Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 473
09-07-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Google jumps into OS market | Telefonica scoops Pre Europe deal
IDA report highlights job losses, gains
Some 2,300 jobs have been created in IDA Ireland-assisted companies so far this year, but approximately 6,000 have been lost. That's according to IDA Ireland CEO Barry O'Leary, who said that redundancies at Dell and SR Technics made up the bulk of the overall losses. Looking on the bright side, the jobs that have been created are, by and large, high-value, skilled jobs. They include an EUR18 million investment by Hewlett-Packard, creating 500 jobs in Leixlip; Big Fish Games setting up its European headquarters in Cork with the creation of 100 jobs; an IBM R&D investment of EUR25 million to expand its Ireland Software Lab, creating 100 new jobs; and Boston Scientific's announcement of a EUR91 million RD&I investment in Galway, with the creation of 45 new high-quality jobs. Also on the cards on Thursday is another "significant" announcement from Boston Scientific concerning its operations in Cork. While the current levels of unemployment in Ireland are worrying, small comfort must be taken from the continuing foreign direct investment that is making its way into Ireland through tech giants such as IBM and HP.
Google jumps into OS market
In its most direct challenge yet to Microsoft's software market dominance, Google has outlined its plans to launch an operating system for PCs. Google Chrome OS, which the internet giant says is a "natural extension" of its Chrome browser, is a "lightweight" operating system initially targeted at netbooks. According to a Google blog post, Chrome OS will be open sourced later this year and netbooks running on the new system will be available in the second half of 2010. "We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear -- computers need to get better," said Google, adding that "speed, simplicity and security" are the main aspects of Chrome OS. "We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds... we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates." This latest development follows on from the launch of its Android mobile operating system in late 2007, and the Chrome web browser last September. While Android and Chrome have settled in to their respective markets, they haven't made any real dent in Microsoft's dominance. General consensus is that Chrome OS also has an uphill climb on its hands; estimates suggest that Windows has close to a 90 percent share of the operating system market, and let's not forget the upcoming launch of Windows 7.
Telefonica scoops Pre Europe deal
Telefonica, parent company of mobile operator O2, has achieved quite the coup, by winning the exclusive contract to sell Palm's new Pre smartphone in its European markets -- Spain, the UK, Ireland and Germany -- beating out larger rivals like Vodafone for the deal. This win marks the second significant smartphone deal for Telefonica; through its subsidiaries O2 and Movistar, it also has the exclusive rights to sell Apple's iPhone in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Palm's Pre went on sale in the US in June and Palm has said it is poised to release the Pre in Europe in time for the Christmas period. A price has not yet been mentioned. The Pre is being hyped as the closest rival to Apple's runaway phenomenon the iPhone. Indeed, Palm is pinning its hopes on the device making an impact in the still-growing smartphone market. During the 1990s Palm pioneered the market for mobile handheld devices; however, in recent years it has seen consistent quarterly losses as it fell further behind rivals such as (BlackBerry maker) Research in Motion and Apple, who reacted faster to consumer demand for applications like e-mail and music on their mobile devices. Initial reactions to the Pre have been generally positive, although the launch of the iPhone 3G S, also in June, may have taken the shine off the Pre somewhat.
Sony jumps on the netbook train, finally
It's taken a while but Sony has finally taken its first step into the burgeoning netbook market. The Japanese consumer electronics giant is to introduce what it calls "a chic new line of mini notebooks". The Sony Vaio W is a 10.1 inch netbook with all the specs that are common to other devices in the segment: Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB of RAM, Windows XP, and a 160GB hard drive. The Vaio W does feature the characteristic high-end touches of a Sony laptop – quality keyboard and touch pad, as well as a higher-than-average screen resolution at 1,366x768. However, analysts are suggesting Sony's recommended retail price of USD500 for the device could be a bit of a gamble. Typical netbook pricing comes in around the USD300-USD400 mark. The device will be launched in Japan in August, and is expected to hit shelves in the US around the same time. Netbooks have been the one bright point of the overall PC market, which has seen shipments decrease consistently for the past year or so. Research firm Gartner expects 21 million netbooks to ship in 2009 and 30 million units in 2010. Whether or not Sony can get in on that action remains to be seen.
EMC takes all in the Data Domain battle
The bidding war for Data Domain looks to have come to an end, with storage behemoth EMC emerging victorious. The race between EMC and its smaller rival NetApp to acquire the data duplication vendor has been ongoing since May, when NetApp put a USD1.5 billion cash and stock bid on the table. A few days later EMC waded in with its deep pockets, offering an all-cash offer of USD1.8 billion, which NetApp promptly matched with a cash and stock bid. Surprising Wall Street, Data Domain said it would accept the NetApp offer. Data Domain's de-duplication technology is aimed at making large disc-based storage systems more efficient. Over the past few years the company has grown rapidly, signing up high-profile customers including the US Army. EMC, the undisputed leader in the data storage market, was determined to acquire Data Domain and on Monday dived in with a USD2.2 billion bid for the company. This final bid effectively put Data Domain out of NetApp's reach and the firm walked away from the table, leaving EMC with the prize.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 