IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 2 October
02-10-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Ireland ranks poorly for broadband quality | Mobile firms dispute roaming caps
The Irish Times reports that a senior executive with security software firm McAfee has said Microsoft's release of a suite of free security tools is unlikely to shake up the market. "The free software is not the interesting thing; it's how protected are you and how much global intelligence goes behind what you are putting on your PC," said David Quantrell, president for McAfee in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "So if your detection rates are 60 percent but it's free, I'm not sure how interesting that is versus 98 or 99 percent." Quantrell was in Ireland last week to announce an expansion of McAfee's European headquarters in Cork.
The paper also reports on a new device called the i-tab, a touchscreen player that scrolls chords and lyrics on its display, saving amateur musicians from having to leaf through sheets of music or memorise songs outright. Although it won't be officially launched until next January at the NAMM trade show in California, the i-tab is being previewed at the Music Show in the RDS in Dublin this weekend because the technology was developed by a company in Maynooth, Kildare. According to i-tab chief executive Andy Hirst, the device is aimed at the amateur strummer rather than session players.
The same paper reports that two academics are calling for Ireland to invest more in research and development to help economic recovery. "The amount of R&D investment is so small for an issue that is so important," said Prof David Awschalom, an expert in nanotechnology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, "particularly in a recession when you are talking about the country's economic future." Prof Christoph Gerber is from the University of Basel in Switzerland, where, he said, there was tangible evidence of the benefits of long-term research investment. The pair have voluntary positions on the board of Crann (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) in Trinity College Dublin.
The paper also says that the US government and Icann have signed an agreement that allows for greater global participation in the internet domain name process, as reported by ENN on Wednesday.
The Irish Examiner says that the quality of broadband connections in Ireland is inferior to that of less developed economies like Turkey, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria and Romania, according to an international survey of high-speed internet connections in 66 countries. The study ranks Ireland, which it brands "an innovation economy", in 37th place -- a drop of one position on a similar survey in 2008. It also claims broadband services in the Republic are just about keeping pace with the needs of today's computer applications. It ranked Dublin 123rd out of 240 cities under the same scoring system. The study was carried out by Oxford University's Said Business School and the University of Oviedo, Spain, on behalf of Cisco. The study also found that the quality of broadband connections globally is improving, as noted by ENN on Thursday.
According to the Financial Times, the European Court of Justice has indicated it is unlikely to overturn the price caps imposed on mobile roaming fees within the EU. Mobile operators had argued that Brussels overstepped its authority in 2007 when it imposed strict caps on roaming charges within the EU. The case is now being considered by Europe's top court, which was told on Thursday that the price caps were necessary to protect the single market.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Comcast is reportedly in talks to merge its cable networks with NBC Universal, the latest sign of a big shift in television. In one scenario, the companies would form a new, privately held joint venture, with Comcast owning 51 percent, said sources. That would reduce General Electric -- which has owned NBC since 1986 -- to the minority partner, with 49 percent. Together, the two would create a mammoth television and movie company: the combined entity would own more than two dozen TV networks.
Free! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 