Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 482
10-09-2009
by Emmet Cole
Critics take aim at Google book deal | Jobs back on the job
T-Mobile, Orange in UK mobile merger
Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom confirmed plans to merge their British mobile phone units, T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, on Tuesday. The pair revealed that they have started negotiations to split assets and create a 50:50 joint mobile venture by the end of October. The move will see Deutsche Telekom put its business into the venture debt-free, with France Telecom transferring STG1.25 billion of intra-group debt. France Telecom would also receive a one-off payment of STG625 million. The combined company would have 28.4 million mobile subscriptions -- equivalent to a significant 37 percent of the UK's mobile-phone user base. Both Orange UK, with a 22 percent market share, and T-Mobile UK with just 15 percent, have been outperformed in the UK by rivals O2 (27 percent of user base) and Vodafone (25 percent); however, if the merger is approved by regulators, the new entity would become a clear market leader -- overtaking both Telefonica and Vodafone in the UK market. The companies plan to operate T-Mobile and Orange as separate brands until shareholders sign off on the new strategy.
Critics take aim at Google book deal
As the deadline in a US court for arguments for and against Google's proposal to create an online library of out-of-print books passed on Tuesday, Microsoft filed a brief with the court claiming that Google's book settlement resembled a "joint venture" between business partners rather than a compromise position between two opposing parties. The settlement, reached in October, allows Google to scan out-of-print books with unknown copyright holders and sell them online. Microsoft argues that the move would be anti-competitive. The Open Book Alliance, which includes Microsoft and Yahoo, is asking the Department of Justice to examine the deal. Attention is now shifting to Europe with France and Germany formally opposing the US settlement. Meanwhile, European publishers, booksellers and authors protested against Google's plans in Brussels on Monday at a European Commission hearing investigating the implications of Google's plans. Campaigners raised copyright, data privacy and censorship issues and expressed concern over Google gaining unprecedented control over so much information. The original US settlement agreement requires approval from the US District Court with a fairness hearing scheduled for 7 October.
Jobs back on the job
Steve Jobs made his first appearance since his liver transplant at an Apple event in San Francisco this week. Jobs didn't unveil any new products at the much-anticipated 09/09/09 bash, nor did he respond to rumours that the company is working on a tablet computer; however, he did outline a series of improvements to existing products, and revealed reduced prices on its iPod Touch range. A video camera has been added to the iPod Nano, which will retail for USD149 and come with 8GB of memory. The upgraded Nano will also feature an FM radio and pedometer. The 8GB iPod Touch will drop USD30 to USD199. For USD299, the memory will double from 16GB to 32GB, while a 64GB model will be available for USD399. Jobs also called on consumers and industry to consider the iPod Touch as a platform for videogames. Jobs highlighted the fact that 21,178 games are now available for the iPod Touch on Apple's App store, compared to 607 PlayStation Portable games and 3,680 Nintendo DS games. Jobs also unveiled iTunes 9.0, which features a syncing option and extra features such as iTunes LP format. The much sought after syncing functionality means users will be able to organise their iPhone apps in iTunes. Meanwhile, iTunes LP packs in additional materials such as liner notes, artwork, videos and photos on top of the music. Also this week, Apple announced plans to allow music-streaming service (and iTunes competitor) Spotify to produce an application for the iPhone. The move is leading to speculation that Apple may be about to relax its rules regarding rival application providers selling their wares through Apple's online stores. Although, a dispute surrounding an application made by Google to feature its product Google Voice on the iPhone is still ongoing with much discussion going on between Google, Apple and AT&T.
Beatles to give album sales a leg up?
In what is being seen as an effort to stem declining CD sales in the face of the widespread adoption of digital downloads, record label EMI released 5 million re-mastered CD recordings of 14 Beatles albums this week. In the US, album sales are down 14.5 percent for the year to date, and are 31.1 percent below 2007 levels. The first 50,000 box sets of mono versions of the Beatles recordings have sold out, at a price of USD269, despite an online leak at the weekend that made the entire catalogue available online. The Beatles special edition CD set, which features short video documentaries and background notes, is expected to generate significant sums for the late Michael Jackson's estate. Jackson owned a substantial share in the publishing rights to the Beatles' back catalogue. Meanwhile, the Beatles version of the popular Rock Star computer game went on sale worldwide on Wednesday. The game allows you to play 45 Beatles songs using scaled down guitars, basses and drum kits.
EU cracks down on e-tailers
The European Union is set to introduce tighter regulations to prevent misleading advertising and unfair practices by online consumer electronics stores, it was revealed this week. Companies suspected to be in breach of the new regulations will be issued with enforcement notices requiring them either to clarify their position or make changes. Failure to comply will result in potential legal action, fines and closure. On Wednesday, the results of an investigation of 369 websites in 28 countries conducted by the EU consumer watchdog revealed that 55 percent of European websites selling consumer electronics are misleading or cheating online shoppers. Fifty-five percent of websites were misleading buyers about their consumer rights or shipping costs, or providing incomplete contact details. Almost two-thirds of problem websites failed to inform, or misinformed, buyers about their right to cancel an order within a minimum of seven days and return the product without reason. Meanwhile, a third of problem sites did not properly give their address or contact details, which meant buyers could not contact them if they had problems with the goods. Here in Ireland, 15 Irish websites were examined with six sites found to have irregularities, according to the National Consumer Agency (NCA). According to reports, the NCA does not plan to release the websites' names.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 