NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 16 December
16-12-2008
by Deirdre McArdle
Yahoo opens up mail service to developers | Not now dear, I'm surfing the net
Youth charity website SpunOut.ie has been awarded the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Award for 'Best Social Enterprise' in Connaught. The site will now compete at national level for the overall prize March 2009. SpunOut.ie is a national youth-led charity that uses the web to help young people to make a difference in their lives. It provides health, lifestyle and citizenship factsheets, as well as true-life stories, moderated peer support forums and a platform for youth media and civic engagement. The national winner of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Award will receive an 'Executive Education programme' at Harvard University Business School, EUR50,000 worth of advertising space in the Irish Independent and two years' membership of the Institute of Directors.
Troubled search firm Yahoo plans to open up its Yahoo Mail service to third party developers so that they can create compatible mail applications. With this move Yahoo said it aims to create "a smarter inbox experience". Developers will be able to use the Yahoo Application Platform, which was also announced on Tuesday, to build, test and submit JavaScript applications which will then be embedded inside an IFrame running in the new Yahoo Mail. Beta testing of a number of applications will kick off on Tuesday with a small group of Yahoo Mail users in the US. The functionality will be extended to Yahoo Mail users worldwide in 2009.
In a survey that highlights just what a huge role the internet plays in some people's lives, Intel reveals that 46 percent of women and 30 percent of men in the US said they would forego sex for two weeks rather than give up the internet for the same period. In all, 65 percent of US adults said they could not live without daily internet access, with 71 percent saying it was "very important" to them to have internet-enabled devices, such as laptops, netbooks and mobile phones to provide them with real-time updates on issues such as the state of the economy. Harris Interactive polled 2,119 adults in the US for this revealing Intel survey.
According to an annual report compiled by research firm Ponemon Institute and internet privacy firm Truste, IBM is the most trusted computer firm when it comes to protecting consumers' private information. IBM retained its third position from last year on the annual top 20 list, while Hewlett-Packard and Apple came in sixth and eighth, respectively. Meanwhile, online marketplace eBay was second on the list, while Amazon took fourth place. American Express was considered the company that did the best job of safeguarding consumers' personal information, according to the survey.
Software-as-a-service firm Salesforce.com has launched Force.com Checkout. Salesforce.com has positioned Force.com Checkout as a single source for finding, trying, buying and deploying Salesforce.com applications and partner-built Force.com applications via the Force.com AppExchange. "Cloud computing democratises access to powerful enterprise applications by making them radically easier to try, buy and install," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO. "Force.com Checkout gives partners a cloud computing distribution channel to reach the enterprise." A number of applications are currently available through Force.com Checkout, including: productivity tools from Appirio, financials and accounting ERP from CODA, and fleet management solutions from Datasul.
In a move aimed at reducing costs and enhancing its green credentials, Dell has announced it plans to reduce desktop and laptop packaging materials by around 10 percent worldwide, increase sustainable content in cushioning and corrugate packaging by 40 percent, and ensure that 75 percent of packaging components are recyclable by 2012. This plan will help Dell to save approximately USD8.1 million and eliminate over 20 million pounds of packaging material over the next four years. As it increases the sustainable content of its packaging, Dell said it is integrating air-filled cushion technology and renewable materials including moulded pulp cushions and 100 percent recycled High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) thermal-formed cushions. Milk cartons and laundry detergent bottles are typical materials that make up HDPE recycled waste.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 