IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 8 December
08-12-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
National Broadband Scheme comes to Aran | Facebook app simulates facial ageing
The Irish Times reports that cable TV firm UPC is to launch a 30Mbps broadband product next month. Read more on this story on ENN.
The Irish Independent says that broadband has now arrived on the Aran Islands, thanks to the continuing rollout of the National Broadband Scheme. Mobile operator Three Ireland is providing the service as part of its National Broadband Scheme deal with the Government. The scheme aims to provide access to affordable broadband services to rural areas that are without a fast internet service. The rollout began 12 months ago and, by September 2010, is expected to connect 223,000 residential, commercial and business premises across the country.
The Irish Examiner reports on the launch of a Facebook application called MirrorMe that simulates facial ageing. To use the app, you simply upload an image of your face or use your Facebook profile picture, and answer a few simple questions relating to lifestyle and habits. The application then scours for over 86 points on the face, generating a new image of the user's face, based on how they might look in future if they continue in their current lifestyle. The app was developed by Ideonic, a games studio in Middlesbrough, UK, and is based on advanced facial recognition technology created by German firm BetaFace.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Germany's Axel Springer is preparing to introduce pay models for its core online news properties. Initially, Springer, publisher of the Bild tabloid, plans to launch new fee-based editions of its two flagship German dailies tailored to Apple's iPhone. In the coming months, Springer will introduce additional pay models across its online platforms, though much of the content will remain free, according to Chief Executive Mathias Dopfner. "I see no justification, neither democratic nor market-related, for content to be generally free on the internet," said Dopfner. "For centuries, people have been willing to pay for things of interest to them."
The paper also says that eBay's ex-CEO Meg Whitman says she was never aware of any plans by the company to steal secret information from Craigslist while eBay was a minority stakeholder. Whitman made the statement during the first day of a trial between eBay and Craigslist. Whitman is facing questions related to confidential information eBay received as an investor in Craigslist and how eBay conducted itself while establishing its own international classified businesses.
The Financial Times says that Google has demo'ed a service that draws real-time information from the likes of Twitter directly into its search results pages. The freshest pieces of information on any online search topic scroll past in real-time, without any need to refresh the page. Google has also outlined a number of ambitious new search applications for mobile phones, using advanced image- and voice-recognition technology. The moves follow last week's attempt by Microsoft to grab attention for Bing with a range of search innovations.
The paper also says that Canadian firm Research in Motion is attempting to market its BlackBerry smartphones to millions of users in China with two new distribution deals. RIM on Monday announced a distribution agreement with Digital China, the country's leading IT distributor. The company has also scheduled a joint announcement with China Mobile, the country's leading mobile operator, for Tuesday.
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