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[6]---------------------------------------------------------------
STOCK REPORT: Com Dev not immune to market woes
November 2008

It was an improvement over October ... although not at Com Dev, where the
stock market collapse finally caught up with the company. Its shares had
made it through October unscathed (see previous digest), but fell in
November to their lowest month-end price since February 2006.

ATS shares were the biggest gainer of the month after the company reported
good quarterly results, but it wasn't enough to make up for their drop in
October and they finished at their second-lowest month-end price ever.

For the month of November:

ATS [TSX: ATA] +37%
Open Text [TSX: OTC] +17%
MKS [TSX: MKX] +8%
Dalsa [TSX: DSA] +7%
Descartes [TSX: DSG] 0%
Sandvine [TSX: SVC] 0%
===============================
--S&P TSX COMPOSITE INDEX -5%
Arise [TSX: APV] -10%
RIM [TSX: RIM] -11%
RDM [TSX: RC] -14%
--S&P TSX VENTURE INDEX -19%
Biorem [TSXV: BRM] -23%
Com Dev [TSX: CDV] -27%
TurboSonic [OTCBB: TSTA] -61%

Virtek is off the list, having been acquired by Gerber Scientific and
delisted (see previous digest).

With one month to go in 2008, the only company with shares showing a gain
over the year is Open Text, up 14% (all of which came in November). At the
other end of the list, Arise and Sandvine shares are in a dead heat for
worst performer, both with 79.1% declines so far in 2008. Arise shares
have now fallen for seven consecutive months, and the company has dropped
below Sandvine in market capitalization, just slightly ahead of MKS.

Companies with core operations outside the area:

Oracle [Nasdaq: ORCL] +5%
Ansys [Nasdaq: ANSS] +1%
===================================
McAfee [NYSE: MFE] -7%
Sybase [NYSE: SY] -7%
Acorn Energy [Nasdaq: ACFN] -11%
Adobe [Nasdaq: ADBE] -13%
NCR [NYSE: NCR] -17%
Google [Nasdaq: GOOG] -18%
Agfa-Gevaert [Brussels: AGFA] -28%
Blue Coat [Nasdaq: BCSI] -34%
ON Semiconductor [Nasdaq: ONNN] -43%

[7]---------------------------------------------------------------
Miscellaneous Tidbits

* Software from CREZ Basketball Systems will be used to manage all league
statistics for the Premier Basketball League's 2009 season. The league
consists of teams in 16 cities, including Montreal, Quebec City, and
Halifax, as well as Buffalo, Rochester, and 11 other U.S. cities. (There
was supposed to be a Toronto team this season, but it never happened.)

* Well.ca was named one of Canada's top 10 angel-backed companies at the
National Angel Capital Organization's Canadian Co-investment Summit in
Toronto. Well.ca was the first company listed on the news release, but the
NACO didn't say if the order on the release matched the ranking of the
companies. At the event, 25 angel-backed companies made pitches for
another round of funding.

* Tangam Systems announced a partnership with Las Vegas-based Shuffle
Master, a Nasdaq-listed company. Shuffle Master will help Tangam to
promote its products to casinos and the two companies are looking at
working together to develop new products.

* IMS says that Bell Mobility has agreed to help distribute iLane in
Canada. iLane, which IMS unveiled in 2006, is a Bluetooth device that uses
voice commands and text-to-voice technology to give drivers hands-free
access to their e-mail.

* LoyaltyMatch has partnered with Palo Alto-based UpTake, a VC-backed
search site for travel deals and information. UpTake will provide links to
the LoyaltyMatch site to help its users convert frequent flier and other
points into cash.

* Com Dev finished the review of its past stock option grants and found
that 635,779 options awarded in 2006 and 433,400 options awarded in 1999
had been improperly priced. None of the 2006 options had been exercised,
so the company has just adjusted the exercise price from $4.44 a share to
$5.14. Of the 1999 options, only 70,130 were exercised and the rest
expired. The company decided not to take any action on those. It also
provided an explanation for the pricing of 350,000 additional options
granted in 1999. Com Dev says the OSC sent letters to the company and to
chairman Keith Ainsworth admonishing them for their practices, but it
intends no further action. Com Dev also said that Ainsworth will take the
director's education program offered by the Institute of Corporate
Directors.

* RIM announced that there were over 400,000 downloads of its MySpace for
BlackBerry application in the first week after its launch on November 13.

* ATS saw its sales in the quarter ended September 30 jump 49% from a weak
quarter last year and 4% from the previous quarter to $219,536. Earnings
were $9.3 million.

* Biorem earned $144,000 on sales of $4.1 million in the quarter ended
September 30 (Q3 08). Over the first nine months of the year, its sales
are up 49% over last year.

* TurboSonic earned US$30,000 on sales of US$5.0 million in the quarter
ended September 30. Sales were up 55% from a year ago.

