NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 15 October
15-10-2009
by Emmet Cole
Government to appoint CIO | Google to launch e-book store
The Irish Government is set to appoint a Chief Information Officer (CIO), reporting directly to the Taoiseach. The CIO will advise the Government on how to take a pro-active, leading role in championing ICT innovation and development, and as part of building a smart economy, Taoiseach Brian Cowen promised. ICT Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the Irish high-tech sector, welcomed the move.
Google is planning to launch an e-book store that will deliver e-books to any device with a web browser. Google Editions will launch in the first half of next year, according to Tom Turvey, Google's director of strategic partnerships, speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Google Editions will initially offer about half a million e-books and readers will be able to buy e-books either from Google directly or from other online stores such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Last week, Amazon announced that it would introduce the Kindle into 100 countries around the world.
Irish Wi-Fi service provider Bitbuzz has signed an exclusive deal to provide Wi-Fi access to the D4 Hotel Group, including the Ballsbridge Inn, Ballsbridge Towers and the Ballsbridge Court, the company announced on Thursday. Bitbuzz is providing a business model for budget hotels that would like to offer complimentary Wi-Fi access, but also want to generate revenue. All guests will receive one hour of complimentary Wi-Fi access per stay. Guests can then purchase additional time from the hotel. Wi-Fi access is currently available in the hotels' public areas, meeting rooms and bedrooms.
Research In Motion (RIM) -- manufacturer of the Blackberry devices -- is to launch a new version of its touchscreen Storm smartphone in a bid to compete with Apple's iPhone. The Storm 2 will retain the original's clickable touchscreen interface, but will offer faster typing and multi-touch capabilities, according to the company. The next-generation smartphone will also have Wi-Fi capability.
Telecommunications and managed services provider Digiweb, announced new deals worth EUR5 million on Thursday, from its corporate voice service called Digitalk, launched at the beginning of 2009. Digiweb has signed deals with more than 600 new business customers, the company revealed. Digiweb's business services include Voice over IP or SIP trunks, PSTN, ISDN, and inbound voice services such as Freefone and LoCall. The company also provides wholesale voice to carriers and partners. New customers include Vesta's European Operation Centre, Ask.com, ChannelAdvisor and the Four Seasons hotels in Carlingford and Monaghan.
Saaspoint, the Irish owned cloud computing consulting and applications company, has raised EUR1.35 million to support the next phase of its development, the company revealed on Thursday. Enterprise Ireland and a number of private investors have taken a small equity stake in the company. The company, which has revenues in excess of EUR3 million, employs 34 people. Saaspoint is currently recruiting for international business development staff.
Mobile phone giant Nokia reported a loss of EUR559 million in the third quarter, on Thursday, citing a 20 percent drop in sales and a one-time EUR908 million charge for the fallen value of its network equipment unit, Nokia Siemens Networks. In the same quarter of 2008, the company reported a profit of EUR1.09 billion. Nokia's share price in Helsinki plunged 6.6 percent -- to EUR9.62 -- after the announcement. Net sales from July-September dropped to EUR9.81 billion, down from EUR12.2 billion in the same period last year, the company revealed. In more positive news, Nokia raised its 2009 forecast for mobile phone volumes, saying it now expects a 7 percent decline from the previous year, rather than the 10 percent fall previously predicted.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 