IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 30 April
30-04-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
HP staff contemplate industrial action | Microsoft shelves tablet plans
The Irish Times reports that chip firm Xilinx posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results thanks in part to a USD23.2 million tax benefit related to its Irish operations. Xilinx appealed a ruling in favour of the US tax authorities relating to the way it shares costs and transfers technology to its Irish subsidiary. Read more on Xilinx's results on ENN.
The paper also says that 12 Irish tech firms have taken part in the Britain and Ireland Tech Tour, as noted by ENN on Thursday.
The same paper reports that Irish organisations have received more than EUR3 million in funding for security research projects from the European Commission's seventh Framework Programme. The rate of involvement by Irish SMEs in the programme is one of the highest in the EU, at 53 percent compared to the EU average of 22 percent. On a cash-per-capita basis, Irish participants ranked sixth of the 27 EU countries. There are nine participants from Ireland in the 2009-2010 programme, including small independent companies and research groups in universities. Among the organisations involved are the Tyndall National Institute at UCC, Cork-based company SensL and Dublin-based tech firm Skytek.
The paper also notes that Mozy has launched an online PC backup service for consumers and small businesses in Ireland, as reported by ENN on Wednesday.
The same paper says that online business networking group Smartleads.ie won the 'outstanding digital potential' award at last weekend's 2010 Entrepreneur Show. Smartleads -- founded by Dublin entrepreneur Dave Curry and backed by David Johnson, former head of AdSense at Google -- aims to enable users to generate business contacts through a unique referral system involving reciprocal "leads exchange". Each time a user provides a business recommendation or lead to another member, they receive a credit, which allows them to receive a lead in return. More than 300 companies have signed up for the service. Membership costs EUR199 per year.
The paper also reports that two DIT students have won Microsoft's Irish Imagine Cup final, as noted by ENN on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Irish Independent reports on the winners of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge. The competition, organised by the Irish Computer Society, challenges students across 31 countries to design, build and race carbon dioxide-powered model F1 cars. Students from Dundalk Grammar School fought off competition from 150 second-level schools to take the trophy.
The paper also reports that Hewlett-Packard staff who provide IT services to Bank of Ireland are considering taking industrial action to protect their jobs as the contract has been put out to tender. In a preliminary ballot, 200 members of finance union IBOA indicated they would be prepared to strike to preserve their terms and conditions of employment. "When Bank of Ireland recently put the contract out to tender, HP naturally bid to continue as the service provider. However, we understand that at least two other companies have also entered the picture," said union general secretary Larry Broderick. "Our understanding is that the tenders from these companies are based on exporting the work overseas to low-wage facilities where the employees will be paid considerably less than their Irish counterparts."
According to the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has shelved a development project for a two-screen, tablet-style device that could be used to read electronic books. Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said the project, code-named Courier, is one of many ideas Microsoft tests but that don't necessarily pan out. "It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time," he said. Shaw declined to say why Microsoft decided not to pursue the project. The device resembled a book with two screens that opened on a touch-sensing display, which users could interact with using finger tips and a stylus.
The paper also says that Samsung Electronics has posted a first-quarter profit of KRW4 trillion (USD3.6 billion), its biggest quarterly profit ever. That compares with a year-ago profit of KRW580 billion. Revenue in the latest quarter was KRW34.6 trillion, up 21 percent from KRW28.7 trillion a year ago. The biggest profit contribution came from Samsung's chip business, which had an operating profit of KRW2 trillion and was back in the 20 percent margin range for the first time since 2006.
The Financial Times reports that Motorola's mobile phone unit is on track to return to profitability in the fourth quarter of this year, thanks to strong first-quarter sales of Google Android-powered smartphones. Motorola shipped 8.5 million handsets, including 2.3 million smartphones, in the first quarter. It introduced six new Android-powered smartphones including the Backflip and Devour. In the latest period the mobile phone division reported a reduced operating loss of USD192 million, compared with a loss of USD545 million a year earlier, on sales down 9 percent to USD1.6 billion. Overall, Motorola reported net earnings of USD69 million, or USD0.03 per share, compared with a loss from continuing operations of USD291 million, or USD0.10 per share, in the first quarter of 2009. Sales fell by 6.1 percent to USD5 billion.
Free! "In the papers" email newsletter -- get the full text to your in-box every business day. Email itp@enn.ie with 'subscribe' in the subject line.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 