IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 11 February
11-02-2008
by Ciara O'Brien
Motorola and Nortel Networks consider joint venture | Global IT spending forecasts cut
The Irish Examiner reports that more than 20 Irish companies are heading to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. Read more on this story on ENN.
The Financial Times says that forecasts for global IT spending in 2008 have been cut, as fears of a recession in the US puts the brakes on growth. Global spending on IT goods and services is expected to grow to USD1,695 billion in 2008, a 6 percent increase on last year, according to Forrester Research. This represents a significant slowdown from 12 percent growth last year. Only two months ago, Forrester predicted IT spending would grow 9 percent this year, but the group has pared this forecast back after a series of poor reports on the US economy.
The paper also reports that European privacy regulators are set to impose tighter restrictions on the way search engines retain customer data. Peter Schaar, Germany's federal data protection commissioner and chairman of the Article 29 working party that advises the European Union on privacy policy, said search engines were keeping data for too long. Regulators are concerned about Google's practice of keeping information on individuals' searches and cookies, saying the data could be used to identify individuals or create profiles of their private preferences. The working party is set to reveal guidelines for search engines at its next meeting, which begins on 18 February.
According to the same paper, SonyEricsson has admitted that its presence is "weak" in India, China and the US and has designated these countries as priorities while it seeks to become one of the three largest mobile phone makers by 2011. Dick Komiyama, the company's new president, expressed confidence it would hit its 2011 target through organic growth and ruled out buying the handset division of Motorola. Komiyama also said he would consider the case for the company making cheap handsets that cost as little as USD25 each.
The Wall Street Journal says that Motorola and Nortel Networks are in talks to combine their wireless infrastructure units in a joint venture, according to sources. The talks are separate from efforts under way at Motorola to possibly shed its handset division. If consummated, the talks will create a joint venture that likely will have sales of about USD10 billion, combining businesses that make network equipment for mobile phone operators.
The paper also notes that the Random House publishing group is to begin selling individual chapters of a popular book online, in an effort to gauge reader demand for bite-size portions of digital texts. The experiment will see the publisher selling digital versions of the six chapters and epilogue of "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" for USD2.99 each.
The Sunday Tribune reports that an Irish website has been set up to publish death notices, www.rip.ie. The site, established by Dympna and Jay Coleman, is designed to help people find out funeral information for distant acquaintances and relatives. Some 20 percent of the site's visitors are from abroad.
The same paper reports that a group of internet hackers were planning to picket Scientology offices on Sunday in protest at what they called the church's violation of free speech and human rights. The protest centres around the church's recent action against video-sharing website YouTube to force it to remove a video of Tom Cruise talking about Scientology.
The paper also writes about a potential bid for Iona Technologies by German company Software AG. The German firm has been put forward as the source of the unsolicited bid for the company, with IBM's software division, Tibco, Sun Systems, RedHat and Novell as other potential bidders. However, the expression of interest is currently in its preliminary phase.
The Sunday Independent warns of the dangers of uploading photographs to social networking websites, citing the case of one woman who found her photo being used as an ad for an online dating site. A campaign has been launched in advance of Safer Internet Day to warn people of the threats to their privacy online.
The Sunday Times writes about a new 'green' MP3 player, the Eco Media Player. The environmentally friendly device is powered by a wind-up mechanism and is the brainchild of British inventor Trevor Baylis. The device can hold up to 500 songs, works as a video player, radio, Dictaphone and torch. Baylis is also in talks with BT to develop a wind-up mobile phone.
The same paper writes that U2 manager Paul McGuinness is set to take the fight against music piracy to Europe, seeking a "three strikes" system for illegal downloaders. McGuinness wants ISPs to begin monitoring their customers' activities and to boot off those who persist in downloading copyrighted material on more than three occasions. Fianna Fail MEP Eoin Ryan has encourage McGuinness to bring the case to European commissioners.
The Sunday Times also reports that Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan has rejected calls for the Government to implement a high-speed fibre network around Ireland. Industry figures had called for a EUR4 billion investment to roll out next-generation high speed networks, which are considered essential to Ireland's future ability to attract investment. However, Ryan said he sees commercial interests investing in the network gradually, and does not see a state role in the process.
The Sunday Business Post reports on the levels of online banking in Ireland, with only 42 percent of people between the ages of 16 and 74 using the services last year. This compares to 84 percent in Finland, and puts Ireland slightly below the average.
The paper also reports that mobile domain registry DotMobi is to begin selling adult domain names, with 14 domains due to be auctioned off in Las Vegas in February. This will be the first time the company has sold adult-themed web addresses.
The same paper reports on Dublin firm gsmExhange.com's contract win with Vodafone. The company is to build an online trading platform for mobiles, which will allow the mobile operator's subsidiaries to trade phone stocks. gsmExchange is now looking at other opportunities with mobile networks to expand its business.
The paper also notes Datapac's deal with Quinlan Private. Datapac delivered a recovery solution for the firm that replicated the company's e-mail, applications and servers.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 