NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 2 March
02-03-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Revenues jump at Letshost.ie | Microsoft Surface rolled out to EMEA
Dublin-based hosting firm Letshost.ie has posted revenue of EUR1.2 million for the full-year 2008, up from EUR700,000 in the previous year. Looking ahead, the company said it expects to reach EUR2 million revenue for 2009. Daragh Mac Loughlin, co-founder and director of Letshost.ie said that "2008 has been a very good year for Letshost.ie and we expect to keep growing in 2009. We are currently looking at expanding our team in Galway with three new employees, as well as looking at new projects and partnerships[...]. "
Bookmaker Paddy Power saw profits at its online betting unit soar 34 percent to EUR42.8 million in 2008. The firm said its online profits accounted for more than 70 percent of the group's overall profits during the second half of the year. The bookmaker reported a 4 percent increase in group pre-tax profits for 2008 to EUR79 million. The company, which has 191 shops in the Republic of Ireland, predicts the number of betting shops in Ireland will decline in the coming years. Looking ahead, Paddy Power said its fortunes would depend on how its UK expansion plans developed. Profits at its UK shops were EUR1.2 million, and the firm plans to have 150 UK shops by 2011.
Telefonica O2 Ireland has announced the launch of a telecoms expense management tool, which it says will help large businesses manage their mobile and fixed line costs. O2 claims to be the first mobile operator in Ireland to introduce such a service. The tool -- O2 Analyser -- can generate automated cost and usage reports, and can analyse costs down to a department or specific user level. It delivers all of this information directly to a user's desktop. The O2 Analyser is powered by voice management software company Soft-ex.
E-commerce firm Komplett.ie is to launch 'Build Your Own PC' classes for existing and new customers. The classes will commence on 14 March and will be conducted by Komplett engineers. Attendees will learn the theory behind building their own PCs as well as getting hands-on experience. Anyone interested in enrolling should contact business.ie@komplett.com, and enrolment is open to all, including people without an existing Komplett account. Komplett will also be adding Build Your Own PC and Overclocking guides to its website in the coming weeks.
Telecoms firm BT has been named 2008 Gold Partner of the Year by Cisco Ireland. In order to achieve this award BT had to meet numerous standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction as outlined by Cisco. "In the year ahead we plan to further use the Cisco portfolio to assist our customers drive efficiency and adopt cost control measures required to thrive in dynamic and difficult times," said Chris Clark, CEO, BT.
At the CeBIT trade show in Germany, which runs this week, Microsoft has announced it has made its Surface computing platform available in 12 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Surface, which allows users to control their computer using hand movements and gestures on a touchscreen, was previously only available in the US and Canada. It is now available in EMEA countries including Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.
Research firm Gartner has released predictions that indicate the PC industry is unlikely to rebound quickly from the downturn. The firm is predicting a total of just 257 million units to be shipped in 2009, representing an 11.9 percent drop from 2008, and the sharpest decline in the history of the industry. Worldwide mini-notebook shipments, which have been propping up the overall PC market in recent quarters, are forecast to total 21 million in 2009, up from 2008 shipments of 11.7 million. However, Gartner says that despite this growth, mini-notebooks, or netbooks, are unlikely to be able to prevent the overall PC market slowdown.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 