NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 11 June
11-06-2007
by Emmet Ryan
Samsung Ireland hooks up with Clarity Distribution | Notebaert to leave Qwest: reports
Samsung has appointed Clarity Distribution as one of its IT partners in the Irish market. Samsung appointed dedicated Ireland country manger, Peter McParland, last year to drive sales of its IT portfolio and the division has since grown in the local notebook, print, fax, and display markets. "To build on our market position we required a strong IT partner to strengthen the Samsung brand in the IT space," said McParland. "Clarity's appointment as our IT distributors allows Samsung bring greater value to its offering including supply chain and superior logistics, reverse logistics and a greater distribution network."
Qwest said Richard Notebaert plans to retire as its chairman and chief executive as soon as a successor is found, reports the Wall Street Journal. The phone company said it has begun searching for his replacement, but no timetable has been set. Notebaert, a telecom industry veteran, was appointed Qwest chief executive in June 2002.
Research by Dublin-based travel site Boo.com has found that a majority of Irish and British people place their trust in complete strangers online when it comes to researching and booking their holidays. The Travel Trust Index found peer reviews are growing in power, with one in six posting a review following a holiday and 71 percent letting their fellow travellers be their guide. The report found trust in travel agents has been reduced as 90 percent of consumers said their pre-holiday research online was accurate and only 13 percent of people surveyed trusted travel agents and brochures above online reviews.
Data Electronics has appointed Ivan Rogani as a business development executive. Rogani will have responsibility for extending Data Electronics' presence in the telecommunications, media and technology sector as well as the transport industry. Prior to this appointment Rogani spent several years as a business development manager at Oracle, developing the enterprise software market throughout EMEA.
Online research firm Hitwise has reported that the term Bebo has become the top search term based on volume of UK internet searches, overtaking eBay which has held the spot for all but one week in the past two years. Except for one week in September 2006, the term eBay has topped the list as the highest volume search term in the UK but Bebo took the top spot for the week ending 26 May 2007 and has held the number one position for the past three weeks.
Carl Gressum, senior analyst at Ovum has called on consumer electronics firms to improve security around products they make that are capable of accessing the internet. "Just about any device that is connected to the internet can be at risk of security exposure. Just ask the PC industry," he said.
Recuritment website IrishJobs.ie has appointed David Garland as general manager. Garland will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of IrishJobs.ie, continuing growth of the recruitment website in the market and overseeing a team of 52 in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Garland joined IrishJobs.ie in 2002 as agency account manager before being promoted to sales manager.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 