Our Bulldog blog wrapup of the latest technology news: SAS has big plans for the National Retail federation show; Sony plans Internet-based TV service; Quintiles strikes info deal with Georgia firm; judge OKs Nortel deal; Yahoo unveils new services; Twitter co-founder launches new photo app.

The news:

  • SAS to Tout “Big Ideas” in Big Apple

CARY – SAS will be touting its analytics tools at the National Retail Federation’s big Expo next week in New York.

Two “Big Ideas” sessions will focus on so-called “omnichannel” analytics that help retailers deal with customers who “expect to shop anywhere at any time,” SAS says.

The programs, as described by SAS:

  • Transforming the Retail Business with a New Kind of Analytical Talent: An intimate chat with Parinaz Vahabzadeh, Vice President, Global Customer Intelligence and Advanced Analytics at Coach; and Lori Bieda, SAS: Retail analytical teams need to predict market trends, anticipate customer needs, and thread together a full spectrum of insights. These increased demands mean a dramatic shift in how retailers look at their analytical teams’ mission and the skills necessary to get the job done. Learn how Coach, a leading New York design house of modern luxury accessories, and SAS see these changes taking shape, and discover what needs to be done to be well positioned for this challenge.
  • The Role of Analytics Across the Entire Retail Supply Chain: A panel discussion including insights from Scott Zucker, Senior Vice President of Merchandise Operations, Family Dollar Stores Inc.; and Lori Schafer, SAS. The panel will touch on how to produce, select and sell products in the right quantities at the right time by applying predictive analytics and forecasting at every decision point. Attend this session to learn how analytics is used from product production and planning through merchandising the shelf. Also learn how forecasting and other advanced analytics build value for customers.

SAS is based in Cary and is the world’s largest privately held software company.

  • Sony Plans Internet-Based Television Service in U.S. This Year

LAS VEGAS – Sony will begin testing an Internet-based pay-television service in the U.S. this year, bringing live and on-demand programming to TVs and its PlayStation game consoles.

The product will make it easy for consumers to switch between live and Web-based programs, Andrew House, chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, said yesterday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Tokyo-based company will also test a video-game streaming service for the PlayStation, smartphones and TVs.

Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai is banking on Sony’s engineering prowess, entertainment assets and products ranging from cameras to phones to rally the company and reach young consumers who want flexible access to content. In a CES keynote, he doubled down on his One Sony vision, two months after slashing the company’s earnings forecast because of stalling demand for TVs, cameras and Hollywood films.

“Sometimes at Sony we zigzag our way to great innovation and sometimes we fail,” Hirai said, projecting images of failed products on the screen behind him. “It’s the reason we keep trying.”

A TV service may put Sony into competition with incumbent cable and satellite providers such as Comcast Corp. and DirecTV. One hurdle that slowed Intel Corp., which developed a similar Web-based technology, was the cost of the content.

Sony has held talks with media companies including CBS Corp., Comcast’s NBCUniversal, 21st Century Fox Inc.’s Fox Networks and its own Sony film and TV studios for content rights, according to people with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified because negotiations are private.

  • Nortel Wins Approval for Settlement

NEW YORK – Nortel on Tuesday received approval from a federal bankruptcy judge in New Jersey for its agreement to settle bankruptcy claims with former European subsidiaries for a payment of $75 million.

Nortel called the agreement a “significant milestone” in its liquidation process. The subsidiaries agree to drop pursuit of more than $3 billion in assets.

However, a trial looms later this year on how to divide the former telecommunication giant’s assets among creditors.

Nortel once employed several thousand people in RTP.

  • Quintiles, The Medical Affairs Company Strike Partnership

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Quintiles (NYSE: Q) has formed a partnership with The Medical Affairs Company, which is based in Georgia, to collaborate in offering medical affairs related services across the U.S.

“Today, more than ever before, biopharmaceutical companies looking to commercialize products in the U.S. are focused on demonstrating the value and benefits of their products to an increasingly diverse range of stakeholders,” said Daryl Gaugler, senior vice president, Commercial Solutions at Quintiles. “As this stakeholder landscape and its requirements continue to evolve, we are delighted to be working alongside a company like TMAC to offer the full spectrum of commercialization services, with an integrated approach to sales, medical science liaison, clinical education and market entry.

“This collaboration will extend and enhance our ability to deliver integrated commercialization programs for our customers, including for small to medium sized companies, as they consider their options for developing capabilities in the U.S. market.”

  • Yahoo! Touts New Services

LAS VEGAS – Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer unveiled updated advertising services, mobile products and digital magazines for technology and food news, part of a push to revive sales at the largest U.S. Web portal.

In her first keynote speech as Yahoo CEO at the International Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday  in Las Vegas, Mayer was joined onstage by a parade of employees she’s brought on in the past year to build out Yahoo’s businesses, including global anchor Katie Couric and Nick D’Aloisio, the teenager who sold news-reading tool Summly to Yahoo last year.

Mayer, who took the helm at Yahoo in July 2012, has been working to reinvent the company by revamping products and adding exclusive content to help it compete with Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. for users and advertisers. The company’s new, more unified portfolio of ad tools will make it easier for companies to buy and manage promotions across Yahoo’s websites, said Senior Vice President Scott Burke, who also spoke onstage.

“A common theme across a lot of what you’ve seen today is us simplifying our business,” Mayer said yesterday. “Simplification has been a guiding force in our approach in reimagining our products, our advertising systems and our future plans.”

The new advertising products include a service to help marketers more accurately target audiences and a new ad exchange, which gives companies more tools to manage promotions on their websites.

  • Twitter Co-Founder Unveils Startup

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter co-founder Biz Stone hopes to demonstrate that a picture can be worth even more than 140 characters of text.

That’s the concept behind a smartphone application released Tuesday by Jelly Industries. Using part of the wealth he accumulated at Twitter, Stone launched Jelly nine months ago without revealing precisely what he was working on.

The intrigue is over now. Jelly’s free app for iPhones and Android phones allows people to tap into the collective knowledge within their Twitter and Facebook networks to find answers about things that puzzle them. The questions are accompanied with a photo taken of an object that triggered the curiosity of the app’s user.

Twitter and Facebook friends must also have the Jelly app to see the questions. But those friends can then forward the questions to others who might know the answer, even if they don’t have the app.

Although Stone believes Jelly can grow into an “awesome business,” Stone doubts he would have tackled the challenges of building another startup unless he believed it could help teach people that computer-driven algorithms don’t necessarily have all the answers in life.