IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 16 April
16-04-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Dublin's Cibenix wins EUR2m India deal | Cork to get new jobs at VoxPro
The Irish Times reports on the creation of 40 new jobs in Mullingar, Westmeath, by web design firm Brywest Enterprises. Read more on this story on ENN.
The paper also notes the launch of an iPhone app for the newspaper's entertainment supplement, The Ticket, as reported by ENN on Thursday.
The same paper reports that computer data centres have become a major problem in energy terms, burning up about 2 percent of global electricity production, 50 percent of which is required to cool down the hardware. This gives data centres a particularly unattractive carbon footprint and better, cheaper ways must be found to get rid of this excess heat, according to Dr Gerhard Ingmar Meijer of IBM Research in Zurich. He believes it is time to introduce water-based cooling systems for data centres and to move away from chilled air methods.
The paper also says that Dublin-based mobile software developer Cibenix has won a deal worth more than EUR2 million to supply its on-device service to Bharti Airtel, India's largest mobile operator. Airtel, which adds more than 3 million new customers every month, will use the Cibenix ODS software app as a portal to promote music, apps and internet-access services to customers directly on their phones.
In more news of deals, the paper says that Irish firm Cicero Networks has won a major contract with Multimedia Polska, one of the largest cable operators in Poland, to enable its customers make calls from their mobiles over Wi-Fi networks. Multimedia Polska has purchased Cicero's technology to power its MobilFON voice and messaging service. Using standard GSM handsets, customers can make calls on a mobile network but when in a hotspot area the calls are sent using VoIP.
The paper also says that a Facebook application that enables the booking of hotels and planning of trips with friends has been launched by Irish firm Ticket Truck. The app allows Facebook users to plan trips with their friends, share those plans and then book a hotel without leaving the site. Users are encouraged to recommend the service to their friends by a guaranteed rebate of at least 3.5 percent on each booking, which is currently provided in the form of Amazon.com Gift Cards. Ticket Truck plans to 'white label' its technology so other firms can use it to sell products and services on Facebook.
The paper also reports on the launch of a new company trading as Threatscape by Dermot Williams, the founder of recently liquidated IT security provider Systemhouse Technologies. In its first two weeks of trading, Threatscape won more than EUR250,000 in new business. The company is projecting revenues of EUR3 million in its first year.
The paper also reports that Ireland will lose out to competitor economies if the Government does not implement the recommendations of the Innovation Taskforce quickly, a member of the committee has said. Lionel Alexander, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, said the Government needed to act fast or it risked missing out on future opportunities. "As a member of the Innovation Taskforce I do not want our report to be left on the shelf gathering dust like so many before it," he said. "I am calling on the Government to put its cards on the table and to outline how and when it plans to implement the recommendations of the taskforce." The taskforce's report was published last month.
The Irish Examiner says that Cork will get a jobs boost on Friday when Taoiseach Brian Cowen announces the creation of around 150 positions at Blackrock-based VoxPro. VoxPro provides call-centre services, from customer support to processing and payment to telemarketing. Its clients include the Environmental Protection Agency, Greenstar, Musgraves, PFH and Zamano. VoxPro already employs 120 people in Cork.
The paper also says that venture capital firm Kernel Capital is leading a EUR2 million investment in Limerick-based firm ChipSensors, a developer of silicon sensor chips based at the University of Limerick. ChipSensors chief executive Tim Cummins said the investment will enable it to commercialise its technology. It said negotiations are under way with partners for market and distribution channel support in the US, China and Japan.
The Irish Independent reports that Caribbean mobile operator Digicel Group has lost a landmark court case against Cable & Wireless Communications over allegations that C&W blocked the Denis O'Brien firm's entrance to the telecoms market. The defeat is a blow to Digicel, which previously claimed that it would be awarded "several hundreds of millions of pounds" if it won. Digicel had claimed in the lawsuit that C&W had unlawfully delayed allowing Digicel to connect its network to the C&W network in several countries in the Caribbean. Judge Paul Morgan dismissed the claim in a ruling in the High Court in London. C&W said the case had been "a pointless waste of time and money" and that it will now seek the reimbursement of its costs in the case from Digicel.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google's first-quarter earnings soared 37 percent as the search giant's revenue rose 23 percent. An improving economy and a return of large advertisers enabled Google to get off to a "very positive" start to the year, Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said. The company also made it clear that it plans to continue spending aggressively on obtaining talent, stirring the anxieties of investors and sending its shares lower in late trading. Google reported earnings of USD1.96 billion, or USD6.06 a share, up from USD1.42 billion, or USD4.49 a share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-compensation costs, per-share profit rose to USD6.76 from USD5.16. Revenue was USD6.78 billion, compared with USD5.51 billion a year ago.
The Financial Times says that Sony Ericsson announced a surprise return to profit on Friday. The handset maker still saw sales fall 19 percent to EUR1.4 billion in the first quarter, but the average price it gets per phone increased to EUR134 from EUR120 a year ago. It made a net profit of EUR21 million, compared with a EUR293 million a year ago. Analysts had been expecting a loss of EUR157 million.
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