For the record 12 May

12-05-2008

by Emmet Ryan

Boxer takes a jab at RTE | Celtic Catalysts picks up award

Boxer DTT, a consortium formed by BT Ireland, radio broadcasting firm Communicorp and Swedish digital terrestrial television (DTT) operator the Boxer Group, has hit out at RTE in the battle for DTT licences. "It's just not appropriate for any broadcaster to be directly involved in platform management, including RTE," said Lucy Gaffney, chairperson of Boxer DTT. She made the comments at a presentation by Boxer to the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to operate Ireland's DTT service. Gaffney claimed that the Boxer consortium was the only one established specifically and solely to provide digital terrestrial television services in Ireland.

Pharmaceuticals distributor UniPhar has invested in SAP's enterprise resource planning system and IBM's customer relationship management software. UniPhar employs 700 people in Ireland and Britain. The firm has made the investment in a bid to enhance customer service and support continuing growth.

In other news of pharmaceuticals, Celtic Catalysts, which develops manufacturing technology for that sector, has been presented with the NovaUCD 2008 Innovation Award. The award was presented to the company in recognition of its successful commercialisation of chiral synthesis research that took place in UCD's School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Irish gaming software firm Havok has appointed Kurt Pakendorf as vice president and general counsel. Pakendorf will be based at Havok's headquarters in the Digital Hub in Dublin and will be responsible for all legal activities relating to the company, as well as serving as a member of Havok's management team.

In more appointments news, ICT provider Calyx Group says that Tara Brady is assuming the position of chief operating officer for the group. Brady will take responsibility for the management of operations within the group as a whole.

O2 Ireland has announced the Irish launch of the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphone from Research In Motion (RIM). The device comes in blue or pink and includes a global positioning system. RIM has also announced it will be launching a high-end version of the BlackBerry this summer called the BlackBerry Bold.