NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 24 September
24-09-2009
by Emmet Cole
Cowen opens Microsoft mega centre | Vodafone 360 unveiled
Microsoft's Dublin-based 'mega data centre' -- the company's first in Europe – has been officially opened by An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen. The new facility, which required USD500 million in investment, is designed to support demand for Microsoft's Online, Live and cloud services, including Bing, Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, Windows Live, and the Windows Azure platform. The facility can generate up to 5.4 megawatts of critical power, according to Microsoft, with the potential to expand to a total of 22.2 megawatts. Making use of the low ambient air temperatures in Ireland, the buildings employ 'free air' cooling. Free air-cooling enables the ideal operating environment to be maintained without mechanical or refrigerated cooling systems more than 95 percent of the time. The data centre has also been recognised by the European Commission's Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign as a "best practice" in environmental sustainability design thanks to a design that makes it 50 percent more energy efficient than traditional data centres.
Vodafone has revealed details of Vodafone 360 -- a new suite of internet services for mobile phones and PCs. Vodafone 360 gathers your favourite music, games, photos and video in one place and combines them with your contacts from webmail, chat, IM and social networking sites. Designed to enhance social media use, the suite is automatically backed up and synchronised, wirelessly, between your mobile and PC or Mac. The full Vodafone 360 experience will be available on an exclusive handset built to Vodafone’s specification by mobile phone manufacturer Samsung and will be also be available as a client service across a range of popular handset models. Check out our video of the Vodafone 360 launch elsewhere on ENN.
Staying with Vodafone, the mobile operator has announced the launch of a two-phased competition with a combined prize fund of EUR1 million to find innovative and useful mobile widgets. Split into two phases, the Vodafone Appstar competition will involve participants from eight of Vodafone's largest European operating companies: the UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. In the initial phase of the competition, developers from anywhere in the world can submit widgets compatible with the new Vodafone 360 phones to any one of these eight markets. A panel of experts from the local Vodafone operating company will then select three winning entries based on user experience, innovation, and value to the customer. Widgets will be put to the public vote within the participating countries.
Meanwhile, the new Palm Pre smartphone will be available in Ireland exclusively on the O2 network from 16 October, it was announced on Thursday. The first phone based on the new Palm webOS software, the Palm Pre is optimised for e-mail and text messaging. Available from all O2 outlets nationwide, including Carphone Warehouse, the phone will also be available to purchase online at O2.ie. The Palm Pre will retail at EUR419.
Mobile operator Three, intends to "aggressively target the business community within Ireland" by expanding its network of business account managers, according a statement from the company on Thursday. The expanded Three Business team will work to entice business customers to migrate to Three with offers including the potential buy out of their existing contracts as well as personal delivery and set up of handsets.
Irish company Askme Touchscreens is celebrating a successful start to its business in tough economic times, according to a statement from the company on Thursday. Askme has installed over 75 digital information touchscreens in the lobbies of hotels, hostels, language schools and other public locations, since its launch in 2008. The company plans to have over 200 touchscreens installed by 2010 with revenues coming from site rentals and screen advertising. The company's touchscreens provide information on sights, tours, restaurants, leisure, travel, entertainment, music events and shopping. Their technology also allows users to send the information directly to their mobile phone or e-mail at no cost.
The inaugural ‘Cloud Computing Summit’ was held in Croke Park, Dublin, on Wednesday, with Irish Software Association (ISA) Director Paul Sweetman telling those in attendance that “cloud computing has the potential to not only reduce ICT complexity but also to cut costs". Devoted to highlighting cheaper ways for businesses to acquire and use cloud computing technology, the summit was organised by the ISA in association with iQuest and the National Digital Research Centre.
EMC Ireland, the Irish arm of information infrastructure company EMC has announced the appointment of Chris Roche as Country Manager. Roche, who started his career at IBM, has been with EMC for 10 years, during which time he held positions including UKI Director of Infrastructure Consulting, UKI Business Transformation Director, UKI Services Transformation Manager, and EMEA Consulting Manager for EMC Information Solutions Consultancy.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 