NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 13 October
13-10-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Citrix creates over 20 Irish jobs | Cisco buys Starent for USD2.9bn
We lead off with good news on the jobs front as Citrix Systems announced Tuesday it is to create over 20 new positions in Dublin. These new jobs mean the infrastructure software firm will soon employ a total of 120 people in Ireland. The positions will be across a broad spread of the firm's Irish activities. "To support the overall business we have to scale up our operation, not just in the traditional technical support areas, but significantly in engineering," said John Kelly, director of technical support with Citrix EMEA. "In fact the Irish operation now has approval to expand its activities into software engineering areas such as code modification in support of delivering solutions to our customers."
Cisco Systems continued its recent trend of big money acquisitions on Tuesday, buying Starent Networks for USD2.9 billion. Cisco will pay USD35 a share for Starent, which makes software and gear for wireless carriers. This represents about a 21 percent premium over Starent's closing stock price of USD29.03 on the Nasdaq on Monday. The move follows Cisco's recent USD3 billion purchase of Swedish video conferencing firm Tandberg.
Mobile operator Meteor is offering one of its customers the chance to win an apprenticeship in its marketing department. The contest ties in with the mobile operator's sponsorship of the TV show The Apprentice. The successful candidate will spend next summer working with the firm's marketing department. Interested parties should e-mail their CV, a summary about yourself (maximum 100 words) and a summary outlining why they think they should become The Meteor Apprentice (maximum 200 words) before 25 October to meteorapprentice@meteor.ie.
The Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan launched the Enterprise Ireland Big Ideas Showcase 2009 on Tuesday. The event sees 21 new technologies pitched to over 200 potential investors in Croke Park. The showcase is part of the Government's strategy to commercialise publicly funded research, which has produced over 100 new companies to date. Among the new inventions are: a no-needle vaccination patch, holograms that thieves cannot counterfeit, bacteria that eat plastic and turn it into eco-friendly fat, and an indoor GPS system.
Data centre operator Interxion has announced a partnership with Internet Neutral Exchange (INEX), an Irish peering provider. The agreement will enable Interxion customers to reduce latency and transit costs by peering directly with the 42 IP (internet protocol) networks currently connected to INEX. For existing INEX members, this agreement also provides the opportunity to deploy resilient connections to the exchange infrastructure in the security of Interxion's existing DUB1 facility and the recently announced DUB2 data centre.
Patients in the UK want to be able to use their mobile phone more when availing of healthcare services, according to a study by Lightspeed Research. The report found that 52 percent of patients would like to receive appointment reminders by text while a fifth would like to be able to book a doctor's appointment via SMS. Those under 35 proved more likely to want to receive information via text but older patients also showed an interest, with 24 percent of those aged 45-55 stating that they would like to receive test results via SMS.
The world's third largest PC maker Acer expects third quarter revenue to be up about 5 percent when it officially announces its results on 30 October. According to the Taiwanese firm, the boost is due to a rebound in demand for technology products as the global economy shows more signs of recovery. The company forecast revenue for the July to September period at a record high of TWD167 billion (EUR3.49 billion). Acer will also provide an outlook for the fourth quarter when the official results are published.
French professional social networking Viadeo has acquired the Canadian firm Unyk, to bring its total user base up to 25 million. This makes it the second largest professional social network after LinkedIn, which has 45 million members. Viadeo claims its network is growing by a million members each month. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 