Just about two years after I wrote about the creation of a new game development shop, Disruptor Beam, co-founder Jon Radoff tells me the firm raised its first outside capital this week. The money comes from a ...]]> Boston.com, 5/10/2012

Just about two years after I wrote about the creation of a new game development shop, Disruptor Beam, co-founder Jon Radoff tells me the firm raised its first outside capital this week. The money comes from a trio of angels with ties to Harmonix Music Systems, the Cambridge company that created "Rock Band" and "Dance Central," as well as former E Ink chief executive Russ Wilcox.

Radoff didn't want to be specific about how much Disruptor Beam had raised in this seed round, but he did confirm it was less than $1 million.

Radoff co-founded Disruptor Beam with his wife, Angela. Investors in the seed round include CommonAngels; Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopoulos, CTO Eran Egozy, former COO Mike Dornbrook; and Wilcox. The company operates out of the WorkBar shared space in Boston's Leather District.

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TimeTrade®, the global market leader in online appointment scheduling for business and for higher education, today announced that it has become a Corporate Member of the National College Testing Association (NCTA), a non-profit organization of testing professionals ...]]> BusinessWire, 5/10/2012

TimeTrade^®, the global market leader in online appointment scheduling for business and for higher education, today announced that it has become a Corporate Member of the National College Testing Association (NCTA), a non-profit organization of testing professionals working in post-secondary institutions, in companies with test-related products and services, and in other professional testing venues.

Whether scheduling for testing centers or other campus applications such as admissions interviews, office hours with professors, tutoring sessions or financial aid appointments; hundreds of community colleges, universities and other higher education facilities worldwide use TimeTrade’s Web-based self-service scheduling to simplify how and when students meet with faculty and staff.

“As colleges and universities have already found through using TimeTrade for online appointment scheduling, automated self-service test scheduling results in lower administrative costs, improved student experiences, and better resource utilization,” said Mike Puglia, Vice President of Marketing at TimeTrade. “Joining the NCTA demonstrates our continued commitment to the education market and our shared mission to improve the quality of the testing experience.”

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Linkable Networks, a leader in card linked technology, today announced the launch of the industry’s first SKU-level offer capability allowing brands and retailers to capitalize on card linked offers with individual products, while offering ...]]> BusinessWire, 5/8/2012

Linkable Networks, a leader in card linked technology, today announced the launch of the industry’s first SKU-level offer capability allowing brands and retailers to capitalize on card linked offers with individual products, while offering financial institutions an additional source of revenue. For financial institutions, this addresses the need to be “top of wallet” to drive consumers to use a particular credit or debit card the most while reducing the need for credit reward programs. Brands and retailers can now promote specific product level items directly to customers. Savvy consumers looking to cash in on savings have the ability to access digital coupons at their fingertips, linking them directly to their existing credit or debit cards.

“Banks are looking to replace revenues lost to recent Federal regulations, merchants and manufacturers are looking for a more efficient and effective method of promotions and consumers are reacting positively to our new approach to accessing, storing and redeeming coupons,” said Doug Spear, Executive Vice President of Linkable Networks. “Being able to save on products by a simple swipe of your card benefits banks, advertisers and consumers.”

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Vela Systems Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule 70 Contract for Information Technology (contract number GS-35F-0287Y). This award enables government agencies at the federal, state ...]]> VelaSystems.com, 5/4/2012

Vela Systems Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule 70 Contract for Information Technology (contract number GS-35F-0287Y). This award enables government agencies at the federal, state and local levels to procure the Vela Systems Field Management Software Suite off of a standard contract vehicle.

The revolution in field devices, like iPads, and software infrastructures, like cloud computing, are enabling new ways of managing construction and operations. Vela Systems field management software leverages this technology revolution to enable project and agency-wide programs for quality management, safety management, leveraging 2D and 3D documents (including building information models) in the field, and commissioning of key systems and equipment for handover and operations.

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Apperian today announced the latest release of its Enterprise App Services Environment (EASE), which will significantly broaden the capabilities of mobile application management (MAM).

Businesses have outgrown the basic functionality of "create, deploy ...]]> MarketWatch, 5/3/2012

Apperian today announced the latest release of its Enterprise App Services Environment (EASE), which will significantly broaden the capabilities of mobile application management (MAM).

