Daily Digest 20 August

20-08-2008

by Deirdre McArdle

Boston Scientific to close Offaly plant | Symantec acquires PC Tools

Medical device firm Boston Scientific is to close its plant in Tullamore, Co Offaly, with the loss of 240 jobs. In a statement, Boston Scientific said the proposed closure follows the acquisition of Boston Scientific's fluid management business in February by Avista Capital Partners. Avista has decided to transfer manufacturing of fluid management products from Tullamore to its existing manufacturing facility in the US. Boston Scientific's remaining products, which are currently manufactured in Tullamore, will be transferred and manufactured at the firm's existing facility in Cork. The changes will take effect from March 2009. Boston Scientific told the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, that it intended to work with staff in Tullamore and with Government agencies to explore ways in which the workforce and the facility there can be marketed. The company said that there are opportunities for certain staff to redeploy to Boston Scientific's remaining facilities in Galway, Donegal and Tipperary. Boston Scientific employs more than 5,000 people in Ireland.

Advertisers worldwide will spend USD2.4 billion on the mobile channel in 2009, up from USD1 billion this year, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The firm said it expects a growing number of brands to put ads in different mobile media. Meanwhile, research firm eMarketer has outlined its projections for the mobile advertising market. eMarketer's figures include the entire mobile ad economy: creative, related IT and other related spending. It expects mobile advertising spend to hit USD19.1 billion by 2012 with the bulk of the spending (USD14.2 billion) going into mobile message advertising

The European Commission has launched a pilot project that will give unrestricted online access to EU-funded research results -- primarily research articles published in peer reviewed journals -- after an embargo period of between 6 and 12 months. The pilot will cover around 20 percent of the Framework Programme 7 (FP7) budget in areas such as health, energy, environment, social sciences and information and communication technologies. "Easy and free access to the latest knowledge in strategic areas is crucial for EU research competitiveness. This open access pilot is an important step towards achieving the 'fifth freedom', the free movement of knowledge amongst Member States, researchers, industry and the public at large," said EU Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik. "Beyond, it is a fair return to the public of research that is funded by EU money."

Yahoo's story rating service, Buzz, which is similar to the popular Digg service, was opened up to the public on Tuesday. This means that any Yahoo user can now submit a story on the web to Buzz for voting on by other members. Web publishers will also be able to add a 'Buzz Up' button to their site so that users can rate stories, in much the same way they would 'Digg' a story. The key differentiator between Yahoo's Buzz and Digg is that the top 'Buzz' stories get a mention on Yahoo's homepage.

Security giant Symantec is to acquire consumer security firm PC Tools for an undisclosed sum. Under the terms of the deal, PC Tools will operate as a subsidiary of Symantec's consumer business unit. PC Tools chief executive Simon Clausen will remain in charge of the unit's operations. The deal is likely to expand Symantec's reach in the consumer security market.

IT management software firm CA has linked up with security firm Arcot Systems. The agreement between the firms will see CA resell Arcot RiskFort with CA SiteMinder Web Access Manager. CA says this means that its business customers will be able to reduce the risk of fraud and identity theft in their online transactions through risk-based authentication. "Moving forward as Web 2.0, software-as-a-service, collaboration and social networks gain greater relevance for business, the demand for identity assurance will be even more critical," said Bill Mann, senior vice president, CA Security Management.

Palm has announced the release of the Treo Pro, a Windows Mobile smartphone aimed at the business market. The Treo Pro features a one-touch Wi-Fi button, as well as dedicated e-mail and calendar buttons. It also boasts a high-resolution colour touchscreen, a full QWERTY keyboard and a removable battery that offers up to five hours of talk time. The device will be available from Vodafone and O2 in Ireland from September. An unlocked version will also be available through the Palm online store (http://www.eurostore.palm.com) for a suggested retail price of EUR499, including VAT.