NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 11 June
11-06-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Jack and Jill looking for phones | Is Web 2.0 one in a million?
The Jack and Jill Foundation is giving schools the opportunity to swap old mobile phones for new interactive whiteboards. The boards, provided by education technology firm Promethean, will be given as part of the foundation's efforts to raise funds and awareness for children who are either born with or develop brain damage and who suffer severe intellectual and physical developmental delay as a result. One 78 inch whiteboard will be provided for every 300 mobile phones collected. A school that collects 500 phones will also be able to exchange them for speakers and projectors as well. More information is available at www.phonesforboards.com
The finalists for the EUR10,000 iQ Prize have been named. The competition, run by web development firm iQ Content, aims to encourage Irish entrepreneurs to come up with fresh internet start-up ideas. From 249 initial entrants, a shortlist of eight has been announced. The overall winner will be decided by a Dragons' Den style panel of judges on 8 July.
Magnet Network's chief executive, Mark Kellett, has called on Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan to support new EU Telecoms reforms. Kellett has made the call ahead of the Council of Ministers meeting on Friday. The Magnet chief executive said the new reforms would enable ComReg to better regulate the market. "We have been frustrated by the slow progress made on telecoms competition here and would urge the minister to use his place on the council to ratify the reforms which will greatly help," said Kellett.
IT security firm Kerna Communications has appointed Bob Curran as business development manager. Curran will be responsible for growing the IT security and firewall division in Kerna Communications. In other appointments news, Vincent Dooley has been made business development manager at telecommunications firm Airspeed Telecom. Dooley will be responsible for developing new business and strategic relationships with key clients and partners.
The Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based organisation is claiming that Web 2.0 is the millionth word to enter the English language. The term refers to the next generation of world wide web products and services. The claim has been disputed by language experts. Lisburn-born linguistic expert Prof David Crystal told the BBC that the language had long surpassed the million mark, well before the claim made by the US organisation. The Global Language Monitor has acknowledged that there may be some inaccuracy to the claim that Web 2.0 is the millionth word.
The European Commission is seeking out views from PC makers and software vendors in an effort to find ways to curb Microsoft's dominance in the internet browser market. The commission has charged Microsoft with anti-competitive behaviour because of the way the IT giant bundles its web browser Internet Explorer with Windows software, keeping rivals out of Internet browser markets.
Advertising agencies Ocean Advertising and Birth Digital have merged to become Interactive Ocean. The new agency, also known as IO, will offer a broad range of advertising and communications services. The new firm's managing director, Tim France, said the merger would allow the business to operate better in both traditional and digital advertising markets.
Dell has launched its new Alienware M17x, a device which the PC maker claims is the most powerful 17 inch gaming laptop available. In support of the launch, Dell has unveiled a new marketing campaign to reach gamers as the firm expands Alienware's presence from six to 35 countries globally.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 