IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 24 April
24-04-2008
by Sylvia Leatham
EU gives go-ahead to Galileo project | First quarter profit down at EMC
The Irish Times reports that Yahoo has posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Read the full story on ENN.
The paper also reports on the European Commission's study of how the Pan European Game Information (Pegi) rating is being implemented across the EU, as reported by ENN.
The same paper says that outgoing Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has defended the Government's decision to retain the stored electronic voting machines. Ahern said that a technology report showed it required the development of new software for the machines to gain the confidence of the House and the public. "It is technically not difficult to do this. It means an enhancement of the machines and the development of the software they use." All the advice and reports stated that this was possible to do, he added.
The Irish Independent reports that Google's European HQ in Dublin has begun a project to localise the search engine's popular online news service for a number of different countries. The news service is already localised in terms of content and language for a number of territories, including Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, Japan, India and France. The company now wants to roll out the news service to additional countries within the EMEA region, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Finland and Croatia.
The paper also notes that the EU has finally given the green light to the over-budget and behind-schedule Galileo satellite navigation project. There are 10 Irish companies involved with the initial development phase of Galileo, which is expected to cost EUR3.4 billion. They include Daysha Consulting and Airtel ATN in Dublin. In an almost unanimous vote, members of the European Parliament gave their backing to Galileo's deployment phase, which paves the way for the European satellite radio-navigation system to be operational by 2013, five years later than originally planned.
The Irish Examiner reports that Irish software firm Havok has opened a new office in Japan, as noted by ENN on Wednesday.
The paper also reports on the launch of a website to help parents find fun activities for their children. James O'Shea's www.irelandforkids.ie provides a database of free and rainy-day activities for kids, along with information on child-friendly restaurants and accommodation.
The Financial Times reports that PC vendor Acer expects to ship up to a third more computers this year than in 2007, a bullish outlook which would mean the Taiwanese company would strongly outperform the world market. Gianfranco Lanci, Acer's president, said that shipments would hit 25 million to 30 million PCs this year, up from about 20 million in 2007. Acer is also forecasting a 40 percent annual rise in laptop shipments.
The paper also says that Google and Yahoo have responded to inquiries by the US Department of Justice's antitrust division about an alliance they launched earlier this month that had been expected to improve Yahoo's bargaining position with Microsoft. Yahoo said it had "proactively" kept the DoJ informed about its intention to conduct a limited test with its rival, Google, and that it had provided the DoJ with information about the test. Google said: "We informed the Justice Department before we launched this test and we have been responsive to their questions about it." Under the test, Google supplied relevant adverts alongside Yahoo's search results.
According to the Wall Street Journal, EMC's first-quarter profit fell 14 percent from a year ago, mostly because of acquisition-related expenses, but the storage giant stood by its earnings and revenue targets for the year. In the first quarter, EMC's net income fell to USD268.8 million, or USD0.13 a share, from USD312.6 million, or USD0.15 a share. Revenue jumped 17 percent year-on-year to USD3.47 billion. Executives said they expect to be able to meet their financial goals despite a difficult economic environment that has lengthened the time it takes to sign deals, particularly with financial services firms and retailers. EMC did not provide earnings or revenue targets, however.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 