NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 22 January
22-01-2008
by Stephen Errity
Irish Blog Awards announced | Norkom chosen by Swedish bank
The third annual Irish Blog Awards are set to take place in Dublin's Alexander Hotel on 1 March. This year 750 blogs have been nominated across 22 different categories and every entry will be judged prior the night. 2FM DJ and sometime-blogger Rick O'Shea will be MC for the event, with all proceeds from the door going to nominated charities. Four Irish bloggers have got book deals in the past year and awards organiser Damien Mulley says the areas of music, politics, food and health are the most popular topics for Irish bloggers at the moment.
Dublin-based Norkom Technologies has been chosen by Scandinavian bank Swedbank to provide anti-money laundering software. Norkom products will be used across the bank's operations to protect against fraud and ensure compliance with national and European anti-money laundering regulatory requirements by monitoring transactions across all customers and accounts to detect, investigate, manage and report suspected money laundering attempts.
Facebook could soon be appearing on Nokia mobile phone screens if rumours of a deal between the two companies are true. Reports suggest that Nokia is in negotiations to develop a mobile version of Facebook, similar to the version of YouTube that features on Apple's iPhone. The Finnish mobile manufacturer is also said to be interested in acquiring a stake in the social networking firm.
Two Irish financial software firms Data Edge and Cognotec have signed a deal that will see CA Wily Introscope software (supplied by Data Edge) integrated into Cognotec's RealStream Margin foreign exchange trading software. The companies say they hope the deal will generate in excess of EUR500,000 of revenue in the first year.
Finally, Irish people at home and abroad are being asked to help with getting Dublin included in a new 'world edition' of the ever-popular property trading board game Monopoly. A worldwide vote for the cities that will occupy the 22 spaces on the board was launched in New York on Tuesday and a number of celebrities, including Rose Of Tralee Lisa Murtagh and Miss Ireland Blathnaid McKenna are backing the Irish campaign. Voters have until 28 February to pick their favourite at www.monopoly.com. Do it!
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 