IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 21 April
21-04-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Yahoo Q1 earnings double | Ericsson acquires majority stake in LG-Nortel
The Irish Independent reports that new research suggests that people playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario-type video games. In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn't get any smarter. More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week. They were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn't play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of time surfing the internet and answering general knowledge questions. Researchers said the people who did the brain training did not do any better on a follow-up test than people who had simply been on the internet.
The Irish Examiner says that cybercriminals are launching 100 attacks a second on the world's computers, with one attack every four seconds successfully infecting a PC, a report has found. The latest Symantec Global Internet Security Threat Report looked at trends up to the end of 2009 and found that 240 million new malicious programs were discovered last year. It also found that cybercriminals are increasingly focusing their attention on large enterprises. Attackers uncover a wealth of personal information, which is openly available on social networking sites. They then launch socially engineered attacks on key individuals within targeted companies. The survey also found that even unskilled cybercriminals are able to compromise computers using invasive toolkits which they can purchase for as little as USD700.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo's first-quarter earnings more than doubled, and a sharp rebound in display advertising helped the company post its first revenue increase since the third quarter of 2008. However, a 14 percent drop in revenues from search advertising restrained its overall revenue gain. Yahoo reported income for the period of USD310.2 million, or USD0.22 a share, up from USD117.6 million, or USD0.08 a share, a year ago. The results include a USD0.05 a share benefit from selling Zimbra and a USD0.02 a share non-recurring gain from Microsoft reimbursements. The internet company's 1 percent increase in revenue, to USD1.6 billion from USD1.58 billion, was slightly below some analysts' expectations.
The paper also says that Google moved to highlight the issue of government censorship and demands for information about web users. The internet giant on Tuesday disclosed for the first time the number of requests it has received from government agencies for data about its users. Google also disclosed how many government requests it gets to remove content from its search engine, YouTube, Blogger and other services. Google's disclosure tool, an online country map, excluded data for China where Google says numerating the requests would be illegal. Google's move comes as its critics continue to accuse the company of being reckless with user data.
The Financial Times reports that Apple has posted a 90 percent increase in its second-quarter profit, far above Wall Street estimates, with a 49 percent increase in revenue. The group had been expected to report earnings per share of USD2.46 on sales of about USD12 billion; it actually posted USD3.33 a share, or USD3.1 billion, on sales of USD13.5 billion for the three month period. CEO Steve Jobs said the new iPad had been well received and promised "several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year". Analysts expect a new version of the iPhone to be released as early as June.
The paper also says that Ericsson has struck a deal to acquire majority control of a South Korean joint venture that makes telecoms equipment from Canadian rival Nortel Networks. Ericsson has bought 50 percent plus one share of LG-Nortel for USD242 million from Nortel in a deal that values the venture at about USD500 million. As a result of the deal, the joint venture will be renamed LG-Ericsson. The venture is a partnership with South Korea's LG Electronics. Nortel filed for bankruptcy court protection in January last year.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 