IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 17 December
17-12-2007
by Ciara O'Brien
Expedia readies European offensive | Vislink wins orders worth USD25 million with Sprint Nextel: reports
The Irish Independent reports that as internet shopping has become increasingly popular with Irish consumers, Revenue Commissioners look set to collect EUR2 million in taxes on packets and parcels send through the post. This figure is a five-fold increase on the EUR246,000 collected in 2003.
According to the Examiner a solar-powered pay-and-display parking system will be rolled out in selected locations in Cork this week. The system, which is coin-operated, will be live in some areas within days and across the city by next month. The uptake by motorists of the pay-and-display system, as well as its back-office computer operations, will be closely monitored for the 12-month trial period before a decision is taken on whether to expand it further.
The Wall Street Journal says that start-up Live Gamer is developing an online marketplace where players of online games will be able to safely trade in virtual goods. This business has often been plagued by fraud in the past. In a significant departure from current methods of trading in virtual goods, Live Gamer says it will only allow trading of items with the blessing of game publishers. The start-up is working with Sony's Online Entertainment division, Funcom, Ping0 Interactive and other online-game operators to integrate its trading system with their titles.
The same paper reports that IBM is increasing its employee count, with most of the growth coming in India and China, as well as other emerging markets, according to a person familiar with its hiring. This year, IBM's employment in India is likely to reach 73,000 people, up from 52,000 last year. Employment in China will top 13,000, up about 30 percent from 10,000 last year, the person said.
Online travel group Expedia is to launch an aggressive marketing campaign in Europe in 2008, according to the Financial Times. The move is seen as a strategic effort to squeeze market share from its rivals Thomas Cook and Tui Travel in the region. Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Expedia, said he hoped to exploit his rivals' preoccupation with integrating their newly merged businesses, and claimed they were weighed down by the costs of running bricks-and-mortar operations.
The Sunday Business Post writes that RTE has received more than a dozen expressions of interest in commercial partnerships for its digital terrestrial TV service. The State broadcaster put out a call for joint ventures in the DTT services in September, and is set to enter the discussion phase of the project with the applicants. The ventures will cover a range of DTT services, from marketing to platform management. However, the proposed DTT services had already run into obstacles, with digital broadcaster UPC lodging a complaint with the European Commission over its fears that the licence fee revenue will be used to fund what it says is a competing service.
The same paper reports that Dublin-based remote access technology firm Asavie is planning to close a EUR3 million funding round to help support its expansion into the US. The firm is raising the cash from existing and new investors, and is expected to be completed in January or February of next year. The firm was founded by chief executive Ralph Shaw, Tom Maher and Maurice McMullin in 2004, and has already raised more than EUR3 million in investment from private sources.
The paper also reports on Athlone-based tech firm NewCode's latest deal with Microsoft, which will generate revenues for the Irish firm and help businesses migrate applications to .NET environments. The partnership, which the paper says is not a financial one, will help financial services firms move their old legacy applications, which have been developed on older technology, to the more modern .NET platform.
The Sunday Business Post also reports that broadcast technology firm Vislink has won two orders with a US firm that will be worth up to USD25 million to the company. The US subsidiary of the Irish firm inked the deal, which is believed to be with telecoms firm Sprint Nextel, and will invest the extra revenue in it products and in new acquisitions. The company is planning to expand its operations in the US, and will concentrate on the Homeland Security and law enforcement sector.
The same paper writes that LED lighting firm NuaLight is using the Business Expansion Scheme to raise EUR500,000 in funding, expanding its staff numbers from 15 to 45 by the end of 2009. The company said it is planning to markets its new products, which it is confident will be adopted in the retail sector in the near future. NuaLight has already signed up Marks & Spencer as a client, along with multinational firms such as Philips and General Electric.
Other brief technology stories in the Sunday Business Post include a piece on Limerick-based software firm Tango Telecom's expansion with the opening of a sales and support office in Dubai. Meanwhile, Blue Ocean, a maritime communications company, has signed up with Cypriot firm Admibros to provide mobile phone coverage on its ships.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 