Category: News

Have you heard? Men generally don’t read the manual before calling tech support. Women do. It probably has something to do with ego or something like that, but you know what, I never read the manual and for a damn good reason.

It’s almost 2010. Gadgets and technology in general have been around long enough that we shouldn’t have to read a manual anymore. I expect products to work out of the box and I doubt I’m alone in that thinking. In fact, I make a point at not reading the manual when I’m reviewing a product. It says something negative if I need the help of the manual to figure out how to work a random gadget. I mean, if I can’t get it to work, how are my parents supposed to?

This isn’t too much to ask, either. Companies spend years and a boatload of money developing a certain product. They better have made the product well enough for me to open up the box, put it together and switch it on. But when that doesn’t happen, I still don’t open the manual.

Instead, I expect Google to give me the answer in one of the first search query results. If Google fails me, I’m already too frustrated to call tech support and so I throw the crapgadget on a table for another go later in the day.

Yes, it would help if men and women would read the manual before calling tech support. I agree. But we shouldn’t have to call in the first place. Oh, and can we please have the tech support phone number somewhere on the product just in case. Dyson does that and it’s how I know that the company believes and stands behinds its products.

OLED can still pretty much be considered a thing of the future, but we’re getting closer to use the technology in our homes every month. Today, Casio Computer announced [JP] it has teamed up with Tokyo-based technology company Toppan Printing to develop and produce OLED panels. The new joint venture will start operations from April 2010, with both companies involved saying they’ll focus on manufacturing OLED panels sized ten inches and smaller first (like the one you see in the picture).

Those OLED screens are supposed to be used in digital cameras and cell phones by 2015. But Casio and Toppan also said they will conduct R&D to eventually develop bigger sized OLEDs, for example for TVs, too. The OLEDs will be manufactured using high-polymer-type organic electroluminescent compounds, whereas OLED production today is mainly based on low-polymer organic compounds. According to the companies, their method is more efficient and simpler.

Casio will first transfer 600 employees to a new firm, which will be established in February and will focus exclusively on OLED development. Toppan says it will then buy 80% of all outstanding shares of the joint venture (total capitalization: $4.5 million).

A list of rumored items for the Sam’s Club Black Friday ad has been percolating around the web lately. There’s no ad scan to confirm any of this yet, but I’ll update this post once more information becomes available.

For now, though, here’s a list of the rumored electronics items:

Blank Media

Blu-ray 2-Packs – $17.00

Computers

Acer Aspire One 10.1″ Netbook – $197.00

HP G71 17″ LED Notebook w/Blu-ray – $499.00

Digital Cameras

Olympus FE-4000 12 MegaPixel Camera – $98.00

Digital Media Cards

Toshiba 16GB SDHC Digital Media Card – $24.00

DVD Players

JVC 1080p Blu-ray Player – $129.00

Phillips Dual Screen Portable DVD Player – $99.00

Electronics

Samsung Compact SD Camcorder w/Bag – $149.00

GPS Systems

Garmin Nuvi 255w GPS Navigation System – $119.00

Home Theater

Samsung 5.1 Blu-ray Home Theater – $398.00

Printers

HP AIO Printer Bundle – $69.00

Televisions

Hitachi 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV – $598.00

Phillips 52″ 1080p LCD HDTV – $1198.00

Vizio 47″ 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV – $997.00

Video Games

PS3 120GB Bundle – $399.00

Wii Active Life Bundle w/Mat – $69.00

Wii Family Bundle – $349.00

No word on possible doorbuster items or when the store will open on Black Friday. I’ll update this post when more information becomes available.

Sam’s Club Black Friday Ad [BlackFriday.info]

More Black Friday deals…

Social network games – and by extension, social networks themselves – received a strong endorsement this morning as a major acquisition was announced.  Electronic Arts has bought Playfish, a maker of said games, for at least $300 million.

Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Interactive, explained in a statement, "Social gaming, with its emphasis on friends and community, is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space."

