For the record 4 March

04-03-2008

by Deirdre McArdle

PopCap Games breaks into Southeast Asia market | Students flock to 'Chemistry at Work' event

Dublin mobile gaming firm PopCap Games has signed a deal with Acme Mobile, a distributor of mobile entertainment content in Southeast Asia. The agreement will see PopCap's mobile games distributed to over 250 million mobile subscribers across six Southeast Asia countries, starting Tuesday. PopCap will use Acme Mobile's "Amob.com" family of web and WAP sites, as well as its network of carrier relationships, to distribute PopCap titles to mobile phone subscribers in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

By 2012 32.5 million US households will have broadband services with speeds of 10Mbps or higher, according to Parks AssociatesÂ’ North American Broadband Market Update. At the end of 2007, 5.7 million, or 9 percent of US broadband households, had such speeds.

Public and private sector organisations continue to struggle with management of unstructured information -- including scanned images, Word files, spreadsheets, presentations and e-mail, according to a survey conducted by information solutions provider EMC. However, deploying content management systems is proving to be a major challenge, according to those surveyed, with nearly half (47 percent) saying that today's content management offerings require too much effort to implement.

Sony Ericsson has unveiled the T303 slider phone as the mobile manufacturer tries to broaden its market appeal. The phone, which comes in 'Shimmering Silver' or 'Shadow Black', is aimed at a low price point. Equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera and all the other basic functions expected on today's entry-level phones -- Bluetooth, FM radio -- the phone will be available in mid-2008.

Secondary school students from all over Dublin and representatives from many of the major employers of science graduates attended the 'Chemistry at Work' exhibition at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Kevin Street. Presentations and demonstrations included a look at how chemicals are used to solve crimes by restoring serial numbers on vehicles and firearms (Garda Technical Bureau), the characteristics compounds require to be effective as pharmaceuticals (Topchem), cosmetics (Oriflame), adhesives used in DVDs and ATM cards (Henkel), as well as the application of chemistry to monitoring our environment (Environmental Protection Agency).

Irish internet and telecoms firm Magnet Business has appointed Nicola Mortimer as sales director. Mortimer has over 16 years' experience in the telecommunications industry and joins Magnet from BT Ireland.

In more news of appointments, business communications firm Avaya Ireland has announced two new management appointments. John Sharpe, Avaya Ireland country manager for four years, moves to the Avaya Global Deals Group, while Sales Manager Jason Flynn will step into Sharpe's shoes as country manager.

Elsewhere in appointments, patent and trade mark firm Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys has appointed Seamus Doherty as senior trademark attorney. The appointment follows the firm's recent launch of its IP-Free60 service, a free patents and trademarks audit service.