NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 3 February
03-02-2009
by Bryan Collins
Taxback.com to create 100 jobs | Motorola hangs-up on fourth quarter dividend
There was good news Tuesday on the jobs front with Taxback.com announcing the creation of 100 new jobs in Dublin, Cork and Kilkenny. The company provides online income tax services for overseas workers and local services and already employs 500 staff in 18 offices around the world. Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment John McGuinness welcomed the announcement saying: "By creating 100 Irish jobs over the next 24 months, the Taxback group is showing us the way forward, reminding us to have confidence in ourselves and again stressing the importance of competitiveness."
It was a bad day for Motorola investors after the mobile phone company posted wider than expected losses and suspended its fourth-quarter dividend. The troubled company reported sales of USD7.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 while its GAAP net loss was USD3.6 billion, or USD1.57 per share. The mobile maker reported full-year 2008 sales of USD30.1 billion and a GAAP net loss for the year of USD1.84 per share. Motorola said its board of directors voted to suspend the declaration of quarterly cash dividends because this "will further strengthen the company's balance sheet and enhance its financial flexibility". Motorola also announced Edward J. Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president and corporate controller with the firm, has been named as acting chief financial officer, replacing Paul J. Liska.
Google has released Google Earth 5.0, which features 3D images of the Earth's oceans and of Mars. Users can explore three dimensional images of our planet's underwater terrain and examine satellite images of Mars taken by NASA. Google 5.0 was launched by former Vice President Al Gore and singer Jimmy Buffet at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The upgraded software also includes articles and videos about marine science from various scientific organisations like the National Geographic Society. The programme can also examine the changing landscape of different regions of Earth and lets people create their own narrated tours.
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has published an information notice which shows Irish mobile phone networks were in compliance with EU roaming regulations for the period April 2008 to September 2008. The current retail price ceiling is EUR0.56 per minute to make a call while abroad and EUR0.27 to receive a call while abroad. The EU Roaming Regulation is currently being reviewed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The proposed amendments include extending the voice cap placed on operators from 2010 to 2013 and the regulation of text messaging.
Mobile operator Vodafone Ireland announced that it had 102,000 mobile broadband subscribers at the end of December 2008. In the company's interim statement for the fourth quarter, it said that ARPU (average revenue per user) for the period decreased by 7.5 percent from EUR43.90 in the fourth quarter of 2007 to EUR40.60. Vodafone Ireland also announced the appointment of Anne O'Leary as Director of Business and Enterprise with responsibility for Vodafone's business customers and business channels.
Irish software company Captiva has signed a EUR300,000 deal with Sony Professional to provide touchscreen systems to the hospitality industry. As part of the deal, Sony will provide Captiva with commercial LCD screens that will be used as digital menu boards, primarily in fast food restaurants. Captiva has already installed over 50 Sony LCD screens in several fast food restaurants nationwide and said it is on course to install 400 by next year. The new screens will be driven by a digital signage system that allows retailers input still images, video and sound into their menus.
Mobile software provider NewBay is to release version 4 of its LifeCache Photo and Video Album (PVA) programme. LifeCache PVA lets subscribers create online photo and video albums direct from their handset or web browser. The latest release features additional video and music editing tools which can be used to create mash-ups. The software lets users organise their clips based on location, thanks to a new geo-tagging feature, and allows people to share their albums. Newbay is also citing the programme's drag and drop interface and claims the software can help mobile operators boost their average revenue per user (ARPU).
Retailer Debenhams has implemented CA's Clarity Project and Portfolio Manager (PPM). The retail giant is using Clarity PPM to track 60 change programmes and manage 140 developers, analysts, testers and technical support staff. These programmes include an update to Debenham's human resource systems and the development of an order fulfilment system for its retail site and IT infrastructure projects. CA claimed its software will help Debenhams reduce the volume of resources and money being spent on unprofitable or ineffective projects.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 