NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 13 August
13-08-2009
by Emmet Cole
Google launches social-networking apps | Alibaba's profits fall
Speedier reform is required to address the crisis in maths and science teaching, according to the Director General of Engineers Ireland, John Power. Reacting to the ongoing low levels of students studying maths and the physical sciences at third level, Power expressed concern that syllabus changes are taking too long. The Government's Project Maths initiative is at the pilot stage with full roll-out not effective until September 2010. Citing American Chamber of Commerce, IBEC and PharmaChemical's concerns about the low numbers studying maths and science, Power called for reform to be carried out quickly. Leaving Certificate results showed that 16 percent of students took honours maths, which is down on the 2008 figures. Only 10 percent took higher level chemistry while just 8 percent took higher level physics.
Microsoft Game Studios Europe has licensed the Spectrum software bundle developed by Dublin-based games software and services provider Havok. The deal will see games developers at Microsoft Game Studios use Havok tools and technology including the company's flagship Havok Physics product, Havok Animation and Havok Behavior. Financial details of the deal were not revealed.
Dublin-based Hostelworld.com, the online reservations provider to the budget, independent and youth travel market, announced the launch of its Travel Store, on Thursday. In addition to booking hostel and budget accommodation, customers can also avail of offers and exclusive discounts offered by Hostelworld's partners, including World Nomads travel insurance, Viagogo events ticketing, Lonely Planet guidebooks, and TravelnRoam mobile SIM cards.
euNetworks, the high-performance networking solutions company, has reported a 32 percent improvement in revenue to EUR14.3 million for the six months ended 30 June 2009, compared to EUR10.8 million achieved in the same period a year ago. Revenue growth was driven by the signing of 93 new recurring revenue contracts worth over EUR9 million, the bulk of these coming from the financial services and trading sectors. In the second quarter of 2009, euNetworks completed a fund raising exercise, which enabled it to buy back some EUR43.8 million worth of convertible bonds. These bonds were re-purchased at a discount to the face value, resulting in a gain of EUR6.96 million. With this non-recurring gain taken into consideration, the group reported a net profit of EUR2 million for the first six months of this year, compared to a net loss of EUR6.2 million for the corresponding period in 2008.
Global internet advertising spend fell by 5 percent in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC. Spending contracted for the second consecutive, reaching USD13.9 billion, down from USD14.7 billion in the same quarter last year. All global regions posted losses, with the exception of the Asia/Pacific region and Japan, which saw slight gains in the second quarter.
Google added social-networking features -- "social gadgets" -- to its customisable homepages on Wednesday. The company announced the US launch on iGoogle of 19 community-oriented, mini-programs including trivia, chess, and the ability to send updates to friends via a feed application. People using iGoogle can create a "Friends" group to designate who they want to share their info with.
Chinese online business platform operator Alibaba.com, reported a second-quarter net profit fall of 34 percent. Revenue rose 24 percent to CNY908.3 million from CNY735.1 million. Net profit for the three months ended 30 June was CNY260.7 million, down from CNY396.5 million a year earlier. The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is in talks with a number of US companies regarding partnerships, and is expected to announce a reseller agreement with a US information technology-related call centre shortly. Yahoo owns a 39 percent stake in Alibaba Group.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 