Indeed, Playfish should make a good partner for EA.  The company describes itself as a leader in the social gaming industry, and has received backing from Accel Partners (which also invested in Facebook) and Index Ventures (which put its weight behind Last.fm and Skype).

Moreover, Playfish claims that over 150 million of its games have been installed.  (Playfish’s top games are Country Story, Pet Society, Restaurant City, and Who Has The Biggest Brain? in case you’re curious.)

And that large number brings us back to the matter of Playfish’s price.  EA’s paying $275 million in cash and $25 million in "equity retention arrangements" up front.  Then, as much as $100 million more will be delivered if unspecified performance milestones are met between now and the end of 2011.

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Now that Modern Warfare 2 (PC, PS3 and Xbox 360) is slowly making its way into store shelves and home consoles, Activision seems to be busying itse…

It’s no secret that institutions of all stripes focus their communications on certain messages day to day. We thought it would all be a little more open and transparent if we went ahead and published what our focus will be for the day, along with any related articles, documents, or reports.  Today we publish our second batch.

Supporting website: "Affordable Health Care for America Act," Speaker.gov

Talking Points: Passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act

Saturday night, in an historic vote, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would finally make real the promise of quality, affordable health care for the American people.
The Affordable Health Care for America Act provides stability and security for Americans who have insurance; quality affordable options for those who don’t; and brings down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare. 
It is also fully paid for and will reduce our long-term federal deficit.
Thanks to the hard work of the House, we are just two steps away from achieving health insurance reform in America. 

Talking Points: Closer to Reform than Ever Before

The House of Representatives’ historic step brings us far closer to comprehensive health insurance reform than ever before.
Now it’s time for the United States Senate to follow suit.  We are absolutely confident that it will and President Obama looks forward to signing reform into law by the end of this year.
Thanks to the long hours and hard work the Senate has already put in, it too is close to passing reform legislation. And the level of agreement between the House and Senate versions of reform is remarkable.

Like the House bill, the Senate legislation would provide unprecedented security and stability for Americans with insurance.  It would provide quality, affordable options for Americans without insurance.  And it would lower costs for families, businesses, and the nation as a whole.
And like the House version, the Senate proposal is also fully paid for and would reduce our national deficit.

 

Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity have agreed to acquire Datatel Inc., a Fairfax, Va.-based provider of enterprise information management solutions for higher education institutions. No financial terms were disclosed. Sellers include Thoma Bravo, Trident Capital, HarbourVest Partners and JP Morgan Asset Management — which sponsored a management buyout of Datatel in early 2005.

PRESS RELEASE

Datatel, the industry’s most experienced provider of higher education software, services and insight, announced today that they reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Hellman & Friedman LLC.

Hellman & Friedman and its affiliates, co-investor JMI Equity, and Datatel management and employees will purchase the company from current investors Thoma Bravo and its co-investors in the transaction including Trident Capital, HarbourVest Partners and JP Morgan Asset Management. Hellman & Friedman is a leading private equity firm with a focus on investing in superior business franchises.

Following the higher education market’s strong positive reaction to Datatel’s new solutions in the areas of teaching and learning, recruiting, and mobility, Datatel President and CEO John Speer said, “Datatel’s new solutions, strong professional services, and exceptional client relationships coupled with our consistent performance are what attracted Hellman & Friedman to Datatel.” Mr. Speer went on to say, “Datatel will continue to be led by our current executive and management teams and remains focused on delivering strong, compelling solutions for higher education.”

“We are delighted to be part of a company that has out-performed the market,” said David Tunnell, Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman. Anupam Mishra, Director of Hellman & Friedman added, “We see our partnership as an opportunity to support Datatel’s continued success in helping colleges and universities meet their institutional goals.”

“Our partnership with Datatel has been an exceptional experience,” said Orlando Bravo, a Managing Partner of Thoma Bravo. “Together we have substantially increased the value of the company while expanding the solutions and services available to Datatel clients.”

