Comcast is so un-Philadelphian and eight more stories you need to see.

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Sency real-time search engine gains some momentum, founder still abroad

Update: Corrected details about features that have been added by Sency since a conversation in October.

It was mid-October that we first heard about real-time search engine Sency, when the Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano first wrote about the business, a virtually-located company with plans to move to Philadelphia, founder Evan Britton told DiStefano.

Sency collects real-time data from Twitter, but differentiates itself from Twitter’s search by filtering spam and pulling the most popular links being shared on the microblogging service. Sency also lets publishers have a very basic, yet customizable widget with real-time search results on their Web sites.

We caught up with Britton when he was in town for the World Series, a trip he made from the West Coast to see one of the memorable games. “I miss my sports teams, friends and family and the city. Being away from Philly made me realize how much I love it,” he told us in a telephone interview then.

Britton, who grew up in Lafayette Hill, says he is still assessing a move to the city, citing personal reasons. But despite relocation plans being postponed, over the last few months, the real-time search engine has seen growth, Britton says.

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Temple University launches ergonomic computing pilot

A wave keyboard and trackball mouse are among the new ergonomic devices that have been installed in the TECH Center. Photo by Kelly and Massa Photography

Computer keyboards can be so much more than flat and cramped.

Temple University, boasting among the city’s largest IT infrastructure, has launched a pilot program to introduce ergonomic computer equipment and accessories to their students, faculty and staff, according to the college.

“Project Ergo” has brought 100 joint-friendly computer pieces, including wave keyboards, trackball mice, arm rests and large monitors, to the school’s sprawling 75,000 square-foot Main Campus TECH Center.

Students, faculty and staff are asked to use the devices through the end of the academic year to provide feedback on what pieces would be most used and liked.

The details of some items being used to make computing a more comfortable affair on North Broad Street, after the jump.

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Event Highlights for December 14 – December 20, 2009

Wednesday’s the one.

There’s four events happening Wednesday evening, and we’ll hope you’ll at least drop by Nodding Head Brewery to say hello to the Technically Philly crew at our first monthly meetup. We won’t hold you up too long, we promise.

Then it’s off to philly.NET, Web Analytics Wednesday or Entrepreneurs Unplugged to cap the evening off with Philly tech events.

Tuesday, don’t miss Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ Capital Briefing and on Thursday, Agile Philly returns the party to Nodding Head for its own holiday meetup.

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Thanks to our weekly sponsors

Technically Philly is made possible by advertisers and sponsors that are important to Philadelphia’s technology community. This week we’d like to thank:

Nonprofit Technology Resources – Fairmount-based NTR refurbishes used computers and peripherals for families and individuals in Philadelphia who may not otherwise be able to afford to buy a computer. We urge you to donate to this great local cause. Tell ‘em Technically Philly sent you.

Springboard Media – Springboard Media is a certified Apple Specialist and retailer based in Center City and now, in Exton. They’ve got a ton of accessories and a great trade-in program that can score you up to $1,500 when you’re ready to upgrade.

Interested in joining these organizations in supporting Technically Philly? Check out our ad packages and contact Ad Sales Manager Tara Levin. Can’t find something that fits? We’ll customize a package for you.

Friday Q&A: Pennsylvania Bio President Mickey Flynn

Mickey Flynn wants to talk about entrepreneurship.

In an industry and a region dominated by major players and corporate standbys, the president of Pennsylvania Bio, a statewide trade association for the biosciences with headquarters in Malvern, seems to brighten when startup talk comes to the fore.

He’s gone that route himself. Before taking the chief seat with PA Bio four years ago, Flynn, 68, grew tiny Puresyn, which develops purification services for gene-based drugs and vaccines, from three employees to 25.

But he’s no outsider to PA Bio, rather, he’s a steady hand in the region’s bioscience scene. He was a founding board chairman of the group 20 years ago and, all told, he has just shy of four decades in the industry.

