Daily Digest 6 August

06-08-2008

by Billy MacInnes

Pfizer cuts jobs in Cork | Dixons to become web-only brand

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is closing its Little Island manufacturing plant in Cork, with the loss of 180 jobs, after failing to find a buyer for the site. The plant, which was put up for sale in February 2007, will close at the end of 2009. Fine Gael Cork North Central TD Bernard Allen expressed dismay at the news and said the Government should offer the company every assistance to find a buyer for its plant at Ringaskiddy, where there was "considerable uncertainty over the future of 300 jobs".

Dixons is to become a web-only brand and its existing stores will change to the Currys name as part of a major shake-up at parent company DSG Retail Ireland. The shift will lead to 18 stores in Ireland trading under the Currys brand, and an extra outlet is planned for the Leinster area, with the creation of another 25 jobs. DSG claimed the changes would add 3,000 more products to the Currys range, adding that plans for the launch of Dixons.ie were at an advanced stage. It also revealed that Currys.ie and PCWorld.ie would be launched later in the year. The change in strategy mirrors moves made by DSG in its UK operations in 2006.

Eleven people, including an informant for the US secret service, have been charged with stealing and selling over 41 million credit and debit card numbers hacked from computer systems at major retail chains including TJX, Barnes and Noble and OfficeMax. US Attorney General Michael Mukasey described the case as the "single largest and most complex identity theft case ever prosecuted in this country". One of the ringleaders, Albert 'Segvec' Gonzalez of Miami, had been working as a secret service informant since his arrest in a separate credit card fraud case in 2003. In addition to three defendants from the US, the case also involves people from Ukraine, China, Belarus and Estonia.

IBM has joined forces with three Linux distributors to deliver 'Microsoft-free' desktop PCs without Windows or Office. The PCs, which will be built and branded by local business partners, will include IBM's Lotus Notes and Lotus Symphony software, along with one of the three Linux operating systems from Canonical/Ubuntu, Novell and Red Hat. Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president for IBM Lotus Software, said there was an "extraordinary window of opportunity for Linux" because of the slow adoption of Microsoft's Vista operating system. The four companies have been encouraged by the positive reception given to similar pre-loaded systems in Eastern Europe earlier this year.

Microsoft has signed a perpetual licensing agreement to use Irish software firm Havok's physics engines and streamlining tools in developing games for its Xbox 360 and Windows platforms. The deal gives Microsoft and its development partners access to Havok's Physics, Animation and Behaviour products, as well as future products like Havok Cloth and Destruction, for use in their games. Jason Mangold, business manager at Microsoft Game Studios, said it was "proud to have committed to a long term partnership with Havok".

As the eyes of the world turn to the Beijing Olympics, two teams of students from Dundalk Institute of Technology and University of Ulster Magee are heading off to Scotland to take part in a very different type of games. They will be competing in a video games development competition, known as 'Dare To Be Digital', against counterparts from the UK, China and India. The teams have been developing their prototype video games in a computer laboratory at Trinity College Dublin for the past ten weeks. They will travel to Edinburgh on 8 August to showcase their prototypes. John Hurley, director of learning at the Digital Hub Development Agency, one of the organisers of 'Dare To Be Digital' in Ireland, said the two Irish teams were very strong. "We are optimistic of success in Scotland later this week," he said.