In The Papers 25 September

25-09-2008

by Sylvia Leatham

Bosses use Facebook to check up on staff | Getmobile posts rise in pretax profit

The Irish Times reports that a new study reveals that bosses are increasingly turning to the internet to monitor their staff's behaviour. According to the survey of 1,039 employees and 647 employers, carried out by employment law consultancy Peninsula Ireland, companies are using social networking sites to check up on staff who are out sick. Some 83 percent of employers have monitored individuals' Facebook statuses to check whether an employee was truly ill, with the result that 67 percent of bosses have disciplined staff for bogus sickness after discovering the real reason for them being absent through the social networking site. In addition, 74 percent of staff have admitted to being caught out by their boss for using social networking sites during work hours.

The paper also says that Getmobile has reported a 47 percent increase in pretax profits to EUR1.65 million for the six months ending 30 June. The IEX- and AIM-listed firm, which sells contracts bundled with mobile phone handsets, said gross margins had increased from 8.5 percent to 11.6 percent. The company posted sales of EUR49 million over the period. Getmobile chairman Pierce Casey said the results had been driven by good margins and growing internet sales.

The paper also reports that Dublin-based maritime communications group Blue Ocean Wireless has secured access to debt funding of USD25 million from Bank of London and The Middle East plc (BLME), a Sharia'a-compliant wholesale bank based in the City of London. This is thought to be the first time an Irish company has availed of Islamic finance, a form of ethical banking based on the principles of Sharia'a law. The funds will be used to support the growth of Blue Ocean's GSM mobile phone service for crew aboard merchant ships. On Wednesday, Blue Ocean announced that it has partnered with Navarino Telecom, as reported by ENN.

The same paper notes that Irish risk-management software developer Ci3 has been sold to US rival Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ci3's main product is the Sword enterprise risk-management system. The company has 3,000 users worldwide. Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting sells its accounting and audit software systems under the CCH brand.

The Irish Examiner says that the American military is testing mobile phone SIM cards in Afghanistan and Iraq that were developed by an Irish company. A number of European armed forces are also testing the MaxRoam technology, which was developed by Cork-based Cubic Telecom. The SIM card piggybacks on the mobile phone service of the country the user is located in, but transfers the mobile number to a landline, thus reducing costs significantly. "An American soldier getting a call from his family at home would normally be charged USD20-USD25 for three minutes. With our SIM he would be charged just USD1.50," said Pat Phelan, Cubic Telecom CEO.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo has rolled out a major upgrade to its online ad system, as it aims to regain online ad share from competitors. The company said that Hearst Corp's San Francisco Chronicle and MediaNews Group's San Jose Mercury News will begin using the new service, called APT, which focuses on display ads. Yahoo has been pouring resources into the upgraded system for nearly two years and plans to roll it out in stages. APT will initially allow partners to use targeting technology to sell ads on their own websites, giving the partners the ability to charge higher ad rates by delivering more relevant ads. Over time, APT customers will also be able to sell advertising across other publishers that join the system, as well as on Yahoo's own sites.

The paper also says that Oracle, one of the best-known names in computer software, is entering the hardware business. The company has unveiled plans to sell a computer bundled with Oracle software, a combination designed to help businesses sort through data faster. The system, which Oracle describes as an appliance, will be manufactured for the company by Hewlett-Packard and come with Oracle's database software installed.

The Financial Times reports that NewsCorp's MySpace is launching a new online music service, aiming to challenge Apple and all other online rivals. MySpace believes the service, MySpace Music, can connect to the site's 120 million global visitors, 65 percent of whom already stream music on their profile pages, with an integrated and flashy interface that gives members access to the catalogues of these artists, rather than just to the handful of songs they can currently upload. MySpace Music users will be able to stream tracks for free from large music catalogues, with an option of buying through Amazon.com. The big three labels -- Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group -- together own about 40 percent of the venture.

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