NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 5 May
05-05-2009
by Bryan Collins
Microsoft cuts and creates jobs | Apple tipped for Twitter buy
Microsoft is cutting 60 jobs in its Irish business but is also going to create 40 new positions. The company told RTE that it hopes that "as many as possible" of the lay-offs will be voluntary. In January, Microsoft announced plans to reduce costs and increase efficiencies and is currently eliminating jobs across several areas of the company "A 30-day consultation process will commence in the coming days with a view to securing a total reduction of 60 roles," a spokesperson said. The 40 new positions are believed to be high-value roles in its European operations centre in Sandyford, Dublin.
Apple may be on the verge of buying Twitter, according to a variety of online news sources, including TechCrunch and Valleywag. The computer and iPod manufacturer is reportedly in final stage talks for a USD700 million buyout of the micro-blogging company. If the rumours are to be believed, Apple, which sells a Twitter App for the iPhone via iTunes, is hoping to announce a deal at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Diego on 8 June. Previous supposed suitors for Twitter include Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
The 13th annual Webby Awards were announced on Tuesday, with US organisations and individuals dominating the event. National Public Radio was the big winner, taking home seven Webbys for its news and music podcasts. Twitter picked up an award for best breakthrough site, the Huffington Post for best political website, and the Onion for best humorous site. The New York Times, Wired and Digg also went home with Webbys, while Trent Reznor won a special achievement award for releasing his album 'The Downward Spiral' as a free download. However, not everyone who went home with a Webby was American. The BBC won two awards for its news website, including the People's Choice award, chosen by online voters.
Centralisation will be the largest growth area for the IT industry this year, according to a survey conducted by Citrix Systems. Centralisation is where a company organises and controls all its IT processes from one location. The IT services company surveyed a number of its Irish channel partners who cited centralisation, server virtualisation and application virtualisation as the top three IT growth areas for 2009. Citrix also reported that over half believe virtualisation is considered only by the early adopters and that more needs to be done to educate CEOs and CIOs about its benefits.
Irish employers and job hunters can now use a new 2.0 recruitment site to search for suitable positions and candidates. Worky.com was launched on Tuesday by the founder of Raven Computing, Ray Nolan. The site aims to capture a significant share of the Irish recruitment industry, which is worth approximately EUR500 million. Users of Worky.com can upload profiles including their skills, salary expectations and location preferences. These profiles are matched against a database of jobs posted by employers. Job hunters do not have to post a CV and can keep their identities hidden.
Nutritional group Glanbia and IT company Heavey RF have completed a seven-figure logistics deal. Glanbia contracted the Dublin-based IT company to implement a logistics solution comprising voice-directed and handheld computers, which Glanbia says has resulted in a significant increase in productivity. Heavey RF replaced Glanbia's manual system in two warehousing sites and manufacturing sites and integrated the solution with the nutritional company's SAP system.
Cable & Wireless has launched a managed exchange email service for businesses in Ireland and continental Europe. The solution provides customers with anytime, anywhere access to e-mail, shared calendars, tasks and folders. It includes hardware implementation, hosting, licensing, virus and spam protection, Blackberry access and 24x7 monitoring of email traffic. The data can also be archived for long-term retention and according to Cable & Wireless the e-mail service should cut monthly e-mail management costs by up to 40 percent for customers.
The Commission for Communications Regulation has published its plans to release further radio spectrum for broadband provision. To support the growing broadband demand, ComReg is now proposing to make additional spectrum available for Fixed Wireless Access Local Area (FWALA) licensing in the 10.5 GHz band. The communications regulator says that the release of additional spectrum will assist FWALA licencees in meeting the demand from consumers for access to broadband wireless services, particularly in highly populated areas where the demand for additional FWALA spectrum is at its greatest.
PopCap Games has launched a humorous action strategy zombie game for the Mac and PC. 'Plants vs Zombies' pits the player against legions of the undead who can only be defeated by mutant flowers, vines, trees and other foliage. The game features five different modes of play, 50 levels and dozens of different zombie types. 'Plants vs Zombies' costs USD19.95 and is available online at www.popcap.com.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 