NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 10 September
10-09-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Broadband subscriptions top 1.3 million | Pirate Bay buyers face more scrutiny
Broadband subscriptions in Ireland rose by 3.1 percent in the second quarter to reach 1.3 million according to ComReg's latest quarterly report. Despite the overall upward trend, the rate of growth was down on previous quarters. At the end of June broadband penetration stood at 29.5 subscribers per 100 of population. However, that figure falls to 21.1 when mobile broadband subscribers are taken out of the equation. Communications market revenues also dropped, down 4 percent to EUR1.01 billion. There was also a decrease in voice traffic, dropping by 1.2 percent to 4.6 billion minutes. The Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan was upbeat despite the slump in some sectors. “In two years, we have doubled our broadband subscriptions, with higher speeds and lower costs now available. Broadband policy, focused on increased investment and competition in the market, is delivering results,” said Minister Ryan.
Dublin-based Eblana Photonics, an Enterprise Ireland client firm, has won a significant European Space Agency (ESA) contract to develop lasers for use in atomic clocks, which are used in the existing European Galileo satellite system design used for global positioning. These satellite-borne clocks must be highly accurate and stable since a deviation of even one nanosecond timing in these clocks produces a positional error on the ground of 30 cm. Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan has said the deal is an "excellent example of how small high-tech Irish companies are developing highly innovative technologies for highly demanding international clients like the European Space Agency". Eblana originated as a company from advanced photonic research involving Enterprise Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and the Tyndall National Institute.
Gamepak, a collective of DJs, VJs, button pushers, double clickers, vinyl spinners and console ninjas combine to make electronic music for the joypad generation in Dublin this Friday. The line-up includes musicians, technologists and practitioners of the dark arts of skweee, chiptunery and Gameboy improv. Patrons are invited to dance their dayglo cotton socks off and sample a selection of classic console games in a venue bedecked with decor from designers Nintendo and Sega. Ireland's first videogame-inspired club night takes place in the Legal Eagle pub, near the Four Courts, on 11 September, from 7pm. Admission is EUR6.
Cloud computing firm Salesforce.com has unveiled Service Cloud 2, the follow on to Service Cloud which was released at the beginning of this year. Service Cloud includes a range of new features including the ability for businesses to search Twitter in real-time, monitor service issues on Twitter, join Twitter conversations and establish a Twitter support channel. Since January Salesforce has added 8,000 businesses to its Service Cloud service. Salesforce.com uses Service Cloud to provide offerings to help businesses deliver customer service applications. This market is expected to be worth USD4.2 billion by 2012 according to IDC.
Samsung Electronics has launched the third phase of its ‘Ctrl+P’ marketing campaign to further support its growth in the European office printing market. In the four months to December 2009, Samsung will invest a further EUR3 million across online, print and search marketing campaigns in France, Germany, Italy, UK and Ireland, bringing its total investment in the campaign to EUR12.2 million. The aim of the campaign is help businesses become more efficient and secure in how they use printing.
A survey commissioned by CA has found that financial services organisations are leading the drive to address mainframe skills shortages in Europe. According to the report 60 percent of financial services organisations already rely on mainframes to administer their critical data, and 57 percent of respondents agree that a web-enabled graphical user interface (GUI) would make the mainframe more attractive to less experienced IT staff. In order to make up for skills shortages many businesses are looking to fix matters in-house. The study found that 42 percent of financial sector organisations are addressing the mainframe training needs of their employees.
The Pirate Bay saga is far from at an end and took yet another twist on Thursday. Global Gaming Factory (GGF), the proposed buyer of the BitTorrent site, has been banned from selling its shares on the Swedish stock exchange. The ban came after the exchange concluded GGF had misled its investors. Last month ENN reported that GGF was under investigation and had its shares suspended following doubts over its ability to fund the purchase. Now more doubt has been added as the investigation has taken a new turn to find out if GGF was involved in insider trading.
PC giant Dell has offered a sneak peek at its latest effort to take on Apple's MacBook Air. At less than four tenths of an inch thick, the new laptop, which will be part of Dell's ultra-thin Adamo line, is a quarter of an inch thinner the MacBook Air. A glimpse of the new laptop can be found at http://www.adamobydell.com/xps/us.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 