ROUNDUPS
For the record 12 February
12-02-2003
by Ralph Averbuch
Ebay sells Scottish island off Skye | Nokia to cut 550 jobs in its networks division
Nokia, the number one maker of mobile phones, said on Wednesday it will cut 550 jobs in its networks operations. The cuts, which represent 3 percent of Nokia Networks' headcount, are set to come in the United States, Britain, Sweden and Finland. Some of the employees will be relocated within the company, Nokia said, offering no further details. The company also confirmed that it would transfer some operations from its site in Santa Rosa, California to Espoo in Finland, but eventually the California facility will close. The firm will also close a small plant in Kista, Sweden, and reduce personnel in Britain. Nokia Networks employs some 18,500 people globally.
Ebay is selling a Scottish island just off the Isle of Skye. Bids start at USD100,000. Clett is just 7.5 acres and its name comes from the gaelic cleithe, meaning low concealed rock. It was originally owned by Olave the Black, a Norwegian wayfarer, and more recently by singer Donovan, who wrote a song about it in 1969, called And Clett Makes Three. The current owners had planned to sell shares of the island to American buyers but that hasn't worked out.
The US mobile industry ended 2002 with 53 percent of the population in major metropolitan areas subscribing to a mobile phone service, according to Telephia. Overall US penetration increased to 53 percent in December 2002 from 50 percent in June -- still way behind many western European countries.
Proxim, a provider of wireless LANs and WAN products, has announced the ORiNOCO AP-600a, AP-600b and AP-600g small and medium business (SMB) access points. Proxim also announced the new ORiNOCO 802.11g Gold CardBus Card and an 802.11g Access Point upgrade kit. SMBs and other cost-conscious customers such as schools and small hotspots can now install a low-cost wireless solutions.
Irish e-security company Baltimore Technologies announced Wednesday that I.T. Telecom S.p.A. has selected Baltimore UniCERT to provide Telecom Italia Group and its customers with public-key infrastructure (PKI) security applications. I.T. Telecom, the provider of IT-based services and solutions to Telecom Italia, owns one of the largest Commercial Certified Authorities in Italy and provides PKI-based security services to the entire Telecom Italia Group.
Plenexis, a satellite broadband company backed by private equity firm 3i, says it plans to sell a high-speed Internet access product to compete with other telcos offering satellite Internet in the UK. Aimed at heavy residential Internet users and SMEs, the "SkyBooster" offering will be available to anyone. After equipment and installation costs of about STG400 (EUR600), it would have a monthly price similar to the STG27 to STG30 range for high-speed landline access in the UK.
The Commerce Department of the US has approved the expansion of the ".edu" domain name to allow usage by schools such as the Connecticut Institute of Hair Design and the American Film Institute. Critics have complained that the expansion is likely to cheapen the domain for its present occupants -- including such illustrious seats of learning as Princeton and Harvard.
Vodafone live customers and those with compatible handsets have downloaded 40,000 Java based games since 28 November 2002. Java games are part of the Vodafone live range of mobile services which was unveiled in October 2002. To encourage uptake Vodafone offered customers up to four games for free during the first two months of service. Thereafter games cost between EUR2 and EUR7. The most popular games have been Siberian Strike and the classics Space Invaders and PacMan.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 