NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 31 May
31-05-2007
by Charlie Taylor
Duolog Technologies to cut 16 jobs | Halifax launches online banking service
Duolog Technologies, a company which supplies intellectual property, verification and design services in software and integrated circuit technologies, has confirmed that it intends to close its IP division with the loss of 16 full-time jobs. The company, which was founded in 1999 by Ray Bulger and Mark O'Donovan, provides wireless platforms, SoC flow automation solutions and SoC design services to the wireless communications market, told ENN on Thursday that the decision to close the division was taken because the IP model didn't match the company's plan for scaling, but that it intended to continue supporting its existing product range.
Apple has launched iTunes Plus - a new service which offers DRM-free music tracks featuring high quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings -- for just EUR1.29 per song. iTunes Plus is launching with EMI's digital catalogue of recordings, including singles and albums from Coldplay, The Rolling Stones, Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Joss Stone, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane and more than a dozen of Paul McCartney's classic albums available on iTunes for the first time. The online music store will continue to offer its entire catalogue, of over 5 million songs with DRM and featuring 128 kbps AAC encoding at the same price of EUR0.99 per song, alongside the higher quality iTunes Plus versions when available. In addition, iTunes customers can upgrade their library of previously purchased EMI content to iTunes Plus tracks for just EUR0.30 a song.
In more news of iTunes, Apple has launched a new dedicated area within iTunes which will offer free course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights and campus tours from top US colleges and universities such as Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University and MIT. Created in collaboration with the colleges, iTunes U allows users to download the content to iPods so that they can experience learning on-the-go.
Bill Gates shared a stage with his arch-nemesis Steve Jobs for the first time in over 10 years at the All Things Digital Conference in San Diego on Wednesday when the two came together to talk tech. The onstage conversation was for the most part, reputed to be civil with both resisting the urge to re-create the PC v Mac battle in front of a room full of invited guests. In fact, aside from compliments, and Jobs' 'confession' that the two had secretly been married for over a decade, the meeting turned out to be little more than a mutual love-fest, according to accounts.
Halifax has launched a new current account which comes with an online banking service which the bank claims provides greater functionality and convenience than those offered by its main rivals. In addition to including regular services, the Halifax online banking service gives e-mail confirmation when payments and standing orders are set up online and allows users to change personal contact details and statement frequency. Customers can also view, set up, amend and cancel standing orders online and also view and delete direct debits. Halifax also claims to be the first bank in Ireland that allows customers to apply for a current account online through its website.
Local online advertising by car manufacturers and dealerships totalled USD2.3 billion last year in the US and helped to generate a record number of leads and sales, a recent study by Borrell Associates has found. The firm forecast that local online advertising by car manufacturers and dealers will reach USD4.2 billion in 2011.
Irish webcasting firm Servecast has announced that Sky News has commenced live streaming of its breaking news service on its website using the company's advanced streaming solution. With Servecast's Media Studio platform, Sky News is offering free access to key, live news events such as news conferences, official ceremonies and important political developments on its website. In addition to the online breaking news service, Servecast will also enable Sky News to deliver video streaming of other features such as weather updates.
Dublin-based World Link has launched a new Recordacall service which allows users to record a telephone conversation without acquiring recording equipment. Recordacall issues users with an 8-digit PIN and customers are given the opportunity to select a 4-digit PIN for playback and, at a later stage, for deletion of the call. In addition to preserving the recording for 30 days, customers can have any recordings forwarded to them by e-mail. For further information visit the website www.worldlink.ie.
Red Circle Technologies, a provider of direct to mobile media entertainment content for the youth market, has appointed Trevor Healy to its board of directors. Healy will be advising the company on its global expansion plans following Red Circle's recent entry into the Australian market. In his role as non-executive board director Healy will also be involved in more general corporate issues including strategic planning, marketing and corporate financing. Healy is currently CEO at telephony group Jajah. Previously he held the positions of VP of Sales at PayPal and VP at VeriSign where he was general manager of the Electronic Commerce Group.
Two Irish students from the Microsoft IT Academy programme were honoured at an Awards Ceremony in Dublin on Thursday, after winning the chance to compete in the Microsoft Office Worldwide Competition in Disney World, Orlando, Florida. Kevin O'Brien, a student from Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore, was the winner of the Microsoft Office Specialist Excel Competition and Rachel Gaul from St Paul's Secondary School, Greenhills, Dublin was the winner of the Microsoft Office Specialist Word competition. At the Worldwide Championships all country champions will compete to become the Champion for either Word or Excel by taking a Microsoft Office Specialist exam designed specifically for the competition finals.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 