IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 19 January
19-01-2011
by Sylvia Leatham
UCD to run science film festival in 2012 | Ryanair to cease boarding card reissues
The Irish Times reports that Ireland may have its first film festival dedicated to science next summer. UCD hopes to screen a collection of films next year, when Dublin is the European City of Science. The university has already agreed to back the festival and its organisers are seeking the approval of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF). The body designates the city of science and organises the associated biennial international science meeting. "My interest in the science [film festival] wasn't to have science fiction or documentaries about science but more about the scientific process, what these people [scientists] are doing or thinking about," said Prof Des Fitzgerald, vice-president for research at UCD.
The paper also says that investment bank Goldman Sachs has said it will limit its private placement of shares of Facebook to investors outside the US, citing intense media coverage. Goldman expects to raise USD1.5 billion for Facebook. The chance to buy a slice of Facebook ahead of any future IPO attracted widespread commentary and news coverage, which potentially could bring the share placement under regulatory scrutiny. "In light of this intense media coverage, Goldman Sachs has decided to proceed only with the offer to investors outside the US," said the company.
The Irish Independent reports that Ryanair plans to refuse travel to all passengers who forget to print their boarding passes, after the low-cost carrier was banned from charging EUR40 to print the passes. A spokesman said the airline was discontinuing the service and passengers would not be able to pass through security unless they had printed their own passes after checking in online. The warning was issued after a Spanish court ruled that charging fees for reissuing boarding passes was illegal.
The Irish Examiner reports that the institutes of technology in Limerick and Carlow could be moving towards a technological university application, after signing a collaboration deal. Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and Institute of Technology Carlow (ITC) have already agreed to collaborate on areas such as courses, research and attracting overseas students. A statement announcing the Trans-Ireland Higher Education Alliance said both colleges will continue to take part in consultation and action to identify further potential for co-operative initiatives.
According to the Financial Times, Apple has posted a record USD6 billion in quarterly profit, a day after announcing that chief executive Steve Jobs was taking an open-ended leave of absence for undisclosed medical reasons. While Apple routinely keeps financial expectations low and then exceeds them, per-share profit in the fiscal first quarter of USD6.43 beat the Wall Street consensus estimate by 21 percent. Revenue rose 70 percent to USD26.74 billion, on the back of an 86 percent jump in the number of iPhones sold and strong sales for its Macs and iPads.
The paper also says that chipmaker Intel is fighting to avoid a full investigation by European competition regulators into its proposed USD7.7 billion acquisition of US security firm McAfee. Although the deal has been approved by US regulators, sources in Brussels say a decision whether to proceed to an in-depth inquiry, which could at least stall the deal for some months, is finely balanced. That is despite concessions made by Intel this month in a last-minute effort to head off the risk of intervention from Europe.
The same paper says that IBM has topped financial forecasts for its most recent quarter, thanks to a surge in sales from its traditional mainframe hardware business. Revenue from the systems and technology business, which also includes chips and other hardware, jumped 21 percent to USD6.3 billion, helping to push IBM's overall revenue up 7 percent to USD29 billion, ahead of the USD28.3 billion Wall Street had expected. Overall, IBM reported record net income of USD5.3 billion, up 9 percent from a year before. Earnings per share rose 16 percent to USD4.18, compared to expectations of USD4.08.
The Wall Street Journal notes that Facebook has temporarily suspended a feature that gave external websites and applications access to its users' addresses and phone numbers, after privacy advocates expressed concerns. The pullback came just a few days after the social network announced the feature, which expanded the range of user data that developers could request from Facebook users to include more detailed contact information. Facebook said it now plans to change how it asks users for permission to share their information with others, and will reinstate the feature in a few weeks.
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 