NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 9 April
09-04-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
MetaCarta on Nokia's radar | iPad sales rising steadily
Finnish mobile giant Nokia has bought geographic search technology company MetaCarta for an undisclosed sum. According to TechCrunch, Nokia has said it will use MetaCarta's technology in the area of local search and other services. Just two weeks Nokia bought mobile browser firm Novarra.
Enterprise Minister Batt O'Keeffe, on Monday, is to make a "major" jobs announcement at business process outsourcing firm Abtran, which is based in Cork. In May 2008 Abtran created 100 new jobs in its Cork facility.
Some 450,000 iPads have been sold to date, according to Apple. The iPad launched on 3 April, and sold 300,000 units on that day alone. Sales have been steady since then and analysts now say they expect 1 million iPads to be sold in the quarter to June. Read more on this story here.
The National Digital Research Centre is inviting applications for its 'Startup Weekend', which will take place from 7 to 9 May in Dublin. The event is aimed at firms that are focusing on developing mobile and web services. Full details about the event are available here.
The seven winners of the BT Young Scientist event are to attend a week-long summer placement at University College Dublin. The placement is to give the students an opportunity to observe and experience some of the work of the leading scientists at UCD, and to give them advice in how to turn their ideas into commercial opportunities. Read more about the programme here.
Nearly half of Americans (48 percent) have a profile on at least one social network, double the 2008 figure of 24 percent. That's according to a report by Arbitron and Edison Research, which reveals that 78 percent of teens and 77 percent of 18-24 year olds are registered with a social network. It also shows that 65 percent of 25-34 year olds and 51 percent of 35-44 year olds also have social network profiles. Read more on this report here.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 