NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 1 April
01-04-2009
by Emmet Cole
First Derivatives buys Hologram | eTrip becomes Easytrip
Irish software and consulting company First Derivatives has purchased Australian technology company Hologram in a cash and shares deal valued at around AUS3.6 million. First Derivatives provides consulting services to the capital markets technology sector, while Hologram specialises in stock exchange and risk management software. In October, First Derivatives acquired US-based Market Resource Partners for USD20 million. The Newry, Co Down-based company employs 260 people worldwide.
eTrip is set to merge its Eazy Pass division in to a new, re-branded firm called Easytrip in a move that will see the parking and toll-free collection firm more than double its workforce to 36. Existing Eazy Pass and eTrip customers will not need to make any amendments to their accounts or renew tags following the move. Easytrip controls toll-free electronic tagging on the East-Link, Dublin Port Tunnel, M1, M4, M8 plus the barrier free system on the M50. With 80,000 clients and over 172,000 electronic tags issued, Easytrip is now the largest supplier of electronic tolling and parking services in Ireland.
Irish air-conditioning, heating and electrical systems maintenance company Thermodial has invested EUR100,000 in a mobile solution from Heavey RF. Designed to improve organisational efficiency and customer service, the deal involves the supply of Psion Teklogix Workabout Pro G2 handheld computers to engineers and the sales teams. The handhelds are linked to a so-called 'Mobile Control Centre' that hosts a complete suite of integrated tools to centrally manage and control a mobile workforce.
NewBay, the Irish 'digital lifestyle' company has announced that its LifeCache product suite is now storing more than 4 billion pieces of user-generated content online. The petabytes of data include millions of photos and videos uploaded across web and handset channels. LifeCache provides services for mobile and converged operators that allow users to create, store, share and view user content including pictures, videos and messages.
Meanwhile, Dail Eireann has launched a new training course designed to help TDs increase their engagement with the public. 'Twittering Their Lives Away: Social Networking For Social Leaders', will feature an introduction to twittering, a guide to designing templates for MySpace accounts, and 'in-depth analysis of the dystopic potential of electronic information dissemination platforms, such as the World Wide Web'. The course is due to start on 1 April 2009 and finish up shortly before tea sometime in September.
More than 40 percent of life sciences companies with revenues of at least USD15 billion say that they need to institute significant changes across the whole organisation to survive the next decade, according to a report published by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) on Wednesday. Developed in collaboration with The Economist Intelligence Unit, the DTT report, 'The Future of Life Sciences Industries: Transformation Amid Rising Risk', reveals that 26 percent of executives -- 39 percent in Western Europe -- say that the risks associated with R&D are set to rise sharply through the next decade. More than one-third of respondents indicated that they would mitigate risks attached to R&D by spending more money. Additionally, one-third of survey respondents believe that outsourcing R&D can significantly reduce their organisation's risk profile.
Business telecommunications company Magnet Business has appointed Colin Murphy as channel sales manager. Murphy will be responsible for managing Magnet Business's channel sales team and managing relationships with business partners, including IT maintenance companies and systems integrators nationwide. Previously, Murphy spent six years with Imagine Telecom as channel sales manager, setting up the company's reseller channel.
Meanwhile, networking solutions company euNetworks has announced that Brady Rafuse, former President and CEO of European operations, will become chief executive officer designate at the company. The company also revealed that Noel Meaney, founder and CEO since 2002, intends to concentrate on his role as Executive Chairman with responsibility for strategic corporate development.
Avaya has launched 'Avaya Aura' -- an IT architecture that integrates communications across multi-vendor, multi-location and multi-modal businesses. Avaya Aura is designed to simplify complex communications networks, reduce infrastructure costs and delivers voice, video, messaging, presence, and web applications in a distributed way. Avaya Aura will be available globally in May 2009.
Finally, Sony has announced that the PlayStation 2 is set to drop in price worldwide, from Wednesday. The console will be sold for USD99 in the US and EUR99 in Europe, according to game news site Kotaku. The PS2 has sold over 140 million units worldwide.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 