Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 501
04-02-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
'G-Pad' rumours emerge | Chips ahoy!
Irish software industry gets a boost
As it strives to develop the so-called smart economy, the Government on Wednesday announced it will provide EUR200,000 over three years to fund the Irish Software Innovation Network (ISIN), a new initiative aimed at increasing collaboration between software companies and research institutes. The initiative will provide a free "matchmaking service" between software companies and third-level research institutes with an aim to connect businesses to experts in Ireland's universities. The ISIN website offers guides to funding, IP licensing, and R&D tax credits, as well as case studies, events and a search facility that companies/research institutes can use to locate matching technology requirements. "The network will be of interest to any business that wants to commercialise a specific technology, but which may not have the internal resources needed to conduct the research themselves," explained ISIN manager Michael Martin. The ISIN will be run by the Irish Software Association.
In separate, but related news, Dublin software firm Openet announced this week that it had completed a EUR7.2 million fundraising round led by Cross Atlantic Capital Partners and Enterprise Ireland. The money will be primarily used to expand the sales and distribution capability of Openet and for product development. Openet develops software aimed at the communications sector.
Password lethargy highlighted
A number of studies provided real food for thought this week in the area of online security. During 2009 there was a 70 percent increase in malware attacks and spam directed at users of social networking sites, according to a study by IT security firm Sophos. Over half (57 percent) of users said they received spam via social networking sites, a 71 percent rise on 2008, while 36 percent said they received malware, a 70 percent increase. Despite the well-documented rise in security attacks though, it seems that a high percentage of people remain oblivious to the threats. According to a survey conducted by security firm Trusteer, 73 percent of banking customers in the US and Europe re-use their online banking passwords to access other non-financial websites, such as social networking sites. The report also revealed that 47 percent re-use both their passwords and usernames on other sites. Trusteer has warned that cyber criminals could harvest login credentials from less secure sources, such as webmail and social network websites, and then test these usernames and passwords on banking sites, enabling them in some cases to commit fraud.
Indeed, micro-blogging site Twitter this week had to force an unknown number of its users to change their password details for the site after it discovered it had been infiltrated by hackers. Twitter said the hackers had most likely gained access to these users' details through third-party Torrent sites, which they used to capture user log-in details. "The takeaway from this is that people are continuing to use the same e-mail address and password (or variant) on multiple sites," said Del Harvey, Twitter director of Trust and Safety. "We strongly suggest that you use different passwords for each service you sign up for."
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'G-Pad' rumours emerge
Just as things had calmed down after the launch of Apple's iPad last week, new rumours surfaced that Google is planning its attack on the tablet PC market with a Chrome OS based device. Glenn Murphy, a designer with Google, this week posted mock-ups of a tablet running Google's Chrome OS as well as a video of how people could potentially use the device. Industry commentators were quick to analyse the Google tablet concept and how it would look and work, with some suggesting it could be a real challenge to Apple's iPad. As yet, there have been no official announcements from Google about what some are calling the G-Pad, but as we've seen so many times before, there's no smoke without fire.
Also this week, a report in the Wall Street Journal indicated that Google is preparing to launch a store selling online business software that integrates with its web services. The paper's sources say the store will sell software designed by outside developers to integrate and add capabilities to Google Apps, such as enhanced security features or the ability to import contacts, and that it could be announced as early as next month. Meanwhile, Google's web browser, Chrome, increased its market share past 5 percent during January, according to Net Applications. In December Chrome overtook Apple's Safari to become the third most popular web browser, after Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Chips ahoy!
Definite signs of a return to better times -- at least globally -- are starting to filter through this month, with the latest positive news coming in from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). The industry group said it expects the chip market to return to strong growth in 2010, following a healthy end to 2009. Though chip sales for 2009 decreased by 9 percent to USD226.3 billion, the figure did come in nicely ahead of the SIA's own forecast of USD219.7 billion. In addition, December 2009 sales jumped an impressive 29 percent from the previous year. "In 2010, unit sales of personal computers and cell phones – which account for approximately 60 percent of total semiconductor consumption – will grow in the low-to-mid teens, providing a solid platform for chip sales. Consumer electronics are expected to grow in the mid-single digits," said George Scalise, SIA president.
Separately, research firms Gartner and iSuppli this week said they are predicting chip sales to grow by 13 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively, in 2010. This increased demand has had a positive effect on chip makers' quarterly figures. We've already heard from Intel, AMD and Texas Instruments, all of whom recorded increased profits, while this week German chip firm Infineon recorded fiscal first-quarter net profit of EUR66 million, or EUR0.06 per share, compared to a loss of EUR404 million, or EUR0.46 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue was EUR941 million, a rise of 27 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Infineon cited increased demand for its products, particularly from its auto and commercial clients, as the reason for the upswing.
Mobile phone market is back to black
The fourth quarter of 2009 saw the mobile phone industry drag itself out of its year-long recession with 10 percent year-on-year growth in shipments. According to Strategy Analytics, some 324 million mobile phones were shipped globally during the three months to the end of December, signalling the market's first quarter of positive growth since the third quarter of 2008. Nokia, which posted a better-than-expected set of quarterly figures this week, shipped 126.9 million handsets worldwide, up 12 percent from 113.1 million units in the year-earlier quarter. The growth comes thanks to an increased demand for high-end smartphones, according to Nokia, which saw fourth quarter profit come in at EUR948 million, a 65 percent jump on the year-ago figure of EUR575 million, and well ahead of analysts' expectations of EUR620 million. During the quarter Nokia increased its market share from 37 percent to 39 percent.
Meanwhile, Samsung continued its good form, shipping 69 million handsets during the quarter, 31 percent growth on the same quarter in 2008. In third place, LG shipped an all-time high of 33.9 million handsets, up 32 percent. Sony Ericsson and Motorola both had poor quarters, shipping just 14.6 million and 12 million handsets, respectively. Despite its drop in shipments Motorola's quarterly results revealed its return to profit. The US firm posted profits of USD142 million, or USD0.06 per share, up from a loss of USD3.66 million, or USD1.61 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Strategy Analytics expects the overall mobile phone market to continue to grow in the first quarter; it predicts a shipment increase of 8 percent.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 