NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 12 April
12-04-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Abtran to create Cork jobs | Google buys Irish firm Plink
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe has announced that business process outsourcing firm Abtran is to create 300 high-value jobs over the next three years in Cork, as part of a EUR3.5 million investment in research and development. The new jobs will be in management, business administration, finance, resource planning, IT and human resources. Further jobs will be created in providing finance, administration, sales and customer service support for Abtran's clients.
The Government, the ESB and the Renault-Nissan Alliance on Monday announced a partnership to promote the use of electric vehicles. Electric car buyers will be able to apply for a EUR5,000 government grant and get a VRT exemption. The ESB said it plans to roll out 3,500 charge points nationwide by December 2011. The Government's target is for 10 percent of Ireland's vehicles to be electric by 2020.
Irish visual search start-up Plink has been acquired by Google. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. See the Plinkart.com blog for more details.
PDA and smartphone maker Palm is reported to be putting itself on the block. Potential buyers so far include HTC and Lenovo. For more see Bloomberg.com.
Google is rumoured to be prepping an Android tablet device. See Mashable.com for more.
The Irish Times has launched a news app for the iPhone. The app costs EUR1.59 to download and includes breaking news, sport and business news.
DiscoverIreland.com and its microsites recorded over 13 million visits during 2009, up 34 percent from 2008, according to Tourism Ireland.
Runawaybrideandgroom.com says it has received over 30,000 applications for its 'Ultimate Job' of wedding location reviewer. The company says it has now narrowed applicants down to a shortlist of 50 people.
HP says it has completed its USD2.7 billion acquisition of 3Com. 3Com's network and security products will be folded into HP's ProCurve line.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 