NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 8 December
08-12-2008
by Deirdre McArdle
Incubation firms employ over 1,000 people | Six critical fixes in December's Patch Tuesday
The number of people employed in campus incubation companies managed by Ireland's Institutes of Technology has broken through the 1,000 milestone. Tanaiste Mary Coughlan made the announcement at the official opening of the Wireless Sensor Applied Research (WiSAR) laboratory in Letterkenny IT. The WiSAR research team will look at how sensors can be worn on the body to monitor elderly people living alone or sick people who are not in hospital. The Tanaiste also took the opportunity to issue a "call to action" for the 14 Institutes of Technology around the country, urging them to "ramp up their activities with local enterprise and to seek out opportunities for collaboration which add value to companies in regional locations".
Microsoft's December Patch Tuesday will feature eight security bulletins, which will address flaws in Windows, Office and Internet Explorer. Six of these eight bulletins have been rated 'critical', the highest of Microsoft's security alert levels. The critical fixes include two flaws in Windows; the first is rated critical for all currently supported versions of the operating system, while the second applies only to Windows Vista and Server 2008 systems. IE6 and IE7 will also be receiving a critical update. The other three critical fixes cover various components of Office. One applies to Office FrontPage and Project systems, while the other two will fix flaws in Word and Excel. The two other patches -- rated 'important' -- include fixes for issues in Windows Media Player and Office SharePoint Server.
Digicel, Denis O'Brien's Caribbean mobile operator, has made an investment USD367 million and launched operations in the British Virgin Islands and Panama. Digicel now operates in 26 markets in the Caribbean and Central America and 31 markets worldwide. "Digicel is confident that it can stimulate growth in the mobile market in Panama by increasing mobile penetration within five years to 90 percent..." said O'Brien. Meanwhile, in the British Virgin Islands, investment is focused on building a state-of-the-art network that provides coverage to 98 percent of the population.
Google has released an unlocked, SIM-free version of its Android-based handset specifically for developers. The Android Dev Phone 1 has been designed to help developers build applications for Google's mobile platform. Developers will need to register on the Android Market website in order to buy the device, which costs USD399. Google has clarified that the device is not for use by the ordinary consumer.
Over half (53 percent) of US adults play video games of some kind, whether it's on a games console, a mobile phone, a portable gaming device, or their PC, according to a survey from the Pew Internet Project. Gaming consoles are the most popular for young adults: 75 percent of 18-to-29-year-old gamers play on consoles, compared with 68 percent who use computers, the second most popular device for this age group. Overall, PCs are the most popular method for playing video games among the total adult gaming population, with 73 percent of adult gamers using computers to play games, compared with 53 percent who use consoles, 35 percent who use mobile phones, and 25 percent who prefer portable gaming devices.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 