IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 28 February
28-02-2008
by Deirdre McArdle
Enterprise Ireland takes a stake in Adwalker | Google to launch Google Health
The Irish Times reports that Microsoft has been fined EUR899 million by the European Commission for failing to comply with antitrust charges. Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper says that UPC Ireland added 80,500 broadband customers during 2007. Read more on UPC's results on ENN.
The paper also reports that Enterprise Ireland has taken a 4.7 percent stake in digital sandwich board developer Adwalker in a deal that values the company at over EUR5 million. Enterprise Ireland has paid EUR250,000 for the stake, money Adwalker said it would use for research and development.
According to the Irish Independent RTE is confident the digital boxes that will be needed by households to receive terrestrial television within four years can be bought for less than EUR100. Ireland's analogue signal is set to be switched off in 2012 meaning that the old television system -- requiring an aerial -- will be obsolete. Households will need a digital box to receive free-to-air channels. The box's make-up is still to come up for discussion at the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
In more news related to the switch-over to digital TV, the Irish Examiner reports that RTE is working on plans for a catch-up channel to let viewers see favourite programmes after their scheduled broadcast time. The channel is part of a package of changes the broadcaster is drawing up in preparation for the national switch-over to digital television.
The paper also says that a mass to honour the late GAA legend Christy Ring will be broadcast worldwide this Sunday on the internet. The 29th anniversary service is being held at St Augustine's Church, Washington Street, Cork. The church previously broke technological ground by broadcasting a confirmation ceremony for Polish immigrants last December and since then puts all of its Masses online, every day.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is expected to announce plans on Thursday for an online repository where consumers can store their health information. The service, expected to be called Google Health, will enable consumers to enter their own basic medical data and invite their doctors to electronically send information that would be stored by Google, according to one person who has tested the company's new site. Google declined to comment on the service.
According to the same paper the International Trade Commission has upheld a ruling in favour of Nokia in a patent case brought by chip maker Qualcomm, the two companies said. The judge held that Nokia did not infringe three Qualcomm patents at issue in the case and that one of the patents is invalid, said Laurie Armstrong, a Nokia spokeswoman. While Nokia is happy with the ruling, Qualcomm has said it will decide whether to seek a review by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The Financial Times writes that Apple, Research In Motion and ZTE all joined the ranks of the world's top mobile makers in 2007, according to research firm Gartner. The success of Apple's iPhone saw the firm become the 10th largest mobile maker in the fourth quarter, while RIM made it to 6th position. Meanwhile, Chinese telecoms equipment firm ZTE broke in at number seven of the list, thanks primarily to its strategy of producing handsets for USD40 or less for markets such as India.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 