NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 3 July
03-07-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Tech start-up gets cash zap | Apple working on fix for iPhone flaw
Irish technology start-up Zapa Technology, which was set up by former Alphyra chief executive John Nagle, has secured EUR2.5 million in venture capital from Delta Partners. Zapa is poised to launch the customer technology Zapa Tag in the coming months. The technology is based on near field communications -- a short-range wireless technology -- and is a small tag placed in or on a consumer's mobile phone. The user simply needs to wave or tap their phone at a Zapa terminal at a point of sale in order to redeem a partner company's offer. Zapa claims to be one of the first companies in Europe to use near field communications in its products. The funding will primarily be used to roll out new applications in the coming year, according to Zapa.
A website aimed at linking up entrepreneurs with potential investors has launched in Ireland. The free-to-use site, cmypitch.ie, allows businesses to upload their video pitch onto the secure platform, for a registered network of investors to watch. In addition, entrepreneurs can learn how to become 'investor ready' by watching video tips from the likes of Eddie Jordan and Ray Nolan, and by downloading a range of 'how to guides'. The site, created by Emmet Kilduff, has been launched in partnership with Bank of Scotland (Ireland), Deloitte, Microsoft, The Irish Times and William Fry.
Northern Ireland software firm Singularity has entered into a strategic partnership with MphasiS, an IT services company headquartered in India. Under the agreement, MphasiS will use Singularity's business process management (BPM) technology to automate complex business processes for clients. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Chipmaker Xilinx has said it expects its fiscal first-quarter sales to be below the lower end of its prior projections, due to supply constraints on some devices. The firm said it predicts sales for the quarter ended 4 July to be down about 5 percent from the prior quarter. In April Xilinx predicted its sales for the quarter would be in a range of down 4 percent to up 4 percent sequentially. Xilinx's forecast is in contrast to recent positive predictions from rivals such as Altera and Texas Instruments. Xilinx's chips are used in products such as mobile phone base stations, network routers, DVD players and cable modems.
A vulnerability in the Apple iPhone that could allow an attacker to gain control of the device remotely via SMS has been identified by Charlie Miller, security analyst at Independent Security Evaluators. The flaw in the way the device handles SMS could potentially by exploited to perform tasks like using GPS to track the phone's location, turning on the microphone for eavesdropping, or taking control of the device and adding it to a botnet. Apple aims to have a fix for the flaw later this month.
In more news of the Apple iPhone, the firm has obliquely warned about the possibility of overheating devices. In a note on its site Apple has advised consumers on how to keep the iPhone within "acceptable operating temperatures". Low- or high-temperature conditions could temporarily shorten battery life or cause the device to stop working properly for a time, according to the firm. Apple urged users to store their iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS where the temperature is between -20º and 45º C. "Don't leave the device in your car, because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range," it warned.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 