Dueling apps: CityHall app rivals Philly311, CityEats challenges OpenTable [LINKS]

Tech Life: OpenTable’s rival to launch here [Philly.com] “What distinguishes CityEats from OpenTable? Truth to tell, far less than what they share — except, of course, that CityEats went live here this week with about 30 restaurants and OpenTable claims more than 600 in the region and more than 230 in the city itself.” Here’s the full press release from MarketWire.
City is too app-happy [Daily News] “When it comes to city services, there should only be one app for that.” Technically Philly covered the overlap between Philly 311 and CityHall app here.
High-tech won’t revive city alone [Inquirer] — interesting op-ed from Jonathan Zimmerman
Stop Looking For A Technical Co-founder [TechCrunch] “Most quality software engineers today have offers of amazing work environments and 6-figure salaries from the likes of Google and Facebook. Few are crazy enough to say no to that. Those that do typically have their own ideas, aren’t sure they need you, and have heard enough cliche pitches to ignore you by default. Your odds are bad. If you don’t have a strong track record, your odds are terrible. Not a startup-is-a- mosquito terrible, ‘waste of your time’ terrible. So stop looking for a technical co-founder.” This story was written by PennApps founder and computer science senior Alexey Komissarouk.
Exploring Gamification at the Inaugural Philadelphia Grassroots Game [Pew Center for Arts & Heritage] “The conference will explore the role that games have played in an increasingly wide array of fields, from business to education to art.”

InterDigital eyes Delaware [delawareonline] “A wireless telephone technology company with an extensive patent list is looking to bring 74 employees to Delaware with the help of a state job-development grant. InterDigital Inc., based in King of Prussia, Pa., makes wireless technology used in mobile devices, networks and services. Most of the employees would be relocated from King of Prussia, but some would be new, the company reported.”
Water company to open solar farm near Phoenixville [Philly.com] “Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. will open its second large solar farm on Friday when Gov. Corbett and other officials dedicate a $6.5 million, 1.5-megawatt photovoltaic facility at the company’s Pickering water treatment plant near Phoenixville. The solar farm will reduce Aqua’s electricity purchases by 2.3 million kWh a year, generating $207,000 in energy savings and other revenue from relieving congestion on the regional power grid.”
Spring-Ford Schools Ask Students To Report Bullying On New App [CBS Philly] “Officials at the Spring-Ford School District unveiled a new link on their school district website that will allow students to anonymously notify them when a student needs help, whether because of bullying, drug and alcohol abuse or other reason. The FriendWatch app was developed by Jay Niblick, a Spring-Ford parent who owns a technology firm that creates software”
Philadelphia Streets Department Recognized for Innovative Practices [City of Philadelphia] “The City of Philadelphia Streets Department has been recognized for “innovative community and government initiatives” by the Corbett Administration for the implementation of BigBelly Solar compacting litter baskets and recycling containers. The baskets have saved the City a million dollars in annual costs by reducing the trash collection rate per trash can from an average 17 times per week to 2.5 times per week.”
Startup utilizes Philadelphia roots, taps into Penn network[Daily Pennsylvanian] “When most startups receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, they move to Silicon Valley or New York. But not Quewey, a startup created by two Penn graduates that wants to leverage its Philadelphia roots and tap into the Penn network.”
Dreams Inc. to be acquired by Fanatics Inc. [MarketWatch] The hat tip goes to Philly Tech News who added this insight: “Fanatics Inc. is a part of GSI Commerce founder Michael Rubin’s Kynetic LLC, which is based in Conshohocken. Deal values Dreams Inc. at $183 million including debt.”
Poptent Launches World’s Largest Video Production House for Major Brands and Agencies [MarketWatch] Hat tip to PTN again. Technically Philly previously covered Poptent here.
Philly’s “Next American City” Wants To Bring Longform Journalism Straight To Your Inbox [Fast Company] “Lind says the new strategy will help alleviate a sense of content overload by both cutting through the noise and allowing more time for reflection between articles.”
Monetate’s Record Growth in Q1 Fueled by Drive for the Ultimate Online Experience [Digital Journal]
Inside SEPTA’s “Nerve Center” [Hidden Philly] A photo tour.
Insider: SAP Booted Its North American President For Missing One Quarterly Target [BusinessInsider SAI: Enterprise]
icueTV launches DropWallet, a new mobile eCommerce platform for publishers; Time Inc.’s Real Simple first user [Philly Tech News]
Revitas Named to IDC’s 2011 Top 10 Vendor Watchlist for Life Sciences [BusinessWire]
Lockheed Martin won’t get $70M bonus from Air Force for GPS work [Philadelphia Business Journal]
Weekly Kickstarter: The Switched-On Garden [Geekadelphia]

Companies: Philly 311 / Poptent

People: Alexey Komissarouk

Projects: PennApps

Knowledge is power!