IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 12 June
12-06-2007
by Deirdre McArdle
People still falling for Marks and Spencer hoax e-mail | YouTube to trial 'video fingerprinting'
The Irish Times reports that Microsoft and General Electric's NBC Universal had considered putting in a bid for Dow Jones, but sources say the idea was dropped last week. GE and Microsoft had discussed matching Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's bid of USD60 per share, or USD5 billion.
The Irish Independent writes that Irish men make over six mobile calls per day while women make less than five calls every day, according to a trends survey conducted by the communications regulator, ComReg. Read more on this survey on ENN.
The same paper reports that thousands of people have been fooled by a hoax e-mail, which promises free Marks and Spencer vouchers. Despite an official statement from the retail group last week alerting the public to the hoax and distancing itself from the promises, the e-mail has continued to circulate with recipients forwarding it on to as many as 20 people each.
Still in the Irish Independent, Gardai are trying to track a gang who made off with up to EUR250,000 worth of laptops, LCD TVs, camcorders, hard drives and memory sticks from two warehouses used by the Asbis distribution company in Knock, Co Mayo. Gardai believe the heist was carried out by a professional gang not from the area.
The paper also reports that Bank of Scotland (Ireland) has bought a 10 percent stake in maritime communications firm Blue Ocean Wireless. Read the full story as reported by ENN.
The Wall Street Journal reports that YouTube is to begin trialling advanced video identifying technology to spot clips that have been posted on the video-sharing site without the content owner's consent. YouTube Partner Development Director Chris Maxcy said in an interview that the company was building its own video-fingerprinting technology, after concluding that existing technology from other providers wouldn't meet its needs. The trial will begin next month.
The same paper says that Texas Instruments narrowed its outlook for second-quarter sales and earnings after the close of regular trading. The company, which makes chips for mobile phones, said it now expects earnings in the range of USD0.40 to USD0.44 on revenue of USD3.36 billion to USD3.51 billion. It had previously forecast earnings of USD0.39 to USD0.45 a share on sales of USD3.32 billion to USD3.6 billion.
The Financial Times reports that shares in Civica, the AIM-listed public sector software and services firm, increased by 12 percent on Tuesday following its announcement that a private equity group had made an approach regarding a possible offer for the company. The news follows Monday's private equity-backed merger of back-office software firm Computer Services Group, and Iris Software. Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman bought both CSG and Iris from HG Capital in a deal with an enterprise value of STG500 million.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 