In The Papers 29 August

29-08-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Drivers still using handheld mobiles | Cork programmers launch TweetRush

The Irish Times reports that up to 46,000 drivers a day are illegally using handheld mobile phones while driving, according to new research. A study of driver behaviour in Ireland following the enactment of legislation making it an offence to use handheld mobiles while driving has found that 2.3 percent of drivers are still using handsets. This compares with 3.6 percent of drivers in a similar study carried out before the introduction of the 2006 Road Traffic Act.

The paper also notes that, as expected, shareholders in Iona Technologies voted overwhelmingly in favour of the company's acquisition by Progress Software at a meeting in Dublin on Thursday. The deal will have to be approved by the High Court, at a hearing set for 10 September.

The same paper says that the hype ahead of this year's IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin surrounds the tiny screen of a new Fujitsu Siemens mini-laptop. For days, tech bloggers have been salivating over early images of the mini Amilo system, so far the worst-kept secret of the show. At the same time, "bigger is better" behaviour is expected in the television segment, with several manufacturers promising to top existing screen records of 3.8 metres in Berlin. Japanese electronics giant Sony has booked the largest stand and is promising to fill it with revolutionary products.

The paper also reports that a Cork collective of programmers has attracted international attention with the launch of TweetRush, a free web-based statistics service for mini-blogging service Twitter. Updated every 15 minutes, TweetRush provides information such as the number of people posting to Twitter daily, the volume of messages generated, top posters and number of active users. The service was designed as both a showcase and a test for Cork technology collective Gogozaa. The team of five developers launched the service to showcase Rush Hour, an analytics engine it has developed that monitors activity on websites for their owners.

The paper also notes that Microsoft has launched its much-anticipated Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) browser this week, equipped with new privacy features, as reported by ENN.

The paper also says that Russia has emerged as the European state with the fastest-growing rate of internet penetration, according to internet measuring firm ComScore. Figures for June show that Russia had 17.5 million internet users, up 27 percent from June 2007. The next fastest-growing markets are France, Spain and Ireland.

The same paper notes that Limerick IT firm EpiSensor has raised EUR1 million to enable it to sell its products, which monitor computer energy consumption, on the global market. EpiSensor's server-monitoring products are based on wireless technology standard ZigBee, which is similar to Bluetooth but has much lower energy consumption.

The paper also says that the number of graduates with science and IT qualifications could increase substantially if the Government speeds up implementation of Project Maths, according to the new president of secondary schoolteachers' union ASTI. Project Maths is the Government's programme to develop a new maths syllabus at second level, with the aim of increasing uptake and standards in the subject. The scheme is being carried out on a pilot basis in a number of schools, but ASTI president Pat Hurley said this staggered approach is inefficient. "It is scheduled to finish in 2015, when all schools will have sat a Leaving Cert under the new syllabus. It's taking a huge amount of time," he said.

The paper also says that Babcock & Brown's stewardship of Eircom is set to end in the coming months after the troubled Australian investment bank said it was reviewing its management arrangement with Babcock & Brown Capital Management (BCM), the fund that has direct ownership of Eircom. The termination of the bank's management arrangement with BCM could lead to a sale of Eircom, according to sources, although the company has insisted Eircom is not for sale at the moment. Read more on this story on ENN.

Separately, the paper reports on Eircom's latest financial results, as reported by ENN on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Irish Independent says that Eircom has come under fire for pushing through price hikes, with consumer representatives criticising the telco for the increases of almost 4 percent which are coming in next week when Eircom changes its minimum-call-charge structure. "The key issue for consumers is to recognise the fact that this is an expensive service provider; they should... look to what others in the market are offering," said Consumer Association of Ireland chief executive Dermott Jewell.

According to the Financial Times, PC maker Dell has warned that the slowdown in IT spending that has gripped the US in recent months has begun to spread to Europe and parts of Asia. The warning came as the company reported worse-than-expected profits for the second quarter, sending its shares down more than 10 percent in after-hours trading. Dell reported a 17 percent drop in net income for the second quarter, as pricing moves and an increased emphasis on retail sales ate into profits.

The paper also says that UK mobile phone users may have to pay to receive calls, as they do in the US, the telecoms regulator has warned. Ofcom called for "careful consideration" of the case for billing mobile users for receiving as well as making calls. This would be a sweeping change, and UK mobile operators say their customers are set against the idea. Ofcom has raised the issue, however, because it wants to provoke debate over the charges that mobile operators impose on one another for connecting calls to their networks.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft has agreed to buy research firm Greenfield Online, in a USD486 million deal that will expand the software maker's access to consumer data to aid future online services. Greenfield uses the internet to survey panels of travellers, shoppers, pet owners, doctors and other consumers and professionals around the world, and processes a range of data about people's preferences and demographics. Microsoft could use such data to build online services tailored to people's needs and interests.

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