NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 28 July
28-07-2009
by Emmet Ryan
SuccessFactors to create 40 Dublin jobs | Ryanair chases German screenscraper
Software firm SuccessFactors is to establish a new European Multilingual Business Centre in Dundrum, Dublin, creating up to 40 jobs over three years. The new positions were announced by the Tanaiste Mary Coughlan. Recruitment has already commenced for third level graduates with various language skills. The centre is being set up in response to SuccessFactors’ expansion of its European business. The Dublin centre will be used to service the SME market.
Budget airline Ryanair has lodged proceedings in the High Court in Dublin against German screenscraping firm Travelviva AG. Ryanair, which has been battling screenscraping websites for several months, claims Travelviva has been engaged in unauthorised screenscraping and reselling of Ryanair's flights. Ryanair claims the German firm has been imposing unjustified markups and it is refusing to commit to desist from screenscraping. In a statement, Ryanair said it had offered Travelviva licensed access to its information but that the German firm had refused.
Irish cloud computing firm Saaspoint has won contracts worth over EUR1 million. The deals include California headquartered International Asset Systems and global application software and services company Misys. "The global economic downturn has been one of the drivers of increased demand for cloud computing in the enterprise," said Colm Mulcahy, chief executive of Saaspoint.
Microsoft has officially opened its Windows Marketplace for Mobile application store to software developers. The move is being made as the IT giant looks to catch up with Apple's iPhone App Store. The firm is accepting submissions of applications of mobile phone software from registered developers in 29 countries. As an incentive Microsoft is offering prizes for the most popular applications as judged by downloads, revenue, and usefulness. Developers can start uploading applications to Windows Marketplace now.
The British government has published a guide to help ministers understand how to use the micro-blogging site Twitter. The guide aims to help extend the government's ability to reach out to online communities. Several departments, such as the Foreign Office and Downing Street, already use the micro-blogging service. The guide, developed by the British Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, is designed to help give a human and informal voice to ministries.
Sprint Nextel is looking to buy Virgin Mobile USA in a deal valued at about USD483 million. The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal values Virgin Mobile at USD5.50 a share, a 31 percent premium to Monday's closing price. Sprint already owns 13 percent of the company. The move comes as Sprint, which has suffered from a high customer turnover in recent years, tries to improve customer service and drive growth in the pre-pay segment.
IBM has agreed to buy SPSS for USD1.2 billion. This purchase of the Chicago firm further expands IBM’s move into analytics and information-on-demand software. SPSS develops statistical software for survey and scientific research along with marketing, government and educational purposes. The offer is a 42 percent premium to SPSS's closing price on Monday. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 