NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 12 May
12-05-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Dot-ie domain registrations jump | Microsoft launches software cluster
The IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the managed registry for Ireland's internet address dot-ie, has reported a 28 percent increase in domain registrations for the first quarter of 2009. The total of 9,781 registrations is the highest number of any quarter to date. Over 80 percent of the new dot-ie website addresses were registered by sole traders or limited companies. The remainder were registered by clubs, societies and charities.
Software piracy levels in Ireland remained static in 2008 according to new research by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The study found the rate was unchanged at 34 percent in Ireland. The BSA said EUR84 million was lost by the software industry in Ireland last year due to piracy. The international study found software piracy levels dropped in half of the 110 countries surveyed and only rose in 15 percent.
Dublin's Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC) and Microsoft launched the GEC software development cluster for start-up and early-phase software development companies on Tuesday. This joint collaboration seeks to aid the indigenous software sector. The cluster is part of Microsoft Ireland's BizSpark Programme, which is designed to help indigenous technology start ups to grow into successful companies. The six companies accepted into the first phase of the programme will receive help aimed at removing the obstacles to starting a software business in Ireland. The programme is currently accepting applications to become part of the scheme.
Irish IT consulting firm Version 1 has launched GeoSMART, a new software solution for the Health & Safety Authority (HSA). GeoSMART consolidates all of the HAS's direct interactions with employers, employees, representative bodies and members of the public within a single application. The new software took over a year and 2,500 man hours to develop. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Communications regulator ComReg has re-issued a notice to businesses using private branch exchange (PBX) telephone systems, advising those firms to make sure company telephone lines are secure and protected from hacking. A PBX is a piece of equipment that serves a business or office to provide a number of telephone extensions. ComReg has re-issued its warning to businesses following a recent incident of PBX hacking.
The director general of Science Foundation Ireland, Professor Frank Gannon, has been elected to the steering committee of the European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs). The association comprises national research councils and research organisations of EU Member States. EUROHORCS was established in 1992 to promote excellence in all branches of research in which major publicly-funded national research organisations in Europe are assembled.
A presentation on identity theft on the internet has won the top prize in the Education in the Community programme run by Norkom Technologies. The project, by students at Dublin's Mount Carmel secondary school, won the top prize in the competition, which saw EUR22,650 awarded in prize money. Students in the competition were put through their paces in a Dragons' Den style environment, making presentations to a panel of judges who decided the overall winner.
Regions of India and South Asia that were previously inaccessible to mobile operators are now being opened up, according to an Irish wireless communications firm. Colm Jones, sales director with Kerry-based business Altobridge, told a conference in Mumbai that the technical and financial hurdles towards rolling out mobile services in these areas could now be overcome. The firm has developed a service called the Remote Community Solution, which could help to open up markets such as India, where there are just 362 million mobile phones owned by its population of 1.16 billion.
Finally, Dublin-based PopCap Games has launched a version of its downloadable game Peggle for the iPhone and iPod touch. The game has been downloaded nearly 50 million times to date in its other forms and combines elements of pinball and pachinko.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 