* Blackboard -- the U.S. company that successfully sued Desire2Learn for
patent infringement -- has now filed suit against the U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office, complaining that the USPTO should have stopped its
reexamination of Blackboard's patent.

WATERLOO TECH DIGEST -- #141
December 2, 2008

In this issue:
1. Arise revenue jumps, but losses continue
2. MKS sales climb 19%
3. Coreworx looks to cut costs after lowering sales forecasts

4. Descartes quarterly profits top US$2M
5. RDM ends poor year with stronger quarterly sales
6. STOCK REPORT: Com Dev not immune to market woes

7. Miscellaneous tidbits from Crez, Well.ca, Tangam, IMS, LoyaltyMatch,
Com Dev, RIM, ATS, Biorem, TurboSonic, Desire2Learn

ARCHIVES
Read back issues, check stock prices, and find links to area high-tech
companies at: http://www.garywill.com/digest/

WATSTART: THE WATERLOO TECHNOLOGY STARTUP NETWORK
http://www.watstart.ca/
RSS Feed: http://watstart.ca/rss

Hosted by PacketWorks: http://www.packetworks.net/

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[1]---------------------------------------------------------------
Arise revenue jumps, but losses continue
November 11, 2008

Arise reported its first significant revenue from the sale of PV cells in
the quarter ended September 30 (Q3 08), boosting total revenue to $15.9
million. Of that, more than 98% was generated by PV cells, with the
balance generated by Arise's traditional systems business.

While the top line was impressive, it didn't translate into better
earnings. Between equipment downtime, off-spec production, breakage, and
other production inefficiencies -- all of which the company expects will
improve in future quarters -- the costs of goods sold exceeded the revenue
they generated, leaving a negative gross profit of $2.6 million. Once
other expenses were added in, Arise lost $8.2 million in the quarter. The
loss takes the company's accumulated deficit to $43.2 million.

Arise also lowered its PV cell sales forecast for the current quarter by
about $6-9 million, but still expects sales to be in the $21-24 million
range.

The company is also looking at a delay of a month or two in the start of
its second production line in Germany. It says that a supplier will not be
able to deliver a key piece of equipment at the originally scheduled time.

Arise estimates that its PV cells would have sold at a gross margin of
about 3% if not for expenses related to being at the beginning of the
learning curve at its new facility in Germany -- which it said added about
$3.1 million in expenses.

Arise expects that it will soon select a site for its silicon
manufacturing plant. A pilot plant is being built in Kitchener, and the
company has narrowed its list of potential sites for a full manufacturing
plant to two locations.

The company ended the quarter with $21.8 million in cash.

[2]---------------------------------------------------------------
MKS sales climb 19%
November 25, 2008

A good quarter for MKS, which reported US$1.4 million in earnings on sales
of US$16.3 million in the quarter ended October 31 (Q2 09). Sales were up
19% from last year and 6% from the previous quarter.

The company spent US$2.5 million to repurchase its own shares in the
quarter, while operations generated US$4.5 million in cash. MKS finished
the quarter with US$10.6 million in cash.

[3]---------------------------------------------------------------
Coreworx looks to cut costs after lowering sales forecasts
November 13, 2008

Coreworx is "revising its operating plans for 2009" to cut costs after it
lowered its projected sales for the year. Even with the cuts, the company
expects that it will need to raise money in 2009. The new funds could come
from its parent company, Acorn Energy, or from new investors, or through a
bank line of credit or a combination of the three.

Coreworx was acquired by Acorn in August. Acorn has warned its investors
that it may be writing down the value of Coreworx in a future quarter.

[4]---------------------------------------------------------------
Descartes quarterly profits top US$2M
November 26, 2008

Descartes earned US$2.3 million on sales of US$17.0 million in the quarter
ended October 31 (Q3 09). Sales were flat from the previous quarter and up
10% from Q3 last year. Descartes has completed four acquisitions over the
past year.

Operations provided US$5.9 million in cash and Descartes finished the
quarter with a hefty US$53.5 in cash on the books.

[5]---------------------------------------------------------------
RDM ends poor year with stronger quarterly sales
November 27, 2008

RDM wrapped up a poor fiscal year with what was probably its best quarter
of 2008 -- certainly the best from a top line perspective. The company
lost $476,000 on sales of $7.5 million in the quarter ended September 30
(Q4 08). Sales were flat from a year ago and up 43% from a weak Q3.

For the year, RDM lost $1.0 million on sales of $26.6 million -- down 22%
from 2007.

The royalty payment made to Data Treasury Corporation -- part of a
settlement of a DTC patent infringement suit brought against RDM in 2003
-- climbed to $1.1 million in 2008, an amount equivalent to 4.2% of all
revenue. The payment was 34% higher than what DTC received from RDM in
2007.