About Datatel, Inc.

Datatel is the most experienced provider of technology products, services, and insight to higher education. Colleges, universities, and technical schools across North America partner with Datatel to build Strategic Academic Enterprises dedicated to achieving student success. The company has focused exclusively on higher education since 1979, and its technology is used by nearly 800 institutions serving more than five million students. For more information, visit www.datatel.com.

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Sean Carroll has joined executive search firm Polachi & Co. as a Stamford, Conn.-based partner, with a focus on C-level tech executives. He previously was a managing partner with the Barlow Group, and before that was with both Pequot Capital’s venture capital unit and Heidrick & Struggles.

PRESS RELEASE

Polachi, the leading provider of Access Executive Search™ services to technology, clean tech, venture capital and private equity clients, announces the addition of Sean C. Carroll as Partner. In his new role, Sean will specialize in situating C-level technology executives and will be based in the Stamford, Connecticut area.

During his seasoned career as an executive search associate and Partner, Sean has successfully managed hundreds of senior executive search assignments for clients ranging from software, eCommerce and professional services to venture-backed technology and technology-enabled companies. His experience encompasses the execution and direction of a comprehensive executive search process from search origination, recruitment and placement.

“Sean brings a proven track record of executing searches spanning from established portfolio companies to start-ups backed by investors,” said Peter Polachi, Partner, Polachi. “His strong client candidate networks and technology background will be a tremendous asset to the firm.”

Prior to joining Polachi, Sean was a Managing Partner and part owner of the Barlow Group. He led the human capital efforts for the venture arm of Pequot Capital, and was also a Senior Associate at Heidrick & Struggles.

Prior to his executive search career, Sean was an officer and Maritime Patrol Pilot in the U.S. Navy. He achieved the designations of Mission Commander & Instructor Pilot and was deployed twice to the Middle East in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Sean received his BS in Oceanography from the United States Naval Academy. He currently resides in Wilton, Connecticut.

About Polachi, Inc.

Polachi, Inc. (www.polachi.com) provides Access Executive Search™ services to technology, clean technology, private equity and venture capital companies. The firm’s partners, all search industry veterans with decades of experience, understand that leading companies deserve access to the absolute best talent on the planet. While traditional executive search firms limit candidate access due to “off-limits” protocol, and newer search firms lack the breadth and depth of connections, Polachi’s Access Executive Search™ model, coupled with unmatched agility, delivers the most accelerated results. Polachi is a sponsor of the New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC) as well as a founding member of Access Search Partners™ (ASP), a partnership of five leading technology search firms that provides clients with specialist search services on a global scale. For more information about Polachi please call 508-650-9993 or visit www.polachi.com.

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The Carlyle Group has agreed to buy OpenLink Financial from TA Associates. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close later this quarter. Bank of America Securities and Credit Suisse Securities are providing leveraged financing. OpenLink is a Long Island-based provider of software for the the commodity, energy and financial services industries.

PRESS RELEASE

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group, OpenLink Financial, and TA Associates today announced that Carlyle has agreed to purchase OpenLink Financial, a software developer for the commodity, energy and financial services industries, from TA Associates. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Founded in 1992, OpenLink is a provider of cross-asset trading, risk management, and related portfolio management software solutions for the commodity, energy and financial services markets globally. OpenLink’s blue chip client base of more than 150 customers worldwide includes twelve of the top twenty-five largest commodity and energy companies by market capitalization, eight of the largest financial institutions and eleven of the largest central banks, as well as major hedge funds and public utilities. Headquartered on Long Island, New York, and with offices in New York, Houston, London, Berlin, Vienna, São Paulo, Sydney, and Singapore, OpenLink has more than 785 employees worldwide.

