IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 22 May
22-05-2007
by Sylvia Leatham
IBM launches high-speed chips | Electronic Arts to take stake in The9
The Irish Times reports that e-learning firm ThirdForce is to buy MindLeaders for USD18 million, as noted by ENN on Monday.
The Financial Times says that PC maker IBM has launched a family of microprocessors that have doubled the speed of the previous generation while using the same amount of energy. The firm believes the new chips can help avert an energy crisis that is threatening to cripple data centres worldwide. IBM also claims the Power 6 processor is two to three times faster than the competition, including the Itanium family from Intel. With two "cores", or processing circuits, on each chip, it is claimed to be hugely faster on a range of industry standard benchmarks, while using no more power.
The paper also says that data centre provider IXEurope is in takeover talks with several trade bidders after receiving "a number of preliminary approaches which may or may not lead to an offer being made". Its shares rose on the news, valuing the company at nearly STG226 million -- a sixfold increase since it listed on the AIM just over a year ago. Analysts said the bidders were likely to be trade rather than private equity buyers. Ian Mitchell, analyst at Charles Stanley, said Equinix, Colt Telecom and TelecityRedbus were all potential bidders.
According to the Wall Street Journal, chip giant Intel is launching a long-term campaign to turn PCs into more reliable tools for calling and conferencing. The next phase of internet technology is about adding new features, said Steve Grobman, an Intel director of business-client architecture. He says that Intel's efforts will reap benefits for businesses such as broader access to online meetings, with advanced features such as playback, instant captioning of conversations, and even translation into multiple languages.
The paper also says that videogame maker Electronic Arts has said it plans to acquire a 15 percent stake in The9, a Chinese online-game operator, for about USD167 million. EA said it also agreed to grant exclusive publishing rights to The9 for its EA Sports FIFA Online product in China. EA said the deal builds on its strategy of partnering with proven regional operators to bring online games to Asia.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 