Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 529
19-08-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
Tech heavyweights get acquisitive | Google strikes Social Gold
Leaving Cert maths results ignite debate
The Leaving Certificate results, released Wednesday, have re-ignited the concern and debate surrounding the Government's 'smart economy' focus and whether Ireland has the necessary skills to support this drive.
As is now traditional, media reports on Wednesday centred on the poor maths results. In all, over 4,300 of the 58,000 students who sat the Leaving Cert failed maths across all levels; only 16 percent sat the higher level paper. Bodies such as IBEC and the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland expressed their disappointment at the high failure rate in the subject in this year's Leaving Cert, while gaming company Havok said that a lack of maths graduates is threatening the company's presence in Ireland. According to the Irish Times, Havok managing director David Coghlan said: "Our preference is to keep our research and development facility in Ireland, but with a lack of maths graduates, it's a challenge."
On a more positive note, the new approach to teaching maths -- Project Maths -- made an encouraging start. Just under 19 percent of students on the Project Maths course sat the higher-level exam. Failure rates almost halved among ordinary level students who sat the new Project Maths in Paper 2 of the exam. Evidence also suggests that the more hands-on approach to teaching the subject has encouraged some students to consider taking the higher-level exam. Project Maths was rolled out in 24 schools this year and taken by 1,800 students. This new approach has gained support among colleges and interest groups, and is seen as a credible initiative to boost the take-up of higher-level maths.
However, rolling out Project Maths is a long-term initiative that will not provide immediate results. And immediate results appears to be what is required. Education Minister Mary Coughlan said on Wednesday that students taking higher-level maths will benefit from bonus points within two years.
But are bonus points the answer? An Engineers Ireland survey released last week showed that higher-level maths is considered 'time consuming' and 'scary' by a large majority of ordinary level students. In addition, another survey from the organisation revealed that 40 percent of students taking higher-level maths took grinds to help them cope with the subject. Simply dangling bonus points in front of students might not be enough to sway their decision on higher-level maths. Engineers Ireland recommends investment in teacher support. "What is needed to tackle the maths problem is much greater support for maths teachers in the class room -- and this needs to come not just from Government but from industry and business also."
Hulu considers IPO; analyst reaction tepid
Following news last week of Skype's IPO plans, this week saw another technology firm mull a market flotation. Rumours spread during the week that online video site Hulu was considering an IPO that could value the company at USD2 billion. Hulu has not commented on the IPO plans though reports suggest that the flotation could happen either towards the end of 2010 or into 2011.
Some analysts poured cold water on the valuation, calling it ambitious, particularly given that it only just launched a paid service -- Hulu Plus -- in July. For its part, Hulu claims to have brought in USD100 million in revenue last year, with CEO Jason Kilar saying Hulu is "net income positive".
In addition, comScore figures for July released this week held some positives for Hulu. Although it languished at the bottom of the top 10 video sites in terms of viewers with 28.5 million, its minutes per user figure of 158 minutes was second only to Google (YouTube). Also, Hulu's ad-serving figures catch the eye: 783 million ads were viewed by Hulu users in July, equating to 27.9 ads per user.
Three years old, Hulu is a joint venture between some of the most powerful names in the entertainment industry -- News Corp, NBC Universal and Walt Disney. It is also backed by Providence Equity Partners. The aim of the IPO is to raise cash to buy in content from a wider range of partners as it strives to compete with the likes of Netflix, which only last week signed a five-year content deal with Epix, itself a joint venture between Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer. Under the terms of the deal Epix will make films released by those studios available to Netflix's 15 million subscribers in the US three months after they have aired on pay-TV channels.
Tech heavyweights get acquisitive
This week saw four tech heavyweights reach into their pockets and make some strategic acquisitions. First up, chip giant Intel enjoyed a spot of shopping this week. On Thursday it announced it had acquired security software firm McAfee for a whopping USD7.68 billion. It will pay USD48 for each share of McAfee, a 60 percent premium on Wednesday's closing price. McAfee will become part of Intel's software and services division. Also this week, Intel acquired Texas Instruments' cable modem product line for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition supports Intel's push into the cable industry and related consumer electronics market segments. "Intel is focused on delivering SoCs [system on chips] that provide the foundation for consumer electronics devices such as set top boxes, digital TVs, Blu-ray disc players, companion boxes and related devices," said Bob Ferreira, general manager of Intel's Digital Home Group. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, PC maker Dell announced its plans to buy data storage firm 3PAR for around USD1.15 billion in cash; it will pay USD18 a share for 3PAR, an 87 percent premium the storage firm's Friday closing price of USD9.65. The acquisition will bolster Dell's data centre business, something it's been focusing on lately, as it strives to compete more effectively with the likes of Hewlett-Packard and IBM in the sector. In June Dell said it plans to double the size of its data centre and IT services business in part through acquisitions. Indeed, in July it bought storage firm Ocarina Networks for an undisclosed sum.
Elsewhere, HP on Tuesday snapped up security software firm Fortify, which makes tools that work to locate vulnerabilities in software. HP said it will run Fortify as a stand-alone unit, integrating it over time into its HP Software and Solutions business. Fortify's products will become part of HP's Business Technology Optimisation application portfolio. Financial details of the deal were not released.
Finally, Big Blue was also on the acquisition trail this week. Last FridayIBM bought Unica, a company that develops software that helps advertisers create more targeted ads by analysing and predicting consumer preferences. IBM will pay around USD480 million for the firm, with shareholders getting USD21 per share in cash, more than double the stock's closing price last Thursday. Unica customers include eBay and Best Buy. By acquiring Unica's technology, IBM said it can help its clients streamline processes like relationship marketing and online marketing.
Google strikes Social Gold
Separately, Google also made quite an interesting move this week when it bought internet start-up Jambool. Jambool's flagship product is its online social payment service Social Gold, which allows developers to integrate payments directly into their apps and games. The technology powers the virtual currency and payment solutions for thousands of online games and virtual worlds.
The acquisition supports the speculation that Google is planning serious moves into the social network arena. TechCrunch, which suggests that Jambool's Social Gold will be a key part of any Google social development, reports that Google paid USD55 million for Jambool, with between USD15 million and USD20 million extra on the cards if performance targets are met. Read Jambool's statement on the acquisition here.
To industry observers, it looks like Google Me (the name that's being bandied about for the firm's social network) plans are accelerating. At the beginning of August the internet behemoth bought Slide, a firm that allows users to create and personalise widgets which can be used in social networks, blogs, etc. Google has kept quiet on the exact plans it has for Google Me, although in a blog post announcing the Slide buy it said: "As the Slide team joins Google, we’ll be investing even more to make Google services socially aware and expand these capabilities for our users across the web."
For now it looks like Google is getting all its ducks in a row. No doubt about it, the internet giant is under pressure to get its social networking move right this time around. The good news for Google is that it seems to be going about it with a more measured approach this time, compared to previous unsuccessful attempts like Google Buzz.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 