Kevin Hesselbirg, CEO of OpenLink, said, “TA Associates has played a key role in the development of OpenLink, helping us to grow organically and evolve from our entrepreneurial roots. In this next phase of our journey, Carlyle’s technology expertise and financial know-how will serve us well, particularly as we expand internationally and through acquisitions. We see a bright future for the continued growth of OpenLink, driven by the persistent expansion of demand in the industries we serve, as we deliver solutions to the world’s leading energy, commodity and financial services companies who are our clients.”

Cam Dyer, Principal in Carlyle’s U.S. Technology Buyouts group, said, “We are pleased to back CEO Kevin Hesselbirg and his talented management team, who have an outstanding track record and a clear strategy for long-term growth. We look forward to supporting OpenLink’s growth through Carlyle’s global resources and industry expertise, and we expect that OpenLink’s valued clients and talented employees will benefit from this growth as OpenLink continues to increase the breadth and depth of its industry leading software solutions.”

Kurt Jaggers, a Managing Director at TA Associates, said, “We enjoyed working with the entire management team and Board at OpenLink. This has been a truly successful relationship that has further accelerated OpenLink’s growth.” Added John Meeks, a Managing Director at TA Associates, “OpenLink is on a path for continued success and we wish them well.”

Acquisition financing has been arranged by Bank of America Securities and Credit Suisse Securities. OpenLink Financial was advised by Morrison & Foerster and BofA Merrill Lynch. The Carlyle Group was advised by Alston & Bird and Credit Suisse. TA Associates was advised by Goodwin Procter.

Equity capital for this transaction will come from Carlyle Partners V, Carlyle’s flagship $13.7 billion U.S. buyout fund, management, and Founder and Chairman Coleman Fung.

* * * * *

* * * * *

About The Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $86.1 billion of assets under management committed to 64 funds as of June 30, 2009. Carlyle invests in buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology, business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $56.3 billion of equity in 920 transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $229.1 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 875 people in 20 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $109 billion in revenue and employ more than 415,000 people around the world. www.carlyle.com

About TA Associates

Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced middle market private equity firms. The firm has invested in nearly 400 companies and manages more than $16 billion in capital. With offices in Boston, London, Menlo Park and Mumbai, TA Associates leads buyouts and minority recapitalizations of profitable growth companies in the technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer industries. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

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Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) has bought social gaming company Playfish Inc. for $400 million, including a $100 million earn-out. The company had raised $21 million in VC funding from Accel Partners and Index Ventures.

PRESS RELEASE

Index Ventures and Accel Partners, two leading global venture capital firms, today announce the sale of portfolio company Playfish Inc. to Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS). Playfish was acquired for a consideration of up to $400 million including an earnout of up to $100 million and excluding cash balances.

Kevin Comolli, board member from Accel Partners stated, “As the original institutional seed investor in Playfish it has been a pleasure to work with the founders and management team and to see them achieve such extraordinary growth. Playfish has been recognized in the industry for its innovation and creativity and continues to change the way people play games by creating more social and connected experiences. We are sure they will continue to thrive under the ownership of Electronic Arts.”

Ben Holmes, board member from Index Ventures said, “We want to congratulate Kristian Segerstråle, the other founders and the entire Playfish team for what they have achieved in such a short time. We are delighted to have been one of the investors in such a forward-thinking company and we wish them every success in the future.”

Kristian Segerstråle, Playfish CEO, commented, “I want to thank Accel Partners and Index Ventures who bought into our vision for a new type of games company and have supported us from the start and through our sale to Electronic Arts.”

About Playfish

Playfish leads the social gaming industry in innovation and creativity with award-winning, category-defining games designed for friends to play together. The company has changed the way people play games by creating more social and connected experiences. To date, more than 150 million Playfish games have been installed and played by millions of people worldwide on platforms such as Facebook, MySpace, Google, Bebo, iPhone and Android. The company’s games are amongst the most acclaimed and popular online, including Pet Society, Restaurant City, Country Story and Who Has The Biggest Brain? Playfish has development studios in London, San Francisco, Beijing and Tromso, Norway. Playfish is backed by Accel Partners, Index Ventures and Stanhope Capital.

