Daily Digest 23 September

23-09-2008

by Deirdre McArdle

Cheaper texting while abroad on the way | Google enables embedding of books

The European Commission has launched a new drive to regulate the price of sending text messages while abroad. It has proposed legislation to limit the price of sending a text message from one EU country to another to no more than EUR0.11. If approved by member states and the European Parliament, the cap would take effect on 1 July 2009 and would exclude sales tax. Currently, it costs on average EUR0.29 to send a text message across EU borders. Communications Minister Eamon Ryan welcomed the announcement: "Reducing roaming charges on European calls was a necessary first step; I am pleased that we are moving on to text messages and mobile data services. Mobile phones now carry a whole range of applications which is the reason the Government supports the open access of these networks. We need lower call and connection costs to increase the traffic of data on the internet, over mobile phones... I will push in my role on the Council of Ministers for this initiative to be implemented as quickly and fairly as possible."

Permanent TSB has rolled out a mobile banking service, which is powered by Macalla, a mobile payment solutions provider. Customers can register for mobile banking via Permanent TSB's website by providing their mobile phone number and indicating whether their account is pre-pay or bill-pay. They will then be given an access code by SMS, which they use to confirm any transactions they make. There are currently six services available: balance enquiry, mini statement, fund transfer, pay a bill, mobile top-up and text alerts. Initial reactions to the service have been positive, according to the bank.

Batt O'Keeffe, Minister for Education & Science, officially launched the 2008/2009 season of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge on Tuesday. F1 in Schools is a global competition that challenges secondary school students to design, build and race model CO2-powered Formula 1 cars of the future. Last year over 120 school teams competed at regional and national finals, where they were judged on a range of criteria including speed, design, engineering quality, and the school team's full project presentation. The 2008 Irish champions, team Koni Kats from St David's Secondary School in Greystones, will travel to London for the World Championships, and compete against teams from all over the world, in spring 2009. Teams wishing to enter the competition this year can now register at www.F1inSchools.ie.

Consumer website myPOIs.ie has announced it has updated its site with details of the 800 speed enforcement zones (SEZ) that have been introduced by the Gardai around Ireland. The aim of these zones, which have been located in areas that have high collision ratings, is to try to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on Irish roads. From the www.mypois.ie site users can view and download the SEZs for free to their Garmin satellite navigation systems. "The ability to download the Garda Siochana speed enforcement zones to a sat-nav hopefully will reinforce the necessity for safer driving and change driver behaviour," said John Dundon of myPOIs.ie. MyPOIs.ie was launched in March 2007. The company collects up-to-date local information from sources around the country, which can then be downloaded directly onto sat-nav devices though the www.myPOIs.ie website. The company has collected over 40,000 points of interest so far.

Google was busy on Tuesday: the first Android-powered phone was launched in the US by T-Mobile, and Google also unveiled an update to its book search service. The Android-powered phone, which is to be called the G1, will be available in the US from 22 October at a price of USD179, on a two-year voice and data contract. It will be launched in the UK in November and across Europe from early 2009. Ireland wasn't mentioned specifically, though T-Mobile did say the phone would be released in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, Google has extended its book search service, which will allow book publishers, retailers, and anyone with a blog, to embed entire non-copyrighted books, or just book previews onto their site. Commentators are calling it 'YouTube for books'.

Diageo, the maker of Captain Morgan spiced rum, has devised an innovative marketing campaign, with the launch of an "online party TV channel from Treasure Beach, Jamaica". An Irish version of the site was launched on Tuesday. The site, www.CaptainTV.ie, is fronted by the Captain, a "renowned party animal" who travels the world 'researching' different party cultures and celebration styles, the Captain's crew said. Earlier in September the Captain visited Ireland on just such a fact-finding mission. You can follow his adventures as he 'finds the craic' and 'meets Riverdance' on the site.