IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 27 January
27-01-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Verizon to cut 13,000 jobs | Yahoo swings to a profit
The Irish Times reports that An Garda Siochana needs new computer systems as a priority in order to match policing resources to needs in the community, the Garda Inspectorate says in a report entitled 'Resource Allocation'. The inspectorate said that outside Dublin there was no computer-aided system to provide "purposeful" data on Garda workload and the use of time. Such technologies were "standard" in most police agencies in Europe and North America and were "essential to effective police administration and operations", the report said.
The paper also says that DSG is to create 100 jobs as it opens new stores, as reported by ENN on Tuesday.
The same paper reports that Apple's strong quarterly results and mounting excitement over the Wednesday launch of its tablet device pushed shares of the company sharply higher on Tuesday. Apple shares rose 4 percent to USD211.26 on the Nasdaq in early afternoon trading, and at least seven brokerages have raised their price targets on Apple.
The Irish Independent says that the public services identity card will be equipped to carry biometric data, such as fingerprints and eye scans, when it is unveiled later this year. The Department of Social and Family Affairs has confirmed that it contracted a biometrics company to produce the cards. The scheme will be rolled out in the second half of the year. The department told the newspaper that there were "no current plans to carry DNA or any form of biometric data on the card. However, the card, as proposed, can include biometric data." Biometric Card Services won the tender for the EUR18 million contract.
The paper also reports that new images of the Sun captured by satellite were taken with a state-of-the-art camera designed in conjunction with scientists from Trinity College Dublin. Read more on this story on ENN.
The Irish Examiner reports on University College Cork's annual war-gaming and role-playing convention, Warpcon, due to take place this weekend. Some 700 people are expected to attend the event, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Various computer games will be played over the weekend, including role-playing games, live action role-playing games, war games and card games.
According to the Wall Street Journal, US fixed-line and mobile telecoms firm Verizon Communications has reported a fourth-quarter loss and said it would cut around 13,000 more jobs this year. Verizon swung to a loss of USD653 million, or USD0.23 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of USD1.23 billion, or USD0.43 a share. Revenue rose 9.9 percent to USD27.09 billion, reflecting the acquisition of mobile operator Alltel. The company took a charge of USD3 billion to cover the cost of layoffs at its fixed-line telephone business. Verizon has cut around 13,000 jobs in each of the past two years and said it would make similar cuts this year.
The paper also says that Yahoo's advertising business shows signs of stabilising as the company stemmed its revenue slide and swung to a profit in its latest quarter. The internet giant posted a profit of USD153 million, or USD0.11 share, for the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of USD303 million a year earlier. Revenue dipped 4 percent from a year ago to USD1.73 billion, compared with a 12 percent sales drop in the third quarter. The company's search-advertising and display-advertising businesses each improved from the company's third quarter, but were down compared with the fourth quarter of 2008.
The Financial Times says that BSkyB expects to be awarded more than STG200 million in damages after winning a High Court battle with EDS, the IT outsourcing company, over a sales pitch for a multi-million-pound contract to build a customer service system. Justice Ramsey ruled there was liability on the part of EDS to BSkyB for "fraudulent mispresentation giving rise to damages". The level of damages is to be decided at a later hearing. Hewlett-Packard, which bought EDS in 2008, said it would seek permission to appeal the ruling.
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