IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 15 September
15-09-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Ireland slips in broadband rankings | Taoiseach attracts online fury
The Irish Examiner reports that Ireland has dropped out of the Global Top 50 rankings for broadband download speeds. A study by campaign group Ireland Offline says that Ireland has now slipped to 51st position in the world for download speeds -- down 10 places since the previous study last year. It has also fallen to 70th place for upload speeds -- down from 63rd last May. On a more positive note, Ireland is ranked in 59th position for overall broadband quality -- up four places from last year.
The Irish Times reports that Nokia took its first steps in its attempts to regain ground against rivals Apple and Google at its Nokia World developers' conference in London. The handset maker unveiled new mobile phones and revealed a strategy for winning over developers, including a set revenue split, absorbing the cost of publishing applications through its Ovi store, and making programming for the platform simpler. Nokia showed off the next generation of Nokia Communicator, the E7, and revealed its latest touchscreen devices, the C6 and C7.
The Irish Independent notes that the Junior Cert results have reignited worries about low maths standards among Irish students. Only 45 percent of candidates took maths at higher level this year. Maths also has high failure rates, with one in 20 candidates achieving less than a D grade. Education Minister Mary Coughlan said she was encouraged that over 88 percent of students took science and that the proportion of students taking higher level maths had increased.
The paper also says that health executives are hoping to cut down on the number of medical negligence cases against doctors with the introduction of a new computer system in maternity hospitals. The Health Service Executive is to purchase a multi-million-euro system that will link all 19 maternity hospitals and share all data on the 72,000 annual births. The new system will replace current systems and also paper records.
The paper also says that although Fianna Fail is keen to blame Brian Cowen's woes from Tuesday on a single Twitter posting by Fine Gael's Simon Coveney, the reality is that by the time Coveney made his comment, hundreds of people had already gone online to vent their fury. Coveney did not post his comment on Twitter until 9.15am, by which time hundreds of people had already asked questions about Cowen's performance. While the interview with the Taoiseach was still under way, people were already commenting on Twitter about the hoarseness of Cowen's voice, his coherency and articulation, his confusion about legislation and his mistake in referring to the Croke Park Agreement as "the Good Friday Agreement".
In other news of Twitter, the Financial Times says that site has unveiled the biggest overhaul of its website in its four-year history. The micro-blogging service's new design will let users view pictures, videos and other media without being forced to navigate to a new page. Users will also find it easier to drill down to find out more about other Twitter users and find other relevant tweets, Twitter said. The new design divides the Twitter page into two panels, with the familiar list of tweets on the left and a new panel on the right to show extra information when users click on tweets or the links contained in tweets. Twitter executives said their aim was to increase user engagement on the site, leading visitors to stay longer and eventually to increase the site's money-making potential.
The Wall Street Journal says that Nokia chairman Jorma Ollila, the executive credited with turning the Finnish company into the world's largest handset maker, plans to step down in 2012. News of Ollila's planned exit comes just days after Nokia said it had hired Microsoft executive Stephen Elop to replace its chief executive. The move signals that a deeper transformation could be in store at the Finnish company than many had anticipated.
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