Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 499
21-01-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
Intel, IBM results spark positive vibes | Apple in tablet content talks
Comings and goings on the jobs front
There was good and bad news on the jobs front this week. On Monday US language translation technology provider Sajan officially opened its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. The operation will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sajan, called Sajan Software, and will create 35 new jobs. Among the new roles will be testers, software engineers, localisation engineers and project managers. On Tuesday US business communications firm StreamServe announced it is to set up a customer care centre in Galway, creating 20 jobs in the process. The new jobs will focus on areas such as sales, maintenance renewals, and customer care operations, servicing both the US and EMEA markets. Meanwhile, also on Tuesday, Belfast IT firm Parity Solutions revealed its plans to create 94 new software development and consultancy jobs. The company said it will establish a Microsoft centre of excellence in Belfast, providing online business productivity packages. Also on Tuesday Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns Ulster Bank, said it was cutting 221 jobs across the island of Ireland. Some 196 technology services staff in Dublin and 25 in Belfast will be laid off, with some of the roles being transferred to other locations in the UK and elsewhere.
Intel, IBM results spark positive vibes
In a clear sign that a tech sector revival is well and truly underway, Intel last Friday posted one of its most profitable quarters ever. The chip giant recorded fourth-quarter profit of USD2.28 billion, or USD0.40 a share, an almost 10-fold increase on the year-earlier period of USD234 million, or USD0.04. Meanwhile, revenue jumped 28 percent to USD10.57 billion from USD8.23 billion. The figures beat the expectations of Wall Street analysts who had predicted per-share earnings of USD0.30 on sales of USD10.17 billion. Intel cited consumer demand for laptops as one of the key reasons for its impressive quarter. On Wednesday another tech giant also recorded a solid fourth quarter. IBM saw profits rise 9 percent to USD4.8 billion, or USD3.59 a share, from USD4.4 billion, or USD3.27 a share, a year earlier, and ahead of analysts' estimates of USD3.47 a share. Revenues increased at a more modest rate, coming in at USD27.2 billion, up 0.8 percent on the year-earlier quarter. In light of the better-than-expected earnings IBM said it now expects a profit of at least USD11 a share in 2010 compared with its previous target of between USD10 and USD11 per share. With a raft of earnings to be released in the coming weeks we'll be staying tuned to see if this positive mood continues.
Microsoft under pressure with IE hole
Following serious attention directed at a vulnerability in its Internet Explorer 6 web browser Microsoft has said it will issue a patch to rectify the flaw. Microsoft generally doesn't issue security patches outside of its regular Patch Tuesday bulletin, but the firm said in a blog post that "given the significant level of attention this issue has generated," it would make an exception in this instance. Following the high profile attacks on Google, and some 30 other corporations, in China last week, Microsoft admitted that the flaw in IE 6 was one of the factors in the attacks. In light of that disclosure governments in France and Germany urged citizens to use other browsers, such as Firefox, which is seeing a boon in usage in Europe, and particularly in the German and Austrian markets. According to figures from web traffic analytics firm StatCounter, Firefox now has a 40 percent share of the browser market in Europe compared to Microsoft's 45 percent (globally Microsoft has a 56 percent share, while Firefox has a 31 percent share). In Germany Firefox is the leading web browser with a significant 60 percent slice of the market, according to StatCounter. For its part, Microsoft continues to encourage users to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8, the most recent version of the browser.
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Apple in tablet content talks
It appears that Apple has had quite the busy week. As the day fast approaches to when it's expected to unveil a new tablet computer to the world, the Wall Street Journal reports that Steve Jobs and Co. are hard at work lining up partnerships that could change the way in which people consume content. The paper quotes people familiar with the matter, who suggested that Apple is talking to a variety of companies in different sectors about creating tablet content. Apple is reportedly in talks with companies including The New York Times, Conde Nast Publications and News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal. It is also negotiating with CBS and Walt Disney to deliver monthly TV subscription services, according to the report. Sources suggest Apple is also talking to HarperCollins Publishers to make electronic books for the tablet, and is also reportedly in discussion with video-game publisher Electronic Arts with an aim of targeting the tablet as a gaming device. The iPhone maker is also said to be considering the idea of targeting the device at the education sector with the potential to make electronic textbooks available on the device. On Monday Apple sent out an invitation to a media event on 27 January "to see our latest creation." The device is expected to ship in March, and rumours suggest it will have a 10- to 11-inch touchscreen and a virtual keyboard. In a separate, and unexpected, move, reports circulated this week that Apple was talking to Microsoft about potentially making Bing the default search engine on the iPhone, replacing Google. Neither Apple nor Microsoft have commented on the rumours, but commentators are having a field day with the speculation, suggesting that Apple's relationship with Google has soured as a result of Google's NexusOne launch.
Nintendo powers ahead of rivals
Nintendo's Wii showed it had real staying power during the Christmas season, when it completely outshone its rivals, shipping a record 3.8 million units in the US during the month of December, an all-time record for unit shipments in one month. Nintendo's handheld console, the DS, also had record shipments in December, with 3.3 million units sold in the US. Meanwhile Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 were completely overshadowed by the Wii, shipping 1.36 million units and 1.31 million units, respectively. The figures, from NPD Group, must come as a welcome relief to Nintendo following its third quarter results where it saw profits plunge by 52 percent. Execs at the Japanese gaming giant may also have been happy to hear that Sony is delaying the launch of its motion controller, to be called Arc, until the third quarter of this year. Sony had originally planned to release the device in the spring. Sony's game division said it is delaying the launch so that more software titles will be available to make the most of the new controller's functions. Microsoft is also planning to release a motion controller of its own, the Natal. It is expected to hit shelves during the holiday season of this year. Also this week Nintendo announced it had struck a deal with Netflix that will enable users of the Wii to stream Netflix movies and TV programs through their games console. The deal will allow Nintendo to broaden the appeal of the Wii, and to catch up with its chief rivals Microsoft and Sony, who already offer the Netflix service through their consoles.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 