Now, the resident of Downingtown is recovering from his group’s Biotech 2009 Symposium, which drew last month to the Convention Center more than 900 attendees, better than double what it did when he first became president and the largest in its nine years of existence.

Below, Flynn gives us a recap of the conference, handicaps the region’s bioscience-entrepreneurship ecosystem and explains why Mickey isn’t really his name but you ought not call him anything else.

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Announcing the Technically Philly Monthly Meetup

UPDATE: Nodding Head has hooked us up with $1-off pints from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Awesome!

We wanna hang out.

Starting Wednesday, December 16, the Technically Philly staff will begin hosting a monthly meetup.

Our first, to be held at Nodding Head Brewery in Center City, will be a chance for all of us to drink some beers and talk shop about Philadelphia’s ever-growing technology community. We want to meet our audience of 13,000 tech-interested individuals. Most of all, we want to give you a chance to sound off about what we (and you) been up to.

Consider it a low-key evening. There’s no planned speakers and no pressure to tell us if you’re the one that’s been leaving nasty anonymous comments. And while there’s no intended agenda, 2010 is heavy on our minds. What do you want to see in the new year? Did we do fine in 2009? What’s been good? What needs changed?

If you’re down, we ask that you RSVP for the event so that we can keep you updated on any future meetups and events that we host. We hope to see you there!

Anyone interested in sponsoring the meetup, or future events, do let us know.

Links: Photos from Hive76 event, another Philly-related, big-name merger and More

DEFINITE READS

Geekadelphia shares photos from the Hive76 opening of its new headquarters, which we told you about.

The Philadelphia Business Journal’s Peter Key gives a recap of the Eastern Technology Council’s annual awards gala.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FTC has begun a review of Google’s purchase of AdMob, which was founded by a Wharton grad.

The Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano reports that DuPont is itching to buy something.

GIVE A GLANCE

Philly Tech News gives some more information on the Center City Direct digital newsstands venture that we told you about before Thanksgiving.

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: TNT: Historical Society’s interactive PhilaPlace Web site needs your stories

Every Friday morning, we make sure you didn’t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

First Round Capitol video hilariously awkward

First Round's portfolio companies belt out holiday tunes in the firm's latest holiday video

There’s a bit of a back story to this one.

Last month, before a First Round event in Center City, Technically Philly had arrived a bit early and began to walk down the steps of G Lounge to see if there were any other early-birds. Halfway down, we heard a chorus of voices harmonizing the phrase “We are First Round” and thought the venture capital company was pumping itself up like a football team before a game.

Turns out they were recording their part for the company’s yearly holiday video, featuring the firm’s portfolio singing, like Susan Boyle, to “I Dreamed a Dream.” Vid’s complete with reactions from “Britain’s Got Talent” hosts, near tears. It’s damn funny – and awkward.

Watch it after the jump and see local companies Monetate, MyYearbook, ClickEquations and Invite Media.

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Comcast Roundup: Comcast-NBC deal coverage-palooza

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, 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.

And so the fallout begins.

One week after Comcast’s mega-acquisition of a majority stake in NBC Universal, more coverage of the deal happened than this modest roundup could fit. We took the best and most relevant and surely still didn’t get it all.

DEFINITE READS

The New York Times scores the big creation story of the Comcast-NBC deal, which includes note that Comcast investigated buying Facebook. Still, The Business Insider called it subdued.

The New York Times editorial board raises several concerns about the acquisition.

The New York Times reports that how people watch TV on demand is a “critical issue in the landmark deal” that gave Comcast controlling interest in NBC.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Comcast COO Steve Burke is primed to make a union between Comcast and NBC work.

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that the Comcast-NBC deal will be a boost to the region, though whether it is more economic or psychological is yet to be known.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Comcast will look to refocus Universal Pictures.

Below, find more than three dozen more Comcast stories, and yes, they’re almost all about its proposed purchase of NBC.

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