IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 28 October
28-10-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Tech founders gather for Dublin events | First Derivatives posts profit rise
The Irish Times notes that the founders of YouTube, Skype, Bebo and Twitter will be joined by over 100 other web innovators, investors, academics and social entrepreneurs in Dublin over the next three days for an invite-only get together called Founders. In tandem with the private event, some of the high-profile attendees including YouTube chief Chad Hurley, Twitter inventor Jack Dorsey and Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom will speak at the Dublin Web Summit, which is also being held in Dublin on Thursday and Friday. The international speakers will be joined by Irish web experts who will address a sell-out crowd of 500 people. Both events are the brainchild of Paddy Cosgrave.
The paper also says that Newry-based financial software firm First Derivatives has posted a near 6 percent rise in profit for the first half of the year to STG3.2 million. Revenues for the six-month period were up 56 percent to STG17.7 million. Earnings per share came in 1.3 percent higher at STG0.156. The company is proposing to pay an interim dividend of STG0.029 per share, an increase of 5.2 percent on last year.
The same paper reports that Irish gaming software company Havok has acquired the technology product Kore Virtual Machine for an undisclosed sum. Kore VM was developed by Havok founders Steven Collins and Hugh Reynolds for their subsequent venture, New Game Technologies. The product, soon to be rebranded Havok Script, is a technical tool that reduces the cost of production for console-based video games.
The Irish Independent notes that the first ever 3D cinema ad appeared in Ireland this month, according to Carlton Screen Advertising. The new advert for Cushelle toilet rolls is running throughout the last quarter of this year alongside 3D movies in screens across Ireland. Some 18 percent of all cinemas in Ireland are now equipped with fully digital projection with 3D capabilities.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Nintendo swung to a net loss in the April-to-September period, due to the yen's strength and weak sales of its portable game consoles and software. The Japanese videogame company posted a net loss of JPY2.01 billion (USD25 million) in the fiscal first half, compared with a profit of JPY69.49 billion a year earlier. It was the company's first net loss in the fiscal first half in seven years. Revenue fell 34 percent to JPY363.16 billion.
According to the Financial Times, Yahoo has hired former News Corp internet chief Ross Levinsohn as an executive vice president in charge of the company's US operations. Levinsohn oversaw Fox Interactive Media, which included MySpace, and worked on digital efforts at HBO and other companies. Yahoo said Levinsohn would handle advertising, media activities and partnerships in the US. His appointment could ease investor concerns about executive turnover in the upper ranks at Yahoo.
The paper also notes that the top US consumer protection agency has dropped an inquiry into data collection breaches by Google. David Vladeck, the director of the bureau of consumer protection at the Federal Trade Commission, said the FTC had decided to drop its investigation into Google's allegedly inadvertent collection of consumer data in 2007 because it was satisfied that Google had adequately addressed the issue internally. The company still faces ongoing investigations by individual state attorneys general in the US, and by regulators in other countries.
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Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 