NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 12 November
12-11-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Tanaiste urges nanotech focus | Intel and AMD make peace
Mobile operator O2 Ireland has posted a slight rise in customer numbers for the third quarter from 1.71 million customers in 2008 to 1.72 million customers in 2009. During the quarter the firm recruited 13,761 new post-pay customers. Monthly average blended ARPU (average revenue per user) for the quarter was EUR39.90, down 8.7 percent from EUR43.71 for the same period last year, but up slightly from EUR39.76 in the second quarter. Service revenue at operator dropped by 9.1 percent year-on-year to EUR213 million in the third quarter.
Staying with results and BT Ireland has reported a 21 percent year-on-year increase in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) for the first six months of 2009. The increase in profits was attributed largely to a series of cost cutting measures, and a shift in focus to the managed services market. Revenue at BT Ireland for the first six months of the year declined by 3 percent from the year-ago period to STG397.8 million.
Web content management firm TerminalFour has released its Site Manager 7.0 product. The new release is the culmination of EUR900,000 investment in research and development by the business. TerminalFour spent 18 months developing the software.
In other release news, software firm CA has unveiled its Internet Security Suite Plus 2010 product. The software aims to provide comprehensive security and protection when accessing the internet. The firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and anti-phishing software used in previous versions of the product have all been updated.
Over 100 international venture capital investors met with 31 leading Irish clean technology and software companies at the Enterprise Ireland International Investor Forum in London on Thursday. This is the second year of the event, at which businesses pitch to investors and take part in over 280 one-to-one meetings with individual investors to explore specific investment opportunities. Businesses participating in the event represent industries such as bio-fuels and water management.
Tanaiste Mary Coughlan launched Nanoweek in the Science Gallery on Thursday. Organised by the Nanoscience Network, Nanoweek will run from 30 November to 4 December and will include a wide range of events designed to raise awareness of the contribution that nanoscience makes to the Irish economy. Of EUR150 billion in goods and services exported by Ireland in 2008, approximately 10 percent were enabled by nanoscience and related nanotechnologies. By focusing on the area of nanotechnology there is the potential to grow this figure to 20 percent allowing Ireland to take a significant share of an estimated global market of EUR3 trillion by 2015, according to the Tanaiste.
Retailers in Tuam are joining together to implement Zapa Technology's electronic loyalty card scheme. Consumers in Tuam will be able to tap their mobile phone at a terminal beside the cash register to avail of discounts, special offers and other loyalty schemes. Zapa works by fixing a small tag to the customer's mobile phone handset. The system uses Near Field Communications technology, and Zapa claims the deployment in Tuam is the largest of its kind in Europe.
Chip makers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have announced that they have settled all outstanding legal disputes, including antitrust litigation and patent licensing issues. Intel will pay AMD USD1.25 billion as part of the settlement, a decision which sent shares of AMD up nearly 30 percent in pre-market trading on Thursday. The two companies also agreed a five-year cross license deal and said they would give up any claims of breach from their previous license agreement. The move comes after years of action by competition authorities worldwide against Intel following complaints by AMD.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 