NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 27 February
27-02-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Intel ploughs funds into Shannon | Eircom revenues hold steady
Chip giant Intel is to invest EUR50 million in a major expansion of its research and development facility in the Shannon Free Zone in County Clare. The move could result in up to 134 new jobs being created at the facility over the next four years, bringing the total employment there to approximately 300. The investment will focus on two separate R&D projects. The first is a new hardware project involving Advanced 32nm Silicon Design and Validation, and will deliver a new chip with a significantly improved design for embedded applications. The second project is a software development project, extending Intel QuickAssist Technology, to address price and power consumption constraints while delivering compelling performance.
Eircom posted a slight drop in earnings for the six months to 31 December 2008, to EUR333 million, down 4 percent from the same period a year ago. Revenues at the telecoms firm held steady at just over EUR1 billion, more or less the same as the year-ago period. While Eircom added 46,000 DSL broadband customers during the six months, it lost 41,000 fixed line phone customers, compared to just 8,000 in the same period in 2007. Meteor continued to perform well for Eircom, clocking up a 7 percent rise in revenue to EUR255 million, while earnings jumped 6 percent to EUR57 million. The telco took a goodwill impairment charge of EUR720 million for the period, as its defined benefit pension scheme fell to a deficit off EUR433 million.
Separately, Eircom announced that Cathal Magee, managing director of Eircom Retail, is to take up the role of Acting CEO at the telecoms firm, with immediate effect. Magee will take over from the departing Rex Comb, who is returning to Australia. The search is currently on for the person who will fill the CEO role on a permanent basis, Eircom said. The telecoms firm also announced that Nicky Hartery has been appointed as non-executive director to the Eircom board.
Dublin-based social mapping software firm Locle has scooped the top prize at the Docklands Innovation Enterprise Awards. The firm, which has developed a "friend finder" application for mobile phones not dissimilar to Google's Latitude service, won EUR10,000 in prize money for having the best investment proposal. Locle said it has received letters of interest from two European social networks (Netlog and Badoo), who between them represent over 60 million users. The other finalists at the awards were Microbide and Trezur, who each received EUR1,500.
Carol Bartz, Yahoo's new CEO, unveiled her management re-organisation on Thursday, with aims to simplify the structure of the search firm. The move came as Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen became the latest executive to leave Yahoo, following the departure of two other top execs during the week. Yahoo has launched a search for a new CFO, and Jorgensen will remain through a transition period. So, Bartz has split Yahoo into two regions -- North America, led by former US chief Hilary Schneider, and International, whose chief has yet to be named. As she tries to simplify things at Yahoo, Bartz announced that the firm's various technology and product groups will be combined into one entity led by Chief Technology Officer Ari Balogh. Yahoo's business and advertising efforts for mobile will be led by David Ko, while Elisa Steele, formerly at NetApp Inc, will be chief marketing officer.
Finally, the news that Google has signed up for a Twitter account set the blogosphere and industry analysts buzzing on Thursday. The internet giant's first "tweet" was a string of binary code, which translated as "I'm feeling lucky". The account, written by an anonymous staff member identified as "a Googler", pledges to bring official news and updates from Google. So, the burning question on commentators' minds now is: is Google just having a bit of fun, or is it planning on making a move for the increasingly popular micro-blogging service? Whatever it has up its sleeve, the move to join Twitter has demonstrated just how popular a brand Google really is; in just 24 hours over 25,000 Twits(?) signed up to follow the search giant.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 