NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 4 February
04-02-2009
by Emmet Cole
Bad news on the jobs front in Dublin, Donegal | Nervous times for Celestica staff
Bad news for Donegal and Dublin respectively with news that medical devices firm Boston Scientific is to close its Donegal plant and computer-maker IBM is seeking 120 redundancies in Co Dublin. Boston Scientific plans to switch its manufacturing facility from Letterkenny, where it employs 120 people, to Galway -- with some opportunities for workers to move voluntarily to Galway, according to the company. And IBM has sought 120 voluntary redundancies at its Mulhuddart base as it moves the manufacturing of high-end computer servers to Singapore. Workers taking redundancy are expected to leave by the end of April.
Meanwhile, it's a nervous time for staff at Celestica in Galway, as a general meeting for staff has been called to discuss the future of the facility. The Canadian electronics company, which employs 380 people at the plant, reduced working hours last week. The company also closed a factory in the US last week, with the loss of 590 jobs. Wednesday evening's meeting is due to take place at 7.30pm.
Some 20.1 million PCs were shipped in Western Europe in the fourth quarter of 2008, an increase of 12.1 percent from the same period in 2007, according to figures released by Gartner on Wednesday. For the full year 2008, PC shipments reached 66 million units in Western Europe -- a whopping 17.2 percent growth from 2007. According to Gartner, Asus and Toshiba recorded the highest growth in the fourth quarter of 2008 as their mainstream notebook shipments grew. In the same period, average PC selling prices fell 15 percent year-on-year.
Mozilla has released version 3.0.6 of its Firefox browser in an attempt to tackle security and stability problems from previous versions. The main fix in the latest version is to a critical JavaScript problem that affected the browser's layout engine, making it vulnerable to hackers. According to the company, the update also addresses how scripted commands work with plug-ins and fixes certain display issues that occurred when previous versions of Firefox were left open for long periods of time.
Online retailer Amazon started offering casual game downloads on Tuesday, with the creation of an online store featuring more than 600 titles, priced below USD10. The games are all available for a free 30-minute trial, but are only playable on personal computers that run Microsoft's Windows. Amazon purchased casual game maker Reflexive Entertainment in October 2008.
Social networking site MySpace has deleted 90,000 user accounts it has identified as belonging to sex offenders, in response to a call from state attorneys general in the US to provide a list of offenders on its roster. The number of users banned is nearly twice that predicted by MySpace officials last year in a preliminary estimate.
The University of Ulster has launched a series of online courses aimed at working architects. Entitled 'Visualisation for Architecture,' the courses include 3D Solid Modelling, 3D Max Design, and Photoshop. Participants will be taught through the university's virtual learning environment, WebCT, and will have access to a full range of course materials including written notes, video demonstrations and real-world examples.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 