IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 20 May
20-05-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
O2 to announce new Dublin jobs | Google to create Chrome app store
The Irish Times reports that a group of transition year students has received offers from major companies for a product that stops earphone cables getting tangled. "We have received a few offers but the Vodafone one has been the best," said designer Stephen O'Callaghan. Vodafone has provisionally ordered 10,000 units of the earphone holding device. The plastic pocket-sized 'Rap It' device is used for storing earphones to prevent damage. O'Callaghan estimated the deal will be worth about EUR10,000, while the units would sell for approximately EUR2 each. The mini-company from Presentation College Carlow was recently one of three school projects to win the first Sean Lemass Awards for Enterprise.
The Irish Independent reports that Irish travel software firm Datalex believes there are "clear, positive signs" of an improvement in trading conditions despite the fallout from the volcanic ash in Europe. In an interim management statement, the company said its revenue for the first four months of this year was USD8.8 million, broadly flat on the same period last year but ahead of analyst expectations. The ash disruption erased USD200,000 from the company's transaction values so far this year and it expects the disruption to further dent the performance in the current quarter. Datalex said the remainder of 2010 would remain challenging, but that a number of travel companies had issued requests for proposals in the first four months of this year.
The paper also says that an internet campaign is being run through Bebo and Facebook in an attempt to track down a man the Gardai wish to talk to. Pam O'Loughlin's sister Emer died in a mobile home that was subsequently set on fire. "Myself and my brother have decided to do our best to achieve via the internet what Interpol, the Gardai and the Irish media have failed to do and that's track him down," said O'Loughlin.
Meanwhile, the Irish Examiner says that a Facebook page has been set up to help in the search for two teenagers who have been missing since Sunday. Eamon O'Riordan, from Co Tipperary, and girlfriend Christine Berny, from Co Laois, took off in a car owned by the boy's father last weekend. They were last seen in Tullamore Tesco Shopping Centre on Sunday.
The paper also says that mobile operator O2 is to announce a major jobs boost as part of a significant investment in Ireland. It is expected O2 will shortly start recruiting around 150 people at its Dublin headquarters. Taoiseach Brian Cowen will make the announcement at O2 headquarters in Dublin on Thursday morning. The investment is in conjunction with IDA Ireland.
The paper also reports that multinationals may no longer invest in Ireland if spending on research is not increased, according to the Government's chief scientific adviser. Patrick Cunningham said that while labour costs have increased relative to other economies, Ireland's improvement in international research and development rankings remains an attraction for foreign investment. He said that almost 50 of about 130 multinational project renewals, expansions or first-time investments secured by the IDA in the past year were in the research and development area. "We have come from being near the bottom of the European league [in research output] and are now reasonably well placed. But if our ambition is to survive in the future, we have to show the world what we're capable of," he said.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google has announced plans to create a store for applications for its Chrome web browser and operating system. Apps in this store would remain online, rather than being downloaded to run on a phone or computer. Sundar Pichai, Google vice president of product management, said developers will be able to build applications using standard web technologies and can offer them free or for a fee. Pichai also noted a number of new technologies Google is working on, including video technology called WebM that runs high-quality video online.
According to the Financial Times, sales of smartphones using Google's Android operating system have overtaken Microsoft's Windows mobile phones for the first time. Sales of Android phones accounted for just under 10 percent of all smartphones sold globally in the first quarter of 2010, up from just 1.6 percent last year, according to figures from Gartner. In contrast, Microsoft, whose Windows Mobile operating system has been available since 2003, saw a sharp drop in market share, from 10.2 percent a year ago to 6.8 percent in the first three months of this year. Android phone sales have also overtaken Apple's iPhone in the North American market, accounting for 26.6 percent of units sold, compared with 22.1 percent for the iPhone.
The paper also says that nine producers of memory chips -- including Samsung, Infineon, Hynix and Toshiba -- are to pay EUR331 million in fines, in a settlement deal over cartel offences with European competition authorities. Nine of the companies have had their fines reduced by 10 percent, because of their willingness to acknowledge their participation in the cartel, which operated for almost four years between 1998 and 2002. A tenth company, Micron, will pay no fine at all because it blew the whistle on the illegal price-fixing arrangements. Under the memory chip cartel, the chip firms involved shared information and in effect co-ordinated the prices and quotes for the chips sold to PC manufacturers in Europe.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 