NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 28 August
28-08-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Intel raises revenue guidance | Apple signs China iPhone deal
Chip giant Intel has raised its third quarter revenue guidance, citing strong demand for its products. Intel said it now expects sales to be between USD8.8 billion and USD9.2 billion. The firm's last guidance, issued in mid-July, was for revenue in the range of USD8.1 billion to USD8.9 billion. Analysts had been expecting USD8.6 billion in revenue. The raised guidance offers a signal that a recovery in the PC market could be on the way. The market reacted positively to the news: Intel shares rose by USD0.90, or 4.6 percent, to USD20.37 in morning trading on Friday.
Following widespread speculation, Apple has confirmed it has signed a deal with China Unicom to sell the iPhone in China. Under the three-year deal, iPhones will hit shelves in China in the fourth quarter of this year. The deal differs from contracts Apple has signed with other global operators in that Unicom will not share revenue with Apple. Instead, it will buy the handsets from Apple on a wholesale basis and resell them. Unicom, one of three state-owned telecoms firms, had 114 million mobile subscribers at the end of July. The deal is a boost for both Unicom and Apple; Unicom is hoping the iPhone will help it attract high-spending customers, while Apple will undoubtedly see a huge spike in iPhone sales as it launches in the world's largest mobile market. China has around 687 million mobile subscribers.
PC makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard have stepped into the 'Microsoft versus i4i' fray, asking that their views on the case be heard. Earlier this month Microsoft was banned from selling Word in the US beyond 10 October, after losing a patent case with i4i, which had claimed that Microsoft was infringing on certain XML patents. Dell and HP have asked for an extension of the 10 October deadline, saying the decision would be harmful to their business as a large portion of their PCs come pre-loaded with Word. Microsoft is currently preparing to appeal the decision, with an oral hearing set for 23 September. If the judge grants Dell and HP's request for an extension this will give the PC firms time to prepare should Microsoft lose its appeal.
Social networking site Facebook is to update its privacy policy, following a recommendation from Canada's Privacy Commissioner's Office, which has been reviewing Facebook's privacy controls over the past number of months. Among the changes will be an overhaul of the site's Privacy Policy statement, in order to better explain the firm's policies on collecting personal information. Under the new measures users will also be given greater control over the information that can be collected and used by third-party developers. The new system will also require third-party applications to specifically identify the information that will be collected, and require user permission before any information is gathered. The changes will come into effect over the next year.
Finally, Caherconnell Stone Fort in the Burren is offering visitors an interactive guide direct to their mobile phones thanks to a partnership with Limerick firm MobaNode. MobaNode's technology delivers a free tourist guide to visitors' mobile phones via Bluetooth. The guide features interactive maps, an audio tour and a visual tour of the stone fort. MobaNode has previously provided similar solutions to events such as the Electric Picnic festival.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 