In The Papers 23 September

23-09-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Realm seeks to quash RegTel ruling | NDRC returns government funding

The Irish Times reports that premium-rate SMS provider Realm Communications has claimed that its business would be "wiped out" if a 12-month suspension from sending text messages is imposed by regulator RegTel. Realm has brought High Court proceedings arising out of a finding by the regulator that its mobile phone credit service, FoneClub/Mobile Mania, had breached the terms of its code of practice. Realm is seeking to have RegTel's adjudication and proposed sanctions quashed.

The paper also notes that daily mass readings are among the contents of a new website launched by Catholic bishops in Maynooth on Monday. "The website (www.catholicbishops.ie) also contains the first online map of the dioceses of Ireland, and will offer users the option to subscribe to news releases issued by the bishops' conference via an RSS feed," explained Archbishop of Armagh Cardinal Sean Brady. "The site also contains a bank of audio and video content from the conference, and will have regular feature articles focused on the mission and work of the church in Ireland.''

The paper also says that Google will on Tuesday make its first foray into the US mobile phone market with the launch of T-Mobile's Dream smartphone. The phone is the first to run Google's Android software for mobiles. Manufactured by Taiwanese firm HTC, the Dream will carry heavy Google branding as the search giant seeks to extend its global recognition into the mobile realm. A high-end phone, which will retail for USD199, the Dream is being seen by many analysts as a competitor to Apple's iPhone. The Dream is expected to be brought to UK users by T-Mobile this year, but Google has yet to announce any deals with Irish networks.

The Irish Independent reports that Dublin's National Digital Research Centre (NDRC), the research facility that replaced the failed Medialab Europe venture, has been forced to return EUR1.75 million in Government funding because of delays in starting its work. The NDRC, located in the Liberties area, has received EUR4 million in funding since 2005. However, in light of the "slower than anticipated rollout", the Department of Communications requested it to surrender EUR1.75 million of funding in 2007. Meanwhile, the centre has recruited two Kevins -- Kevin Jennings and Kevin Smith -- to support its investment in a number of translational research projects, as noted by ENN on Monday.

The paper also says that online retailing is continuing to thrive in Ireland, according to figures from Dublin e-commerce firm Magico.ie. Read more on this story as reported by ENN last Thursday.

According to the Financial Times, MTV Networks has purchased the rest of software firm Social Project it does not already own. The media company plans to integrate more deeply social networking features such as the sharing of videos among its global network of websites and, within two to three years, the television. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. A demonstration of new features showed how a video embedded on MTV.com by a teenage visitor would show up the webpages belonging to the visitor's network of friends on sites owned by MTVN, such as ColbertNation, as well as on external sites that use Social Project's Flux social networking software.

The Wall Street Journal reports that IBM is to review its membership of the bodies that set common standards for the tech industry, and may withdraw from some. The computer maker is expected to announce the review on Tuesday, according to company officials. IBM has become frustrated by what it considers opaque processes and poor decision-making at some of the hundreds of bodies that set technical standards for everything from data-storage systems to programming languages, those officials said. A recent battle over the selection of an international standard of the file format used in Microsoft's Office software suite appears to have influenced IBM's decision. Microsoft won that contest in April when its Open XML format was approved by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO. IBM was backing a rival format called Open Document that was already certified as an ISO standard.

The paper also says that 3Com has swung to a profit for its fiscal first quarter on the back of higher sales and proceeds from a litigation settlement. The maker of network equipment posted net income of USD79.8 million, or USD0.20 a share, for the quarter ended 29 August, compared with a year-earlier net loss of USD18.7 million, or USD0.05 a share. Revenue rose 7.3 percent to USD342.7 million. The latest results included a USD70 million payment from Taiwan chip designer Realtek Semiconductor to settle a patent-infringement case.

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