Businesses have outgrown the basic functionality of "create, deploy and manage apps," which used to define mobile application management. They now require a cloud platform that covers the full mobile application lifecycle management architecture, ranging from inspection of applications when they are imported for the first time, to socialization functions that foster better app creation and adoption. EASE now provides all of this in a modular solution, and all functions can be managed from a single admin console.

Aiming to provide businesses with the best products and services to meet their mobility requirements, EASE supports both native and third-party extensions, which are plugged into an "AppBus" in the platform.

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Marvel Entertainment, one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, and Offerpop, the leading social media platform for Facebook and Twitter, today announced the launch of two new Avengers VS. X-Men social media campaigns ...]]> PR Newswire, 5/3/2012

Marvel Entertainment, one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, and Offerpop, the leading social media platform for Facebook and Twitter, today announced the launch of two new Avengers VS. X-Men social media campaigns on Marvel's Facebook Page. These campaigns are leveraging Marvel's passionate fan base and the viral marketing features of Offerpop's apps to drive fan participation and brand awareness among Facebook users.

"Marvel has the greatest fans in the world and now we're making them part of the biggest comic book story we've ever told—Avengers VS. X-Men," said Peter Phillips, SVP & GM, Digital Media at Marvel Entertainment. "Teaming with Offerpop allows us to deliver new apps on Facebook that bring the spirit of Avengers VS. X-Men—and the Marvel Universe—to life in a way that we know our fans will love."

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Practically Green Inc. of Cambridge, which allows users to rate their own environmental efforts on a point system, has raised $1 million in equity funding, according to federal filings.

The funding comes from 29 investors, and according ...]]> MassHighTech, 5/1/2012

Practically Green Inc. of Cambridge, which allows users to rate their own environmental efforts on a point system, has raised $1 million in equity funding, according to federal filings.

The funding comes from 29 investors, and according to a written statement, was led by CommonAngels in Boston. It comes a year-and-a-half after the company received its first seed funding of $750,000 in November 2010.  At that time, the company added angel investors John Landry, former CTO at Lotus Development Corp., and Chris Sheehan, managing director of CommonAngels, to its board of directors.

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The coupon industry has come a long way from the nostalgic days of my grandmother clipping coupons from Manchester, New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper. In some ways, it's even become "cool." With all the ...]]> Technorati, 4/30/2012

The coupon industry has come a long way from the nostalgic days of my grandmother clipping coupons from Manchester, New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper. In some ways, it's even become "cool." With all the daily deals sites and tight economic times, the industry is burgeoning. Technorati spoke with Linkable Networks CEO, Tom Burgess, about the industry trends.

Linkable Networks is at the forefront of couponing by changing the modern savings model. "While shopper loyalty cards are dying, card-linked offers enable brand loyalty through available offers." Tom tells me. Linkable Networks' advertising unit converts TV, radio, print, banner, text, video, or mobile ads into linkable offers, known as “Linkables.” Linkables deliver targeting and attribution for advertisers, while allowing consumers to enjoy savings from the brands they use.

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Apperian announced that BMC, one of the nation’s leading providers of building materials and construction services, has chosen its Enterprise App Services Environment (EASE®) as its iOS app management platform to deploy and manage mobile ...]]> SunHerald.com, 4/24/2012

Apperian announced that BMC, one of the nation’s leading providers of building materials and construction services, has chosen its Enterprise App Services Environment (EASE®) as its iOS app management platform to deploy and manage mobile applications for its nationwide network of sales and operations personnel.

BMC is developing and rolling out a suite of enterprise mobile apps, “BMC 2 Go,” that will transform sales and operations business processes – making employees more mobile, productive and effective through high-value Apple iPhone and iPad applications.

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OwnerIQ, the inventor of Ownership Targeted media and developer of one of the most advanced Real-Time media buying platforms in the industry, announced today that it has launched CoEx, an innovative platform on which ...]]> BusinessWire, 4/18/2012

OwnerIQ, the inventor of Ownership Targeted media and developer of one of the most advanced Real-Time media buying platforms in the industry, announced today that it has launched CoEx, an innovative platform on which retailers and suppliers can securely share audience data for the purposes of running targeting cooperative campaigns.

“OwnerIQ’s ownership targeting is powered by our unique partnerships with retailers and manufacturers. A number of these partners told us they were looking for a better way to leverage today’s advertising technology to improve the way retailers and suppliers work together online,” said OwnerIQ CEO Jay Habegger. “So we built a platform that enabled both groups to safely and easily share their web audience data to execute various cooperative marketing initiatives online. That was the genesis of CoEx.”

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