IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 17 November
17-11-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Digital Hub agency puts site up for sale | 1m Kinect devices sold in 10 days
The Irish Times reports that former Intel chief Dr Craig Barrett has said education, technology and innovation are the key opportunities for Ireland in the 21st century. At NUI Galway, Dr Barrett called on Irish politicians to raise funding available for research and development, calling it "seed corn for new businesses". He claimed a 3 percent investment of GDP into research and development "is no longer a reasonable target" -- Ireland currently injects between 1.5 and 2 percent of its GDP -- and that we "have now to compete with the rest of the world to get paid".
The Irish Independent reports that directory enquiry firm Conduit posted operating profits of over EUR5.5 million in 2009, up from EUR1.3 million a year earlier. Turnover was flat last year at just over EUR50 million. Accounts show that EUR27.2 million of its turnover was generated from services supplied in the UK, while sales came to EUR22.5 million in Ireland.
The paper also says that the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) has reclaimed 3.3 acres of development sites in the Liberties area of Dublin 8 from developer Manor Park Homes (MPH). The move came after MPH failed to develop the sites by the end of last year and DHDA has also retained MPH's non-refundable deposit of EUR2.5 million. As a result DHDA, in conjunction with Dublin City Council, has put one of the sites up for sale.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has approved a Google internet phone application for use on the iPhone, more than a year after an initial rejection of the app led to scrutiny by US regulators. Google said in a blog post that the Google Voice app was now available for download. The blog post did not discuss details of the approval, and a Google spokesman declined further comment. An Apple spokeswoman said the Google Voice app "was resubmitted, reviewed and approved and joins the more than 300,000 apps in the app store."
The paper also says that Microsoft is facing questions from its stockholders about whether it should break up its business. At the company's annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates sought to calm investors, some of whom asked if the maker of Windows operating systems and Xbox game consoles would be more valuable as individual companies. Ballmer dismissed the idea, saying it would reduce Microsoft's value by making it more difficult for the company to compete.
In other news of Microsoft, the Financial Times says the company has sold 1 million Kinect motion-gaming devices in the 10 days since the Xbox 360 accessory launched. The USD150 device allows people to play games using physical movement, gestures and voice commands, without the hand-held controller normally used with games consoles. Best Buy, the US electronics retailer, said it expected Kinect to be a Christmas best-seller. By Christmas, Kinect will be available in 38 countries, with 17 supporting games.
The paper also notes that the entire Beatles catalogue became available on Apple's iTunes online store on Tuesday, after agreements on pricing, packaging and marketing ended a decade-long dispute. Apple is offering songs for USD1.29. Each of the 13 remastered Beatles albums will sell for USD12.99, while the full catalogue, packaged with a newly digitised film of a 1964 concert, is available for USD149.
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 