IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 14 April
14-04-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
AMD loses top technologist | Carphone criticises BT's proposed LLU price hike
The Irish Times reports that UPC Ireland has won a three-year contract to link four Dublin hospitals with the IT and telecoms network for government agencies. The contract was previously held by Eircom and is understood to be worth about EUR300,000. The deal will give the hospitals high-speed and high-bandwidth connections with a number of other hospitals and government agencies, including the Health Service Executive.
The Financial Times reports that BT rivals are "up in arms" about the telecoms firm's efforts to increase the fees UK broadband providers pay for local loop unbundling, according to Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse. Dunstone told the newspaper he was strongly opposed to a price rise, partly because BT's past performance in handing over control of landlines to Carphone had been "an absolute shambles". He also confirmed that Carphone was interested in looking at buying Tiscali's UK arm.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Philips Electronics has posted a 75 percent drop in first-quarter net profit as growth in its healthcare and lighting units was offset by lower television sales. Net profit came in at EUR219 million, down from EUR875 million in the same period a year earlier, and below analysts' expectations of EUR273 million. The company reported sales of EUR5.96 billion, up from EUR5.93 billion last year, and in line with what analysts had expected.
The paper also says that AMD is losing its top technologist. Phil Hester has resigned as the chipmaker's senior vice president and chief technology officer, in a move the company said was not associated with AMD's recently announced job cuts. In an interview, Hester said he had been approached about other business opportunities, adding that AMD's technical staff had been expanded and reorganised to the point that the time was right for him to leave.
The same paper notes that some Chinese citizens, angry over foreign criticism of their country's policies in Tibet, are calling for boycotts of at least two European retailers for purportedly supporting the Dalai Lama. Internet users in China have been using instant messaging services, blogs and bulletin boards to spread a call for Chinese consumers at home and abroad to boycott French supermarket operator Carrefour and cosmetics retailer the Body Shop. Those advocating the boycott argue that a major Carrefour shareholder has contributed funds to the Dalai Lama, and Chinese critics are targeting the Body Shop because they say its Australian operation helped promote a tour of the Dalai Lama in June.
The Sunday Times reports that FotoNation has developed a smile detection technology which tells a camera not to take a picture until everyone is in focus and smiling. The Galway-based company developed the technology after studying an image database of hundreds of thousands of people smiling. The same company pioneered red-eye reduction technology five years ago. FotoNation also developed a blink detection technology, which stops a camera snapping until everyone's eyes are open.
The same paper reports that time-saving gadgets are allowing people to carry out a range of tasks in 24 hours which would have taken 31 hours to complete a decade ago. American think-tank OTX surveyed 3,000 people and found that Blackberrys, advanced mobile phones, social networking sites and digital video recorders allowed people to carry out a range of task simultaneously and quicker than ever before.
The Sunday Business Post reports on an awards ceremony in Stanford University, Silicon Valley, organised by the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG). The ceremony was held two weeks ago. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Michael Martin attended along with 200 top business people from the likes of Google, Apple and Intel. Now the ITLG is focusing on turning Ireland into the next Silicon Valley and directing investment into the country.
The same paper reports on the five firms battling it out on Monday night at the Genesis Enterprise Programme in Cork. Awards will be given in a range of categories including business plan of the year. Three of the five firms are technology companies. EuropeanIrish.com was founded to meet the needs of ex-pats in the rest of Europe, while Aspiracon develops project management software. Tapasol, the third technology company nominated, provides automated server installation solutions to small businesses.
The paper also reports on several companies interested in subscribing to the Joint National Internet Research group. The group published the first official internet usage figures for Ireland last Wednesday and has a reach of 1.6 million adults. So far the JNIR has 19 subscribed companies but the likes of eBay, ComReg and TV3 are all reportedly considering subscribing.
The paper also notes the appointment of Gary Johnson as senior vice-president of worldwide sales and marketing for Duolog Technologies. The Dublin-based company appointed Johnson based on his years of experience working for Silicon Valley companies.
The same paper notes that telecommunications firm Altobridge has won a three-year contract with a Mongolian mobile communications provider. Altobridge will provide communications across Mongolia for Mobicom Corporation using GSM architecture, and will begin deploying at the end of the year.
The Sunday Business Post also reports that digital data management company PutPlace is launching its online data management service in the coming weeks. The company completed a round of funding last week. It provides an online data management service which allows users to organise, back up and share content online.
The paper also covers two partnerships made by Vazumo.com. The search directory has signed a deal with Limerick-based Avvio, allowing Vazumo users to search and reserve hotels. It has also partnered with Carlister.ie to allow users to search for cars on the site. The two new services will be rolled out within the next two months.
with Bryan Collins
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 