About Accel Partners

Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of excellence and innovation in venture capital, and is dedicated to partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, London, UK, and Bangalore, India as well as in China via the IDG-Accel Partnership.

With over $6 billion under management, Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have defined their categories, including Actuate, Acopia, Agile Software, Alfresco, AMCC, Arrowpoint, BBN, Brightcove, ComScore, Etsy, Facebook, Foundry Networks, Gameforge, Getjar, GlamMedia, Imperva, Infinera, Interwoven, JBoss, Kayak, Macromedia, Maven Networks, metroPCS, Polycom/PictureTel, Portal Software, QlikTech, Rapt, Real Networks, Redback Networks, Riverbed, UUNet, Veritas, Walmart.com, Webroot, Wily Technology, XenSource and Zimbra. For more information, please visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com

About Index Ventures

Index Ventures is a leading global venture capital firm active in technology venture investing since 1996. The firm is dedicated to helping top entrepreneurial teams in the Information Technology, Clean Technology and Life Science sectors build their companies into market defining global leaders. The firm has offices in Geneva, London and Jersey and focuses on investments from seed through growth stage companies. Current portfolio companies include Adconion, AlertMe, Betfair, Criteo, DimDim, Lovefilm, Moshi Monsters, MOO, NormOxys, Oanda, OpenX, PanGenetics, Telegent and viagogo. Recent exits of note include Last.fm (the world’s largest socialmusic platform, recently acquired by CBS) and MySQL (the world’s most popular open source database recently acquired by Sun). For more information, please visit www.indexventures.com.

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A bunch of folks have submitted this recent Washington Post article about the growing anger and resentment towards red light and speed cameras. We’ve posted similar articles in the past, but this is one of the first times I’ve seen the topic discussed in a major mainstream paper. The discussion basically hits on all the high points, showing that people really hate the devices and that the reason they’re so popular is not safety, but revenue. It also looks at the stats, talking about a few different studies. It does mention one study claiming that the cameras have decreased accidents and fatalities, but then notes numerous other studies that disagree, and digs into the details of the original study to find that it does not account for multiple other factors. At best, the studies seem to indicate that red light and speed cameras do not decrease accident rates (in one damning study, a town that got rid of its cameras saw a bigger decrease in accidents than a neighboring town that installed them). In the end, it’s quite clear that the cameras are entirely about money, and have nothing to do with safety — and it’s nice to see more people recognizing this issue.

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UPDATE Activision just contacted us and in no uncertain terms said that nobody has been given permission to sell the game early. Not GameStop, not the indie video game store on the corner, not anybody.

Activision has not given any retailer permission to sell Modern Warfare 2 prior to the Nov. 10 street date. The company fully supports the Nov.10 street date.

And there you have it. (I always thought this whole thing sounded fishy. Why would Activision spend millions upon millions of dollars publishing the game, marketing the Nov. 10 date, only to break it because a couple of mom-and-pop video game stores decided to sell it early? It didn’t make sense. As it that doesn’t happen all the time, street dates being broken by rogue stores.)

So if you do find a copy of the game before tomorrow consider yourself lucky.

I’ve kept the original text down here, just because. You’ll notice that I cleverly struck it out, indicating that it’s no longer valid.

You most certainly already know this by now, but Modern Warfare 2 is probably already available at your local GameStop. The release date (tomorrow, actually) was broken last week by various so-called mom-and-pop video game stores, so Activision went ahead and started letting select GameStops sell the game.

GameStop, with Activision’s eventual approval, made the decision to break the street date, as its known, because other stores, particularly in the northeast, had already broken the date. Can’t have li’l ol’ mom-and-pop have all the fun, now can we?

What does this mean for you? You can try to call your local GameStop, and see if it’s selling the game early. If so, hooray. If not, you’ll have to wait one more agonizing day to play the game.

I’m still undecided if I’m going to get it, seeing as though World of Warcraft takes up a supermajority of my gaming time. Not that any of you care, which I fully recognize.

