IN THE PAPERS
In the Papers 16 March
16-03-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Moriarty tribunal to hear new evidence | Twitter announces @Anywhere platform
The Irish Times reports that Dublin software firm Openet plans to invest EUR3.65 million in research and development, as reported by ENN on Monday.
The paper also says that Irish internet firm Weedle has received USD4 million in funding to expand its social media platform. Read more on this story on ENN.
The paper also notes that two officials from the Attorney General's office are to give new evidence to the Moriarty tribunal this week concerning a key issue. In confidential documentation circulated to interested parties, it was said for the first time that the tribunal met privately with one of the officials as far back as October 2002. The two officials, John Gormley and Denis McFadden, both qualified barristers, are expected to support evidence heard last year from senior counsel Richard Nesbitt, who said he had a "crystal clear" recollection of giving oral legal advice to the State in 1996 concerning the legality of issuing a mobile phone licence to Denis O'Brien's Esat Digifone. At the time, tribunal counsel John Coughlan put it to him that his evidence was "not credible".
The paper also says that an Irish programme to nurture young innovators has been shortlisted for the EU's European Enterprise Awards 2010. The programme fought off stiff competition from more than 380 projects from 28 European countries to become one of 12 shortlisted nominees for this year's award. The Irish nominee is the Genesis Enterprise Programme, a 12-month rapid incubation programme to provide support and management skills for entrepreneurs who head up knowledge-based start-ups in Cork and Kerry.
The Irish Examiner reports that the European Commission is making plans for the electronic identification of cattle next year, but Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture, Michael Creed, has said Ireland should not co-operate with the move. Creed says Ireland has a traceability system for beef which was shown to work any time it was challenged.
The paper also notes that Wicklow mother Lisa Domican has released an iPhone app to aid children with autism, as reported by ENN.
The Irish Independent reports that the National Library of Ireland has launched an enhanced online service, which hosts 34,000 photographs recording almost 100 years of Irish history. Last year the National Library introduced an online service whereby 22,000 photographs from the Lawrence, Poole and Independent Newspapers collections were added to its website database. Since then, library staff have digitised an additional 12,000 images from five other National Photographic Archive collections: Eason, Stereo Pair, Clarke, Tempest and Keogh. The photographs, all relating to the period 1860 to 1954, can be viewed at www.nli.ie/digital-photographs.aspx .
The paper also says that Twitter CEO Evan Williams has announced a new platform, @Anywhere, in his keynote address at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. The service will add a range of functionality, such as allowing users to log in to third-party websites using their Twitter account. Websites will be able to link to a Twitter account and users who run their mouse over the link will see a Twitter biography of recent tweets. An entry on the Twitter blog said the new @Anywhere functionality will be available "soon".
In more news of Twitter, the Wall Street Journal says the company is working on a way to allow Chinese users to sign up in their own language, although access to the site remains blocked in the country. Twitter founder and chairman Jack Dorsey said Twitter is "hard at work" on allowing users to register in Chinese. He noted that limited staff and technical constraints were challenges for setting up a Chinese registration page.
According to The Financial Times, Motorola is preparing for a possible sale of its mobile network infrastructure business, but is also interested in forming a joint venture with a rival. The US mobile phone maker is planning a group demerger that will result in separate stock market listings for its handset and infrastructure businesses early next year. Greg Brown, Motorola co-chief executive, will lead the company consisting of the units that make network infrastructure and mobile radio equipment for emergency services. Brown has decided he will run the two units separately, a move that could give him the ability to sell the network business, or put it into a joint venture with a rival.
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