NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 28 April
28-04-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Servecentric signs EUR1m deal | Nokia to slash jobs
Smart Telecom launched two new business broadband products on Tuesday. The telco makes the bold claim that the services will bring Ireland "out of the broadband dark ages". Users of over 300 exchanges will be able to access a 24Mbps service that costs EUR49 per month (ex VAT) while 37 exchanges will provide a service with the same speed but at a cost of EUR24 per month. The announcement follows recent reports that Smart is looking for a buyer or strategic partner.
Ryanair will allow websites that solely offer price comparison and seat availability services access to the airline's timetable and pricing information. The budget airline is to introduce a licence agreement to provide authorised access to Ryanair's website, whereby licensed sites would make an annual EUR100 charitable donation. The news is somewhat of a move towards the middle ground by Ryanair, which has fought doggedly in recent times against 'screenscraper' websites that re-sold tickets for Ryanair flights. Earlier this month Ryanair forced Tui UK to cease screenscraping the airline's site as part of a legal settlement.
An Irish IT firm has secured a EUR1 million deal with a major international law firm. Servecentric, a data centre managed services company, has successfully completed a EUR1 million managed hosting deal through Partners National Mission Critical Facilities (PNMCF), a firm that brokers such deals. The name of the law firm, which is based in the US, has not been released, but Servecentric said the client has offices in 21 locations, with 1,300 staff worldwide.
Accommodation and travel website Hostelworld.com has been nominated for a Webby award, the online equivalent of the Oscars. The website has been nominated in the Best Travel Video category and is the only Irish nominee this year. Hostelworld.com will look to go one better than BalconyTV.com, Ireland's sole nominee in last year's Webbys, which missed out on victory in the US-based awards. In addition to the main event, which will be judged by a panel of experts, Hostelworld is also eligible for the People's Voice award, which is decided by public vote.
Irish compliance software firm Norkom Technologies has signed a deal with NCB Capital, marking its entry into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and supporting its continued expansion in the Middle East. The announcement was made during the Enterprise Ireland trade mission to the Saudi Arabia led by Tanaiste Mary Coughlan. NCB will commence immediate implementation of Norkom's suite of financial crime solutions across its operations in the Middle East, starting with its Saudi Arabian headquarters.
LG Electronics has announced three new appointments to its Ireland and UK marketing team. Fiona Landsberg has been appointed as brand manager, Natasha Khan as digital marketing executive and Sylvain Berrier as research and insight manager. The electronics firm said the appointments were made to strengthen its brand marketing in the region.
Cable & Wireless has announced a joint initiative with office space rental firm Regus worth approximately EUR35 million over five years. The deal will see Polycom's telepresence video conferencing suites established at Regus' premier global business centres. These centres allow face-to-face meetings via video link for up to ten users per site.
And finally, another dose of dour news on the employment front. Mobile handset manufacturing giant Nokia is to slash 450 jobs globally as part of cost-cutting measures. The job cuts will be made in Nokia's mobile services division.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 