NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 17 August
17-08-2009
by Emmet Cole
Dediserve to create 30 jobs | Dell to enter smartphone market
Dediserve, a web infrastructure provider launched in the Digital Hub on Monday, has announced plans to roll out a complete suite of enterprise products in the coming months, with the creation of 30 new jobs in technical and R&D departments over the next three years. Dediserve has developed its own custom web-based control panel that sits on the opensource Xen technology. The firm said the web interface allows users to deploy mail, web, DNS and development environments using pre-installed application stacks. Users can also take advantage of a custom-built cloud platform for quick and easy scalability and redundancy.
Dublin-based games company, PopCap Games, has hired Robert Chamberlain to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Chamberlain comes to PopCap after similar roles with F5 Networks, Onyx Software and Watchguard Technologies. Chamberlain will officially join PopCap on 31 August, replacing interim CFO Karla Horwitz.
Meanwhile, spare a thought for 16 year-old Dubliner Sean Walsh, favourite to win the Irish final of the World Cyber Games, taking place on Tuesday at the Digital Exchange on Crane Street. As well as being regarded as Ireland's top 'TrackMania' gamer, Walsh has already secured a contract with a professional gaming team based in the UK. Four of Ireland's top gamers will play car-racing game 'TrackMania Nations Forever' during the final, with the eventual winner going on to represent Ireland at the international World Cyber Games in China this November. Liu Biwei, China's Ambassador to Ireland, will attend the Irish final.
Some 99 percent of iPhone 3GS users are either 'very' or 'somewhat' satisfied with their device, according to a survey by RBC Capital and ChangeWave Research. Meanwhile, 87 percent of Palm Pre users recorded similar satisfaction levels. The top three features for iPhone users were its touchscreen interface, ease of use and the range of available third-party applications.
A turn-by-turn navigation application for the iPhone was released on Monday. Developed by TomTom, the USD100 application uses the iPhone's built-in GPS chip to provide users with real-time navigation directions. The app features both landscape and portrait views, points of interest, 3D and 2D maps, and both night and day views. It also features IQ Routes, which suggests routes based on the practical experience of millions of drivers, offering precise arrival times depending on traffic spikes during the day.
Meanwhile, PC maker Dell is about to enter the smartphone market through a cooperation deal with China Mobile, according to reports. Dell's new handset, known as the mini3i, will support applications from China Mobile's online store, offering music, games, videos and other entertainment programs for download to mobile phones.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 