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports on this element of GOP-backed health reforms. “A core feature of the health overhaul proposal unveiled by House Republicans – and of GOP plans for years – would allow individual health insurance policies to be sold across state lines. Currently, consumers can buy policies only from insurers licensed by the states where they live.”

Health policy experts hold different views on Saturday’s House overhaul vote. Kaiser Health News collected some of their responses.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin: The House Bill Could Have Been Avoided

Jonathan Cohn: The House Bill Is A Great Start

Robert Laszewski: Loading More People Onto the Titanic

Karen Pollitz: From Now On, We’re All In This Together

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with Lisa Benson’s “The HIPAA Bone Is Connected To The….”

Kaiser Health News staff writers Eric Pianin and Mary Agnes Carey report on what lies ahead for Democrats in their push to overhaul the health care system. “Now comes the really hard part. After a brief celebration of House passage of landmark health legislation, House and Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama face weeks, if not months, of difficult negotiations in constructing a final package that will win congressional approval” (11/8).

Among other issues making news in the health care reform debate are people’s weight, benefits for homosexual partners, the debate over interstate insurance and the timeline for implementing any changes.

The New York Times on the weight issue. “Heavier Americans are pushing back now with newfound vigor in the policy debate, lobbying legislators and trying to move public opinion to recognize their point of view: that thin does not necessarily equal fit, and that people can be healthy at any size.”

Congress is considering making it easier for employers to financially reward employees who practice healthy behavior, like losing weight. But the provisions are seeing push back from some, including the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, who advocates for heavier people. “On Capitol Hill, the association asked legislators for a public option from which fat people could not be excluded because of weight and for coverage that did not consider excess weight a pre-existing condition.” Some feel encouraged that the House bill does not allow pricing changes based on obesity (Saulny, 11/7).

(Related KHN story: Just Rewards? Healthy Workers Might Get Bigger Insurance Breaks – Carey, 7/28)

The New York Times in a separate story reports on nutrition labeling requirements, lower taxes for gay couples who receive health benefits from employers and a new program on teaching parents how to interact with their children. “Those are some of the little-noticed provisions in a mammoth health care bill taken up Saturday by the House of Representatives.” Under the bill, benefits for gay partners would be tax-free, chain restaurants with more than 20 locations would have to provide calorie counts for food they offer (Pear, 11/7).

Kaiser Health News reports on the debate over selling insurance over state lines. “Some insurers support the GOP approach (to allow the sale of health insurance over state lines), as does the National Federation of Independent Business, which says it would help the self-employed and also hopes lawmakers would give small employers the opportunity to buy workers’ insurance this way. But critics … say the provision would erode many state government consumer protections, leave policyholders with inadequate coverage and could actually lead to higher premiums for some people” (Galewitz, 11/8).

The Los Angeles Times has a Q&A on the timeline for implementing the reforms. “The proposed insurance exchange, a regulated marketplace, would not be in place until 2013. Medicaid expansion and the payment of premium subsidies to individuals and small employers would also begin in 2013. In the meantime, however, the House bill would create a program providing immediate, temporary coverage for the uninsured” (Geiger and Oliphant, 11/8).

The Wall Street Journal has a list of what the House bill would mean for various groups including the uninsured, the insured, employers, hospitals, doctors, insurers and pharmaceutical companies (11/9).

The Chinese are also trying to change their health care system, but as the United States tries to extend insurance to all, “China is simply attempting to provide a modicum of coverage for its people,” Reuters reports. The Chinese are also trying to stop the hospital system’s “reliance on peddling drugs to earn revenue. … One illness can ruin a Chinese family, driving everyone — from well-paid white collar employees at foreign firms to migrant construction workers and hard-scrabble farmers — to save around 40 percent of household income for a rainy day.” Chinese economists argue that lowering costs could allow the Chinese to spend more of their disposable income and ease tensions with Washington over the trade deficit (Hornby, 11/8).